Fang POV

I opened my eyes and turned to look in the direction of the clock on Max's bedside table.Her face was in the way. I took a second to look at her. She was so peaceful while she slept. Her guard totally down, and her features totally relaxed. She stirred a little and smiled in her sleep. I felt my own lips curve up in responce.I tightened my grip around her waist and she scooted her face up to lay it on my shoulder. Ubruptly she jerked back and her eyes flew open. She stared at me eyes wide. She looked at me in alarm for a moment and then she relaxed. I looked questionately at her until she met my gaze.

"I just forgot." She explained. "Are you sure you're okay? Nothing hurts?"

I put on an expression of nonchalance and shrugged. "Im fine Max," and I plopped over onto my back.

She looked at me skeptically for a moment then sighed. She got up out of bed and as she stood up I couldn't help but let my gaze travel up her looong legs and...I closed my eyes tightly and tried to clear my thoughts.

"Fang?" Max asked sounding slightly worried.

I opened my eyes to see her looking at me."Im fine. "I said, but my voice came out half strangled. I cleared my throat to try again as Max rushed over to me. I propped myself up on my elbows and she gently traced two fingers down my cheek. I shivered despite my outrageous temperature.

Just then someone knocked on the door. Max sighed and reluctantly got up and said, "come in."

Angel's face emerged from behind the door and she looked like she just woke up. She didn't fool me though. I looked at her suspiciously as she embraced Max. Over max's shoulder she smiled and winked at me. I knew it!

you better behave Fang! she projected to my mind. Then she giggled and it sounded so sweet I couldn't help but smile, too.

Max pulled out of the hug to look at her questioningly and she just shrugged and smiled angelically at Max then she looked at me. Max looked from Angel to me and I realized I was still smiling. Max looked at my, her expressions slightly perterbed. I tried to stop smiling and couldn't. Wow, today was weird. Actually they past few days have been weird. What was going on?

You're happy Fang. And for good reason,too. We're all together, and we can finally relax. It normal to smile, ya know.

Angel smiled at me again. sheesh, for a six year old she sure was mature sometimes.

She hopped onto the bed and waded through the comforter and sheets till she was close enough to wrap her tiny arms around my neck. She could only stay there for a second before she pulled back sweating.

"Well Fang I would give you a real hug, but I think you're getting hotter." I knew what she meant but I still couldn't hold back my smirk.

"Oh, god." Max said and she sat back on thebed. Is he okay, Angel?

"Oh, yes he's fine." She said and Max leaned over to her hand on my face. "Especially when you do that!" Angel said laughing.

"Angel! " I said, and all I got in responce was an innocent smile.

Max just shook her head and got up off the bed.

"Go take a bath Angel. I'll be in to help you in a second. And take Total to the bathroom please." Max said.

Angel nodded and left the room, shutting the door behing her.

Once Angel left, Max came back over and plopped down beside me.

" What should we do today? We need to look for a place to stay but we're all grungy and we really need some more clothes. Which do you think is more important?"

Wow, Max was asking me? Ever since I left her she had been more dependant on me and letting me in on everything...like I was the leader as much as she was. But I wasn't. Max was so strong, beautiful, and smart. She didn't need anybody. Or so I thought. But the way she had been treating me made me feel needed. I liked it. It was like I was helping Max, being there for her, letting her depend on me.

"Let's get to the mall first and get the grungy part taken care of. We do need to find a place , but since we don't have to run anymore I think it can wait until later."

Her smile was blinding. "Thanks Fang." She said quietly and leaned toward me.

"Max!" Nugde's voice echoed. "Angel is in the bathtub and she needs you to help her wash her hair!" Max's eyes closed and she said, an edge of annoyance in her voice, "Okay Nudge. Just a minute."

I half-smiled up at her as she stood to go help Angel. Once she closed the door I took got up off the bed and pulled my shirt over my head and wings. They were slightly cramped from being held in close to my back. I let them fan out and the filled half of our big room. I pulled my black flanel pants off and walked over to our bathroom in my boxers. I decided to take a shower.

I was too hot already for a hot shower, so I put it on all cold.Ohhh...that felt really good on my wings. I hurried to wash the rest of my body and my hair.

I got out of the shower and rubbed my hair with the towel. It was getting pretty long. I wrapped a white towel around my waist, and let my wet hair fall around my face as I walked out of the bathroom. I changed into clean jeans and a black shirt.

Max POV

I washed Angel's hair for her and she got out of the bathtub.

"Nudge! Your turn!" I yelled.She didn't need any more persuasion than that. Soon she had her clean clothes and was shooing me out of the bathroom in thier room.

I walked through the tiny living room and over to Gazzy and Iggy's door. I knocked twice and Iggy opened the door in his boxers. Averting my gaze I told him and Gazzy to take baths and wash their hair. I had to remind Gazzy to use soap and shampoo. Sighing he walked to their bathroom, and Iggy shut the door on me.

I turned and went back to our room to find Fang clean and dressed laying on the bed ingulfed in his laptop. He didn't look up as I walked in and I gathered a pair of clean clothes and walked to the bathroom.

I undressed and turned the water on. I jumped in the shower... the hot water felt soo good on my wings. I quickly washed my hair and the rest of me and got out.

Getting dressed, I looked in the mirror. My hair had grown out, and was now really long. I would cut it today, I decided.

Wet hair in my face, I walked out of the bathroom. This time Fang looked up, closed his laptop, and watched me blow dry my hair. I felt uncomfortable under his stare, but refused to let myself squirm. I ignored him as best I could and finished drying my hair. Momentarily forgetting Fang, I began to brush it quickly. Strong hands grasped my mine and took the brush from me. making my muscles tense up. In the mirror I could see Fang over my shoulder. He smiled at me and I relaxed. He began brushing my hair slowly. My heart lerched to a sprint and tried desperately to jump out of chest. He set the brush down a few minutes later and began running his hands through my hair.

"Your hair is so beautiful. " he said, his voice low. He grabbed it up in one hand as the other came to rest on my waist. He moved my hair away from my neck and bent his face to kiss me there.

"Max, can I borrow your...WHOA! Oh my god!" Nudge shrieked as she backed out of our room.

"You shoulda knocked." Fang said, obviously irritated.

I walked over to the door and followed a retreating Nudge to her room. She finally turned to me, eyes wide. "Are you two...?"

"Nudge just drop it, okay.please?"I asked her. "We can talk about it some other time, alright."

Her lips cuvred into a smile as she squealed, "I knew it! You are!"

She ran to go find Angel squeaking the whole way. I walked back to our room passing by Iggy who was sitting on the coach in front of a TV he couldn't see.I opened our door, and walked over to where Fang was putting our things into a backpack. I helped him gather it up and then walked into the living room.

"Okay,guys come in here." I shouted to the bedrooms. Soon my flock were all gathered in the living room clean and smelling good.

"Alrighty then. Today we're going shopping -"

"Ah!! SHOPPING! Thank you Max!" Nudge exclaimed.

"-and then we'll come back here and crash here one more night. Tomorrow we're going to look for a place to stay for good."

I got various ranges of enthusiasm frm everyone, such as thanks from Nudge and Angel and mumbles like "oh great...shopping" from Gazzy and Iggy.

One hour later. The flock has found a mall and landed in the back parking lot.

As we walked to the doors leading into a JC Penneys I said, "Ok guys, let's split up. Fang, you, Iggy and Gazzy go shopping for your clothes and I'll take the girls to get hair cuts."

They nodded and we parted ways. Immediately, Nudge began chattering excitedly and pointing out things as we passed them. Angel held my hand and we wandered past a few stores before I even thought about asking someone where a salon was. I spotted an extremely nerdy looking, acne ridden guy, wearing a red vest sporting the phrase, 'How may I help you?' and walking around looking very lost.

I walked over to him and he smiled hugely. Ew. Inspite of my inner thoughts, I smiled back politely and said, "Um, could you point us to a salon, please?"

"Sure." He said, and while I was standing there waiting for him to respond I watched his gaze travel down from my face and come to a stop at my chest. Letting out my breath in an audible huff, I prepared to beat this loser's face in, but was interceded by Angel, who was previously examining an all pink display, but ubruptly straightened up and marched right up to him and kicked him squarely where it hurts. He gasped and collapsed, hands between his legs, on the lenolium floor, in the middle of the mall. Angel shouted in his face, "Jerk!" and then turned to smile at me. I looked at a wide eyed and (for once) speachless Nudge, and couldn't hold back a chuckle. Nudge and Angel soon joined in, and we walked away hand in hand, laughing hysterically.

I started to scout out another sales person but Angel began to pull us forward and explained, "I saw how to get there in his mind."

Once inside the salon, we were led by a purple-haired woman to three chairs along the back wall of the room. She shouted to a close door labeled 'employees only', and three beauticians with vibrantly colored hair in various shades emmerged.

As soon as Nudge's and Angel's stylists got over to them, they began talking, already knowing what they wanted done.I, on the other hand had no idea how I wanted my hair.

A blue-haired thin woman approached me and said, "Hey Honey. What are we doing today?"

"Um, I'm not really sure." I answered sheepishly.

"Okay!" She answered enthusiastically, and for a panicked moment I began to wonder if she had somehow thought I said, "Do whatever you want."

But before I could get too panicky she began to animatedly list all the things she thought would look good on me. She commented me on how beautiful my hair was, and I emmediately thought of how Fang had said the same thing earlier. I decided to only trim the ends of my hair. I also agreed with her when she suggested layering and framing my hair so she began doing that. The whole time she talked about anything and everything, and I found that she was very nice and easy to talk to. Soon I was talking as much as she was and we even laughed a few times.

"There, all done" she said and she put away her scissors. I started to turn and look in the mirror, but she stopped me and said, "don't you want to see it when I'm done?"

Confused I looked up at her. "But you just said-"

"that I'm done with your hair. Don't you want make up?"

I hesitated, debating. "I promise it won't kill you" She said, and winked at me.

I laughed. "Oh, why not?"

And it was her turn to laugh. She opened a very large drawer, exposing an impressive display of cosmetics. "Now I'm just going to stick with nuetral colors since you're so pretty honey, and then-"

She finally finished making me over and and clasped her hands together. "Okay. Look...now!"

I turned my chair around and gasped at the girl in the mirror. She looked at least three years older than me.