Wingless - Chapter 4

By MyNameIsCAL

I'm pretty sure I've been wrong all these years, that their house in the mountains that's shaped like an E is in some mountainous/canyon area in Colorado. Although it's very subtle when Mr. Patterson tells us this. I always thought they were in some mountainous/canyon part of California. But uhm, if you know for sure whether it's Colorado or California, leave a comment or message me please?

Either way, I shall continue on as is anyway. No one who's read any of my fics so far has noticed anyway.

Max and I only spoke briefly over the next few days, and usually it was her asking how my back was. I always lied and said it was starting to feel better, but the truth was that I felt like it was just getting worse.

Tonight we were going out to dinner. Dylan made a reservation at some nice restaurant, so we were supposed to dress up. For me, that meant pulling out a less wrinkled button down shirt and putting on a tie.

"Hey, c'mere you!"

I turned to see Max standing in the doorway of my room. She stepped in and took my tie from me before pushing up my collar.

"Hey, are you feelin' okay?" she asked as she started to tie my tie.

"I'm just…tired."

Max gave me a hug. "I better go before Dylan says something about me being in here. We're leaving in five."

I nodded and she was gone.

As an attempt to make me feel better, Max let me drive, but she sat in the back with Dylan. I tried not to let it show that I was annoyed. Actually, it really pissed me off.

"Deep breaths," Iggy said under his breath. "It'll be fine, Fang."

"My back hurts," I grumbled.

"Maybe I should drive home," Iggy sniggered.

I rolled my eyes. We had finally reached the rest of civilization. I realized the only reason we were driving was because I couldn't fly. Part of me was happy to get out, but a bigger part of me wanted to pull the car over and run for a while.

The only parking I could find was on the street. We walked a few blocks to the restaurant, but it was by the beach, and I had to admit it felt good to smell the ocean.

"We should walk on the beach after dinner." Max grabbed my hand, bringing me back to reality.

"That would be nice," I managed to respond.

"Is your back bothering you?' she frowned. "Mom says maybe I should take you to see a doctor."

"I don't think medication is going to help."

Max sat between Dylan and me during dinner. As I read the menu to Iggy, they carried on a comfortable sounding conversation. Iggy was telling me how he needed to try to cook seafood, and Nudge had made a face, but I was barely listening to them.

The waiter took our order, surprised that we ordered half of the appetizers available. I closed my eyes, trying to clear my head.

"Hey, relax, Fang." Max rested her hand on my back and I let out a breath, feeling less tense. "Really, what's bothering you?"

"I'll tell you later."

She let out a sigh, turning her attention back to Dylan.

It was fortunate the food was good though. Enough to distract me from Dylan's constant flirting, the way he could guess what she was saying, the way he looked at her. My back burned, and I loosened my tie, hoping more air would help.

"Max, I want to go to the mall!" Nudged whined.

"Well, I'm going to the beach with Fang. Dylan, why don't you go with them to the mall?" Max suggested.

Now Dylan looked angry. "Alright."

We paid and max pulled me towards the beach. Ever since Dylan interrupting us, we hadn't been alone since, and not that I wanted to be alone so we could continue. I really just wanted to talk to her, maybe straighten some things out.

It was dark and we moved down the beach, away from the group of teens and their bonfire. When we had finally gotten far enough, Max pulled me down onto the sand and we sat, staring up at the sky.

"I'm sorry I've made you feel like I've been spending more time around Dylan," said Max.

I turned on my side, putting my arm around her. "It's alright."

"I just wish Dylan would understand." She lifted her hand up and smoothed out my hair. "We're nineteen, almost twenty. We're not kids anymore. Hell, Fang, we're old enough to get married."

"Maybe you oughta tell him that," I replied.

"I know. But he only means well."

I winced as pain flared up in my back. Max put her hand on my arm now, and even in the dark I could see the concern on her face.

"Here, like down." She pushed my back onto the sand.

"It's nothing," I insisted.

"Don't lie to me."

I closed my eyes, taking in a deep breath.

"Fang…" She lay down next to me. "I hate seeing you in pain. I—"

"It's okay if you like Dylan," I heard myself say. "But you need to choose because I can't have you messing with my head. Not right now."

"She said nothing. Her silence drove a hole through my heart.

"Max…"

"This is hard for me too, Fang. I—"

"Dylan needs to learn to man up and stop thinking he can go around like Jeb's promises are still true. Dylan's winning you over, whether you've realized it or not. So don't lie to me either." I stared up at the sky, the stars not visible here near the city.

"But I don't love Dylan. Not the way I love you."

"Then prove it to me!" I tried to ignore the pain. "Because I need you more than ever and you're too worried trying to appease Dylan."

"Fang…"

"I need to know!"

"That's enough, Fang." Dylan landed in front of us.

"You stay out of this!" I got to my feet, taking a step towards him. "You think you can just come here and change everything!"

Yet he stood there calmly. "Isn't it obvious? She's chosen me."

I lost it after that. Pinning him on the sand, I began to through punches, but as the pain became unbearable, he managed to free himself. It took one kick to my back to knock me out.

It was Iggy and Gazzy who I woke to on the couch at home. Iggy was the one to notice fist that I was awake.

"You took a pretty hard blow." He sat down on a kitchen chair that he pulled up to the couch. "Max is upset, but Angel says you just…need to be patient."

My vision was still fuzzy. "What if he asks her to marry him?"

"Who, Dylan?" Iggy snorted. "Fang, we're not going to let that happen. But you can't be jumping to the worst case scenario yet! Jeez, Fang, I know you're all serious about her and everything—"

"He is too," I cut him off.

"Don't try to sit up. You'll only hurt yourself," he sighed. "Stop worrying about Dylan. Gazzy and I promise we'll kill him before he can marry Max, alright?"

I shut my eyes, hoping I'd open them to a world that Dylan didn't exist in.

Stay tuned for more! I'm trying to work on a lot of stuff, but I'll try to get some more updates. Thanks for reading and your patience!