AN: Sorry for the long update. My family from Colorado is in. And, you know, school. But we only have a few more things left. TGIS! (Thank God It's Summer! For those of you who didn't know that.) So, here's the chapter, I don't own MR, and review!

(Max's POV)

I grimaced as the sun woke me up. "Sun, sun, go away. Bug me again another day." I mumbled-sang before getting up.

"Max?" a voice asked behind me. I stiffened and spun around, immediately getting into a fighting position. I only relaxed slightly when I saw it was Angel, but I did move to stand like a normal person. Little kids weren't a threat.

"What do you want?" I snarled, feeling slightly guilty when she flinched.

"Um, Mom told me to come and get you, so we can take you to the mall." she said.

"Whatever." I grumbled. I grabbed a dark green shirt and black ripped jeans. They weren't supposed to be ripped, but I thought they looked cooler that way. I also grabbed a black, ripped up hat of mine. This one was actually bought with the rips. I was about to get changed when I noticed Angel was still in the room, watching me. I scowled. "What?" I asked flatly.

Angel tilted her head slightly to the side. "Why don't you like us?" she asked. "We didn't do anything to you."

"It's not just you. It's everybody. I'm a very distrusting person. When you've had a life like mine, you have to be. Any other questions?" I said, not even attempting to keep the annoyance out of my voice.

"Will you ever trust us?"

"Probably not." I gave her a now leave look before turning back to my clothes. I heard my door shut as I started changing and went downstairs. To join the hell trip to the mall.

(Fang's POV)

Max came downstairs, and you could tell that she didn't want to be anywhere near us. She probably wanted to be up in her room, strumming on her guitar or something. Max swiped some food off of Iggy's plate before moving over to the stove and dishing out a plate for herself. Again, she ate a whole lot more than the rest of us did.

If you're wondering why me and Iggy are here, it's simply because we were bored, and I thought it would be interesting to see what Max would do on a shopping trip with Nudge, Angel, and Ella.

As we walked out to Dr. M's car, Max asked something that shocked me. "Can I drive?"

We all looked at her. "You can drive?" I asked, surprised. I mean, I could too, it's just that I didn't think that driver's ed would be something her old foster family would let her do.

She glared at me. "Of course. Unlike some people, I'm not brain dead." she replied flatly.

I turned to Iggy, who was standing right beside me. "She's right, you know. You are brain dead." I said, smirking. Max seemed a little surprised by this, though I'm not sure why. She just shook her head and repeated the question to Dr. M, while I ignored Igs protest of "Hey!" for the insult.

Dr. M agreed, if a little reluctantly. We all hopped into her van, with Max in the front seat. I thought Max would have a lot of road rage, but she was actually a very cool-headed driver. She was a good driver too. Well, what do you know?

Max pulled into the mall parking lot and grimaced when she saw how big it was. She parked and Angel, Nudge, and Ella were gushing about how fun this was going to be. They took Max into a store and picked a bunch of clothes for her. Max grimaced as they chose a lot of pink crap. She rolled her eyes and walked out of the store. None of the others seemed to notice, but I followed her. Instead of running, like I thought she would, she walked into Pac Sun (sp?).

I jogged back over to the other store. Aeropostale. "Guys, she went into Pac Sun." I told them. "I don't think she liked all the pink crap." I added.

Nudge frowned. "Well, let's go see what she's getting!" she said. "For all we know, that girl could have no fashion sense!"

We all ran over to her. There was some guy talking to her there, a flirty smile on his face. Max wasn't even giving him the time of day, which made me want to laugh. But that would be showing emotion. Then the guy wrapped his arm around her waist and I saw her stiffen, her whole body tensing so hard, I'm shocked she wasn't trembling.

Max looked at him with the scariest death glare I've ever seen. We'd come up to her at this point, so we could hear what she said to him. "You've got three seconds to let go of me." she said, deathly quiet. She didn't even look at the guy, just kept looking at the shirts in front of her. "And if you don't, your future dreams of having kids are going right out the window."

"Aw, come on, baby, I–"

"One." Max cut him off.

The guy scowled. "I'm not two years old. And I think that I–"

"Two." Max interrupted again. The guy was fuming. He shoved her into a the wall next to them, her head smacking on it.

"And I think that I should be able to touch my girl anyway I want." the jerk said with a triumphant smirk.

I was about to go box him in the face, and I could tell the other words too, but then Max said, in that same quiet tone, "Three." I thought he'd been fuming? Max looked freaking murderous. Her knee went up and kneed him right in his…sensitive area and Iggy and I both winced. But before the guy fell to the ground, she punched him in the face, and kicked him in the chest, making him fly at least a foot back.

He just lay on the floor, moaning, on hand clutching his…area while to other went to his bleeding nose, his breath coming in gasps. Max crouched down beside him, that cold, murderous look still in her eyes. "You don't get it. I know a hundred different ways to kill you with my bare hands. I know thousands of different ways to break you both physically and mentally. And I've handled thngs before that you couldn't even come up with in your wildest, most terrifying nightmares. Don't. Try. Me. You. Sexist. Pig." she ground out.

The guy looked up at her in pure terror. He got up and, ignoring his injuries, took off out of the store. Max rolled her eyes. "Wuss." she muttered.

Iggy stared at her. "Did you not see what you just did? I'd be terrified too!" he said, looking in the direction the guy had run off in.

"You're an idiot." Max replied. "You'd probably run away from your own shadow."

"Hey! Come on, you can't really think that about me!"

"Cry baby." Max replied. "Besides, do you really want to know what I think about you?"

Iggy was quiet for a moment. "No."

She nodded. "I thought so." She walked over to the cashier with some clothes in her hands. She paid for it herself, which made me wonder where she got the money from. Max walked back over to us, just rolling her eyes when me and Iggy offered to take her bags.

When we got back to the house, Max immediately went back upstairs. We all followed her, but a few steps back. Didn't want to crowd her with her claustrophobia and everything. We stopped outside her door. She just let the bags fall to the floor and grabbed an acoustic guitar, sitting down on the bed and grabbing a notebook. She scowled, wrote a few things in it, then let the barest trace of a smile grace her lips.

Then she started to play and sing, the smile falling.

Have you ever felt like breaking down?

Do you ever feel out of place?

Like somehow you just don't belong

And no one understands you?

Do you ever wanna run away?

Do you lock yourself in your room?

With the radio on, turned up so loud

That no one hears you screaming?

No you don't know what it's like

When nothing feels alright.

You don't know what it's like

To be like me.

She started singing louder as she got to the chorus.

To be hurt.

To feel lost.

To be left out in the dark.

To be kicked

When you're down.

To feel like you've been pushed around.

To be on the edge of breaking down

And no one's there to save you.

No, you don't know what it's like.

Her voice got a little quieter as she said the last line.

Welcome to my life.

It stayed quiet as she sang the next verse.

Do you wanna be somebody else?

Are you sick of feeling so left out?

Are you desperate to find something more

Before your life is over?

Are you stuck inside a world you hate?

Are you sick of everyone around?

With their big fake smiles and stupid lies

While deep inside your bleeding.

No you don't know what it's like

When nothing feels alright.

You don't know what it's like

To be like me.

To be hurt.

To feel lost.

To be left out in the dark.

To be kicked

When you're down.

To feel like you've been pushed around.

To be on the edge of breaking down

And no one's there to save you.

No, you don't know what it's like.

Her voice got a little softer again.

Welcome to my life.

She played again for a second before she picked up the pace and her voice got louder again.

No one's ever lied straight to your face.

And no one's ever stabbed you in the back.

You might think I'm happy,

But I'm not gonna be okay!

Everybody always gave you what you wanted

You never had to work

It was always there.

You don't know what it's like

What it's like!

Her voice got soft again and she strummed softly on her guitar.

To be hurt.

To feel lost.

To be left out in the dark.

To be kicked

When you're down

To feel like you've been pushed around.

She kicked up the gear and started singing faster and louder again.

To be on the edge of breaking down

And no one's there to save you.

No you don't know what it's like (what it's like.)

To be hurt.

To be lost.

To be left out in the dark.

To be kicked

When you're down.

To feel like you've been pushed around.

To be on the edge of breaking down

With no one there to save you.

No you don't know what it's like.

Welcome to my life.

It got soft again.

Welcome to my life.

Welcome to my life.

Welcome to my life.

"Wow. You're good." I said. "That was a little depressing, but good."

Max jumped and spun around, falling off the bed in the process.

"Whoops." I said.

"What are you doing?" she growled, but I could tell she was blushing.

"Well, we followed you. You just didn't know we were here." Iggy said.

If looks could kill, we'd be planning Iggy's funeral right now. "Get out of here." she muttered.

"You really do have a beautiful voice, Max." Dr. M said. "You shouldn't hide a talent like that."

Max shrugged. "I don't."

"What do you mean?" Nudge asked.

"I sing at the place where I work sometimes. We all do actually, me and the other staff members." she replied.

"Where do you work?" Ella asked.

Max checked the clock. It was almost eight thirty. Wow. Had we really spent that much time shopping? Max put the guitar on the stand. "I'll show you." she said. She went out to the car and got into the driver seat. We got in after her and she drove off.

(Max's POV)

I pulled into the parking lot of the club and walked into the building. I heard the others follow me before the familiar sound of blasting music and teen bands playing covered up everything else. My wings were starting to cramp up a little bit. But I rolled my shoulders and forgot about it. I looked over and saw Sue. I felt myself grin.

Sue saw me and grinned herself before coming over to hug me. "You should smile like that more often." she said. "You have such a beautiful smile." She was a nice, little old lady. She was like the grandma I never had. All of the employees here were like family to me. The only family I'd ever known.

I gave a bitter chuckle. "I only smile when I have a reason to." I replied bitterly before going to change.

(Fang's POV)

"So, who are you guys?" the old lady asked.

"Well, Iggy and I are just friends, but they're her new family." At the lady's wary look, I added, "Relax. They aren't abusive."

She looked relieved. "Good. Max needs someone to help fix her. She doesn't smile like that unless we haven't seen each other for a while, which is usually only when she switches homes." she said.

"Well, Sue, even if you fix someone, you can still see the cracks." Max said from behind her.

Sue jumped and held a hand to her heart. "Don't do that, Max. You'll give me a heart attack."

"Sorry." Max said before moving over to lean against the wall by the door. As she moved, I saw the back of her new black T-shirt said security guard.

"Max is the security guard here?" I asked.

"She can't be the security guard. She's a girl." Iggy said.

"Excuse me?" Nudge demanded. "Girls can do anything a guy can do. Like run the mile, or beat someone up, or play baseball, or football–"

"Nudge!" we all yelled, while Sue gave her a surprised look.

"Sorry." she said, smiling sheepishly. But then she got serious. "But seriously, girls can do anything guys can do."

"Quite the chatter box we have her, huh?" Sue said, smiling. "Can I get any of you anything to drink? This is a teen club, so we don't have any alcohol. And, yes, Max is our security guard. She's the best one we've ever had. She's the strongest person I've ever met, that's for sure."

We all asked for something, but then we heard Max's voice. "Hey, you can't come in here." We all turned to see a guy who looked to be in his late twenties. Max was standing in front of him, only having to slightly look up at him.

"And why not?" the dude slurred, obviously drunk.

"Because, one, this is a teen club. Tow, there's no alcohol, which also means no alcoholics." Max replied. "Now I'm going to have to ask you to leave, or I'm going to escort you out."

"I'm not leaving!" the guy bellowed. The music did one of those screeching things and everyone stopped to look at the dude. A lot of people grinned, watching Max. "That dude is so going down." I heard one of the waitresses say, grinning.

"Too bad. I'm sorry, but if I even let you touch one of these people, I'd have to call the police and report a pedophile." Max said. She gave the guy a small shove towards the door. "Now get out of here."

"No!" he yelled, and tried to take a swing at her. She easily caught his arm and pulled him forward, her knee coming up and connecting with his stomach. The breath left him with a whoosh! and he hit the ground. Max grabbed the back of his shirt and hoisted him up. She pushed open the door and literally threw the guy out.

She noticed all of the others looking at her. The guy stood up and pounded on the door in a drunken rage. Max braced herself against the push-in door so he couldn't open it, her face grim. "Sue, call the police. We got a live one." she said. "Hopefully he'll have worn himself out by the time they get here.

"This is what you do all the time?" Dr. M asked worriedly.

Max rolled her eyes. "Not all the time. Just sometimes."

"Careful. You don't want to make this place sound bad or she might make you quit." Sue said as she picked up the phone.

Max rolled her eyes. "You know no one can ever make me do anything." she replied. "I don't take orders."

"Yeah, she only gives them." a guy said.

"Shut up, Roger." she said, rolling her eyes and smiling slightly.

"Whatever, sis." he said.

"Sis?" I asked.

He looked at me. "Yeah. All of us here are like a family. Max and me are like brother and sister." he explained before walking over and helping her brace the door. Eventually the cops came and got the guy. They talked to Max for awhile, and seemed to know her.

They eventually had to close down, but the employees didn't leave. Instead, they decided to throw a show. In honor of us, when Max admitted that we haven't abused her yet. They all thought we seemed pretty cool, even though Max didn't seem to agree. But she seemed to like the idea of playing with the other employees.

AN: Alright, I don't know how good this chapter is, so I need you to tell me if it was or not. So review! Thanks for reading. And again, I'm so so soooooooo sorry about the late update. I'll try to update more. Promise.