Glorious readers, welcome. You're not a "glorious reader"? Then what are you doing here? Get out! I'm just messing, you don't have to be glorious to read this… although you do have to be able to read…

Anyways, let's move on!

From the top…

Max's POV

I watch as Fang plays the guitar, amazed at how smooth his voice sounds.

With no warning, I cross the room and wrap my arms around his waist. He tenses, and surprisingly does not relax. Something is bothering him, I can tell by the way the way he avoids contact… physical and emotional. He offers nothing, not even recognition that I am clinging to him.

"I believe in the man you want to be," I say. Still, he's a statue.

I try again. "I didn't know you played guitar. Where'd you get it?" Silence.

"Fang, what's wrong?" I finally ask.

His eyes meet mine for a second, and he fixes his face into a scowl. He says nothing.

Abruptly, his gaze turns to the picture book trashed against the wall. My curiosity gets the better of me, and I unlatch my arms from around him.

I lift up the book, and his letter to me falls out. The page is turned to my engagement ring, and immediately I understand his silence. He was never meant to find this.

"I can explain," I begin.

Fang, though, is clearly uninterested in what I have to say. He is too occupied putting away his guitar to let me speak.

"You don't understand!" I cry out.

"What don't I understand, Max? Dylan was built to be your perfect other half, I get that. I'm just complicating everything by being here."

"No!" I insist, "Fang, don't you see? I chose you! I haven't seen Dylan or anyone from the flock in almost 19 years! Please, let me explain."

My pleading seems to work. Slowly, he turns to face me. He glares at me unhappily, but his feet stay put. He's listening.

I describe to him the first 4 months of his absence. He flinches as I speak of the angst that we all felt after he left; of how we all wished him dead. (With the exception of Dylan, we all admitted to secretly want him back.)

My next memories go something like the following:

I was the only one who understood why we couldn't find him. It was better that he was gone. He had said so himself.

In that time of misery, Dylan was the one to pick us up. He made us forget… he filled the hole that Fang had left.

The flock trusted Dylan immediately. Me, I was wary. I mean, Fang wasn't there… I wasn't going to confide in Dylan right away.

For a while, we started off as friends. Slowly I told him things that I had only told Fang; I began to treat Dylan like my 2nd in command. Fang was replaced; no longer needed at that point.

In October, things changed between the two of us. Dylan dared to kiss me; I dared to kiss him back. After that, well, I think that's the moment that I fell in love with him.

I paused amidst the memory, sparing Fang from the details of our kiss(es). I closed my eyes for just a second, reliving the memory in silence.

Kissing Dylan is nothing like kissing Fang. Both were instances of bliss, but different all the same.

Fang, he puts everything into the embrace. You would think that he would be the shy one; actually, he's just the opposite. He… doesn't hold back.

Dylan is the timid one when it comes to kissing. He is slow to respond; slow to relax.

Suddenly, my eyes pop open. Fang is waiting for me to explain. Crap.

With an apologetic smile, I return to the reminiscence.

For a while, Dylan and I were content being… well… together.

Then, a year after Fang left, he proposed out of the blue. I mean, I can honestly say that I loved him, but did I love him enough to commit the rest of my life to him? Could I accept marriage at 16?

At first, I declined. I told him that we were only 16… besides, isn't it illegal to get married at 16?

In 7 days, though, he convinced me to agree.

"I won't leave you, Maximum," He assured me, "accepting this ring will assure me that you'll stay by my side; forever. Please, Max, I need you as much as you need me."

So, I thoughtfully said yes.

Things got even crazier when we set the date for the 1st of July. 4 months after our original engagement.

Naturally, the girls ran around trying to get everything perfect. We were basically forced to have a wedding like Akila and Total's; small but a ceremony all the same.

Nudge and Ella were set to be my bride's maids; The Gasman and Iggy agreed stand at Dylan's side. Angel begged me to be our flower girl and I actually asked Jeb to escort me down the aisle.

On the day of our wedding, Nudge and Ella were running around, trying to find me something old, new, borrowed and blue.

When the new, borrowed and blue was taken care of, Nudge began to dig through me stuff… trying to find something old.

All of sudden, Nudge's face went blank. I had to strain myself to see the old letter that she gripped tightly.

The crinkles and tearstains gave it away immediately; Fang's letter.

At the sight of the paper, my heart constricted. I hadn't read it in weeks, yet I still knew every word that was portrayed on the stationary.

I ended up shooing everyone out of the room so that I could be alone. I sat down with a pen in my hand, tears streaming down my cheeks, messing up my makeup. I didn't care though; I couldn't go through with marrying Dylan. I just couldn't.

I packed my things, kissed the letter to my awaiting fiancé and left.

Next to the letter, I laid my engagement ring. I put my heart and soul into what I wrote to him, explaining every thought that was running through my head.

The flock would hate me for leaving them. They would learn to cope with losing me, eventually.

In the following years, I moved from town to town yearly. I met Karrie about 7 or so years back, and she always disapproved of Fang.

She was the one to help me get a well paying job… well enough that I could afford to buy a house in Colorado again. 5 years of hard labor paid off, and now I can coast by without a current income. God, I love Karrie for that.

"I haven't seen anyone in the flock since," I conclude.

Fang peers up at me. His eyes search mine briefly, and he unexpectedly leans towards me.

Out of age old habit, I lose my hands in his currently short(er) hair as he twists his head to the side to deepen our embrace.

He pulls me to him, trying to get closer. I end up pressed against his torso, our chests rising and falling in unison.

We do not pull away from each other, even when Ash steps in to tell us that he is home.

"Yo," He says. One glance at us, and he backs out of the room. "Gross!" He shouts.

We do, however, break apart when a knock occurs on the door, followed by glass shattering.

Because, you know, my life cannot be normal.

Phew, long chapter. Ahh well.

Review?

Please? You know you want to!

~Faxisthegreatest123~