NOTE: Some of you may have noticed that AB- can also receive blood from other blood types, which raises questions. Bear in mind that it was one in the morning and that Max was one of the several people Tess called. Other might've had valid excuses or were not in the mood (as mean as that is).

Disclaimer: I don't own MR.

A week later

It still doesn't feel right. It felt so surreal, like Tess never actually called me in the first place. Like the past week was just the result of oversleeping.

That girl was definitely not me. I did challenge people on a daily basis, but that was the only actual time I challenged Fang. Those past dares were just a part of my teasing, another façade I kept. And I definitely wasn't the type to harbor secrets. I knew a lot of things, but those were obtained during those times I'd walk by and suddenly overhear something. I never bugged anyone on who they liked or what their most embarrassing moment was.

I remembered waking up that morning, staring at the top of his unruly black mane, his face calm and relaxed. I recalled that we shared a pillow while Tess took the couch. It could've been the other way around, but Tess needed the comfort judging by the dark circles under her eyes. Everything, from every single conversation topic we had to what time we went to sleep was embedded on my mind. Especially what Fang had told me right before we kissed.

I like you a lot. More than you think.

Fang definitely liked me as a friend, that much I knew. But then Fang was…Fang. He was the most unpredictable -slash- bipolar person I knew. One minute he'd be quiet, and then he'd suddenly tell me a secret in another. First we'd be laughing about random things and I'd be asking about Iggy, and then the next minute would be like BAM! Fang would say something about liking me more than I thought and would kiss me. It was pretty much like that for the past couple of years. And now it confuses me more than ever.

Another thing I noticed after I woke up in the hospital was that the blanket Tess used last night was folded neatly on top of the pillow, a sure sign that she already woke up which I had learned when we went to the beach. And when I thought of the beach, I remembered Fang. Again. We made a pact not to tell Iggy anything. It had felt like we were having an affair, except that it wasn't quite official because Fang couldn't make up his mind about it. And then I remembered Tess, and prayed that she never saw anything happen between the two of us that night.

I'm not saying that Fang's a bit bad when it comes to making decisions or finalizing his statements. If I did hate him for that, then I never would have liked him in the first place. The thing is, would we be actually able to handle each other's moods 24/7? I have my doubts that we'd end up long, another reason why I haven't made a move to tell him. My mind and heart actually screamed the same thing: Fang. But there was still that sane part in me, the one that had to think everything through, or what kind of things led to him saying what he said. Jeez, Fang wasn't even dying, and I never thought him to be the kind of guy who says corny things while he's injured.

I haven't told Nudge, Ella, and Angel a thing. Come to think of it, I never do actually tell them that we've kissed, even if it was in one of those romantic scenes like at the beach when it was raining. I've always kept them to myself, and keep telling them pessimistic -slash- realistic things that were actually the same things I kept on thinking. Jeb might as well be out of the question, because even if I'm practically legal, I'd still need his approval and whatnot.

The sane part of my brain also brought up one of the many questions I had asked myself during the beginning of summer: What were we actually going to do if I ever said yes? I know for a fact Fang's not a romantic, Tess isn't focused on love, and Iggy's still heartbroken. We'd probably still be doing the same stuff we did, except that whenever he kissed me, he wouldn't say sorry anymore. Maybe he still would, but I'm hoping that the lame apologies would stop, if that isn't too demanding.

The conversation the morning after that would always be the most replayed thing on my mind. Next to the confession, at least.

Tess had left a note that she was getting breakfast. After making sure Fang was still asleep, I tried my best to lift my head off the pillow without disturbing him too much, since his head was pretty close. I then continued watching Fang from the couch. Half of my mind wondered if it was real or a dream, while the other half wondered if Fang was thinking the same thing, in the case that it actually happened.

The first thing he saw when he woke up was me. He blinked, and then suddenly got up, making his hair messier than before.

"Did that actually happen?" He asked.

So it was real. "Well, I thought I was dreaming, too. But since you asked that…"

He froze, and then spontaneously landed back on his pillow. He then proceeded to cover his face with both hands and say a few choice words. That was probably either because he actually thought it was just an illusion, too, or maybe he thought I was someone else. I'd prefer the neither any other day.

"Is it me, or are the forces of the universe acting particularly weird upon us today?" I asked, trying (too hard) to bring the conversation to a casual tone.

He didn't answer and instead added a few more words to his list, a couple I've never even heard before. And I thought I was the sailor during our past lives.

"It really did happen, didn't it?" He said, not making any move to take his hands off his face.

"What really did happen?" Tess asked as she entered the room, holding trays of food. When Fang didn't answer, she turned to me.

"What is he talking about?"

Another thought that resurfaced after we kissed was Iggy. It pretty much reminded me of all the stuff Fang and I hid from him, both before and during the relationship. I'd have to use all ten fingers, probably even my toes, to count how many things we haven't told him.

That memory was made stronger when Iggy visited Fang the same morning.

I was about to leave then. He entered and greeted the three of us, but when it came to say hi to me, it seemed forced and had a heartbroken ring to it. It was a huge difference, considering that Iggy was quite upbeat when he entered and had a huge grin on his face. When he saw me, his smile grew smaller and was sadder. We hadn't actually had a single conversation ever since he walked out on me and I left when we broke up, so we didn't know if we were still supposed to be friends or something.

And if we still stayed friends, he would still have to live with the fact that I broke his heart. So, no, I guess that was not really an option. I quickly declared that I was going, and left the room without making eye contact with either boy.

I knew I couldn't stay away from Iggy forever, and he knew that he couldn't avoid me, either. We'd have to settle on an agreement one day or another. That afternoon, he found me sitting near the edge of a park's fountain. Fortunately, it was an insignificant park with no memories to make me feel anything.

"What're you doing here?" He asked, sitting next to me and turning so that we faced each other.

"Gazzy's trying out one of those bombs you taught him. Had to stay away from the damage." Gazzy became Iggy's companion the summer we dated. I had sometimes joked that my brother was spending more time with him than I was, and we'd just laugh. "I have to admit, he misses you. You should drop by sometime. He always keeps on saying something about being with a friend that had the same mind as him."

"Well, about that…"

I blushed a little. Of course my brother was on good terms with him, but it was probably not motivational enough for him to be under the same roof as me.

Iggy went on. "Well, yeah, I'd rather that we don't see other, but then we go to same school and might as well share classes. So I guess I wouldn't want that?"

"Wouldn't want what?"

"I wouldn't want not seeing you. You're a really cool girl, a really great friend, and I wouldn't want to loose that just because we dated and broke up. It just makes me feel even more special because I was good enough to date you."

It was weird hearing him say that. He made it sound like that was the one who chose to break up, and not me. It made me feel bad, seeing as he was so nice that he still wanted to stay friends with me, or whatever he had meant to say.

"Well, what do you mean by that?"

"I mean that I still want to be friends with you. If it's okay with you."

"It's totally okay with me. I mean, I wouldn't want to loose contact with you, either."

He had a goofy grin on his face, but then the silence started and he started to look serious.

"You know I could've done the same thing you did. By that, I mean giving Fang some of your blood."

"I'm sure you could've done that. You're Fang's best friend; it's not your fault your blood type's different."

"Yeah, my blood type is different, but I'm A negative. I could've donated to Fang if I wanted to."

If he wanted to? "Well, you must've been asleep when Tess called; you were probably tired, anyway."

"But I wasn't tired. I was wide awake, and I answered my phone when she called. She wasn't that jumpy yet, so she told me everything. It took long, about five minutes or so. Then she asked me if I could donate. I said I didn't feel like going out and hung up."

Silence again. I couldn't exactly say anything to comfort him, since he would deny it.

"You're not gonna judge me?" He asked.

"I can't, because if I was in you situation, then I would've said the same thing to her, too."

He grinned. "Thanks. That made me feel good." Then, he added, "So I heard Tess called you on your house phone?"

"Yep. Gave me the worst heart attack. Not literally of course. Anyway, she explained she couldn't remember my number and she didn't bring her cellphone with her since she was in a hurry, and she hadn't bothered looking at Fang's. So she had to search the phonebook."

"I have to say, that sure is a story worth telling."

"Yeah. The tale of how I thought I had a week left to live."

"Very funny."

We continued to make small talk, and soon we both had to go. He walked me to one of the park's entrances and we started to say our goodbyes for the day.

"Max, we will still be friends, right?"

I smiled. "Of course we will. Of course I want to be friends with you."

"I'll see you around?" He asked, taking a few steps to the general direction of his house without turning his back on me.

"Yeah." I said and waved. He turned and started walking home, and I did the same in the other direction.

I had a decision to make. A lose-lose problem, like back when Iggy asked me out. There was no escaping this one, either. And even if I could avoid it for long, it was one that I didn't want to stay away from. It was probably the one moment my love life waited for since forever.

And yet I couldn't deny the thought that I was going to mess it all up.

The day after that, I went back to the hospital for two reasons. One was because Tess begged for company, since Fang's parents were busy again. The second one was that no matter what I did or what other topic I thought of, Fang's voice would once again pop up in the back of my mind. I'd have to face the music sooner or later.

"Really, Max. Thanks for going with me." Tess said as we entered the hospital. She kept on assuring me that I didn't need to be there the whole day, since I probably had other things to do. But talking to Fang was pretty much the only thing on my checklist, and that required being cooped up in the hospital all day, or at least until Fang and I had a few minutes alone with Tess out of earshot. And even if I didn't get the chance, nothing would change since he was going to be out in a day or two and we'd have more than few of our share of moments with no one else tagging along.

So even if the sane part of me wanted to do this later, I still couldn't handle it anymore, and had to just jump in.

Fang didn't look so much like a hospital patient anymore. He had insisted on dumping those weird hospital gowns everyone seemed to wear and opted for his regular clothes. He sat on the chair nearest to his bed, which was neatly made, and was playing a game on his phone when we entered. He smiled upon seeing Tess, but it got smaller and his cheeks flushed a bit when I followed.

"Wanted some other company," Tess said, putting down her bag. "I hope you don't mind?"

"I don't. But do mom and dad know that I can actually spend a day on my own?" He asked.

"Tell that to them." She replied, slouching into the seat beside him. I, in the meanwhile, sat down on the couch on the opposite end of the room and checked my phone for messages. There was one from Nudge.

Where are you? Don't tell me you're with Fang again.

Well, so to speak, I was actually accompanying Tess, who was accompanying Fang. So that didn't actually mean that I was with Fang, right? Or did that have something to do with the transitive property, which meant I was with Fang?

"Um, Max?" Tess asked. I looked up from my phone. She was already halfway down the room, her hand level with the doorknob. "I'm just going out to get some stuff, 'kay?"

I nodded and she went out, closing the door behind her.

So now it was just the two of us.

"Do you wanna talk?" He asked.

"What are we going to talk about?"

"You already know." He replied, still fixing his gaze on the floor.

Of course. He probably also knew that I was going to bring it up if he didn't.

"So… a recap, I guess."

He took a deep breath. "I got hit. You got called. You came. I got better. We talked. You stayed for the night. I told you I like you. We kissed."

It was weird how straightforward he was this time, but the tone of his voice didn't suggest that he was fully confident on how I was going to answer.

"Yeah that. So I guess the question is, if I like you or not, right?" I asked.

"Something like that."

That was the million dollar question. Actually, it was worth more than a million. Him sort of asking me out reminded me of when Iggy asked me out. Really, there were no huge differences between the two, since I've only learned one lesson about boys: never lead them on. So if I still knew nothing about serious relationships and decided to jump in one with Fang, would that mean I was leading him on?

I looked at him. His hair partially blocked his face, since his head was bent at a direction not meant to direct focus on me.

"It's just that…" I started.

No reply. Still not looking at me. It made me wonder which one of us was going to feel worse after the rejection.

"It's just that, it's been at least a week or two since Ig and I broke up. I don't think this is going to be good for the three of us. You know, three-month rule and all."

He nodded, but I knew that he knew that the explanation wasn't over yet.

"And, well, I don't think I'm that prepared to jump into anything else right now."

I was totally ruining this.

"So, you're saying you want to be friends?" He asked. His head was now raised, staring at the wall behind me.

I was totally ruining this.

I swallowed. "Yeah."

I was totally ruining this.

"Oh. Okay." He replied, his expression gloomier.

I was totally ruining this.

He thought he was defeated. But he only heard the reason why I didn't want to go out with him now.

I never did tell him that I liked him. Loved him, even.

I totally ruined this.

I know, WHY DID MAX HAVE TO RUIN IT? (As if I wasn't the one writing this.) For anyone who might be confused, the chapter is Max's narrative on what happened "a week ago".

I probably would have made this with them confessing to each other already, but (1) it's not ready to end yet… they still have prom, and (2) confessing while the other had a not-much-fatal-accident-and-not-really-in-critical-condition would STILL sound cliché. Get my point there?

By the way guys, you mind doing a favor? My sister writes (most of the time even better than me), but she never puts it up on sites like FictionPress. I may be delusional over here, but I think it would be cool if a random stranger (for her) gives her a compliment about her stories (because everyone gets flattered by that. Like me, for example). Here is a link to one of the short stories she made: yourdailytinapay(dot)blogspot(dot)com / 2011 / 10 / sometimes-it-lasts-in-love-but(dot)html . You can either leave a comment (you should probably mention that I sent you there, so she won't get creeped out) or just put in your review and I'll show it to her.

Hope that's not too much to ask.

See you in a week (or two)! =D