Hi again everybody! Didn't think I forgot this story did you? Hehe, sorry. I got a new computer and only just got microsoft word installed lately. Then I had a new idea for a story mapped out in my mind and that had to get out first, It's called "For the First Time" rated M, so check it out :). This is just a short catch up chapter. FFT will be updated more frequently than this one because I have that one finished, but I'll work hard on this one too! New update soon. Thanks, R&R, MaximumFangness.

"No. No, Fang. I don't hate you."

He smiled and sighed with relief, taking a joyful step towards her. She didn't return his smile, and stepped back. He looked confused.

"I could never hate you. But I don't trust you anymore." That hit Fang like a punch in the stomach. She didn't trust him? That was impossible. The flock, their relationship…everything they had was built on trust.

"Max," he started. "I don't know what to say to that."

She shrugged. "It is what it is, Fang. Take it or leave it. You can fly back out through that window again, and no one but me will be any the wiser. Or you can stay, and hope the kids accept you again. Which personally I'm pretty convinced they will. But that doesn't mean you can just waltz right back and me and you will be fine. You hurt me, and I don't forgive you for that."

Fang took all that in, and felt a cold fist squeeze at his heart. His Max had changed. She was tired and sullen-looking. It was his fault.

In his head, he vowed then and there to make her happy again.

"I'm sorry. I know you don't believe that, but if you give me a chance to show you, I will. I promise you that. Just…let me stay." He felt ridiculous for having to ask.

Max thought about it. Did she want him to stay? Her head filled with the thoughts she'd had of him the last six months. She'd made herself believe she was in fact stronger without him. That since she had overcome losing him, there was nothing she couldn't face. Could she bring him back? Allow him back into her life where she would have to face the man she once loved so fiercely, every single day?

"You can stay." Max stated her decision quietly. She had to let him. She could never face the kids, face Angel who knew her mind, and not let them know he'd been back and she turned him away. "But, one rule. You stay away from me. I won't be falling back to you like some half-wit bimbo who's been pining after some guy for two years. That's not what happened and it's not who I am. I got over you Fang. So you can move back here, but don't expect 'us' again."

That hurt Fang, and she could read it in his face.

"I understand, Max."

"Good." A thought crossed Max's mind. "How does Angel not already know you're here?"

"I learned to block her," he sighed. "I can block her from anyone within a 20 foot range."

Max just nodded. Nothing really surprised her any more.

"Any more developments?"

"Not physical ones. I can tell you more about things in the morning. You should sleep now."

"Where will you go?" Max asked. She hated that the thought of him going back through the window panicked her.

"Well, I have to stay til you're asleep. To block Angel. And technically," he started. "I should be here when you wake up too."

Max glared at him.

"Well that's awfully fucking inconvenient." She pointed toward an old armchair in the corner of her room. "Stay there."

He nodded, went to the chair and settled in for the night. He watched her lie down, and turn her back to him. Her hair, slightly mussed from the night, cascaded down over her back and across the bed. He knew how that hair would smell, feel under his hands. He wanted nothing more than to go to her. It was his own fault that he couldn't. Sighing, he waited until her breathing evened out to the pace that indicated she was asleep and closed his eyes. He doubted he'd get much sleep, but it was worth the try.

Thanks for Reading, :)