Well, hello, kiddies! I'm back! I'm such a procrastinator, sorry guys I know it's been a while. But, I'm back and kickin' ass better than ever! (hopefully anyway) So, let's do this thing!

Chapter Ten

After Fang and I took a walk I realized that I couldn't hold a grudge forever. Despite some of the things that had gone wrong over the years. Fang was somehow still the one who knew me best; every movement he made was still in sync with mine more than anyone's. Even Melanie. I don't know how he did it, but it was as if we were back at the scene of Angel's supposed death. He moved towards me and I almost fell into his arms like the wimpy little flower I tried not to be. But I didn't. And I won't. Because I can't.

Nothing could ever be okay enough for me to fall back into a pattern with him so easily. I couldn't do that to myself, and I couldn't disrespect my daughter like that. It would just be unfair to her as well as myself.

"No," I spoke out loud. I put my hands out to steady myself and keep him away from me and my weakness. "No," I whispered again. "I just can't do this with you again; it wouldn't be fair to Melanie." Fang looked at me and sighed, he ran his hand through his hair. I backed away from him a few steps. He looked at me again then looked to the wall of pictures; I walked over to the picture he seemed to be looking at. It was a picture of me and Melanie in our back yard under our oak tree that the previous owner had planted.

The look on my daughter's face took my breath away, I took it off the wall and handed it to him slowly as some sort of peace offering. He took it from my hands just as slowly as I had given it to him. Fang gripped it tenderly and stared at it for a few minutes. I don't know what I was doing, but it seemed like it would possibly mend something between us. Maybe that would allow me to be nice to him – for lack of a better word – and possibly gain a better relationship with him. And everyone else. Especially Iggy, because he had been impossibly grumpy lately.

He put it back on the wall without a word and patted my shoulder as he walked out of the kitchen. My shoulders slumped and I sat down at the table wondering – not for the first time, and definitely not the last – what I should do. I wasn't sure what to do when he left the first time, and I still didn't know what to do now that he was back. It just wasn't my strong suit to deal with situations that included Mr. Tall-and-dark. Not anymore anyway.

~*Break*~

At 2:30 Melanie got out of school, so I walked over to pick her up and spotted Dylan under one of the shade trees in the front of the school. I didn't even acknowledge this and I had sunglasses on anyway so it didn't look like I did for even a second. I glanced at my watch, it was 2:20, he could walk over to me at any time. I groaned inwardly as I saw him walking in my direction. I wished I had dyed my blonde hair brown like I had planned; it would have made me look less noticeable. He walked over to me quicker than I had expected him to, but I had been caught up in my inner turmoil for longer than it had seemed, I guess. I had nowhere to run because I wanted to be able to pick Melanie up right after school. I had no time for running.

I ignored him as he stopped in front of me; I just stared straight ahead at the entrance to the school, silently praying that the bell would ring. "Hey-y-y," He drew out his greeting and waved his hand in front of my face. I swatted it away and looked at him.

"What do you want now, Dylan?" I was irritated just by his mere presence. He smiled at me sweetly – almost angelically – and started to speak just as Iggy came up behind him.

"Hey, Dylan," He put a hand on Dylan's shoulder. "How's it hangin'?" He asked him. Dylan turned towards Iggy and smiled at him.

"Hey, bro, I haven't seen you in a while!" They did one of those weird guy hug-handshake things, and started talking. While Iggy was distracting Dylan, the bell rang and only a few seconds afterward Melanie ran towards me so fast she was almost flying. I gathered her up in my arms as Dylan turned to once again try to talk to me, but I took hold of Melanie's hand and tried to walk away.

"I'm sorry, Dylan, but I can't stay at all. I have some errands to run." I pushed him off easily and headed towards our house. I would be lucky if he didn't try to follow us.

I turned my head towards my daughter as she talked about her school day. She talked animatedly about the cute boy in her class, and about the science project she was assigned to. "Mom, do you think I could do the project with Cassie, just like last time?" Melanie asked me. Cassie was her best friend, and they did everything together that was humanly possible. They would be attached at the hip if they could.

I nodded, "As long as you two don't leave flour on the ceiling this time," I smiled at her, and she laughed. The last project they did together had ended with their project exploding and leaving flour and baking soda on my ceiling and walls. It took me a week with the whole Flock's help to get my kitchen clean again.

As we got closer to the house I spotted Fang and Nudge on our porch along with my mother and Gazzy. I was slightly suspicious as I hadn't seen them look so serious since Fang had left. I tugged on Melanie's hand and told her to walk a little faster so we could get whatever news was making them look like a funeral had been announced. I let go of Mel's hand and we ran up the stairs together, Fang looked over at me and at that moment I knew something was wrong. My mother came and put her arm around mine and Melanie's shoulders.

"I'm sorry to say that Total and Angel are very sick," I jerked my head back in surprise. We never got sick, our immune systems were – figuratively – made of steel. "I took Total to the clinic, and Angel is in the hospital that Jeb works at." I shook my head and opened my mouth to try to talk a few times. I closed it, and opened it, looking like a fish gasping for air.

"How…?" I finally managed to get out weakly. My mother shook her head. I looked back and forth from her to the others around the porch. They all didn't know where to look, but it was anywhere but me.

"Hon, none of us know how their sickness could have happened. All we know is that they express the same symptoms," she sighed and continued on. "Dehydration, exhaustion, insomnia, and the refusal to eat anything." I shook my head and sagged into my mother's side as I absorbed the news. Melanie went and cuddled into Nudge's side for comfort, and Gazzy went over to Fang to be comforted as if he was again a small child.

~*Break*~

I sat in the den and held my head in my hands as I decided what to do about our current situation. I had already called Angel's place of work to notify them of her sickness, they told me they would continue to pay her as she was on leave of health. Everyone had gone upstairs long ago, and I had put Melanie to sleep hours before that. It was just lonely me who sat in the downstairs by myself. I suddenly felt a warm hand upon my shoulder, I looked up and Fang was there. He said nothing, but enveloped me in a warm embrace. I didn't refuse, but just sank into it, as if it were still a familiar feeling.

He held me in his arms and comforted me without words until I fell asleep, and I assume it was he who carried me upstairs; because I woke up in my cool bed in the morning. But, for the time during the night I was awake with him in the den, he didn't criticize me for being weak or an insufficient leader; he just held me through the tough time. Maybe it was the time for me to forgive him for being gone.

I feel terrible for not updating for so long, guys. I don't know what got a hold of me, because I know I had the whole summer open to write. I should have written this chapter a long time ago. I have no excuses for this.

Anyway, I really hope you liked this chapter, and please leave your comments for me. I love hearing your ideas and ways of improving my ways of writing and even how the story flows. Thanks for reading!