Aha! It's before the 10th! And I've updated! A new record! Whoo!

"I sense it now, the water's getting deep
I try to wash the pain away from me
Away from me."

--Michelle Branch

Chapter 16: Max P.O.V.

Imagine a small, private owned Italian restaurant. Now, picture the inside of it about as large as your living room.

Now add in ten adults, nine teenagers, and five kids, all at one table. Take about cozy.

About an hour and a half after a rather tearful reunion, one that I would like to not dwell on right now, the bulk of us were sitting at this huge, incredibly long table. At one end, sat Mom, then me, Ella and Fang. Across from me was Gazzy, Angel sitting right next to him. Down at the other end was Nudge and Iggy. Scattered in between us was… well, everyone else.

The waiter, who looked completely overwhelmed, being that he was a pimply, greasy-haired, seventeen year old who probably never waited on a table over six before, set down my drink in front of me, then eyeballed me with a sick smile. I stared back.

Already, I could tell this was going to be the highlight of my trip. Oh, joy.

I looked down the table to Nudge, who was talking a mile a minute, no surprise, waving her arms wildly as her mom laughed. Both of them were the first ones to start crying when they met which then set off everyone else.

Except for me. I stayed dry. An accomplishment, if I may say so.

Across from me, Angel and Gazzy were explaining the toy store we went to, back in New York City, which seemed like millenniums ago. They were both smiling, and when Angel saw me watching, she smiled again.

This is so great, she said in my mind. He doesn't even care about my wings! He thinks they're really cool!

I smiled. I was insanely happy. Really. Because they were.

He says I'm just special, she continued, still looking at me. Just like you used to, when I was little.

My smile faded a little as she turned away from me. Mom patted my knee.

"You look tired," she whispered.

"Yeah," I said, "That's what I need. A nap."

She narrowed her eyes, "Quit the sarcasm, Max. Be happy."

I furrowed my eyebrows. "I am happy."

She gave me a long look. "It's hard," I admitted.

"Hey Max," Ella said. I turned to her and found her staring across the table near Nudge. "Why didn't you mention that Nudge's brother was so adorable?"

"What?" I asked, as Fang took a casual sip of his soda, not looking at me.

"Ben!" she whispered, "He's really cute."

"I never really noticed," I said, "I had bigger things on my mind, I guess."

"Well," she said, still watching him, "Maybe we can work out a long-distance relationship or something."

I stared at her, before adding, "Whatever you say."

Fang looked at me, but not for the first time since we were seated. On his other side was his step-dad, who I had met for all of five minutes the first time I was in his house.

Fang's house.

I waited for him to say something, but he didn't. He just continued staring.

The waiter came back with bread and little bowls of olive oil. He slid his arm in between Ella and me, letting his sleeve brush against my shoulder. I gave him a dirty look, but I don't think he saw.

I looked back up at Fang, who had an amused look on his face. He glanced down at the olive oil, and Angel giggled. I glanced at her, and then looked back at Fang.

"What?" I asked, confused.

He leaned across Ella and grabbed the plate, "Best we keep this away from you."

Angel, who was already laughing, was joined by Gazzy and Nudge, glanced in our direction, and smiled.

"I don't get it," Ella said.

"Nor do I," I said, giving Fang a sly glance.

Somehow, everyone grew quiet, except for Angel and Gazzy laughing and Nudge explaining it to Iggy. The rest of the table looked confused.

"What?" Ella asked Fang, "Why do you do that?"

Fang sighed, shaking his head.

"Back in New York City," Nudge started, "we went to this restaurant."

"It was really fancy," Angel jumped in. "Like, white table cloths and chandeliers and there was even a fireplace!"

"And Max said we could go there," Nudge said, "And it was like, a once in a lifetime shot. Going into this place, because it was so nice and all."

Ah. Now I understood. They decided to torment me by telling funny stories. Ha ha. Not funny.

"Anyway, we went in, and it was so cool. There was stained glass everywhere. Way pretty."

"Nudge," Iggy sighed. "The short version. Please."

"Right," she said. "Anyway, there was a little problem in getting our food and our waiter was being an idiot so Max went and dumped the whole little plate of olive oil on his head!"

Looking down, I smiled a little, while a few people laughed.

"You dumped olive oil on his head?" Mom asked, incredulous.

"Well," I started. "It was an accident."

"Yeah," Gazzy said. "She accidently put it on his head." And then he cracked up again.

"It's really not that funny," I said, "And he was being a complete jerk."

"What was the problem?" she asked.

"He wouldn't bring us our food, and we were hungry," I said, as if this were a perfectly reasonable explanation. Which it was.

"So you dumped a condiment on his head," she said.

I rolled my eyes. Glancing up at Fang, I saw he was smirking.

"Hey, Ella?" I asked. "Can you duck down for a minute? I wouldn't want to hit you," I said, staring straight at Fang.

"Hey," Ella said sternly, "No fighting at the table, you two."

I gave Fang a thanks-a-bundle look, and he smirked some more. Then his eyes softened a little, and I understood.

It was a way to ease up on the tension.

I gave him a half-smile, showing him that I understood. He nodded.

Looking up, I saw Mom staring at me. "What?" I asked.

She shook her head, and I heard Danica whisper to Fang, "Does she do this a lot?"

Fang looked at me, meeting my glare; I could've sworn he was holding back a chuckle. "All the time."

"I do not!" I said, "That guy was a complete jerk. He deserved it!" Leaning forward, looking past Fang, I added, "I am generally a very nice person."

This caused Fang and Iggy to burst out laughing.

"What?" I said, "I am. Right?" I said, to Nudge.

"Yeah, okay," she said, smiling.

"She's only saying that because she knows better than to disagree with you," Iggy said.

"No, I wasn't," Nudge said, "Max can be really nice and sweet."

Yep. That's me.

"There you go," I said.

"Well," Fang said, "You're not nice and sweet to me."

Taken back, I said, shrugging, "That's because you're mean to me. So why should I be nice to you?"

He paused, "Harsh."

I shrugged again, "You see, Fang can be nice. He just isn't to me," I said to Danica. I wouldn't want him to get a bad reputation or anything.

Fang glared at me, and I continued. "He just covers it up with his dark, hard-core, I-don't-care vibes that he gives off. He doesn't want anyone to know that's he's a real softie. Deep down. Deep, deep down."

She laughed, knowing I was only teasing. Fang didn't seem to appreciate my humor though.

"I'm not a softie," he said.

I smiled, "Yes, you are."

His eyes narrowed. "Name five nice things I've ever done for you."

I paused. "See?" he said, "You can't think of anything."

I smiled evilly, "Okay, one time, when we were six, you offered—,"

"Not that one," he said quickly, and my smile grew larger.

"Why not?" I asked.

"See?" he said, "That was the only one you could think of."

"It is not," I said and paused, thinking hard.

He rolled his eyes, but then glanced at me sideways, asking if I was okay.

Mom tapped my knee again. "Why isn't Iggy talking to his parents?" she asked quietly.

I looked down at his side of the table, where he was talking to Ben and Stephanie, but ignoring his mom and dad.

"He doesn't like them that much," I said, "I thought I told you that he met them already."

"You did, but I don't know why he doesn't like them."

I looked at her. "I'll tell you later," She nodded.

"Nudge seems to be happy," she said.

I nodded, "Out of all of us, she's wanted this the most. She's the most normal, I think."

"That's nice," she said, "You're handling this really well, Max."

I shrugged, "I have to. And I've had lots of practice of lying under pressure."

She looked at me, and then rubbed my knee again. I turned to Fang abruptly.

"I got one," I said, "Back in Colorado, we were all swimming in the pond, and it was Angel and I against everyone else in an extreme water gun fight. And Gazzy grabbed my leg and pulled me down under the water, and you thought I was drowning."

He frowned. "So?"

I smiled, "You pulled me back up. Even though I could swim, and totally wasn't going to sink."

He shrugged, nonchalantly, "I would've regretted letting you die by the next morning."

"Yeah, yeah," I said, "You wanted to be the big hero and save my life. Admit it."

He shook his head, "You're crazy. You must have memory loss or something."

"Whatever," I said, "You would've missed me if I was gone anyway."

He shrugged again, but looked straight into my eyes, "Probably."

So, I know this chapter is really short and all, but I needed something of a filler between my last one and then next one. Which will be updated on the 12th. Or before then.