2. Slap

All my complaints shrink to nothing
I'm ashamed of all my somethings
She's glad for one day of comfort
Only because she has suffered.
"Fully Alive" Flyleaf

It'd been quite a relaxing morning — something that doesn't happen often enough to my family. The staring contest had been lost by Nudge, simply because Angel had persuaded her to look away. I came down on her, telling her it was not okay for her to use her powers against Nudge, one of the weaker in the mind of the group. Angel huffed, but understood. God. Moody seven-year-olds.

Angel's birthday had been about a month ago, and next up was Nudge's, or so we thought. Jeez, they were all growing up so fast. And growing up so well, thanks to this house. They felt safe… but now I wasn't so sure, after the common sense streak Fang had just gone on. Frowning, I tried to figure out a way to phrase what I had to say properly… and correctly.

"So," I began conversationally, swallowing the lump in my throat, "uh… Fang and I were talking." I stopped and looked at the floor, feeling my insides churn. How could I suggest taking this from them? They were so happy, something they hadn't been in quite a while. This was nothing short of paradise for them, and now we older kids had to go and be sensible.

"Are you breaking up again?" Nudge nearly screeched, her eyes widening and her fist tightening around her glass of orange juice. Suddenly, the glass itself shattered, spilling juice and glass upon her lap.

"No," the two of us quickly replied, alarmed. Whoa. No way. There was no way I'd be able to deal with that again. When I'd split up from Fang (… and Iggy and Gazzy) I felt like I'd lost one half of my body. Like I'd had a stroke. A heart attack. Aneurysm.

I hurried over to her and picked up all the glass, accidentally slicing myself with it a few times, and then wrapped it in paper towels, chucking it into the trash. She wiped herself off and tried to calm down. I rubbed circles in her back. "Not that, no. Never again," I promised, and Fang gave a small nod.

"Are you two daaaaaa-tiiiiing?"

I scowled, but felt my face heat up. "No, Iggy." I didn't turn to see Fang's expression. I was sort of afraid to. "Fang and I were talking," I began again. "He opened my eyes to the reality of Mo — … Dr. Martinez. I… I think we should move," I closed my eyes and felt the emotions coming — questions about Mom's sincerity, wanting safety… the flock being angry. I swallowed down the tears. The last thing I was going to do right now was cry.

"What?" Iggy seethed, and the other kids were speechless, gaping.

"We —"

"I just got to know this place!" Iggy's sightless eyes were narrowed as he shouted.

"Island," Fang butted in. "Isolated. Alone." He paused, and, dripping with sincerity, he whispered, "Safe."

When Fang says a word with sincerity in a whisper, you know it's a good idea, and you know he means it. I was so glad he'd contributed, and I was now confident that the kids would agree to my plan. Nudge wiped tears from her eyes, and Gazzy looked just as angry as Iggy did. Angel didn't look shaken by the news — then again, she'd probably already known.

"Okay," Nudge nodded. "I understand. I was thinking the same thing, Max. Like, Dr. Martinez seems really nice, but it seemed too good to be true, you know? So did all this," she beckoned toward the house, "but I understand." She sniffled and wiped her eyes some more, no doubt trying not to sob.

"I'm sorry, Nudge," and I really was. I walked over to her and gave her a big hug, noticing how tall she was getting, how I couldn't rest my chin on her head anymore. So I held her and tried not to cry myself. Being the bad guy really sucked sometimes… but I had to do what I felt was safe. "That's my girl," I whispered to her.

Angel walked over and wrapped her arms around my waist, and then also around Nudge's, making a group hug out of it. We rocked back and forth. "It'll be okay, girls. Don't worry." Wow, what an emotional morning. Group hugs by the girls? Not an everyday treat.

When we split apart, the Gasman stood by Iggy, as I'd envisioned. I totally understood. It wasn't fair. But neither was life. We were going to have to deal, forced to cope. "I'm sorry, guys. I really… I wish we could stay here. I do. Really."

"Then why don't we? There's nothing making us leave," Iggy spat. "Oh, wait — you are! How come every time we get to a place we like, we have to leave? Every time I get used to the surroundings, we bail. I hate this!" he shouted, and he punched a cabinet. "This is useless! Why can't we settle in one place, and just stay there? Why can't we make it easy on ourselves?"

"Iggy, it's not that easy," I responded calmly. "They know where we are. They'll get us, test us, hunt us down, kill us."

"What else is new? We dealt with it before!"

"Iggy," I walked over and tried to envelop him in a hug, but he shoved me away, and then grabbed me and held me at arm's length. Suddenly, I was afraid. I'd never seen Iggy this angry, especially with me. But I couldn't let him know this. "I'm sorry. I really am. Things would be so much easier if we weren't on the run, but we'll find an island and just stay there. Sit in hammocks all day. Fly where we want to. Be happy."

"You always say that!" he shouted. "Why don't you go, and we'll stay here, Gazzy and I, so we don't slow you down? Hmm? Because God knows I'm so blind that I can't do anything, and Gazzy's too young, and I guess Angel can go with you because she's your favorite! And we'll sit around, and wait for them to find us!"

I thought about that. He'd just contradicted himself. "That's why you'd come with us," I reasonably told him.

His face was bright red, almost matching his strawberry blonde hair. Breathing heavily with anger, he released me and turned around, his shoulders rising and falling quickly. "Iggy —"

Nothing could've prepared me for what happened next.

Slowly, he turned around, teeth clenched. Without any warning, Iggy, with an open palm, slapped me across the face, his own expression reading shock after he'd done it.

Next to me, Nudge and Angel gasped, and even the Gasman took a few steps back from Iggy. We'd never seen him this angry.

Out of nowhere, Fang appeared from behind me, gingerly pushing me to the side and flying past me, right up in Iggy's face. Fang was eye level with Iggy's nose, so he angled his face upward when he spoke. "What the hell are you doing?" he demanded. "Don't touch her! She's trying to take care of us! She's trying to make sure we're safe for once! And if you're going to be an arrogant know-it-all and take advantage of what she does for us, you're more than welcome to stay here and have you and your unthankful little ass kicked and tested again."

He shoved Iggy, turned around, and stalked into his room, making sure the door slammed on the way in.

Iggy, seeming to get the point but not wanting to be mature about it, spun on his own heel and stalked into his room, down the other hall.

Which left the four of us still standing there.

"We're leaving tomorrow," I shouted to the household. "Pack your bags…"

Angel turned to me. "Don't worry, Max," she said. "Iggy's just being a moody teenager. He's going to go. But Fang's really mad at him, and Iggy's mad at Fang, too. It'll be okay."

I blinked twice. "I'm going to my room…" I trailed off, and shut the door behind me.

It took all of me not to cry. Iggy had slapped me. He'd always been very tolerant of everything, even with his blindness, but he'd just cracked, and hit me. I tried so hard, and never really got much credit. Collapsing onto my bed, I screamed into my pillow, and allowed a few tears to fall.

But then I stopped them. I had a flock to lead.

A/N: Wow! Thanks SO much for all the reviews. I really wasn't expecting many, but I'm glad you guys reviewed! This is awesome.

Well, bad news. My laptop -- which held all of my writing on it -- has just fucked itself. Excuse my French, but the hard drive fried. I didn't back up ANYTHING. I just lost all of my writing. ALL of it. Thankfully, I hadn't written much of this, so I'll be keeping with it. Whenever I can get to a computer, I will type up the most recent chapter that I've written. Since we're poor, my dad can't buy me a new laptop yet, and his computer just off-limits, but I'll be getting a new one soon because I do great in school and will need one for high school.

This chapter kind of blew… but it's an update. Next chapter is when the real action starts… I guarantee it.

Don't expect often updates, again, guys, because of my lack of una computadora. But I'll try my hardest; don't lose faith in this story!

Music for this chapter: Riot! Three Days Grace, Innocent Our Lady Peace