Hey guys, so I actually started an independent book on Wattpad, a couple of them actually. And if you guys could check those out, it would really mean the world to me because the more reviews I get, the more it motivates me to write in general! One is called 'Into Oblivion' and the other one is called 'Confessions of a Teenage Amnesiac'. My username on there is klutzyblonde. Anyways, just check it out if you like my work and want to see more stuff written by me :)

Nudge POV

I wasn't sure how I felt about any of this. For the last five years, I had done everything I could to build a life for myself outside of the flock. Escape from the flock was the only chance I had of being normal- as overrated as normal is. It had taken a year to convince Max to let me go and another two years for her to stop asking me to come back. Of course I missed them, there was no denying that. It took at least the first year for me to wake up and not expect to be in the wilderness or some cheap motel that we'd managed to scrounge/steal enough money to rent a room. Waking up in a room on a moderately-comfortable mattress and be able to take a shower and eat whenever I wanted was foreign to me. It was boring, but I wasn't always looking over my shoulder, I didn't sleep with one eye open and the best part; I didn't have to wear the same clothes for days on end.

On the other hand, the flock was the only family that I had ever known. Each of them had saved my life more than once. Max and Fang had always eaten a bit less so that the rest of us could eat enough, even though they thought we didn't notice, I always did. Without Iggy, Max would have cooked our food and we would have died from food poisoning, not Erasers or other enemies, a long time ago. Gasman, well he was the sweetest out of all of us. And Angel, the one that I felt the most responsible for, the one that I always teamed up with to break down Fang into agreeing with us so Max had no choice but to agree with whatever we wanted to do. Not a day had gone by that I didn't miss them, but I had gotten to a place where it wasn't constantly nagging at my heart every second.

Was I going to be able to leave again?

"Did you miss me?" Angel asked.

God, she was eleven now, the age that I had been when I last saw her. She was almost as tall as me, which was crazy! I felt guilty for not ever going to see her. I could have at least gone to visit her. Gasman and Angel's parents had made sure that all the flock members were more than welcome to go and visit them whenever we wanted. We were, after all, the family that had raised their little boy and girl. Even though she was in that awkward stage that all middle schoolers go through, I could already tell that she was going to be a knockout and a heartbreaker (even without her mind-control). I felt myself tearing up, something that I did all the time, actually.

"Of course," I told her.

When I hugged her, it was weird that she came up past my shoulder. I wished that she could have stayed six forever, but obviously the School hadn't perfected the youth gene.

"I'm so sorry," I told her. "I should have come to see you."

"I know," she said. "You just wanted out."

Right, mind-reading. I was going to have to re-learn how to block that.

"Hey, I know Angel's cuter, but do I get any attention?"

Gazzy was huge, definitely taller than me. He had always been tall for his age. But, at thirteen, he was almost as tall as Fang and at this rate he was going to be taller than Iggy by the time he was fifteen or sixteen. His face still looked exactly the same, though.

I let go of Angel slowly and turned to hug Iggy. This was the first time that I had ever hugged him when he was taller than me, it felt wrong. I had to reach above my head to ruffle his head- a tradition in this flock.

"Very funny," he muttered.

"It doesn't matter how tall you get, we will always do that," I broke it to him. "It's tradition."

He rolled his eyes.

Angel cleared her throat. "We can never go this long without seeing each other again."

She was right, it was wrong to not be apart of each other's lives.

Max POV

The more I looked at everyone, the more grown up they were. Nudge was almost 18, Gazzy was a teenager, and Angel was almost a teenager. It definitely didn't seem like the four or five years since I'd seen them. Maybe this was what it felt like to be a parent. One day they're little kids and next thing you know they're taller than you-like Gazzy.

"Where do you want to go for dinner?" I asked them. "Chinese? Mexican?"

"Pizza!" Gazzy, Nudge and Angel said in sync. I guess some things never change.

"Of course," I laughed. "There's a Pizza Hut a block away from here."

"Ew, not Pizza Hut," Nudge said, giving her disgusted look that I knew all too well. "We need an authentic Italian restaurant, not pizza made out of cardboard."

"Okay, there's a place right by my office that is great," I told them. "We'll head over there as soon as we grab everyone else."

"Your office?" Gazzy asked, a little skeptical.

"Yes, my office," I repeated. "Where I work."

"You have a job?" Nudge asked humourously. "An office job?"

I took a deep breath. I should have known I would get shit for it. An office job wasn't something that I originally thought I would do with my life, but various events just led up to it.

"Yes, I run a non-profit," I answered, pulling out my cell phone. "I'm going to call Ella and have her come with us."

I wasn't sure how Ella and her boyfriend had dealt with the whole baby situation, but she was coming either way- even if she had to bring the baby with her. It took a couple rings, but she finally picked up.

"Hello?" She said. "What's up, Max?"

"You'll never guess what happened to me today."

I hope you guys enjoyed! If you have any suggestions, I'm happy to hear them :).

Don't forget to check out my other stories, if you want :)