I'M ALIVE EVERYBODY! ITS OKAY! YOU CAN STOP SEARCHING FOR MY HIDDEN WILL!

I am soooo so so so so so sorry that I have not updated in approximately forever. I am such a bitch because I even told some of you I was updating the friday of a few weeks ago. Well, there are 3 reasons that I delayed from updating.

Reason #1: I got sick. Real sick. Like, fever of 101-102, i feel like complete shit sick. SOOOO i just didn't feel like writing/posting. Between that and doing all the makeup work from after I got back to school, I really couldn't post.

Reason #2: One word- Avatar. Ya know, that manga-ish TV show that's a cartoon on Nickolodeon? Well, I'm in love with that TV show after my good friend Lee started getting hooked on it. So, I've been watching it nonstop. I'm halfway through season 2 hehe

Reason #3: The book called City of Bones by Cassandra Clare. I was going to update at around 5 today, but I started reading and couldn't stop. This book is epic.

I know none of these reasons should be an excuse but PLEEASEE don't hate me!!! Cuz I love you all too much let's get started!

Disclaimer: I am James Patterson the day hippogrifs fly out of my ass. (there's a little harry potter humor for you all...)

On with the story! Enjoy!

Chapter 7- A Reminder

The "mini-new-clothes-fashion-show" with Nudge, Ella, and Angel lasted what seemed like a lifetime. Don't get me wrong, they all looked so great with their new clothes but who are we kidding, I would have rather helped Iggy make bombs (and you all know how I feel about bombs). Every article of clothing I tried on was announced "dull" by the two other girls of the flock and my sister but hey, it's not like I have ever cared about how I looked. Why start now? Well, I guess I didn't want to look like I had been on the run for years for my first impression at school. It was Friday, and we started school on Monday. Two more days till we hit the hell-whole once again. Well damn. When I heard a little giggle in my head, I corrected myself. Dang. Doggie ears. You get the picture, Ange. I heard giggling once again before her presence left my head.

Once the Nudge and Angel started putting their newly bought clothes away, Ella and I made out escapes. She, of course, made her way to the guys' room, going to see Iggy I gathered while I went to me and Ella's room to get all of my clothes away. I folded all my shirts, putting them in the dresser in the corner of the room, and hung my jeans and shorts from the hangers in the closet. I grabbed my new black leather jacket, which was lying in my arms, and threw it onto my bed. Unsure of what I wanted to do once I was done situating my clothes, I saw the book about Women Leaders that I got from Iggy lying on the ground next to my bed. I picked it up and started reading.

I've never been much of a reading, ya know, being on the run from crazed scientists and bone breaking robots and all that, but this book was really interesting. I idolized each woman in the book for a different thing. Abigail Adams fought for women's rights even though it was just the very start of our nation. Marie Curie was one of the most knowledgeable and influential woman scientists of medicine in history. Harriet Tubman fought segregation, encouraging racial equality. The list went on and on. I was in the middle of reading about Betsy Ross, the creator of the first American Flag, when my stomach let out a large grumble. "Food time, Max!"I told myself. Great. Now not only do I have a voice in my head that does not belong to me, wings sprouting from my back, and supersonic speed, but I also talk to myself. Ahem….I'm done with my rant now.

Sighing, I got up, bringing the book with my, my thumb still in the book holding my page, I trudged to the kitchen to grab a snack. Jeb was walking up the stairs the same time I was walking down them and he smiled at me, his eyes crinkling in the corners. I recalled seeing him smile the same way the day he broke us out of The School. Every rare time I'd seen him smile after that never reached his eye. Out of reaction, I smiled back at my dad and said, "Night."

"Goodnight, Maximum." Too lazy to remind him it was Max, not Maximum, I kept walking to the kitchen. I was surprised to see that Mom wasn't in the family room and figured she had already turned in. Sighing once again for no apparent reason, I walked into the kitchen and automatically opened the pantry door. Let me tell you, I was hungry. It wasn't something that a Gatorade and a cereal bar were going to fix. I looked through the pantry until my eyes laid on a box of chocolate covered Entenmann's doughnuts. I set the box down on the table and went to retrieve a glass of milk before I started devouring the doughnuts.

I was probably on my fourth or fifth doughnut and had just finished the Betsy Ross section of my book when I heard a clanking noise over by the sink. I snapped my head up to look for who had come into the kitchen, but saw no one. That only meant one thing.

Fang.

Whether he knew he was invisible or not, I did not know. I still felt weird about the conversation had that day, the one that was not so much about Iggy and Ella. Instead of looking down at my plate again, I kept staring in that spot, half hoping and half not hoping that he would appear right then. When I didn't here footsteps or see him appear again, I slowly scooted my chair back, and stood up.

I slowly walked over to the sink. I barely knew what I was doing. For some reason I felt the urge to find Fang even though he was invisible.

"Do you know how to turn it off? Your invisibility?" I asked out loud.

When I got no reply, I rolled my eyes from frustration and picked up my plate and glass, walked back over to the sink and placed the dished in it. I did this all absent-mindedly. I was still trying to figure out a way to find Fang. I knew he was probably just standing there, leaning against the counter, watching every movie I make. So, I ran my hand along the edge, waiting for my hand to hit something, anything.

And it did. The second my hand knocked into something, it came into view. My hand had come into contact, with his leg, as he was sitting on the counter. I looked up to see his face and when I looked into his dark eyes tentatively, I saw a mix of emotions I had never seen. Fury. Aggravation. Hurt.

In a flash, it was gone. You would have missed it if you blinked.

"Hey," I said softly. The room had become so quiet that I was truthfully afraid to talk any louder than I was.

Fang didn't say anything. He just continued to stare at me. I picked up the hand that was still slightly touching his leg and made a scooting motion with it. He raised his eye brows questioningly and I huffed in frustration. Instead of telling him with words to scoot over, I placed one hand on the arm of him leather jacket and the other on his leg and pushed him over until his left shoulder touched the fridge. I moved a glass that was in the way before climbing up and sitting next to him. I couldn't help but notice that our shoulders lightly brushed each other's every time we each took a breath.

"Hey," I said again. This time he actually responded.

"What do you want, Max?" Okay, so it wasn't a normal greeting but hey, at least he lost the whole staring trance!!.....................................Okay so fine he was still staring at me like I had kicked a squirrel but still.

"I wanted to thank you for the shirt you got me. It's really cool." I smiled at him to show that my appreciation was genuine, not just an ice breaker.

He nodded and said, "No problem. Thanks my CD, too. You can download it onto your new iPod with my laptop if you want."

I nodded, staring at my intertwined fingers in my lap. "Okay." I looked over to Fang to see he was invisible once again. Knowing he was still there, I brushed my hand through the air, landing on the side of Fang's face, his smooth hair beneath my fingers. I blushed and removed it but continued to look at Fang. He was smirking very slightly but had a questioning look on his face.

"You were invisible," I explained. "You really can't tell can you?"

"Nope," he said vaguely, popping the p.

We sat in silence for another few seconds before Fang asked me something.

"Why did you really get an iPod?"

I looked over and said, "What a random question…"

"Just wondering," he clarified.

"Truth? I have no idea why the hell I bought one," I replied. Fang just chuckled.

"Hey, maybe you can buy one of those arm straps and listen to it while you're flying, "he said in a joking manner.

I snorted, "Psh, yeah. Despite the risk of having it drop thousands of feet with the possibility of falling on someone and breaking their skull, sounds like I great idea. I would do it all the time." The sarcasm was practically dripping off my tongue.

Fang chuckled for a few seconds until it turned into small laughter. I was slightly alarmed. For Fang, laughter was completely different than chuckling. Something has to be pretty dang funny for Fang to laugh, even if it was quietly.

"What?" I asked him.

"I just had a mental image of you jamming out to a rock song mid-air." Okayy. I didn't find that image quite funny. All the same, I made fun of the image by making a funny face and attempting the best air guitar solo that I could. That was when Fang belted out in laughter, just like the day in the restaurant. Once again, a huge shock. I had seen Fang like this a few time out of my whole life.

"Come on, it wasn't that funny," I reasoned with him.

Through his laughter he managed," Yes it was. But look," He pointed behind me. I turned around and looked.

Oh.

Somewhere, in the midst of my rockin guitar solo, I had hid the faucet and failed to notice. The water had turned on and was flowing onto the counter, and I saw it was dripping down, starting to hit my jeans. I jumped off the counter, only to slip and fall on the water that was already on the floor. My butt hit the floor, soaking me at the same time. As this happened, Fang's laughter stopped, only to increase in volume after a pause. I joined in, looking at the state of myself. At that point, I knew the awkwardness between Fang and I was gone, put aside and ignored as we always had done with uncomfortable moments. It was just our routine.

Just then, my mom walked into the kitchen in her nightgown. Her eyes wide, she said, "What's happened in here?"

Trying to stifle my laughter, I finally calmed down to say, "Sorry, Mom. My fault." But by then, my mom was also smiling and shaking her head at me and my soaking jeans. "It's alright honey. I'll take care of it. You two go upstairs."

I wiped my eyes from my laughter and walked out of the kitchen, Fang right behind me. Once we reached the boys' room, I turned to Fang and asked, "You turning in?"

"Nah," he replied. "Not tired. Might look at my guitar. Read my intro book to figure it out." Like I always say, he has a way with full sentences.

"Kay, just don't play or you'll wake up everyone."

"Okay. Night Max."

"Night."

(GAHH SPACERS ARENT WORKING SO PRETEND THERE IS ONE RIGHT HERE)

It was about 1am. I had been lying in bed and staring at the ceiling for almost 2 hours. Ella's breathing was steady across the room. I quietly got up from my bed and grabbed my Apple Store bag. I was going to try to work out my iPod, but I needed Fang's computer. I walked down the hall, being as silent as I could, and peaked my head into the boys' room. Fang wasn't there and neither was his laptop. Big shock.

I walked down to the family room to see Fang stretched out on the couch, reading a book called "Guitar for Beginners: What You Need to Know". He raised his eyes from the page he was reading to look up at me.

"Hey," he said. "Couldn't sleep?"

"You guessed it." I wasn't even tired. "I'm gonna buy some songs for my iPod, update it and such, but I need your laptop…" Before I could continue, he turned his laptop on and slid it over to me. "Thanks," I said. He nodded and continued reading. I walked out of the room to the kitchen and took the Max Ride card from the top of the refrigerator. Mom said I could take it from there whenever I felt like I needed it. I returned to the family room and Fang looked at me questioningly. I waved the Max Ride card in the air and he nodded, returning to his book once again.

After I had registered my credit card, I started to look for some music to buy. Fang's visibility had disappeared awhile ago and I was startled when he repapered next to me, sitting on the ground and sitting criss-cross-applesauce like a little kid in school.

"Wutcha buyin'?" he asked me.

I gave him a "Mmmhmmhmm", making it sound like an "I dunno." I continued to search iTunes, going to the top 100 songs, best albums, etc. until I felt Fang staring at me. Without bringing my eyes to him, continuing to look at the computer, I said, "You're burning a hole through my head."

Suddenly, a hand swept into my vision of the computer, placing itself on the top fold of the laptop and shutting it swiftly. Slightly, very slightly annoyed, I looked at Fang with an impatient look on my face. He started talking.

"We need to talk. "Mhhmhms" weren't going to cut it." Says the guy who can't talk in complete sentences.

"Psh. Speak for yourself," I muttered, half-joking. He smirked at this and I smirked back.

"Can I ask you a question?" He was back to his "in-all-seriousness" Fang again. I had a gut feeling that this was going to end in me talking about my feelings, so I decided to make a negotiation.

"….Only if I can ask you one." There was something I had been curious about. "Oh! AND you can't interrupt my answer," I added quickly, sure that he would have.

He looked skeptical, but nodded once in agreement.

I stared at him until he talked and when he didn't, I sighed with impatience and turned to sit directly next to Fang, both of us facing the TV.

"You find it weird Iggy's going out with someone," he said slowly, carefully picking his words. "Why?"

I sighed, although I already knew he was going to bring this up. I sat there staring at the wall for a while, thinking. Fang clearly thought otherwise and whipped his head around to face me with an impatient and annoyed look on his face. "Hold on, I'm thinking," I said, reassuringly.

He nodded, lost the look in his eye, and relaxed, turning back to face the TV.

I, just like he had, picked my words very carefully when I started talking again. "I guess it's just weird for me," I said. "Seeing people I've either known for so long…like Iggy…show such a different side of himself towards someone. Ya know, show romantic interest. Especially towards my sister. Well, half-sister. You catch my drift. I know lots of teenagers would find this whole thing normal. In the movies you see high school girls falling over guys and vice-versa. I guess it's not the fact we're not normal that makes it weird in addition, just the fact we don't exactly have that scene, that setting."

Fang scoffed, "Wait two days and we will." Ahh, yes. Beloved school.

"Eh,eh,eh," I said. "No interrupting."

He gave me a mock icy glare and I smirked before continuing.

"But the biggest thing is seeing this dude, a great dude I may add, one I've known for so long, move onto this…area I guess. Yay adolescence," I laughed.

"I think I kinda get where you're coming from," he said, still sounding a little confused. This made me laugh again.

"Sorry if my teenage-girl mind is making you feel inferior." He glared at me for real this time but I just laughed it off, him even chuckling slightly.

When silence overcame us, I looked over at him to find him looking at his hands, running one hand over the others' scars. There were so many. I knew he was clearly just finding something to look at, but I felt the urge to grab his hands and study them, curious as to how he got each scar. When I looked closer, I saw there were scars on top f the knuckles of his right hand that looked different than the other, standing out more. There was whitish pinkish skin coating the usual ivory coloring.

Without thinking, I reached out the hand with my own, running my fingers over his scarred knuckles. "What happened here?" I asked, still running my fingers over his hand. I laughed slightly and ran my fingers across the valleys between each knuckle. "You look like Wolverine after he retracted his claws." Yes, believe it or not, the Flock had learned to love the X-Men movies.

I felt Fang tense for a reason unknown to me, and squeezed his hand lightly. This seemed to calm him down, relating to the question I had wanted to ask. "Do you want to know, or do you want to ask your question?" he said.

I thought for a moment before saying, "Both. But let me ask my question first." He nodded in agreement. I moved my hand to return it to my side, but Fang grabbed it again and laced his fingers through mine. I stared at him in surprise, but he was looking down at our intertwined fingers. They fit together like pieces of a puzzle, and I started to wonder if he noticed this, too.

My mind wondering back to my question, I finally spoke, slightly embarrassed and nervous about what I was asking. "Why is it that when you're mad or tense about something, I make you relax?" His brows drew together in either confusion or concentration, but I couldn't tell so I extended. "Like that other day at breakfast when Jeb was talking to the kids? And just now?" I wondered if he even noticed it, but the look on his face told me he did.

Looking at the ground, Fang concentrated real hard on something that wasn't there, but I knew his thoughts were on my question. When his head turned to face mine, he answered. "I guess…part of it's the familiarity of you." Wow, I couldn't help but think. Big words. But I guess I got what he meant. I was there in the school, on the run, and here. Always there. It couldn't be more complicated than that, right?

Yes, Maximum, the Voice/Jeb said to me in my head, exasperated, it CAN be more complicated. Think about it.

"C'mon, Fang. More than a single sentence answer." I attempted to give him Bambi eyes but he just laughed at me, and then sighed. Yay!!! I had succeeded!!!

"Well…" he began, but then shook his head in frustration. "It's hard to explain," he said. "It's like…kind of a reminder. A hand on my shoulder reminds me no matter what it is, there's a 99% chance you'll back me up, or at least try to understand." He opened his mouth to say more, but then shut it, deciding to leave his answer as it is.

I was slightly flustered by his answer. It's not common to see Fang open up. So, seeing how he felt about my "support" or whatever was odd, different, but nice.

I looked down at our hands and once again sighted the scar I had question. I ran my fingers over it again and asked, "Can you tell me about this now?"

Fang sighed and ran his unoccupied hand over his face. "You really want to know?" he asked me, and I nodded reverently in response. "Okay…" he mumbled.

He looked down at our hands and said nothing. I noticed that he had to think about before either talking about his feelings or something he was hesitant to share. "I'm guessing you remember that time at the cave…" Oh crap, was my first thought. My second thought was: What did this have to do with anything? I tried to make my face look impassive, and he obviously interpreted it into confusion and explained further. "Ya know the first time I –"

"Mhm," I cut him off. For me, at least, kiss was sort of a taboo word for conversations with Fang.

"Well," he said, playing with our intertwined hands, "after you ran off I got mad. At myself, I may add. Ended up punching a tree. The end."

What?! I thought. Why would he do that? Then I had a thought. "Did you regret it?" Kissing me, I added in my head, not wanting to say it out loud and hoping he understood what I meant.

He laughed softly, almost sadly, "I don't know what to regret anymore…" I looked at him, surprised his sadness and confusion was showing up clearly on his face. Then something dawned on me. Did he think that I regretted those kisses. DID I regret them?

No.

I didn't.

Never did.

Never will.

Maybe the day or morning after I did, not wanting to see his face, embarrassed I might be falling for my best friend. But other than that, looking back to those kisses were not anything I regretted.

I don't know whether it was my realization of this or the fact I was afraid he thought I regretted it, I made one of my famous, dumb, split of the moment Max moves. I used my free hand to put my hand on the back of Fang's neck, making him face me while braiding my hands through the hair there. Without thinking, I leaned up and kissed him.

He didn't react at first, tense and still like never before. I started to wonder if I had made a horrible mistake when Fang's hand cupped the side of my face and he kissed me back. I don't know how long he were like that. My arms around Fang's neck, in his hair. His hands on my face, hair, waist. And just like the times before this, one thought came to my mind. Oh shit. Air.

I broke the kiss, my left hand still in Fang's hair, my right still held by his left, while his right lay on my waist. I looked Fang in the eye, not a shocker he was looking right at me. I widened my eyes slightly, realizing how I had just created an awkward situation for me there and then.

Fang, being Fang, surprised me be leaning forward and placing his lips right next to my ear, making me involuntarily shiver. "Well…" he started in a breathy voice, "I believe we're even now. 3 and 3."

My eyebrows drew together in confusion before realization hit me. I had kissed him 3 times, he had kissed me 3 times. I can't believe he was keeping track?! Well, I did know the amounts too…

Suddenly, Fang let go of my hand and waist, leaning back and standing up, picking up his laptop (which I had not finished using I may add) and his book and walked out of the room very Fang-ishly.

I sat there, my back against the couch and sighed before getting up and walking off to bed.

(A/N Again the spacer thingys aren't working so…SPACCCERRRRRRRRRRRRR)

Welcome to Fang's Blog!

You are visitor number: Five thousand, seven hundred, thirty three, point two five seven eight nine….yeah it's still broken

Location: Same place as last post, surprisingly.

Post Title: I really hate that my life is confusing.

Due to the fact that I am slightly confused, thinking about something right now, and unfocused, I'm just going to answer your questions that you guys gave me.

Alienated2:
What do you think about flouro green? I love the color, of course it's not my
fave color. . . but what do you think?

Well, to be honest, I'm more of a "black" kind of person. Maybe navy blue. But hey, that's just me. When it comes to opinions on colors, I'm probably not the best guy to ask. But thanks for your question.

Mrs. Rhett Butler

Do you like the new song 'Gotta Be Somebody' by Nickelback?

For sure. Nickelback rocks hard.

Eclipse Heart

Do you like Jell-O?

Isn't sad that my answer is "I don't know"? When we were on the run, food from the dumpster and old canned ravioli were our best options, and the last time I had Jell-O was probably somewhere around my eighth year on this lovely planet. Evidently, that's too long ago for me to remember. So, I do not know if I like Jell-O. I do not know.

Rach Ratty:

How much did you like being on the run, action every day? I mean, aside from the going hungry and pain, but do you miss it, now that you have an easier life?

Good question. I don't think I miss being on the run for the fact that I now have a room, a proper bed, etc. Plus, the Flock's safer now that we're not on the run. But do I miss kicking insane Flyboy and Eraser arse? You bet. Believe it or not, the fighting action could be slightly exhilarating as long as none of us were really, severely hurt.

Musiclover23:

Fang, when will you guys be done with your break?

I don't know. As soon as a possible threat shows up, I guess. But for now, I'm just gonna chill back with my guitar, maybe steal Max's iPod once or twice…it's all good for now, I guess.

Ultimate PWNage:

Do you like orange juice? Indeed, I do.

Do you OWN orange juice? Me? No. But there is orange juice at the location I am at. It just isn't mine.

If I give you my address can you GIVE me orange juice? I'd probably be too lazy…

Are you shmexy? I don't know. Am I shmexy?

If you answered Yes to that previous question, are you self-absorbed? I didn't answer.

Is Max prego--HAH! JUST KIDDING (I'm saying this so I don't see a certain
winged-girl come into my room at night with a dagger. Good thinking on my
part, I guess.) [Enter bird-girl with dagger]….. That's all I have to say.

Will you help me hire a rat exterminator to kill Chuck E. Cheese? Gladly.

Does Mickey Mouse have rabies? Nah. He's too cool for rabies. His awesomeness would make him automatically immune to it. Yes. I think Mickey Mouse is a complete and utter icon of coolness.

Did Max ever cook food poisoning? (Be honest) Probably.

What's your favorite number? 7.

Do you have long fingernails? (it's a nasty habit to bite them...or so I've
heard). Not particularly.

Will you help the bunny with world domination? Wait, what bunny?

Are you stupid? Do I know the capitol of every state in the country? No. Can I tell you how to pop out the shoulder of a flying robot and cause them to fall thousands of feet to their death? Yes. So, I am smart in ways, not in other.

Do you strongly dislike the color white? (I know you do) I don't dislike it, per say. I just do not enjoy being clothed in the color. That's all.

Are you going to answer these questions?-- I'm so awesome and bored that I'm answering every single one. Wow I really need a life…

AND...

What is your opinion on flying pigs? Hey, if they mixed the DNA of a human and a bird, why not mix a pig and a bird? Go for it dude.

Thanks for your questions everyone.

Fly on,

Fang,

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This is probably the most "deep" chapter of my fanfic so far. So how'd you like the chappie? Give me feedback please!

Also, if any of you think Fang is OOC PLEASE let me no. I almost took out the part that he laughs loudly cuz its not him-like, but i figured if I make Max alarmed he was acting like that then it would save myself from making Fang OOC but please tell me what you think cuz I'm shitting myself here! I would hate for any character to be OOC!

I will put more of the flock in the next chappie I promise. I dunno when the next update will be, but stay tuned.

Don't forget to ask fang some questions for his blog posts!

If you review I'll hand out free copies of City of Bones!!!! (press the button please!)

-Ray loves you all cuz you rock (wow i'm talking in 3rd person...XD)