I'm not James Patterson! Sorry…

Chapter 5

The next morning I was dead tired because I had been up all night long trying to decide who I should choose and wondering what would happen to the one I didn't. So, of course, when Brigid arrived she just had to comment.

"Was there a pea under your mattress last night, Princess Max?" she joked. I just barely refrained from snarling, no, your ugly face kept me up. Instead I smiled and nodded while everyone else laughed. Dylan and Fang were glancing at me anxiously, and I started to wonder how they would treat me while I decided. Would I be some sort of pariah, or become a lap dog? I guess I'd find out.

After breakfast, we gathered in the living room for a meeting about he wedding, which I was suddenly dreading a whole hell of a lot more.

"As you all know, we got our bridesmaid dresses yesterday.' Mom started, and everyone glanced covertly at me "And today we are going to pick out and mail our announcements. Which means you kids get a day off from the wedding!" Everyone cheered. I fake-cheered. What was I supposed to do with a whole day full of nothing? Now I was hoping robots came crashing through the ceiling. Well, not actually, because then we'd have to fix the ceiling, but you know what I meant.

An hour after Jeb and Mom and Brigid had split (yay!) Dylan came up to me and said

"Hey, Max. Do you want to go for a walk- uh, fly?"

It was only because he was so heart-meltingly adorable that I didn't roundhouse-kick him into next week, sometimes. But despite this I found myself stammering out

"Uh, sure?"

I was much more comfortable once we were airborne. For awhile we flew in silence, each wondering what the other was thinking.

"Do you know who you're going to choose?" Dylan asked awkwardly.

"No." I answered, hoping he would change the topic.

"I hope you choose me. I was created to be your other half. We would be so perfect together. Please, just choose me Max." he said looking at me with those amazing turquoise eyes. I felt myself being drawn in, wanting to just say yes and be his forever. We could… Then Fang broke into my thoughts and reminded me why I was having difficulty making the choice. I remembered the first time I kissed him, when he was injured on the beach. I remembered him kissing someone else during our stint in Virginia, the rage that ignited in me.

"I'd like to, but I can't promise you that'll stay." I rationalized as we landed.

"Then I'll make it stay." He said, almost fiercely, except he was joking. I opened my mouth to respond but he cut me off. His lips were on mine for the second time in two days. I noticed this time they tasted like cinnamon. I couldn't get enough of it. This was so sweet, soft, beautiful. We broke apart, laughed, and headed back to the house. I was glad we landed far away, so Fang couldn't see us holding hands as we walked.

Fang was updating his blog when we got back to the house. He looked pretty impassive, but then, that's how his face always looks. Nudge pounced on me after we walked in the door, claiming that my Mom had called about the announcements and she just had to talk to me. Yeah, right.

We flopped down on her bed (Note: there's no phone in her room) and Nudge just looked at me for a second. Then Ella walked in. apparently Nudge had gotten her up to date on thing whole thing.

"Sooooooooo…" started Ella.

"Who are you going to choose? Do you know who you're going to choose? Has either of them kissed you yet? If so, which one? Who kissed who first, you or them? How many times? Who…" Nudge asked in rapid-fire succession before I cut her off.

"Whoa, Nudge. Breathe." I interrupted. "I'll answer your questions. 1: I don't know. 2: Refer to last answer. 3: Yes. 4: Both of them. 5: I kissed Fang, Fang kissed me. Dylan kissed me. 6: Fang: too many times to keep track of. Dylan: two. Since yesterday."

"Wow" Ella breathed. "Which one do you think is cuter?"

"Dylan, definitely." I surprised myself by saying. "But Fang and I have more history." I added loyally.

"Who's a better kisser?" Nudge asked. I blushed.

"Ummmm… You're too young to know." I murmured

"Oh, please, Max. It's actually pretty funny how you think I've never kissed anyone aside from Gazzy, Iggy, and darling Fangie-poo."

"Whaaaat?" I screamed, shell-shocked. My little Nudge had actually kissed someone? Ella gasped and quickly turned on Nudge.

"Who was it, how old were you, and was it like making out or more of a peck on the cheek?" she interrogated

"Aaron Weber, eleven years old, the second one. When we were in Virginia." Nudge answered. "Okay, now it's your turn."

"Both of them?" I answered hopefully. They shook their heads.

"I'll spill if it'll make you feel more comfortable." Ella wheedled. I nodded. "Okay. I've kissed three guys: Eric Lummi, fifth grade. Henry Smith, 7th grade. Shaw Moore, 7th and 8th grade." They looked at me. I sighed.

"I give up! Fang is definitely a better kisser. Dylan is a lot hotter. I've liked Fang for too long to give up on him. But Dylan is so romantic. My mind is going around in useless circles and I don't know what to do!" I admitted. Ella and Nudge, and Angel, who had entered the room when I raised my voice, were gaping. That was the most weakness I'd ever admitted to them. Ella walked over to me and put her hand on my arm.

"We'll help you, Max. I don't know how, but we'll do it." Everyone nodded.

"Hey, can I talk to Max?" Fang poked his head in the door and asked. I blushed automatically, and then nodded. I got up to walked out the door and glanced back. Nudge, Angel, and Ella were giving me thumbs-up(s?) I smiled and headed out.

After we took flight, Fang said

"I don't want to make this awkward, discussing the… previous events. I just want it to be like it used to be." I agreed with that all of the way. I told Fang so. He nodded, and we flew in companionable silence for a while. I found myself comparing this to the time I spent with Dylan. Dylan had pushed on about my decision, while Fang realized I didn't want to talk about it and let it go. It would be much easier to live with Fang, he knew me so much better. But with Dylan…

"You're brooding. Just let it go for a while. Pretend it never happened." Fang's voice cut into my thoughts. I smiled gratefully at him.

"In that case, I'm going to have to make fun of your hair." I smirked. It was starting to get really long, like past his shoulders. And it still had a little of the tan streaks from our funky New York makeover at the bottom. "You look like a hippie. I'm going to have to hunt down some rusty old kitchen shears and attack it before you go anywhere." He snorted

"I'm going to stop making you feel better if this is what I get." He warned jokingly.

"Ha! You're too dang sweet to stop. It's in your blood." I said sarcastically, luxuriating in the ease of the banter. We went back and forth without even thinking.

"You know it." Fang answered, more open then I had ever seen him before. Was he just trying to show me how simple it would be for us? The questions came back just when I thought they were gone. I motioned to Fang that we should land. He nodded and began the descent.

When we touched down he asked why we had landed.

"It keeps coming back. I wish I had someone that I could just tell everything to, a shoulder to cry on." I answered simply, and there was a short pause. When I looked up he was staring intently at me.

"You have me."

I walked over slowly and just kissed him. It was the first time I had ever kissed him. Like, kissed him kissed him. It was glorious. At first he was surprised, then he relaxed in my arms. These kisses were the best we had ever shared. He was so serene that he just let go. I loved it, and him even more. My mind was made up irrevocably, until I saw Dylan again.

Fang was wrong. While I could tell him a lot, I couldn't tell him everything. He was too close to this problem to understand. I realized this whenever I pictured the look on his face as I would describe kissing Dylan. Not somewhere I wanted to go. I needed someone who was separate, but a part of it. It couldn't be Nudge, because she was too young and had some flock prejudices. It couldn't be Ella because, as much as I loved her, sometimes she just didn't get me. Angel had the same problems as Nudge. Then inspiration struck me. I realized I could tell my mom. I still wasn't used to having a mother figure in my life, so it took me a while to get to that. I swore I would tell her everything as soon as she got back.

After lots more smooching, Fang and I finally arrived home. Dylan was playing some shoot-'em-up video game with the Gasman. Apparently banned for life is a lot shorter than it used to be.

Gazzy looked up guiltily as walked in, and I knew he knew he was in for it. But I could deal with that later. Because Dylan was looking at me too, and I was lost in his beautiful turquoise eyes. They were pools on a hot summer day, gorgeous and refreshing. They were… Omigod I'm thinking in metaphors. That is never ever a good sign.

I thought your craziness was supposed to lead to greatness. "Like Joan of Arc" were your words, I believe. Said the Voice wryly. I moved to my room, where I could sit still and talk to the Voice in my head in private.

"The good news is I retained the words metaphor and retained from the two months or so I went to school" I hissed at it. Iggy glanced up as I walked past his room. He had what looked like the beginnings of a really big bomb laid out on the floor, but, being as he just heard me talking to my crazy-person Voice, I decided not to push it.