Ok, hope u guys liked Chapter 3. Sorry if it sounded rushed at the end, but I just wanted to finish it so badly!

And thanks for the other people who reviewed. And sorry if Max is over-reacting in this chapter, but that's just how I am writing it, so sorry, if it comes out deep.

So just a heads up, these next 2 or 3 chapters might be shorter than usual, just because not a lot happens and I want Fang back in the picture. And I need advice as to know if you guys want a Fang P.O.V. chapter about his new life in Arizona. So please review a yes or a no!

Thanks! :)


Chapter 4 - Trying To Move On

The next few weeks were a living hell.

I know perfect timing for Christmas, and this is usual a happy time for me. All the presents, food, laughter, family, but it just didn't seem right without Fang and his family.

I just wish they would have told me sooner, although it would have been the same. I never imagined it would hurt this much losing someone; it was like he took part of me with him.

I didn't eat for the first five days; I must have lost at least 10lbs. I stayed in bed for most of the day, and only got out of it to eat or take a shower.

The day of New Year's Eve Iggy came to room with a bowl of soup and crackers. He set it on my nightstand and sat down at the foot of my bed. I lifted my head and looked at him,

"Do you want to go to park? Dad is taking me and Jeremy."

I could tell he was trying to be nice, and was trying to make me feel better, and I felt bad saying no. I smiled weakly, "Sure, just give me a minute to change and eat the soup."

He smiled brightly and walked out of my room. I sat up and grabbed the bowl of steaming soup, Chicken Noodle, my favorite!

I hadn't realized I so hungry until I finished my soup in like one minute. I looked down at my empty bowl and wanted more, but I didn't want to keep up Iggy and dad. I slid out of bed and put on my warmest snow clothes.

I grabbed my gloves and scarf and headed downstairs. I walked by my mom who was reading one of her mystery books on the couch. She did a double take at me, "Sweetie, you finally got out of bed. How are you feeling?" she asked.

"I think I'm feeling much better, I'm going to the park with dad, Iggy and his friend Jeremy." She smiled at me, "I'm so glad, go have fun." I hugged her for no reason and headed out the door.

"There you are, glad my little girl could join us!" my dad announced happily. I followed him across the street and sat down next to him on the bench. A cold wind of gust came and I snuggled closer to him.

I watched Iggy and Jeremy try to build a snowman. When Iggy had the bottom part of the snowman ready, Jeremy would put the middle part, but would crack the bottom and it would just fall.

For the first time in weeks I laughed, and it felt really good. Iggy heard me, looked up and gave me the thumbs up. I just stuck out my tongue at him and laughed again. "There she is, that's the Max I know." My dad said looking down at me.

I smirked at him and then jumped off the bench to help the boys build a snowman. Ten minutes later I stood back and looked at my work. "Now that is a snowman!" said Jeremy cheerfully. "Nice job Max." He looked at me and gave me a high five.

It suddenly got really cold and then I heard my mom yell from our house, "Come on in guys, I made hot chocolate!"

"Yes!" said the boys in unison, and they raced across the street. I looked back at he snowman, and suddenly I didn't want to go inside. The snowman looked lonely, and I knew how he felt, someone with out a friend. A best friend.

I was about to yell back that I wasn't ready to go back in, when two strong hands grabbed me from behind and threw me over their shoulders. "We better hurry squirt, before the boys finish all of the chocolate." My dad said, "No wait, I don't want to go back inside." I told him,

"Oh really?" and then he started tickling me in the stomach, my weak point. I was laughing so hard; tears were freezing on my cheeks. We went through our door and he set me on the couch. I was still laughing when my mom came over to me and gave me a warm mug. I took a huge swallow and sighed happily.

"Better?" she asked. I nodded and took another sip. After awhile the boys wanted to play Guitar Hero, so I followed them down to the basement and sat on the couch.

"Ok Max you know the rules when we play." started Iggy. I frowned at him, "Um no I don't." I answered, confused. "Rule #1, no video-recording, rule #2, no laughing at us, rule #3, no saying that we stink and rule #4, you can't play. Got it?"

I smiled at him, "Sorry, but I can't promise anything." Jeremy just laughed and put the guitar strap around his shoulder. Iggy rolled his eyes, set up the game, and also put the strap around his shoulder.

After the first two songs, I decided that they sucked. Well Jeremy was a little better than Iggy, but still 184 notes out of 269? I can even do better. But I was being a good sister and did not make one comment, although I had to hide my laughter every once in a while.

After the fifth song, Iggy was sweating like a pig, and getting his butt kicked by his best friend. He threw himself on the couch and handed me the guitar, still breathing hard. "I thought you said I couldn't play?" I said, looking at him,

"I know, but just beat Jeremy once."

"Yeah, like she's gonna beat me." Jeremy called out. "What? You scared an 8 year old is going to beat you?" I asked getting up.

"No." he said, swallowing hard. I put on the hardest song, and what do you know, I won!

"Let's go again!" I yelled, I felt pumped and wanted to win again. Jeremy rolled his eyes and put on a new song. Just as we were going to start, my dad came down and said that Jeremy's mom was here.

"What time is it?" I asked him, he looked down at his watch, "It's 6:45." What? Wow, time flies when you're having fun. The boys went up and I stayed, putting the game away.

By the time I got up to the living room, Jeremy was gone and mom was getting the car keys. "Where are you going?" I asked. "Well your dad and Iggy want Chinese food for dinner, so we are going Pick Up Stix." Yes! That was my favorite place ever. So I followed her out to the car and we went to go eat.

I was so full when we came back; I went straight to my room, threw on my p.j's and collapsed on the couch. My dad put on the show Wipeout, and about fifteen minutes into it, I fell asleep on his legs. I don't really remember him picking me up, carrying me to my room and tucking me in, but I do remember him saying something like, "It's nice to have you back Max." and he kissed my head.

Well, not you bore you about my life (even though I know you want to know more) I'm just gonna skip ahead to that summer. My aunt, uncle and cousin from New York came and spent almost half the summer with us.

Iggy , me and Natasha (my cousin, she is 12) spent most of our time in the pool, while the adults sat and talked on the patio. We had like BBQ's almost everyday, and swam; it was a really fun summer.

Every once in awhile though, I would think about Fang and wonder what he was doing. Then in September, when my birthday came, it felt weird not having the Harding's there to celebrate with me.

So again, sorry for skipping three years of my life. Really quick though, those first years without Fang were pretty hard, it was worse at school. I didn't talk to no one and had no friends. So now I just turned eleven on September 17th, and it is Halloween day. Again sorry for skipping three years, but this is an important part.

So I woke up really excited, cause today is Halloween! I sat up and looked across to my closet and saw my costume. And my costume is…I'm not going to tell you! Yup, you are guys are going to have to wait.

I got out of bed and ran down the stairs, only finding my mom watching TV. I stopped just short of her; ok it's too quiet in this house. "Where's Iggy and dad?" I asked her,

"Dad took Iggy to go get his costume." I rolled my eyes and sat next to her, figures, a thirteen year old get his costume last minute. She put on the news and this headline came up: "Breaking News, Teen steals costume from mall."

I snorted, "Wow that was pretty stupid, did he think he wasn't gonna get caught?" I said getting up and getting orange juice. Suddenly the front door burst open, and in ran Iggy holding a bag from the Halloween store at the mall. "Mom, mom we almost died right now!" he shouted.

He ran into the living room and stood in front of my mom. "Iggy Ride stop saying that, we did not almost die. Do not listen to him Val." My dad said locking the door and standing next to me.

"Yes we did, did you see on the news that kid who stole the costume from the mall?" my mom nodded and looked at my dad who just rolled his eyes. "Well dad and I were waiting in line to buy my costume when the beepers went off."

Behind him the news guy on the TV announced, "And this teen boy brought out a gun and aimed it at the cash register girl."

I lifted my eyebrows and looked at Iggy, "You see, you see, he had a gun, and he aimed it at the girl who was scanning my costume!" My mom looked at my dad alarmed, "Is that true Marcus?"

"Yes honey, bu…" he was interrupted by Iggy, "Yeah it's all true mom but we ducked under that one thingy, and then the security guard caught the kid and we paid and then we felt. But we barely made it out alive." He said on one breath, and then sat down.

It was quiet for a second, and then I burst out laughing. "Wow, that would happen to you Iggy, you are like a magnet to bad things."

"That's not funny Max," my mom looked serious, "Something terrible could have happened to them. Who knows if that kid would have used that gun?"

"Ok, fine I'm sorry Iggy, I'm glad nothing happened to you." I told him.

"Well if that kid did try something I would have used these to take care of him." He said and then he lifted up his arms and flexed his biceps. To bad there was nothing there though. And this time my whole family started laughing.

My dad and I fell to the floor, crying. When we finally controlled ourselves I looked at Iggy, who was mad. "Fine, then I guess I'm not going to show you my costume!" he announced and started walking up the stairs.

"No, no, Iggy, honey wait." My mom called after him, "We do want to see it, I bet it's really neat." I looked at my dad who shrugged his shoulders and we went and sat down.

Iggy came back in the living room and stood in the middle, "Ok, personally I think it's the best costume in the whole freakin, store, and since I'm pretty skinny," I was so close to adding 'With no muscle', but decided not too. "I thought it was perfect."

He concluded, and with that he opened the bag and pulled out a Jack Skellington suit from The Nightmare Before Christmas movie. He picked it up and smiled proudly at us. "I have to admit, that is going to look really good on you." I told him, smiling.

"It really is Iggy, and I can paint your face white and make black circles around your eyes." Added mom. "Sweet, I can't wait for tonight!" he yelled before running upstairs.

My mom just shook her head and got up, "What am I going to do with you guys?" she asked. "Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" I asked. She just laughed. "What kind of sandwich do guys want?" she asked taking out the bread from the pantry.

"I want ham and dad and Iggy want turkey." I said walking past her, "And go easy on the mayo on mine." I opened the fridge and took out the meats, and lettuce, "Of course Max."

Five minutes later we were all on the couch watching 'America's Most Funniest Home Videos', and finishing our sandwiches. Our parents fell asleep and I decided to go on YouTube, just to kill time.

I was looking through random videos and didn't notice that it was about to be seven and it was already dark, so I shut off the computer, walked into the living room and found that my parents were still asleep. I smiled to myself,

"Maybe I can surprise them with my costume." I thought, and then I ran to my room. I walked over to my closet and took out my costume from its' bag. I lifted up the white dress and smiled, it was perfect.

I slipped it on and walked over to my parents' bathroom. I opened the cabinet under the sink and took out my moms' make-up box. I know, I know I don't like doing all of this girlie stuff, but I think make-up will make my costume look better.

And I know how to put on make-up because I watch my mom every morning as she puts it on. I walked back to my room and into my bathroom. I sat on top of the sink counter and applied silver eye shadow. I think it I did a good job, then I put on eyeliner, and lastly mascara.

I looked at myself and decided I looked decent enough, so I got down and returned my moms make-up box back in their bathroom. I passed by Iggy's room and peaked inside. He already had his full costume on and turned around to leave, I tried to run so he wouldn't see me but he did.

"Max?" he asked looking at my face. "What!" I growled, "Don't tell mom or dad yet, I want to surprise them." I said looking at him. Just as he nodded we heard the couch squeak downstairs,

"Max, Iggy you guys better be changed cause we are leaving in thirty minutes." My mom yelled and then we heard her walking up the stairs. "Quick get in your room!" instructed Iggy and he pushed me in and closed my door.

"Max, can I come in?" Oh, man she's right outside! I dove into my bathroom but then heard Iggy call her, "Mom, I need you to do my make-up now!" I could tell they were both behind my door now.

"Oh, that's right, okay let's go to my bathroom then." She said and I heard them walk away. I breathed a sigh of relief and got up. I looked down to make sure my dress didn't have any wrinkles, and then I put the other parts of my costume on.

Ok, fine I'll tell you what my costume is, although maybe some of you already know what it is. I'm going to be an… Angel!

Once I saw it at the store I knew I had to get. So I stood in front of the mirror and made sure my wings were on right. "Max, can I come in?" it was Iggy.

"Yeah." I replied still looking in the mirror. He opened the door and looked at me.

"Wow! You look really nice, did you do the make-up?" he asked, surprised. I nodded and put on my white slip on shoes. I stood up again and noticed his make-up. "And you look really good too!" I beamed. He perked up,

"Thanks! So are you ready?"

"Yeah, I'll be down in a minute." I chided. He turned around and walked out. Again I made sure my costume looked fine and then I walked over to my desk. I opened the second drawer and took out a blood red jewelry box. I opened it and searched for a small square thing at the bottom.

I finally found it and turned the picture over. It was the picture of Fang and I in those wings that Becky put on us at the picture studio. That day felt like such a long time ago, but I still kept it, and the one with both of us sleeping on the way home from Daytona's. They remind me of those happy times. I just looked at the picture and smiled, how miss him so badly!

"Come on Max, dad's already waiting outside." My mom nagged coming in my room. I quickly put the photo back in the box and put it away before turning around and facing her. She just stood there and looked at me.

I smiled shyly and she came and hugged me, "You look amazing Max, I can't believe you did the make-up by yourself!" she added. "Well, I wanted to surprise you!" I chimed.

"We better hurry, Iggy and your dad are already outside." I followed her downstairs and out the front door. There were already kids and their parents walking up our street. My dad saw me and smiled, and then we headed to the right to start the night.

We were barely on the first block and I already saw a lot of neat costumes. There was a boy wearing a huge suit of one of the yellow minions from Despicable Me (this is true, a kid dressed up as this in my school last year, it was really cool) and another girl was dressed as the Ariel from the Little Mermaid.

After about an hour of walking, Iggy had more candy then me, and there was no way I was letting that happen. So we turned on this street that had a huge, black covered maze from one end of the street to the other end, it was super long!

Right before you enter there is a sign that said, "Enter if you dare, and if you make it all the way, you get as much candy as you want." "That sounds like fun!" both Iggy and I remarked together.

"Yeah, but I am not going with Iggy, I don't trust him." I stated. He rolled his eyes, "Fine I'll go first, see you guys at the other end." He trailed off as he entered the black tunnel.

"I'll go wait for him at the end, Marcus come over once Max goes in." my mom said as she walked down the street.

"Can you go by yourself?" my dad asked. I looked at him dumbfounded, "Of course I can dad, I'm not scared." I objected, crossing my arms.

The second I finished my sentence, we heard a blood-curdling scream that sounded like a little girl. I looked around expecting to see a two year old girl running down the street being chased by a werewolf or something.

Instead I was slammed into, hard. What the…?

It was Iggy.

And he was holding onto my dad like a little baby. I got up and walked to him, "What happened?' I asked. "Th -there's a sc -scary th-thing in there!" he stammered.

"Oh please, I bet it's a scary bunny rabbit, with fangs." I mocked, laughing, but stopped short; Fang…

"Do you still want to go in?" my dad asked trying to calm down Iggy. I nodded my head, fixed my wings and walked into the tunnel. It was pitch black and I couldn't see a thing. I just stood there clutching my pillowcase full of candy.

Suddenly there was a low moan and neon green footsteps appeared on the floor. "Follow me." A low voice whispered. So I followed the steps, and they led me to two doors.

"Choose wisely, or you may never come out!" the voice yelled tauntingly. Wow, whoever made this went all out this year, I thought. I decided I would go through the left door, and as I was reaching for the handle, I suddenly felt a hand clutch my left arm.

I yelled and turned around, ready to punch this stranger. My fist was half way through the air, when I noticed my attacker was a girl, about the same age as me. I stopped my fist just in time and stared at the girl.

She released my arm and held up both hands in front of her face, at least she was smart enough to tryand block my punch. "Please," she whispered, "I'm just trying to help you." I put down my hand,

"What's your name?" I asked her harshly, "Monique, but you can call me Nudge." Nudge? That's a weird name.

"I'm sorry to scare you, but you were going to go though the wrong door. Trust me I've been through this maze at least a hundred times and I know which is the right way out. I tried helping that other kid before you, but he got scared when I touched him and he ran off screaming." I mentally laughing, dumb Iggy.

"Well I'm sorry too, that I almost punched you, it's just that I freak out when people touch me. Especially if I don't know them." I stuck out my hand, "I'm, Max." I greeted her with a smile.

She smiled back, "You look really pretty by the way, love your costume." I blushed and looked at hers. She was wearing a puffy pink princess dress, her hair was in like a mini afro, with glitter in it, and a huge tiara on top.

"And you look really nice too" I implied. She smiled back, "So you ready to get through this maze?" she asked. "Definitely!" I declared. As it turned out she knew exactly where to go, and we got to the finish line in record time.

At the end there was this guy dressed as the Grim Reaper, and next to him was the biggest bowl of candy I had ever seen. Nudge and I both walked up, but as Nudge was going to get her candy, he stuck out his index finger and moved it left to right telling her 'No.'

I looked at her puzzled, "I already made it through, so I guess I can't get any more." she answered and walked out the exit. I walked to the bowl and took four huge handfuls, this should be way more candy than Iggy has.

I thanked the Grim Reaper guy, and he just looked at me as I walked out. I opened the last curtain and felt a breath of fresh air and I saw my family. Iggy had his mouth opened all the way to the ground and my dad came and hugged me,

"You made it Max!" he announced as he picked me up. "It was a piece of cake!" I said as he set me down. I looked behind my dad and saw Nudge walking down the street. "Nudge!" I called after her, she turned around and I went running to her,

"Where are you going Max?" my mom asked, "Just give me a second." I yelled over my shoulder. I caught up to Nudge, "Where are you going?" I asked her,

"I um, actually came trick-or-treating with my cousins, but they left me when I kept trying to get through the maze. We are having a party at my house, so I am heading home." "Oh, well um what school do you go to, maybe we can see each other then or some other time." I insisted, I really liked her, and I don't really have a lot of friends at school (or any for that matter) and maybe she can be my first friend since Fang.

"I am a fifth grader at Belmont Elementary School, right up the street." She said pointing to her right. "Oh my god! That's my elementary school too!" I roared.

She also smiled back, "Wow, how come I never noticed you? That's so cool!" she exclaimed. "Maybe I'll see you on Monday?" I hoped,

"Yeah, for sure! Well I gotta go, my family is probably wondering where I am, so I'll see you later!" she said turning around. "Bye!" I called after her. Once she was gone I turned around and walked back to my family, smiling like crazy! "Who was that?" asked Iggy looking over my shoulder.

"I think I just found a new friend." I replied,

"Maybe I'm finally moving on." I said, with a smile on my face.


So there's chapter 4. Hope you guys liked it. It actually came out longer than I expected, well even better!

Sorry if there are spelling mistakes (again) So again please review if you guys want a chapter in Fang's P.O.V. about his life in Arizona!

Again thanks for reading and review! :)