As promised, here is the second update for today! Yay! I feel like I've been writing all day long! Gahh! This has been my first free day in a very long time! Hmmm I must love you all very much. I actually like this chapter, but you all let me know what you think in your reviews. Yes, your reviews! Come on now! I have spent a very long time writing today, so the least you can do is review! Please! It's not that much to ask! Anyway…. Here's your new chapter. Enjoy and review!

KarleeRay

Apparently, it is the day to be out and Christmas shopping because there are no parking spots anywhere. Finally, Trent and I just get fed up and park the truck on the boardwalk, getting out to walk the half a mile back to Logan's Roadhouse. It is nighttime by now, and Trent and I walk close together down the sidewalk, not wanting to get separated by the crowds of people doing the same thing as we are.

"I think I made a lot of progress today," I tell him, dodging a kid running down the sidewalk at full speed. "But I still don't know what to get Fang."

Trent shrugs. "Don't ask me. You're the only one who really knows him….. and I mean really knows him," He says suggestively, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Shut up," I mutter, playfully punching him in the arm. "I'm being serious."

"So am I," Trent counters.

I groan out loud. "You're impossible."

There's a twenty minutes wait at Logan's Roadhouse and when we are finally seated, I'm practically salivating at the mouth. I order an insane amount of food, completely ignoring Trent while he watches me wolf it all down.

"That was impressive, even for you," He says, appraisingly.

I shrug. "You know how I do."

Trent chuckles and then checks his watch. "I should get you home. It's getting late."

I agree and we quickly pay the bill and leave. The sidewalks are even more crowded and I find myself growing increasingly claustrophobic, getting sweaty and panicky…. And things only get worse when I hear a voice sneer, "Hey baby. Come here. I wanna talk to you."

With a start, I realize he's talking to me. There are three of them, smoking outside of a bar. Showing amazing self-control, I completely ignore them.

"Hey! I'm talking to you," He slurs. Deep breath, Max. It's so not worth it.

"Hey man! You should teach your girlfriend some manners!" He calls, directing his attention to Trent.

"You're one to talk about manners," Trent growls, staring them down. He stops in front of them, fists clenched.

"Sharing is caring, man," One of them pipes up. "How about you let us have your girl for the next hour and we'll bring her back to you later? Everyone gets a piece. Everyone's happy."

Woah. My blood begins to boil. How dare he talk about me like that?! What? Like I'm some kind of object!

Trent takes a step forward, but I latch onto his arm before things can get messy. "Let's just go," I say softly, dragging him away from the men. Trent spends the next ten minutes ranting and I have to keep assuring him that it's not a good idea to… ah…. Go back and "rip those guys' heads off". Finally, though, I get him back to his normal cheerful self and it's as if nothing happened.

I'm beginning to feel claustrophobic again. It's extremely hot in these crowds of people, and I really don't like it.

Out of sheer luck, I spot a deserted alleyway and head straight for it, remembering that if we take this alley, ultimately, it will take us back to the truck. I sigh in relief, breathing in deeply.

"This is a shortcut," I tell Trent. Technically, it wasn't shorter, but Trent didn't really need to know about my claustrophobic freak out.

He shrugs. "As long as it gets me to my truck."

We walk in silence for a short while, and then Trent starts up with some jokes again, making me laugh until tears leak from my eyes. That boy was just so charismatic.

The truck was within view for my raptor-like eyesight, when the back of my neck begins to prickle. I do a complete 360, (old habits die hard), but I don't see anything. My brow wrinkles in confusion as my neck prickles again. Trust your instincts, Max.

I stop, listening, and find that I can hear footsteps coming towards us. Shrugging it off, I continue walking.

"You okay?" Trent asks, and I nod.

My sharp hearing picks up on the footsteps breaking into a run and I turn around to see the three guys jogging lazily toward us. Wordlessly, I nudge Trent whose expression darkens as he turns around and sees what I have seen.

We stop walking, knowing that a confrontation is inevitable.

"Hey beautiful! Where do you think you're going?" The big one calls, coming to a stop in front of us.

"Well I was thinking about going home but beating up on some sexist jerks sounds a bit more entertaining than that," I say, tightly, fists clenching.

"Come on baby! It don't gotta be like that. You just come with us. I promise you'll love it," The other one slurs, walking slowly towards me.

That's when Trent loses his cool, throwing the first punch at one of the guys. The guy goes down, but his buddies could care less. They advance towards me.

"Come on over here, sweetie. Say hello to your daddy," The big one sneers.

Um, no thanks. Gross. "Say hello to my fist," I snarl.

He starts to say something, but is instantly cut off when my knuckles connect with his face smashing his fragile human bones. He flails backwards, falling to the ground. I turn around to see Trent still locked in a fight with the first guy.

The last guy comes at me, and I swing a punch at him. I'm surprised when he easily dodges it, but I shouldn't be. I should know by now that over half of this city is enhanced.

He's angry now, and he shows that by ramming me into the brick wall behind me. My head slams against the brick and I see stars for a moment. God, he was fast.

"It's okay. I like'em feisty," He whispers, his hot breath trailing over my neck. I struggle against him, but he has my arms pinned down tightly to the wall, and we are pretty evenly matched in the strength department. His gross lips find their way to my neck and then work their way up my jaw and lastly, to my protesting lips.

Furious, I bring my knee crashing up, hitting him squarely where the sun don't shine. He recoils, bending over in pain, and I take this chance to land a few amazingly hard punches to his face, showing no mercy. I honestly have no idea how he is still on his feet, but he is, and he manages to throw a decent punch to my right eye and my mouth. I spit blood out of my mouth, trying to see through the red haze of rage clouding over my vision. With a furious roar, I spring at him, taking him to the ground. We struggle for a moment, before I am able to straddle his waist. My fist crushes into his face over and over again. I don't stop until he is out cold.

I get off of him just in time to see the two other guys running away from Trent, who is lying on the ground. I hurry towards him, spitting blood out on the ground.

He's unconscious. His face is beaten up, blood leaking from his nose and a swelling left eye, but he seems to be okay. I lean down, slapping his cheeks lightly to wake him up. Finally, his eyes flutter open. "Hey… you okay?" I ask.

He catches sight of me and jumps up, looking around wildly. "They're gone," I say and he relaxes slightly.

He looks back at me. "Are you okay?" His hand reaches out, attempting to stop the steady flow of blood leaking out of the side of my mouth.

"I'm fine. Come on. My mom will be wondering where I am."

Trent seems in a daze as he drives me home. He asks me repeatedly if I am okay but says nothing else about the matter.

"It's not your fault, you know," I say breaking the silence, knowing him well enough to know that he's silently beating himself up. "Just because I was with you doesn't make it your fault."

He shrugs, and I let it go.

"You should come in," I say as Trent pulls up and parks in front of my house. "Let my mom clean you up."

He nods, and I take his hand, dragging him up the front steps and in the front door.

"Mom!" I yell. "I'm home!"

She emerges from the kitchen, wiping her hands on an apron. She catches sight of me, of my bloody face and swollen shut right eye, and gasps, rushing towards me. "Max! What happened! Are you okay? Are you-"

"I'm fine," I cut her off. "It looks worse than it is. It's just my lip and eye."

She relaxes slightly. "Come into the kitchen and let me clean you up…. Both of you."

Trent and I follow her into the kitchen, and I perch myself up onto the counter.

Mom wets a wash cloth and starts to come toward me, but I shake my head. "Him first. He has to get home." She hesitates. "Mom! I'm fine!"

Finally, she agrees, beginning to wipe down Trent's face.

I hear footsteps coming down the stairs, and then everyone enters the kitchen, coming to see what the commotion is all about.

Fang catches sight of me and his eyes widen in surprise. "Max what the ….?" He rushes to the sink, wetting a wash cloth and coming to stand in front of me. He begins to dab my mouth and chin, and I wince before I can stop myself. His eyes express his concern and his motions even seem a little panicky. "What the hell happened?" He looks me in the eyes, all serious. He'll know if I am lying to him. I sigh, and quickly tell them all the whole story, editing some of the nasty things the guys said but making sure they knew what happened. Fang is absolutely livid by the time I am finished. His whole body quakes with rage.

"I swear I'll find them. I'll find them and-"

"Hey," I murmur, soothingly. I put my hands on both sides of his face and look into his eyes. "It's okay. I'm okay. I took care of it."

"No Fang's right, Max. We should find them and-" I shoot Ella a pleading glance as Iggy starts to rant, and she assumes a similar position to that of mine and Fang's, placing her hands on both sides of Iggy's cheeks and forcing him to look at her.

"Fang, go get Max into a bath and then to bed," My mom orders, looking distraught. "I'll walk Trent out."

Fang grabs my hand, pulling me up the stairs and into the bathroom. Honestly, I thought they were all overreacting. I was quite obviously fine.

He sits me down on the closed toilet seat and paces the length of the small bathroom, running frustrated hands through his hair. I sit silently, letting him vent. Finally, he stops squatting down in front of me. "Promise me you're okay."

I sigh. "I'm okay, Fang. Honest."

He nods, reaching out. His finger traces the swollen bumps of my face, feather light, and I shiver. He reaches for the hem of my shirt, beginning to pull it over my head.

"I do remember how to take my own clothes off," I tease, lightly.

I am rewarded with the smallest of smiles. "I know, but I just do it so much better," He murmurs, and I laugh standing and pushing him out of the bathroom.

The hot water works wonders on my body, and as sick and twisted as it sounds, I kind of enjoyed getting into a fight. The rush was just amazing.

I don't stay in the shower long, knowing that Fang will be waiting for me. I wrap myself in a towel and head to my room, throwing on some PJs. Fang walks in just as I'm pulling on my underwear and he ushers me into bed, slipping in beside me.

Fang held me tightly to him all night long, not leaving to go into his room like he normally did, and it was the best night's sleep I had had in a long time.