Hello. I guess it's been... quite a while since I last updated. I'm sorry :\ but HERE I AM and with me is a new chapter. Huzzah.

By the way... I just finished reading The Book Thief. I could not stop crying. It was just... SO SAD. If you haven't read it already I certainly recommend it. It's beautiful.

Reviewers! I love you guys! You're amazing... but I can't seem to get Fanfiction to let me reply my reviews which sucks. Just know that I appreciate all of them so much. I CAN'T BELIEVE WE'VE REACHED 200! .

Anyway... Happy reading! X

I flung the bed covers from me and groaned loudly, running my hands down my face. It was impossible. I couldn't sleep. I guess I hadn't really expected to, seeing as I had spent the entire day mulling over the drunken kiss Fang and I had shared and trying to douse my growing hangover with water.

And here I was. Lying in bed, still awake, still thinking... and it was three in the bloody morning.

I took the cup of water next to my bed and sipped the warming fluid.

"God," I muttered, putting it back and collapsing back on my pillows. What was wrong with me? What had happened to the mighty Maximum Ride? It was ridiculous. I had come to this place, loathing Fang and simply looking for something to do in my Summer Holidays. Now I couldn't get the ass off my mind.

I sighed and tried to force myself to sleep.

Some time later... half an hour, an hour, maybe ten... I got out of bed, my eyelids drooping heavily. I was half dead by now and all I could think was that I desperately needed sleep. Proper sleep. Not this half sleep crap. I padded quietly to my door and slipped out of the room, waiting for a few moments to make sure that the house was completely still. I allowed my feet to do the thinking for me, and followed them down the hallway and up another flight of stairs.

All around me was rubbish and condoms from the party. I kicked them half heartedly out of the way as I moved further up the house.

I stopped outside a door and waited for a few minutes, staring at the smooth oak surface. Should I knock? No.

Yes.

No.

I didn't knock. I pushed the door open slightly with my foot and peered in through the dark at the hunched figure on the bed, sheets wrapped around him like a toga. I suppressed a yawn and closed the door behind me, making my way over to the bed.

"Fang." I hissed. He didn't reply. I poked the arm that was protruding from the sheets. Still no reply.

With a resounding sigh, I lowered myself onto the bed, pushing Fang back slightly so there was more room. I couldn't think straight. My thoughts were mush, my brain was mush, and all I wanted to do was sleep. For some reason, my subconscious thought that sleeping with my fake brother was the perfect solution.

I curled up so that my knees touched my chin and felt myself slipping into the sleep I had waited so long for.

Just before I became lost to the world, I felt Fang shift forward slightly so that we were pressed against each other. A small smile tugged at my mouth, and I slept.

...

I yawned and turned over in my bed, rubbing a hand over my face to clear away the fog of sleep. I sighed and pushed back the cover, sitting up in bed.

Wait. Not my bed.

I looked around me, slightly confused, until I found myself staring at a guitar that could only be Fang's and a black wall that could only be Fang's and a black jumper that could only be... Fang's.

And what the hell was I doing in his fucking bed?

I stood up quickly, checking that I was right in the assumption that Fang wasn't in the room, before bounding down the stairs, two at a time, my mind racing as I went. I went straight to the kitchen where I found Aunt Val... Nudge... Ella... Iggy... no Fang.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I squeaked. They stared at me for a few moments – I must have looked like quite something – before Aunt Val offered me a tentative reply.

"I invited Nudge and Ella. Iggy... Iggy's here because..." She paused and looked at Iggy who was staring determinedly down at his plate of bacon. "Iggy, why are you here?"

He shrugged. That was the end of that.

"Um... okay." I pushed my tangled hair back from my face. "Where's Fang?"

They looked at each other. They looked at each other for a long bloody time, none of them venturing to meet my gaze.

"What?" I demanded, getting annoyed. "What's wrong with you guys?"

"Fang... he's left." Iggy muttered at last.

"Band practice." I said grumpily. Iggy nodded.

I took a pancake from the pile and began to drown it in lemon juice and sugar. No body spoke for a long time. It was odd. Finally, Lissa the great broke our little... thing... by bounding into the room and demanding where Fangy was.

"Band practice." I repeated coldly. She sighed and rolled her eyes dramatically before leaving the room again. I couldn't help wondering what she did all the time. She hardly ate or spoke to any of us. She was probably in her room talking on her stupid phone to her stupid friends.

"Max." I looked up. Aunt Val wasn't looking at me – she was staring at Ella, Nudge and Iggy who were all studiously avoiding my gaze. "Your friends have something to tell you."

I shoved another mouthful of pancakes down the hatch and waited.

"Um..." Ella paused, looking at Nudge. Nudge bit her lip and looked at Iggy. Iggy was still staring at his bacon.

"Oh come on, spit it out!"

They sighed in unison.

"It's Fang." Ella said at last.

"Mmm. What about him?"

Iggy groaned and dropped his head into his hands, muttering something inaudible.

"What?"

He looked up, a pained expression on his face. "Fang couldn't be here to tell you himself so he kind of asked me to do it for him, which to be honest is totally unfair seeing as I don't want to be the one having to tell you, he should tell you himself, you know? But I'm his friend and everything so-"

"He said it's probably better if you went home."

I swallowed. I stared. They were silent. They stared back.

"Today?" My voice was tiny, practically non existent. They nodded mutely. I swallowed again, this time not because there was something in my mouth but because I was pretty sure that there were some foreign tears threatening to break through, and I could not let that happen. I blinked rapidly before standing up, allowing my chair to crash backwards and onto the floor. Aunt Val sighed and turned away as I moved to the door, my throat constricting.

Bastard.

That stupid, fucking bastard.

He wanted me to leave? I would leave. I wouldn't even give him the satisfaction of seeing me go.

Although I didn't let myself think that perhaps the whole point of Fang being at "band practice" was so that he wouldn't be here. Facing my wrath.

The burning tears were gone and they were replaced by an indistinguishable fury. I was in my room, throwing things into the same suitcase I had come here with, the one Fang had helped me carry up the stairs. After I threatened him, but that was beside the point. Once all my clothes were inside it, I went up to his room and emptied his drawers, pulled down his posters, cut his guitar strings. Again. This was my way of saying goodbye.

I was down the stairs a moment later, my suitcase in tow. Iggy, Ella and Nudge were standing together at the door, looking worried.

"You don't have to go right now." Ella said quickly. I rolled my eyes.

"Max."

Aunt Val. Well. Fang's Aunt Val. My fake Aunt Val. My stomach twisted. She knew now. She knew that I had been faking it the whole time, that I was not really her niece, that it had all been a sham. She probably thought I didn't give a shit about her.

That wasn't true. I did care. She was amazing, the best fake aunt anyone could ask for. The tears were biting at my throat again.

"Max."

I stopped on the driveway of the house, turning to face Aunt Val silently. She came towards me, her arms open, and a moment later I found my tear streaked face pressed into her warm, talcum-powder smelling shoulder. She squeezed me slightly.

"Sorry." I muttered. I knew she understood. That was a sorry for her now drenched shoulder and the fact that I had lied to her.

She smiled and touched my cheek gently. "I know my sister pretty well, Max. I grew up with her."

I stared at her. Her grin broadened. I swallowed hard.

"You..." I stopped and bit my lip. "You knew? That Fang doesn't have a sister?"

She nodded.

"Right from the start?"

She nodded again.

"So why did you put up with me?"

She grinned. "I liked you."

I smiled down at my feet. "I like you too. And your cookies are amazing."

She laughed, before pulling me in for another hug. "I'll be around for a while, Maxie. Come visit."

I nodded.

"Fang cares about you, you know."

I stiffened. "Mm." I muttered, not trusting myself to open my mouth in the fear that I would start spewing all the worst swear words I could think of to describe him.

"Honestly." She insisted, squeezing my shoulders so that I looked at her. She smiled. "That's why he asked you to go. He doesn't know what to do with himself."

Yeah right.

"I'll see you soon, Aunt Val." I paused. "I mean... Val..."

"Call me Aunt Val, or else."

"Okay." I grinned. "See you soon Aunt Val."

She nodded and I stepped away from her. I waved at Iggy, Ella and Nudge behind her and they returned it half heartedly. Why did it feel as if I was leaving them behind? I would see them again. I knew I would.

But for some reason, this felt like the end of everything.

So I straightened my back, gripped the handle of my suitcase, and made my way home, to Jeb and the cat that I had actually begun to miss...

GUYS.

ANNOUNCEMENT.

OH MY GOD.

I can't believe I'm actually saying this but... NEXT CHAPTER IS THE LAST CHAPTER.

You can kinda guess that this story is bringing itself to a close. I don't want to drag it on for too long. BUT. I am giving any readers (and lovely reviewers) an option if they really like the story – which I hope they do...

Would you guys like me to do a sequel?

I could, if enough people wanted me to. I'll give you this chapter and the next chapter to tell me if you think a sequel is a good plan or not. If you think it is, please let me know if you have any ideas about what it should contain.

Hope you liked this chapter. Revieeeew! :D x