Fang and I made sure we ordered enough pizza to feed everyone for the next two days. By the time we finished dinner it was already time for bed. I was about to head to the room I shared with Nudge when I heard Angel calling me from her bedroom.

"Mommy, can you please tuck me in?" Angel was sitting on her bed looking at me curiously when I opened her door.

A small smile tugged at the corners of my mouth as I nodded and crossed the room towards her bed. Angel grinned and I tucked her in.

"Is that better?" I asked and got up to leave.

"Wait!" Angel called. "I have a question."

I grinned and sat down at the end of her bed. "Ask away, sweetie."

"Do you love Fang?"

Her question caught me completely off guard and I paled. "What on earth would make you think that I love him? And for the record, I don't."

Angel shrugged. "I don't know. I've heard you talk to Nudge about him before."

"Sweetie, the way I feel about Fang is... complicated," I sighed. "You don't have to worry about those kinds of things."

"That's okay. I was just wondering. Goodnight!" she smiled and nestled into her bed.

I smiled. "Goodnight, Angel." I took a deep breath and left the room.

"Max?" Fang was waiting for me outside Angel's room. "Where do you keep the pillows? There aren't any in the guest room."

"Linen closet," I muttered.

"Where's the linen closet?" Fang grinned.

I groaned and took a few more steps down the hall, coming to stop in front of one of the doors. I opened it and gestured to the top shelf where four pillows were neatly stacked on top of eachother.

"Thanks," said Fang. He reached up to grabbed one of the pillows but stopped halfway and bit his lip. "You know, I didn't mean to upset you by coming here. I don't have anywhere else to go until my parents get home."

"I know that," I gritted my teeth and took the pillow down. My nails dug into the pillow as I handed it to him. "I just expected Iggy to tell me you were coming."

"Don't drag him into this."

"Who? Iggy? I'm not. All I'm saying is that if I had my way, you wouldn't be here," with that, I turned on my heel and left him standing in the middle of the hallway. When I got to my room a changed into my pajamas quickly and silently crawled into bed, careful note to wake up Nudge. I didn't sleep at all.

Thanks to Angel's question, I spent all night thinking about Fang. I know what you're thinking. 'Max! You haven't seen him in years! He was ten when he moved away. Of course he was going to move on!' Trust me, I've told myself that hundreds of times. I guess that there was some part of me that thought, when I heard he would be coming back, that we would be together and it would all be perfect. Of course, seeing him with Lisa ended all my impossible fantasies of us ever dating. I spent weeks trying to forget my feelings for him and it got to a point where I knew that the only thing I could do was harden my heart against him. That plan actually worked for a while. I mean, everything was going perfectly until that stupid brother of mine had to invite him over.

.oO0Oo.

I got up late and meandered downstairs for breakfast. I was greeted by the sight of Fang, in his pajamas, pacing back and forth in the kitchen while he shouted at someone on the phone. Surprised, I sauntered past the kitchen and into the living room where I found Iggy sprawled out on one of the couches.

"Who is Fang yelling at?" I asked, sitting down in an armchair.

"The lady who was supposed to make the cake for Angel's party cancelled," said Iggy. "When I told Fang he rang them up again and told me he was going to give them a piece of his mind. I think he's doing rather well."

I was about to respond when I noticed that the yelling had stopped. Sure enough, Fang walked into the living room and turned to me.

"So, are you up for another cooking challenge?" he asked with mock enthusiasm. "We'll be making Angel's cake."

Pinching the bridge of my nose, I looked at Iggy. "Can you take Gazzy, Nudge, Ella, and Angel out shopping to get cake supplies? Fang and I still have to decorate the house."

Iggy nodded and went to find the kids.

Fang raised an eyebrow at me. "How much time do we have until the party?"

I checked my watch. "Two hours."

"We're going to have to go fast."