Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride. James Patterson does. But I do own this story.

.oO0Oo.

"Remind me to tell mom to never let you use a credit card again," I said to Nudge as the seven of us got off at the bus stop near the house.

We visited at least four more shops of Nudge's choice, and she picked out some... interesting items that included jewelry that matched the dress and a bag of "secret" things that Ella refused to show me when I asked.

The moment I unlocked the front door, I was ambushed by Angel, Nudge, and Ella. They all grabbed my arms and rushed me upstairs to Nudge's bedroom, where I was promptly pushed into the bathroom.

"Put this on!" Angel said as she tossed the dress into the bathroom after me. "Hurry. We don't have much time."

I groaned and made sure to take my time putting the dress on, I couldn't miss a chance to stall whatever horrible thing that the girls had planned.

"Are you done yet?" Nudge called.

"Almost," I ran to the sink and splashed some water over my face. When I opened the door, I found that all of the shopping bags had been overturned and emptied onto Nudge's desk.

"Excellent," Ella grinned.

In no time, I was dressed from head to toe in Nudge-approved accessories and makeup.

"No," I looked at myself in the mirror. I could barely recognize the girly person staring back at me.

"Yes," Angel grinned. "Fang is going to love this."

Ella poked her head out the door. "Is everything ready, guys?"

I heard a faint call from the main floor and Angel, Nudge, and Ella started giggling.

"Let's go!" I was grabbed by the wrist for around the tenth time that day and pushed to the top of the stairs.

"Guys what am I supposed to do?" I turned around to find that the girls had all retreated into Angel's bedroom. Groaning, I decided that my best option was probably to just go along with this little scheme of theirs. Careful not to snap the heels of the shoes that Nudge had said were "totally worth it", I wobbled down the stairs.

I gasped when I saw what was waiting for me downstairs. The lights were dimmed, probably so the flames from the fifty something candles could be seen. Amidst the sea of flickering candles was a small table covered in rose petals. Standing at the bottom of the stairs was Fang, wearing a dark blue button-down, dark jeans, and his signature Fang-smile.

Fang spoke when I reached the bottom of the stairs. "You look-"

"Like a girl?" I tried to brush past him.

He closed his fingers around my forearm. "I was going to say that you look nice."

"Thanks," I muttered, pulling my arm out of Fang's grasp and walking toward the small table, failing to protest when Fang pulled my chair out for me.

Fang sat across from me. "Come on out."

Iggy and Gazzy came dashing up the stairs from the basement carrying two covered plates and a large bottle.

"Wine, madame?" Gazzy asked, bouncing on his heels beside me.

"It's apple juice," Iggy explained, "in an empty wine bottle."

"Oh," I said, smiling as Gazzy poured juice into my wine glass, and Iggy put a covered plate in front of each of us.

"The soup," Iggy uncovered both plates, "is served." He smiled before running back down to the basement, dragging Gazzy along with him.

"Did Iggy cook this?" I asked.

Fang shrugged. "I guess so."

After that, we ate in silence. It was quiet enough to hear faint classical music coming from Ella's iPod, obviously meant for this "date". We finished the soup, and Iggy brought out two plates of spaghetti.

"Max, look," Fang dropped his fork and brought his gaze to mine. "I never meant to hurt you. I just-"

I shut my eyes. "We've already talked about thi-"

"No, we haven't," Fang reached across the table and let his fingers brush my wrist softly. "I'm talking about before this. When I moved back with Lisa, we- we ignored each other."

Leaning forward, glared at him. "The past is the past. We don't need to dig it up again."

Fang kept his eyes soft but matched my stature. "We need to talk."

"Wow," I scoffed. "You? Talking?"

He groaned and shook his head. "I want to talk about this. We need to."

"Not everything is about you!" I stood up, almost knocking my chair into the candles.

"Max, calm down please."

"No," I said as memories suddenly flooding my head. Late night video calls, goodnight texts, and long-distance phone calls that lasted for hours all bubbled up to the surface. "No."

Fang stood up too and took a step forward. I put out my hand.

"Stop." Swallowing the knot in my throat, I stepped out of the candle circle and stalked over to the couch. I made it to the edge of the couch before before my ankles gave out. Sinking to my knees, I unclasped the strap on the shoes and tossed them across the room as I muttered a string of curses. A whining noise worked it's way out of my throat.

"Max." I felt Fang's hand awkwardly trail up and down my back. "It's okay."

I turned to face Fang. "No," I sniffled and fought back tears. "It's not."

"Why?"

"B-because we were supposed to," I started hiccuping, which was a common thing when I was trying not to cry. "And then you and her... And-and we-" I was making a fool of myself. Regaining my composure, I batted Fang's hand away from me and stood up. "This is silly."

"No it isn't," Fang recoiled and sunk back against the middle couch cushion, his head ducked low.

I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Why, Fang?" I asked, on the verge of hysteria once again. "I'm making myself look like a total idiot for no reason. Please, tell me why this whole situation isn't screwed up and stupid."

"It's not stupid," Fang began. His voice sounded hoarse. "Because I love you."

.oO0Oo.

Author's Note:

Cliffhanger! Well, sort of. Anyway, I'm thinking about adding two or three more chapters before ending it. Sound good?

I've also been on winter break so I've been able to get a whole bunch of writing done. Meaning I might be able to update tomorrow. Hopefully...

A huge 'thank you' to my beta reader. And to everyone else who follows, reads, or has commented or favourited.

Cheers,

Pixie Lala XOXO