Capri's Note: Merry Christmas!

Chapter Ten

"Max?" Angel, lip slightly jutting out, looked up at Max. "I'm hungry."

Max smiled. "Me too, we all are. We'll stop when we get to the next town, okay?"

Angel pouted further, but nodded. Iggy radioed in a few minutes later, telling them he saw a sign for a small town up ahead, and it wasn't long before they were driving around, bickering about where they wanted to eat. They finally decided on a small fast food Italian restaurant and made their way in.

They all ordered what they wanted, almost cleaning out the place of all its food supplies. Angel bounded happily over to a biggest booth by the biggest window and hopped in, claiming her space. The rest followed and crowded in around them. Fang and Max were stuck on the ends across from each other, really having no choice but to look at each other. The waiter, along with a little assistance, came after a short while and set their food on the table. Fang's chest tightened when he saw the flirtatious look the waiter was giving Max.

"Can I get you anything else?" everyone but Fang seemed oblivious to the double meaning in the question he directed towards Max.

"Um," Max glanced up nervously. "I'm fine, thanks."

"You sure?" he winked, a cocky smile on his face.

"She said she's fine," Fang growled.

He didn't even acknowledge Fang, but kept his eyes on Max. "Another soda, some breadsticks?"

Fang glared at him for a minute before standing up, getting right up in the blonde waiter's face. Max shot up.

"Maybe you didn't hear me the first time, wiseass," Fang snarled in his face.

"That's enough!" Max put a hand on Fang's chest, keeping space between him and the bright red waiter. She pushed him back into the booth, but his eyes never left the waiter's as he walked away.

"What the hell was that?" she Max hissed, completely embarrassed.

"Nothing." Fang took a drink of his soda.

"Nothing? You call almost getting into a brawl with a waiter nothing?"

"Drop it Max."

"Make me."

They glared at each other across the table. Max was sure the table was the only thing keeping her from jumping across and wrapping her paws onto his neck. Iggy awkwardly announced that they start eating before it all went to waste.

Everyone was chattering away as they ate, avoiding the subject of Angel's episode and ignoring the silence radiating between Fang and Max. Max couldn't stop thinking about Total, or who Angel thought was Total, and Fang couldn't stop thinking about Max. His anger frustratingly faded away as he watched her. He watched her as she picked at her food, not really eating anything. Her chin rested in the palm of her hand, her eyes on the fork moving through her food.

He watched the way her hair waved around her face when she moved, making her skin glow in the light slanting in from the window beside her. He felt drawn to it, to her. It was almost like her skin was calling to him, disturbing him so that he just couldn't tear his eyes away from her. His gaze traveled from the tip of her frail fingers to the shimmering skin at her collarbone. His eyes eventually found hers. She was staring right back at him, hands frozen on the table. They stared for a moment, then both dropped their heads to stare blankly at their food.

Angel sensed the tension, but couldn't for the life of her get inside their minds to figure out what they were thinking. She furrowed her brow and tried until her head started throbbing. As if a light was just flicked on, her face went blank and she continued eating her food like nothing had just happened, seeming to forget what she was concentrating on.

"Rae, can I talk to you?" Iggy rubbed the back of his girlfriend's hand with his thumb. "Outside?"

"Sure."

Max watched the two walk out, instantly feeling a small pang of guilt at the look on Iggy's face as he told them they would be right back.

Outside, Rae led Iggy to sit on the back of her SUV, keeping his hand securely in hers.

"What do you need to talk about?" she asked, no suspicion whatsoever in her voice.

"Well…" Iggy scratched the back of his head. "It's about this whole thing, what the flock is going to have to do with Fang's help. It's going to get dangerous."

"You mean it's already not?"

Iggy cleared his throat disapprovingly. "For us, no it's not dangerous. But it will be. Much worse than it is now. And…we'll be flying soon…"

She caught on then. "And I can't fly."

He slowly shook his head. "No, you can't. It's not safe for you anymore, Rae."

"What are you trying to say?"

"Rae," he took her hands in both of his. "You can't come with us."

"What?" her shrilled voice hurt his sensitive ears. "What do you mean I can't come with you?"

"I mean you can't come with us anymore," he sighed. "You have to stay behind."

"Why?"

"It's going to get dangerous, Rae, really dangerous. In the past, we've known who we were going up against. This time we don't. We have no clue what's going to happen. We're not safe, which means you're not safe."

"What does your safety have to do with mine?" she snapped.

"Rae, please try to understand," he took a deep breath before continuing. "We, the flock and I, are in danger. If we're in danger, you're on your death bed. If we're scared, you're petrified. We know what it feels like to be running for our lives, to be literally on our death bed. You…don't."

Rae swallowed and choked back tears. He heard and pulled her into his arms.

"I can't take that risk. I can't risk your life, Rae. You can't come with us anymore. As much as I wish you could, you can't."

"I don't want to lose you!"

"Rae," he laughed halfheartedly. "You're not going to lose me. It's not like I'm going to war or going to do something that I can't come back from. I will come back. Compared to what we've done before, this really won't be much different. The only difference is we're fighting blindly."

She snickered, making him pull his brow together. When he realized what he'd said, he sighed and laughed.

"You know what I mean," he told her. "I've always fought blindly, but at least I knew who and what I was fighting."

She inhaled his scent. "How long will you be?"

"I don't know."

"When will you be back?"

"I don't know."

"Promise me you'll come back."

"Rae…"

"Promise."

He nodded. "I promise."

While the rest of the flock finished their lunch inside, Fang volunteered to trade all the supplies and luggage from one vehicle to another. He tossed the luggage a little harder than he should into the back of the SUV and slammed the trunk shut. He slammed the door to his truck as well, making a few people, including Max, glance out the window at him from the restaurant. He saw Max excuse herself from the table and cursed under his breath. The last thing he wanted was to talk to Max right then.

"Fang," she hissed, walking over. "Could you try to keep it down? People are starting to stare."

"So?" He walked around the passenger's side of the SUV, out of view of the restaurant and street.

"So?" she followed. "What the hell is your problem today, Fang?"

"There's no problem here," he shrugged smartly and opened the passenger side door to clear a spot for his stuff, but a smack upside the head stopped him. He turned around and glared at Max, who stood with her arms crossed. "Mind telling me what that was for?"

"What?" she shrugged, feigning innocence. "I need and excuse to give you what you deserve now?"

His eyes narrowed. "Come again?"

"That's not all you deserve, but I'd rather not cause permanent bodily damage right now. Maybe later."

"Well, if you weren't a girl, I'd have it out with you right now."

"Oh yeah?"

They seemed unaware of the fact that they were standing within inches of each other, their breath colliding as they fumed at one another.

"Yeah." He growled.

She wound up to punch him in the chest, but he caught her fist in his hand. She tried with the other one and he caught her again. He took steps forward as she took steps back. She stopped when her back touched the SUV. Fang kept moving forward until he was pressing her against the SUV, his chest to hers. He held her fists in his own and touched his forehead to hers.

Max stopped breathing. She stopped moving altogether. She completely froze at his proximity and the change in the atmosphere. His hands moved slowly down her forearms, and traveled until he cupped her face in his hands. She rested her hands on his wrists and closed her eyes. His thumbs rubbed her cheeks softly, his body pressed against hers. He tilted her head softly and let his lips touch the bridge of her nose. He softly kissed her cheek and pulled her closer to him.

When his lips grazed hers, she froze and pulled back slightly, tears welling in her eyes. He didn't have to think twice to understand. He placed a gentle kiss on her forehead, letting his hands fall down to his sides. He disappeared around the back of the SUV without a second glance.

Max, knees about to buckle beneath her, climbed shakily into the passenger's seat. She locked the door and cried softly into her knees, already missing the feeling of his heartbeat so close to hers.