AN: This is simply for fun. I got into the mood thanks to the holiday season. I always watch the Grinch (both original and real-life movie) each year. This is based on the new movie they came out with a while back and is sort of an AU. It takes place when the Grinch would be around 16-19 years old. Around in there. This also explains how the Grinch got Max and why he named him Max. Sorry if anyone is out of character.

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Snow fell heavily as the icy wind blew hard against the mountain side. But none of these appeared to bother the older teen who was currently digging through large piles of trash. Bag after bag the boy pulled, digging for something, anything, that would be useful for his latest invention.

"I'll never understand those blasted-" the teen started to snarl. Then something grabbed his attention. "OOH! What have we here...!?" He lifted something up, mindful not to fall in the large garbage dump. In the boy's hands were long strings of silver wire. "I won't need this for what I'm working on now...But these'll come in handy in the near future..."

He threw the wires over to where the large dump pile ended, and the path up the mountain began.

This was no ordinary boy...He was green...and hairy...His long green hands sifting fast through the garbage...The Grinch cackled, finding what he was looking for. "Aha! Here they are!" He held up what appeared to be old tenis shoes...with holes and the like in them. "These'll be perfect for the Whacking Trap..."

"Perfect!" the teen mance snickered. Jumping over the bags of junk and trash...the Grinch stopped at the sound of more trash coming from the pipe that brought it up from the town of Whoville. More bags and junk fell onto the growing pile, making the Grinch smile. "Hehehehe. I'll have to come back later for some more." Just as the Grinch turned to go home, he heard something...he'd never heard before...

It sounded like...yipping...Whining...As though something, not a Who, but something, was trying to get out. Turning around, he saw something move, making him jump back in startlement. There, just on top of a bag labeled, "Toxic Waste" was a little red bag...with something moving inside of it, trying to get free. Whatever was inside, barked.

Curiousity got the better of the green monster, making him throw his stuff aside and go over to the bag to investigate. Slowly lifting the bag up, the head of a small tan puppy poked itself out. The Grinch blinked at the puppy, not knowing what to make of it.

"Well now what!?" Grinch demanded. "They've started to throw away their pets too!?" He knew he wasn't going to get a responce. After living by himself for so long, the Grinch began speaking to himself, knowing his questions would never get answered.

The puppy looked up at the green boy, suddenly filled with happiness that he was saved from his red bag prison. Jumping up to his little feet, tail wagging, the puppy got up and rushed over to the Grinch, licking the Grinch's hand. Or so...that was the dog's intention. The Grinch recoiled at the very touch from the dog, a look of pure disgust playing on his face. "Stay away from me you mangy mut!!"

The puppy gave a soft whine. Grunting, the Grinch turned away, picking up his shoes and wire that he had found and started treading off up hill, panting as he climbed. "This mountain will kill me one day...Not so bad...when you're not carrying anything...But when you are...It's deadly."

When he reached up to a small mountain side landing after several minutes of climbing, Grinch smiled when he found his lair's front door. He was about to walk to it, when he froze at the sound of the puppy barking, who was suddenly at his heels.

Growling, Grinch looked at him. "What do you want!?" he cried. The puppy, which hardly came up to the Grinch's mid leg, yipped and barked as though he wished to play. The Grinch rolled his eyes. "Animals...I hate them...Almost as annoying as Whos themselves. Only they can't talk..." He looked down at the puppy. "You'll follow me no matter where I go...won't you?" Nothing answered him save the cold wind. Sighing, the Grinch looked around the outside of his cave, wondering what to do next.

"Alright" he said at last. "Fine. Stay here. But I'm not allowing you inside!" With that, he grabbed the front door knob, swung the door open and went inside, the door slamming shut behind him.

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The Grinch was currently curled up in his half broken chair, his concentartion focused on the

contraption in his lap. He growled in frustration, trying with all his might to get the metal plate to bend the way he wanted it to. "You'd think...That after ten years of living up here by myself...I'd be used to bending metal...Considering I've had to do it so much." He took a glance around his cave, all types of odd machinery about him. "Oh well...Once this metal plate is done..." He grunted. "I can put my 'Intruder Alarm' up at last. Those sickly happy Whos have been coming up much too often for my taste. How dare they even think of venturing up this far...?"

The metal plate finally was bent the way he wanted it to be. Jumping off his chair, the Grinch chuckled evily, placing the plate in between two large poles that were on the other side of the cave. Placing the plate in the correct place and screwing some things together, it was finally finished. Chuckling with glee, the Grinch bounced about, clapping his hands together.

That was when he heard the sound. It was a high pitched alarm. The sound echoed off the cave's walls. It took a moment for the Grinch to realize what it was was. His eyes widened. "It's my alarm! There are Whos outside!!" His tiny heart skipped a beat, as it always did at the thought of Whos being around his home. Memories of the day ten years ago when they were so cruel to him always came to mind...

He desperately wished his Grinch-Scope was working so he didn't have to go outside to scare them. So many of his ideas were still only in progress, not yet ready to work with. Over the years he was focused on compfort related inventions, such as his bed, and chair and everything that went with those. His room and the like. But now that they were all finished, it was time to work with the more fun things. After finishing the Toxic Waste Generator to provide electricity and power, his other inventions could now be started.

Taking a deep breath, the Grinch put on his nastiest frown and started towards the door to the outside.

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Panting and giggling was heard at the same time. The wind was cold yet the sun was out, allowing the two Who teens to enjoy themselves without being too cold. One of them, was a girl, with long redish blonde hair that was all done up on top of her head. She wore a matching red winter jacket and matching red snow pants and boots. She was just about to start climbing up to the next part of the mountain when someone's whining voice stopped her.

"Martha!" came the shout of a very tired and exhuasted Augustus May Who. Martha May Whovier turned around to face him. She watched as the slightly over-weight teeanger slowly and gruntily made his way up to where she was waiting for him. Martha rolled her eyes at him.

She then sighed, looking up at the mountain. 'I hope your up here...Like all the rumors say...' she thought sadly to herself. She was triggered out of her thoughts when a hand fell onto her shoulder. Looking over, she saw Augustus had caught up with her and was now holding onto her for support.

"Martha...sweetie...Listen...I know I told you that since I had forgotten your birthday I'd do anything you wanted, but this isn't exactly what I had in mind when I agreed to this...I was thinking more along the lines of say...buying you something pretty..." he said in between breaths.

Martha shook her head. "No August, you said anything!"

Augustus always had a soft spot for when she called him 'August'. "Please..." he begged.

"Look, we're already up here...Let's just go..." demanded Martha.

Augustus sighed. "Why do you even want to come up here anyways...There's nothing up here save for that nasty little Grinch!" Martha went very still at these words, putting a hand over her chest. Augustus saw this and blinked at her. "That's the reason isn't it? You wanna go see him! Listen Martha, he's a nasty little green monster! You saw what he did to the classroom! He's probably not even alive anymore..."

Martha stomped her foot down. "That's not true! He's not a monster and he is alive!"

"So what!? Come on...Let's just go back to Whoville and I'll buy you something pretty. What about those neat Cumber necklaces you like so much?" Augustus was trying desperately to change her interest.

Martha shook her head, beggining to climb. Only this time, instead of climbing slowly for her friend's benefit, she climbed as fast as she could. She could hear Augustus' pleas to slow down, but she ignored him. When she reached a small landing she decided to take a break to catch her break. She looked around herself, noting that it was a lot chillier up here. She wasn't even to the very top yet.

Martha gasped at the sound of a dog barking, and turned around to see a cute tan puppy running up to her, his tail wagging happily. She cooed and awwed at it, kneeling down to pet him.

"Hi! And what's your name?" She aksed the dog. The puppy only barked in reply. "I think I might call you Max. Maybe my parents will let me keep you...You couldn't possibly-" She stopped, seeing that the dog was looking at something closely that was behind her. She followed the dog's gaze out of pure curiousity and froze, seeing what the dog was looking at. She gasped.

There, standing there, his feet in the cold snow, stood the Grinch. Both gazed at each other for several moments, their eyes locked to one another. She looked him up and down to find that he was wearing old beaten navy blue pants and a casual thread bare unbuttoned shirt.

'M-Martha...!' was all the Grinch could think as he felt his tiny heart jump up into his throat.

'Grinch! Oh! I knew you were alive! Look at you!' was what Martha was thinking.

She was the first one to react. She began to move and get up towards him. "Grinch I-"

The Grinch didn't let her finish however. Instead, he ran.

"No! Wait!" Martha was up in a flash, yet even though she was fast, her furry friend was even faster. Years of living on the mountain gave him that advantage. She continued to climb until she came to another small landing on the mountain side, and there stood the Grinch, his back towards her. He couldn't seem to get the door open to his lair.

"Grinch, I-" she stopped, startled. "Is that a door? On the mountain-side?"

The Grinch turned around. "Of course it is!" he hissed a little too harshly then he'd wanted to.

The sound of the puppy, who Martha had dubbed as Max, came running up the hillside, looking between the two, happy as ever. Martha pointed to Max. "Is that your dog?"

The Grinch didn't reply at first. "...Yes..."

Martha nodded. "I've miss you..." she whispered. The Grinch had hardly heard her words. It made his eyes widen.

"You miss me?" he asked indrediously, pointing to himself. Martha nodded. The Grinch narrowed his eyes, his cold nature taking over. "Why would anyone miss me? I'm just a stinky, hairy, little 'monster' according to all of you Whos down there in the pathetic happy-go town of yours!" Martha blinked at him. "Don't think I don't read the newspapers just because I live clear up here!"

Martha couldn't help but smile, even though she knew the Grinch was slightly angry. There was just something about him that she absolutely loved. And even though she didn't know what it was, she wanted to find out.

The Grinch, who'd been trying to open the door with his hand, finally got it open. Martha was about to protest his leaving but it was too late. She heard a faint goodbye and the door slammed shut.

Sighing, Martha knew knocking wouldn't do anything. He wouldn't answer the door. Max the dog was now laying down, looking sleepy. She didn't know for sure if the puppy was his or not, but just in case, she decided to leave him here instead of taking him as her own pet. And if the dog wasn't his, he could have him.

She looked down the mountain. Augustus was probably still a long ways down there with the speed he was going. She had time. She bravely stuck out her gloved hand and tried the doorknob. It was of course locked. She sighed. Martha was about to turn and leave when the door opened. Blinking, she took a peek to look inside, but before she could, the Grinch slipped through the door.

He looked nervous, standing there, his furry hands shaking as he looked at the ground.

Martha waited to see what he had to say.

"W-Would you like to come in?" he whispered to her, yellow eyes still focused on the ground before him. Martha smiled.

"I'd love to" she replied in a sigh. This made him look up at her, surprised.

"Alright...Come on then...Bring the dog with you" he told her. Martha did as she was told and got Max to follow them inside. Martha noted that the Grinch seemed very anxious, as though he was wishing he wasn't there. As though he wished he hadn't invited her in.

"Please Grinch, you don't have to be nervous around me. I was one of your friends..Remember?" she tried compforting him.

Grinch shook his head, a thickness in his voice that applied slight anger. "I had no friends. Nor do I now."

"That's not true..." argued Martha. "I'm your friend."

"Whoop-dee" he muttered, taking her down the elevator in which he had finished making just weeks ago. "Not like that is going to change anything. So you're my friend...So what? I'm still a freak according to you Whos only because I'm different."

Martha couldn't deny that fact. She may have accepted the Grinch for what he was long ago, but no one else in Whoville has. "Where are you taking me?" she decided to ask.

"I am taking you...on a tour..." was her answer.

"A tour?" she echoed.

"Yes. You were wondering I'm sure, where I live, and what my...'home' is like. Or so I'm assuming since you say you're my friend..." he explained.

"I am curious" she offered.

"Then look around" he said.

Taking a good look around at his lair for the first time, Martha was amazed. She looked around at all his inventions and gadgets, awed by everything she saw. The cave itself wasn't exactly what Martha would consider homely, but she knew not to say such a thing outloud. She knew very well that the Grinch was sensitive to such comments and that it didn't take much to get his temper started.

After looking around some more, Martha couldn't help but notice that she kept catching herself staring at the Grinch more than she was at anything else. She blushed.

"This is amazing...You built all this?" she asked, knowing it was a stupid question the moment it came out of her mouth.

"Of course..." sighed the Grinch. "Not like there's much else to do up here..."

Martha sighed once more, knowing now was the best time. She grabbed him by the arm, startling him and making him look at her. She began evenly, "Come back with me Grinch. Your Old Biddies miss you...I miss you..."

"Yes" frowned the Grinch. "But no one else does..."

"Please..." her eyes were pleading. "Just come back down with me this once. If things don't go well, you can just come back up here and...And blame me..."

The Grinch contemplated this thought. The prospect of going back down into Whoville for any longer than a few hours was not high on the list of things the Grinch wanted to do. But looking into Martha May's eyes, he couldn't help but say yes.

"Alright, I'll go back down there with you. But the first wink of trouble-!" he warned, pointing at her angrily.

"You can come straight back up here!" finished Martha.

He took a few steps in her direction towards the door and stopped. "No. They'll laugh at me. Just like they did back then. I hated that. I still do."

"That was only at school they laughed at you. And who knows, maybe people will accept you now" she begged trying to convince him that everything will be alright.

The Grinch was still shaking his head. "If they made fun of me back then, they will now."

Martha pulled on his arm. "Please!"

There was silence for several moments. Max was at the door, sleeping. The whirling of the mahcines around the lair began to get louder, it seemed, as Martha waited for his answer.

"Alright I'll go...But only for you..." He smiled a bit, but not a happy one. More of a tricky grin. He took his index finger and gently rubbed Martha's shoulder, making her shiver.

"Thank you..." she smiled.

The Grinch followed her back to the door without anymore arguments not to go. When they reached the door and opened it, Martha looked outside, gasped, then shut the door quickly, turning to the Grinch.

The Grinch cocked an eyebrow at her, confused.

"Martha!?" came the unmistakenable voice of Augustus May Who.

Grinch sneered at the sound of his voice. Martha could even hear a soft growl coming from his throat. Her heart skipped a beat. 'I love it when he growls...' she couldn't help but think. She shook her head. Now was not the time for such thoughts. She had to calm his down.

"Grinch please...Augustus is out there, but I'll make him listen! I'll make him not make fun of you...To keep his big mouth shut!" Martha scrambled to say, putting her hands on his chest.

The Grinch took some deep breaths. "Fine. Open the door."

Martha smiled, and re-opened the door. A very confused looking and slightly unnerved Augustus was standing outside the door waiting for Martha to come out. He smiled when she came out, and frowned when he saw who was behind her.

"Well if it isn't Mr. Grinch" he sneered.

"Well if it isn't fatboy..." hissed Grinch, standing as close to Martha as possible without standing on her.

"Boys, please. I know you don't like each other..." She turned to Augustus. "I'm trying to get him to come back down to Whoville with us. To live down there again, so will you please?"

Augustus made a face. "But why?" he whined.

"Because she actually cares about somehone besides herself...Unlike you..." snorted the Grinch. Augustus glared at him yet remained silent. The look Martha was giving him was not pretty in the slightest.

The walk down was very awkward to say the least. The tension in the air was thick enough to cut with a knife. Martha tried to supply the group with some conversation, but Augustus usually found a way to end it the moment the Grinch joined in on it.

Now she just hoped she could keep the Grinch down there.

AN: Please review! Otherwise, I probably won't update this!!