Okay guys, here ya go! I've kept you waiting for way too long between chapters and now you get two in two days. I hope you feel extra super special! And I am sorry for being so slow!

Anyways, I hope that you all enjoy this chapter very much! ;)

Disclaimer.

Based on my behavior for the day, Fang probably thought that I was on drugs. Or that I had finally lost my mind and it was time for me to be committed. He hadn't said as much, but the slight crease between his eyebrows told me all I needed to know. Not that I would blame him. I was acting completely insane.

After my sweeping decision to talk to Fang last night, I had decided that I would stop at nothing short of doing exactly that. My biggest worry was timing. I didn't think I was ready to jump completely back into talkative, sassy, sarcastic me just yet. I needed to move slowly –to take baby steps. So I wanted my first words to be to Fang, to be special, and I wanted them to be perfect.

I woke up determined, though I'd barely slept all night with the giant knot of nerves bouncing around my stomach. I dressed quickly and made my way to Fang's room, knocked lightly on the door and waited for what seemed like eternity. As I began to wonder whether I'd actually knocked or if I'd merely confused the deafening sound of my heart beating as the sound of my knuckles on his door, it finally cracked open.

Fang had just woken up. I could tell by the fact that he was in his boxers and his hair was sticking out at every possible angle. He drowsily realized that this wasn't a dream and his eyes widened a fraction of a centimeter. He tried to play it cool, but I knew him well enough to know that he was embarrassed.

"One second," he murmured, closing the door on my face. I could hear him moving stuff around and throwing on clothes, and resisted the urge to sprint down the hallway and into my room to hide underneath my covers.

"So what's up?" He asked, opening the door and letting me into his room. I could tell he'd thrown all of his dirty clothes in the closet that was barely cracked open, but I pretended not to notice.

I glanced up at him, ready to give my speech, and froze. His hair was still a little messed up, and he seemed a bit more flushed than normal, but otherwise he seemed open to trying to figure out what I needed. I met his dark eyes for a second.

"Max, you barely ate last night. Are you still upset that we fought? I said that I'm sorry." His eyes were full of concern for me. My back was to his window, which meant that the sun was on his face as he looked at me, and I tried to keep my breathing normal. It seemed impossible, but suddenly, my nerves doubled. Something about the way that he was looking at me, trying to understand, with the sun reflecting off of those eyes was making my stomach do funny things.

I opened my mouth for a moment, I could do this.

"I am sorry." He said again, taking a step towards me. He seemed really close to me. Uncomfortably close, and I couldn't understand why he would need to take another step forward. That questioning look was in his eyes again. The one that I desperately wanted to answer, even though I wasn't even sure what it was asking of me.

I opened my mouth again, ready to answer those eyes…and fled the room.

"Max?" He called after me, but I didn't know what to do, so I grabbed my backpack and ran downstairs for breakfast. This could wait until I'd caught my breath again.

When Fang joined everyone for breakfast he gave me the same questioning look, puzzled over my strange behavior, but didn't say anything about it. He seemed willing to respect whatever weirdo actions I inflicted on him, and ate his cereal in silence. While we ate, I regrouped.

We reached school early, and I decided to try again after everyone split off for homeroom. I stopped him outside school by grabbing his arm. He sent our siblings ahead, and waited patiently for me to try and communicate, though I doubted he knew to what extent I was attempting.

"Maybe we should try a sign language class or something?" He suggested mildly. "I mean, I know that this is all psychological and stuff, but maybe it would be easier on you if you had a way to communicate somehow."

He was trying to help, I knew, but I didn't have a way to explain that it wasn't what I wanted. I wanted to speak. I wanted to be myself again, and I wanted Fang to be a part of it. He misread the frustrated look on my face.

"That wasn't me trying to reignite our fight from yesterday or anything." He said in a rush, and I realized for the first time that he seemed a bit flustered. For Fang, he seemed outright nervous that I would still be mad at him. I thought again of the words I wrote on that chalk board, and realized how much I had hurt him.

I shook my head, wishing that the beautiful words I'd been silently rehearsing would come back. I drew a blank again, and wanted to hit something. Why was this so freaking hard?! I'd made my decision and it was going to happen. Today!

…but not at that moment. I found myself fleeing the scene again and ran to the bathroom for cover. This was definitely not going as I had planned.

The rest of the day seemed to go much in the same fashion. I would get Fang alone, stare at him helplessly for a minute, and then run away like a frightened rabbit. He tried to help me as much as possible. Correctly guessing that I wanted to apologize back, to which I nodded, and then trying to figure out what I wanted without seeming too awfully frustrated.

The crease between his eyebrows was getting deeper. At lunch, Iggy even asked him what was wrong.

I on the other hand was getting more and more angry with myself. I'd talked my whole life long before all of this crazy stuff started. I knew how. It wasn't so hard before, and I couldn't figure out what was holding me back. I'd made my decision, I wanted to talk. So what was the problem? Maybe if Fang had me committed they could figure out why I was so crazy and fix me.

When I finished my dinner and I still hadn't said anything, I wanted to cry. I washed my dishes in the sink and made my way to the swing in the backyard. I needed to regroup. Again.

Maybe if I practiced in my room all night, with no one around to hear me I wouldn't ever have to tell Fang that he wasn't a part of it. He would just assume that he was, and I could keep it a secret. But even as I thought about it, I knew it couldn't happen that way. I could never lie to Fang about something like that. Besides, I wanted him to be a part of it. He'd always been my best friend, doing what was best for me even when I didn't like it (like telling me that it was time for me to start fighting back).

"You seem to have a lot on your mind today." I hadn't heard him come up behind me, but it figured that he would follow me after all of my whacko behavior. "I wish that I could crawl in there with you and help you sort things out." He offered, leaning against the tree next to my swing.

I glanced at him from the corner of my eye. He watched the sky, the crease between his eyebrows deeper than I'd ever seen it.

"Will you laugh at me if I open up to you for a second?" He asked suddenly, and I shook my head surprised by his question. He waited for a minute, struggling with whatever he was about to say.

"I feel responsible for you. Wait, that came out wrong," he corrected while I tried to keep the shock and confusion from my face. "I feel responsible for your pain…or I mean…I feel like all of this mess is my fault. I almost crossed that street a thousand times, but I didn't. Max, I don't know if you could –if I could ever forgive me for that. I used to sit up and wonder how you could leave without saying goodbye, though some part of me knew that you could never do that. So when I decided that you were still in there, I would lay in bed and imagine how I could rescue you.

"And I know that sounds kind of cheesy, and hallmark-y, but I did. I would think through a billion scenarios about how I would storm in and save you. I felt like something was wrong, Max. I –I knew that something was wrong." He stopped for a moment, trying to keep his cool. He'd been too caught up in what he was saying to keep his voice from breaking. "I knew something was wrong, and I waited. I waited to come back for you. And I just…I'm sorry."

He stared at the ground, processing through some unknown memory and I realized suddenly that I was standing, though I didn't remember getting up. He turned his face away from me for a moment, trying to regain his composure. Fang wasn't the type to get caught up in his feelings. That moment, of him turning his face to regain himself broke me.

"But you did save me." It came out almost a whisper, my voice scratchy from disuse and emotions. I tried not to let the pure, unguarded shock on his face keep me from finishing. "Fang, you are the best friend I have ever-" It took me two full seconds to realize that he was kissing me. Another four to realize that I was kissing him back. And then one more to push myself away from him in shock.

His face was alight when I first pulled away, his eyes were dancing. Until he realized what just happened, and the heaviest silence I had ever felt fell over the two of us.

"Uh –I uh –I'm sorry." He mumbled before turning on his heal and running back into the house.

I put my hand to my lips and stared after him.

TA-DA! So, she finally did it! She SPOKE! And there was a little FAX thrown in there. I hope you guys liked it!

This is not the end, though there isn't too much left to be sorted out. She's taking baby steps, and Fang was run away with his emotions. We shall see!

-YourMoosyFate