Sorry this took so long! It's been hectic lately... But I'm back!
So, enjoy this chapter!
Hopefully no one gave up on me. But anyway.
The reason this took so long is that I've been sick with swine flu and strep mixed into one giant fist of ick. Yeah. It was awful. Luckily, there was no hospitilazation needed, so.
"I think we should have a funeral for her." Nudge murmured, twisting her and Iggy's hands together.
They were all gathered around the dusty wooden table that sat in the Martinez's kitchen. Nudge was sitting snuggly in Iggy's lap, their hands now intertwined. Both had tearstained cheeks and red eyes, as did the rest of the flock.
--
Anabell sighed softly as her grandmother turned the page.
"This picture was taken by Nudge later that night." Ella explained.
Anabell was slightly shocked at the quality of this picture. It was fuzzy and lines blended together, making colors smear and run.
She could tell it was Max and Fang on the couch in the den, and she could see that Fang had a grip on Max's wrist; his flesh blended in with Max's too high for it to her hand, and that their knees were touching. Other than that, this picture disclosed nothing.
Later Anabell would learn just how accurate that picture was to what was actually happening.
--
Max sighed as she flopped down on the couch. Her day had been long and hard, listening to tham all plan Angel's funeral.
Suddenly, a shadow settled over her prone form, causing Max to snap up, only to settle back into the worn cusions once she saw who it was.
"Hey, Fang." The blonde crossed her legs, leaving her sitting indian style, allowing her dark haired counterpart to sit down.
Fang took her silent invitation, sitting down without a word before bringing his dark eyes to bore into the chocolate orbs of the leader.
"What's wrong?"
Max puffed out a breath irritably.
'Trust Fang to know somethings bothering me.'
"Well, everyone's obsessing over Angel's funeral." She began, worrying her lower lip with her teeth.
"Don't you want people to know about Angel's death?"
Max scoffed, "I would of she were dead. And she's not."
A dark eyebrow rose regally. "What do you mean?"
"Angel isn't dead. I can feel it."
--
Anabell gaped.
"Nudge heard that?"
"Not quite."
--
Fang suddenly leaned forward, his mouth a hairsbreadth away from the girl's. Max uncrossed her legs, pressing her knee into Fang's as she planted a foot firmly on the floor.
And then, they were kissing. Max noticed vaguely, in the part of her mind not absolutely overwhelmed by Fang's hot mouth, that his hand had wound itself around her wrist, as thoug he was afraid she would run away.
Over in the doorway, Nudge stood, camera in hand, a wicked grin on her face. She took a picture before turning and running, not noticing the blurred quality the movement had cause.
--
Ella covered her ears as Anabell shrieked happily about Max and Fang.
"Yeah! I knew it!"
Grandma Ella smiled wryly as she turned the page.
In this photo, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, and Ella were standing in what appeared to be the kitchen, all clad in black dresses or tuxes. Anabell noted with dismay that Max wasn't there.
--
"Max! The least you could do is go." Nudge pleaded with the blonde teenagger, who was sitting resolutely at the table, still dressed in her sleep pants and a black tanktop, her sleep mussed ponytail hanging slightly to the left.
"It's stupid to have a funeral for someone who's not dead."
Nudge smoothed out her black dress again, before turning and leaving.
Max sighed before standing and trudging her way back up to Ella's room, where she had been sleeping the night before.
They wouldn't see her cry.
The funeral was long, sad, and jam packed. The flock had decided to make it a public funeral, meaning now the church that they were having the funeral in was filled with screaming kids and stuffy looking adults.
"Don't see why they're making something so morbid into a carnival." Dr.M murmured, her hands resting on Ella's black clad shoulders.
--
Anabell couldn't help it. She pitied Max. The girl was still just a teenager, a kid really, and yet now all this was happening to her. And here she was, fooling herself into thinking that Angel was alive when that fact was indisbutably wrong.
