~∞ ROSES ∞~

Chapter Eleven: Fang's Rose Trellis

His tackle was so spontaneous, that Max hadn't had time to dodge Fang.

The collision of the two bodies sent them both toppling to the ground, Fang on the top. He braced himself for the fall, his hands out so his body wouldn't crush Max's smaller one. Max tensed her body, ready for it to impact the ground, and for her torso to be crushed by Fang.

It never came. Well, at least her stomach wasn't flattened. But Max was locked in place, underneath Fang. His black hair felt like feathers against her forehead, and her eyes fluttered shut for a moment.

Just for a moment.

"Get. The. Hell. Off. Me," she growled, glaring up at Fang's onyx eyes. They seemed even brighter, even deeper than ever, due to the close proximities of the two.

Fang had has arms out in front of him, securing Max underneath him. His body lightly pressed against Max's.

"Why?" he whined, smirking. "I like you in this position."

"You pervert," Max hissed, trying to wriggle out of Fang's lock.

He shrugged. "Say what you want to say, dear. I don't want to hear it." Max spit in his face, and Fang groaned.

Slowly, he removed his arm from it's place besides Max's furious face, and wiped his cheek. Max made and effort to roll out from underneath him, to no avail. Fang snapped his arm back into it's previous position, Max still trapped. His hands shifted to Max's wrists, securing the lock even further.

"That. Was. Gross," Fang said, disgusted.

"But it isn't when you swap spit with all the girls in the school?" she retorted smugly, although Max was internally freaking out. How was she to get out of this?

BBRING! BBRING! BBRING! The bell interrupted her thoughts.

And now she was late for class.

The rest of the students – that weren't engrossed with the scene before them, as if it were some sort of drama – filed out of the room. Gradually no one else was left.

Only Max and Fang.

Fang chuckled. "Don't you remember? You're one of those girls now..." he simpered, looking pleased with himself. "Anyway, swapping spit is just nasty. What you really should try, is swapping gum," he winked.

Max cringed in disgust. He couldn't be serious. "Can I get to class now?" Max asked impatiently. "We're going to be late."

Fang scoffed, rolling his eyes, and pushing his hair out of his face with a flick of his head. "When did Maximum Ride ever care?" he taunted.

"Ever since she met you," was her response.

BBRING! BBRING! BBRING!

"And now we're late," Max sighed. "Happy? Now just get off of me." She relaxed her rigid structure, no longer trying to get out. Fang would have to let her go, sooner or later.

He shook his head no. "Not necessarily. Besides, I can keep you here as long as I want, now that we're already late. It doesn't matter anymore, now does it? Who do you have next?"

Max exhaled by the count of ten. "Miller, why?"

Grinning, Fang replied, "Because we're playing hooky today, Ms. Ride." He was rewarded with a groan from the girl beneath him.

"Fine," Max agreed, after hesitating for a minute or so. "Will you let me up now?" she complained.

Fang pushed himself up, dusting his hands off. He held one out to Max. She ignored it, and heaved her body off herself, without the help from Fang. Fang dropped his hand to the side, and grabbed Max's. She gaped at him, and struggled to pull it away.

He sighed internally, and simply gripped it harder. What was up with this girl? Fang thought exasperatedly, as Max thought, What is up with Fang?

...

With Fang driving, Max sat in the passenger seat, her hands clasped together. She had texted Nudge not to worry about her since she had ditched class, and was replied back to with the assumption the Max had left with Fang.

Max denied the truth, and told Nudge that she had to go, before sliding her phone shut. She rested her head against the headrest, and looked out the window, watching the scenery pas by.

The car was quiet, although it was surprisingly a comfortable silence. Fang shifted in the drivers seat, tightly grasping the wheel. "So..." he began, his voice husky and low. "Where to m'lady?"

In his peripheral vision, he saw Max shrug her shoulders, a blank expression on her face, as she watched the trees come and go. "Wherever. I don't really mind."

He sighed to himself, and leant back on the chair. Fang had a place in mind, but he wasn't sure if Max would want to go. "So I can choose?"

She nodded. Your loss if you don't like it, Fang thought, as he switched lanes, and turned onto a different road. Max was silent, staring at her phone in her hands, as she turned it over and over and over in between her fingers.

Is this kidnapping? Max wondered. She shook her head. No, because I'm allowing him to drive me somewhere. All it is is playing hooky with a – what would I call Fang? A fellow classmate? A jerk? A friend? Yeah, I suppose he's a –

"We're here." Fang had driven silently, until he turned into a neighborhood. Not just any random neighborhood. His home.

Max blinked, stretching her arms some. "Where are we?" she asked, stifling a yawn. The car ride had made her sleepy, and her eyes drooped shut tiredly. With effort, she opened them. "We're at... a house?" she asked, taking in all the roses on the trellis on the side of the house.

Fang nodded. "Mine."