Things had been great that morning. Everyone actually seemed to be happy and okay with life for once in a week or two. The only problem had been that one of Iggy's headphones had broken, which had made him moody for an hour until Fang took him into town to buy new ones. Everyone seemed to be adapting to the two being in love. Heck, Nudge had even started asking Iggy about what relationship and boy problems were like. It had surprised him at first, but then when he realized just how much of a bottom he was, he adapted. Then, one day a thought came to him, when they were having "Girl time".
"Nudge, you don't have a crush on some guy from town, do you?" When he saw the look on her face he grinned.
"Well, I guess so, maybe. I mean, I know so we wouldn't be able to be together because of the whole wings thing, but still. I met him when Angel and I were out shopping and he just seemed so sweet and he has the cutest butt!" Iggy couldn't help but laugh.
"Yeah, I've been there. I know that sounds weird coming from a guy, but still. I mean, why do you think I started wearing skinny jeans suddenly?" Nudge nodded like she understood completely and they talked for a good fifteen more minutes before Fang came in.
"Hey Nudge, mind if I steal Ig for a while?" She shook her head lightly and smiled.
"You're not exactly stealing him. I mean, he is your boyfriend." The strawberry blond got up and interlocked fingers with his lover and followed him down the hall.
"What're we going to do today honey?" Iggy leaned his head on Fangs shoulder.
"Not sure yet. I thought we could play it by ear for a while." They headed through the hall, but Iggy heard something a bit unsettling and stopped. His brow furrowed and he looked to the left. He let go of his lovers hand and moved closer to the door. Crying was what he heard.
He looked over at Fang, and saw that he had heard something to. He looked to the door again, and realized whose it was. He knocked tenderly.
"Max? It's me, you mind if I come in." He heard some shuffling and a few other noises and smelled something sort of strange. It was very familiar, but he couldn't quite tell what it was.
"Now isn't a good time." Iggy but his lip a bit. Even though she'd said some harsh things and was in love with his boyfriend, didn't mean he didn't care about her anymore. He tried to be as sneaky as possible, and opened the door. He gasped at what he saw.
"Max! What are you doing?" He ran to her, grabbing her blankets and covering her red-stained wrists. She looked to Fang with desperation in his eyes. He understood and ran to the phone, calling Max's mom.
"Dr. Martinez? Yes, this is an emergency; you do live right down the road now right? Get here now! Max needs you." Meanwhile, Iggy was doing everything he could to stop the bleeding. He had already wiped her tears away and was taking her to the bathroom across the hall to clean her wrists. Although she had been resisting a bit, he was still getting her there at a quick pace. Once cleaned, he saw just how bad it was. The bleeding hadn't slowed much, and Max was already starting to become faint. He wrapped her wrists in gauze, which was stained red after a few moments.
Nudge came out of her room soon after she heard the phone call. When she saw what was going on, she was exceedingly happy that Gasman had taken all the younger kids out for ice cream. She tried to stay out of the way, though, mostly out of shock. How could this happen? Max was so strong. This didn't make sense.
Dr. Martinez was soon there and was in the middle of fixing Max's wrist, all while trying to suppress tears. Soon, though, it was confirmed that Max wasn't in any immediate danger. They all sat down in the living room with Max on the couch, staring blankly, almost angrily, at the ceiling. Then, Iggy finally asked what they were all wondering.
"Why?" She shot him a look that made him ecstatic that looks couldn't kill.
"You ought to know, you stupid queer." Her mother gasped, but stayed quiet while Nudge flinched at the word. Iggy sighed and looked to Fang, who was looking at the floor with a furrowed brow.
"I thought we were finally passed that sort of language," he retorted. She scrunched her nose up angrily and looked back at the ceiling.
"I will never accept it. You took away one of the only happy things about my life." Iggy couldn't help but chuckle and shake his head, which caused a few strange looks to be thrown his way.
"You think you're so miserable, don't you? Just because your boyfriend turned out to be gay. Well, you know what? You said one of the things; other than the fact that I have you guys, he was my only happiness.(spoilers from book two) My family couldn't wait to sell me to the circus once they found out that I had wings! You have a mother sitting right here that loves you and cares about you no matter what, you have a sister, you have all of us. You can find someone just as dark and mysterious as Fang in town. Trust me, I've seen a couple. I've just recently gotten my sight back, and I just now know that I have a little sister. I'd say you've had it pretty nice for a mutant from an evil science lab." Everyone was looking at him now; they'd never known about all the feelings he'd held back, except for Fang of course. "So tell me Max; just how miserable are you?" She stared at him for a few moments, her eyebrows raised, but the rest of her face showing no emotion. Finally, she sighed, sitting up.
"Iggy, I never… I knew it was hard being blind and all, but I never thought it was that hard. But, like I said earlier, I'm still going to be bitter, until I find someone as good as Fang. I just think it's wrong."
"I'm not asking for acceptance Max. I'm asking for tolerance. I would appreciate living without someone I've cared about my whole life not calling me a fag every time I turn around." They all sat in silence, until Dr. Martinez spoke up.
"I think his request is reasonable, considering he just saved your life."
"How do you know I wanted it to be saved?" Dr. Martinez looked down a bit.
"Well, I'm sorry if you didn't. But I think that for now it would be best if you… if you came to stay with me for a little while. I don't think this is an exactly healthy environment," She shot a pointed look and Fang and Iggy, at which they hid they're offense. By the time the children had gotten back, Max was half-packed, and they were able to pull off the story that she was just going to be visiting her mother for a while. At the end of the day, everyone hugged Max, even Fang, and said their goodbyes. After an early dinner that felt empty without someone to fill the eighth chair, everyone headed to their rooms.
"Well, now we know where Max gets her homophobia from," Iggy said, plopping onto the bed. Fang sat next to him and rubbed his back lightly, sighing.
"Don't take it to heart Iggy. If it's anyone's fault it's mine. I'm the one who chose the 'wrong path' and decided to choose the boy instead of the girl." They sat together for a while before Iggy flung himself backwards.
"God, I hope she's okay." Fang unfortunately couldn't help but notice his boxers sticking out from above his pants.
"Me too. Um, you want me to take care of that?" He gestured to his rising shirt. Iggy waved a hand.
"Just ignore it. Wait, I forgot who I was talking to there for a second." He smirked, pulling his shirt down. "You know, he could take care of your stress," Fang said leaning over his strawberry blonde lover. His other half smiled a bit, but started to prop himself up on his elbows.
"sorry, honey, but I'm just not in the mood tonight." Fang shrugged.
"Understandable. But hey, remember, with her mom and sister around, she wouldn't dare try anything else. She loves them too much."
"I guess you're right." After a quick kiss goodnight, the lovers lay down, and let sleep slowly take them.
But, unfortunately, they simply didn't understand the lengths of Max's depression
