Well, I was really bored and after a stressful week, decided to put the stress on Star's shoulders! But since I love Iggy so much, he got some of it too! Sorry, Iggy. I know that I'm kind of straying from the plot, but I wanted to include this chapter. One of my friends had told me that Star "seemed a little too perfect", and I figured that I should show her emotions more. So here it is! The result of three days of writing at midnight! Enjoy chapter ten!

Disclaimer: Maximum Ride does not belong to me

Claimer: Star, Lilly and this fanfic belong fully to me. Pia belongs half to me, and half to one of my friends.

Chapter Ten: Love Is Hard

Max's POV

In the morning, I woke up to find the sun already high in the sky. I groaned. Why hadn't anyone woken me up? As I walked into the kitchen, I found my answer. No one was awake yet. I guess we all had needed some rest. Just as I was about to go order food, Iggy shuffled into the kitchen. "Mornin' Max," he yawned. Stretching a little bit, he felt his way around until he found his sofa. Sinking into it, Iggy asked me the same question that was on my mind, "So. What's for breakfast?" Before I could answer him, Star burst into the room, looking all happy and cheerful. It kinda hurt my eyes.

"Guess what, Max?" she asked me. "What?" I managed, rubbing my eyes with the palm of my hands. Her sparkliness wasn't really practical, I'd have to say. Basically, her outfit looked exactly the same, except the star on her perfectly ironed blouse was pink today. Huh. Guess people really do change clothes every day, even when they're not dirty.

How wasteful.

Star tilted her head at me, then continued. "So since I knew you guys ate a lot, I ordered everything on the menu," she beamed at us. Literally. The sun hit her wings so that they sparkled, blinding me momentarily. Iggy blinked, not bothered. When I recovered, I motioned for Star to sit down on Nudge's sofa, whole I sank down in mine. I was looking for a way to start a conversation when Iggy broke the silence. "You know, it feels weird, not cooking," he thought to himself. Star looked concerned for a moment, then Iggy continued. "But it's also nice to just relax for a while, to not worry about anything at all..." His sightless eyes scanned the room, then fell on Star, who was staring off into the distance again. Jeez, that girl was really one of those mysterious types. Trying to stop the awkwardness, I teased Iggy a bit. "Is there something going on between you two that I should know about?" I joked. Iggy was silent, but I could see a hint of a blush. Star jumped and stared at me in horror. I almost gagged.

I would have demanded to know everything, but just then the food came. Waiters filed into the room, carrying huge platters of food- mainly bacon, omelettes, french toast, milk, and other breakfast foods. Once they had set the food on the huge table, they promptly marched out. Wow. As soon as the smells started to blend together, making a delicious medley of scents, the rest of the flock ran into the kitchen. Gazzy practically tripped over his own feet, trying to get at it.

After we took about an hour consuming all that delicious food, we felt stuffed. Well, except for Star. She had just eaten two doughnuts and a cup of yogurt, sipping a cup of hot chocolate. Then, she had delicately wiped her mouth with a fancy napkin, and gone to go get a book to read. Sissy.

By the time that we had finished eating, Star had already gotten back. "I couldn't find my book," she said sadly. I raised my eyebrow at her, wondering what she was going to do now. "So… I brought my iPod!" I wondered for a few seconds right there what an iPod was when Nudge jumped on top of the poor girl, squealing with delight. Apparently iPods are just these souped-up mp3 players. Why they are called iPods, I have no clue. But Nudge was begging Star to let her borrow the iPod. I glared at Star, my eyes saying No. Well, Star didn't let Nudge borrow her iPod. She bought Nudge a new one. So now we have an eleven-year-old bird-kid prancing around the suite, listening to her new pink iPod. Thanks, Star.

So after a few minutes of sitting at the table, our stomachs full, I decided that we should go and get a move on. I assigned Fang, Iggy, and Angel to go help Star figure out her ability, while I let Gazzy watch TV and Nudge listen to her new iPod. I guess the kids deserved some fun. So I watched as the flock went off to go do their assigned activity.

I bet you're wondering right now, "So, what is the amazing Maximum Ride going to do?" Well, I have the all-important job of figuring out where we are going to go next, thank you very much. Okay, okay. I'll admit it. I am going to go hack into Fang's email, read his blog, and check his Google history.

Did I get ya there? I was kidding, you know. You must have thought that I was all desperate to have believed that… I am actually going to sleep. I mean it. I am so tired of all the life-threatening situations we have to go through. Why can't we just have like, a week of normal time as kids? Is that too much to ask for? I figured that once I woke up, I would go watch some TV and eat more junk food. Yep, that's a good plan, I thought dreamily as I drifted off to sleep on my sofa…

Star's POV

So. Here I was, with Fang, Iggy, and Angel. Trying to figure out my ability that will supposedly "help Max save the world". Yay. In truth, I hadn't wanted this. To be inside the book with the Flock was great, but me saving the world? I just think that it's a little too much. Anyways, we were trying each of the flock's abilities to see if I had the same one or something. We had no idea what we were doing, so what the heck? It was worth a try.

First, we tried to see if I could read minds or not. I tried to read Fang's mind, but failed miserably. The same went for trying to become invisible, flying super fast, attracting metal, and all the other abilities. When I had tried Gazzy's ability to mimic voices, trying to say "Yo" like Fang, it ended with everyone rolling on the ground laughing at my imitation. Guess I didn't have any of those abilities, then.

Disappointed, we went back inside to find Max asleep on her sofa, Gazzy still hypnotized by the TV, and Nudge happily trying on her new clothes in the giant closet while listening to the iPod I had gotten her. Sighing, I brushed past Iggy (who has been staring at me all day) and ran into Max's room, collapsing on her bed. Iggy followed me.

"Star, are you okay?" he asked me, genuine concern on his face. Suddenly, I remembered the kiss from last night. I decided I couldn't take it any more. "I'm sorry Iggy, but I just can't do this any more," I softly told him as I ran to the balcony, threw the door open, and took off, flying into the blue sky. Tears fell from my eyes as I felt overwhelmed with all of this, all of this drama that always happens to me.

It wasn't that I didn't like Iggy, I mean he was nice and all, but I had basically given up on guys. I had done this when I had realized that my last crush had been a jerk, and I don't want to complicate things for myself. Especially not when he's in a different world. But now I felt bad, leading Iggy on like that. Not saying I didn't enjoy the attention (it was quite flattering, actually), but it just felt kind of wrong. I sighed again. The only thing to do now was to apologize to the poor guy. But maybe I was flattering myself too much. Who's to say that he actually liked me that way? God, I am so stupid sometimes. I messed up big time. Maybe he didn't even like me like that, and I had just hurt him. Stopping mid-air, I turned around to go talk to Iggy. Hopefully, hopefully he would understand.

Iggy's POV

I watched, dumbstruck as Star flew away. What had I done wrong? I was so deep in thought that I didn't even notice Fang come up behind me, like I usually could do. I could feel Fang look at me sympathetically as we watched Star fly away. He patted me on the back. "I know how you feel, man," he told me. I jumped, wondering how he knew. I could feel Fang smirk a little. "Angel," he said, answering my unspoken question. I muttered a few curses. "Who else knows?" I asked, hoping it would be just him and Angel. He confirmed that it was just him and Angel. Angel had told him to come talk to me, apparently. I groaned. Fang patted me on the back again, then left the room.

Star's POV

When I had returned, I found Iggy still sitting on Max's bed. I rushed over to him. "I'm sorry Iggy, it's not that I don't like you, 'cause I do like you, it's just that the last guy I liked was a jerk, and then I gave up on guys, plus you're not even in my world and, and…" I gushed my apology like that for a while, then burst out into tears again. Iggy nodded slowly, then asked, "So you're saying that you do like me?" he teased. My eyes widened in horror. Oh no. I would regret this later, but without thinking I quickly said, "Well I didn't say that…" Iggy looked away, hurt. Then, he gets up, runs to the balcony and flies off like I did. Only he has a good reason.

"Oh, no," I gasped. "What have I done?" As I start to chase after him, Fang comes up behind me, puts his hand on my shoulder (I flinch, naturally) and tells me, "You really broke his heart…" Gosh, Thanks Fang. That made me feel lots better. Then, Angel comes up behind our blunt, dark-haired bird-kid and nods at me sincerely. Well, great. I have a freaking six-year-old making me feel guilty, too. Just my luck.

I take off, hoping to find Iggy sitting on the roof or something. Nope. After an hour of searching, I finally find him sitting in a pine tree, flicking at a pine cone. I sit next to him, folding up my legs against my chest. He turns away from me, as expected. "Iggy, I'm so, so sorry…" I tell him. After wiping away the tears from my tear-streaked face, I look at him sincerely, knowing that he would feel it. "Iggy, I didn't mean that," I tell him. I gently take his arm and try to turn him towards me. He rips his arm out of my grasp roughly, turning towards me for a few seconds. "Leave me alone," he tells me. I bite my lower lip until I taste the copper flavor of my own blood.

There's nothing left that I can do. I touch his face, saying "Iggy, I am really sorry." He flinches, then pushes me away again. I sigh. I lean closer to him, brushing my lips against his cheek. I stand up, unfold my wings, and as I turn to leave, I whisper the sentence that I haven't been admitting to myself since I met him. "I do like you, Iggy," I tell him softly. "I really like you…" Then, I jump off of the branch, heading back to the hotel. There's only so much you can do, sometimes.

Iggy's POV

I tense as Star touches my face, then push her away. But when she kisses my cheek, I just close my eyes, trying to ignore the beating of my heart. As Star leaves, I bury my head in my hands, confused. I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to drown out the sound of my conflicting emotions. Why is love so hard?

Author's note: Hm… now that I read it, it sounds kind of thrown together. Guess my brain was a little fuzzy when I wrote it. Oh, well. What do you think? Review, please!