Warning: This chapter contains mentions of abuse and rape. Its also very sad. Govern yourselves accordingly.

Sorry if I get anything wrong or if it is offensive. I didn't mean for it to be. But please, tell me what you think. I want to know.

Max's POV

I woke up slowly. I didn't open my eyes. I was in some sort of pain; not physical pain or anything like what the Voice did, but I still felt like I was hurting. And I couldn't remember why.

I heard people talking. Two of the voices were male and the other was female; I only recognized two of the voices.

"How…how is she?" The familiar female asked.

"Well, she's been asleep since we moved her up here, so we'll have to wait until she wakes up to know for sure," The familiar male replied.

Then the unfamiliar male, "Will she be waking up soon? You would know, wouldn't you? I think I would like to talk to her? If I'm alou—"

Just then I heard a door burst open and some one say, "She's awake!"

"Are you sure? She's not moving…right, sorry. Mind reader knows everything."

Wait…mind reader? Edward?

"Edward…" I choked out. Everyone was quiet. I tried to open my eyes but instantly closed them because of the light.

"Here, Max? You can open your eyes again. The light's turned off. I got them open and looked around a bit. There was Alice over on my left, Jasper on my right, Edward was behind him in front of the door and then there was an unfamiliar person at the end of my bed.

"Hey…how you feeling?" Alice asked, taking my hand while Jasper sat down on the bed. I wasn't sure how to answer. It was like…I knew something bad happened but my mind was keeping it from me. "Do you remember what happened?" I shook my head.

The unfamiliar guy cut in, "That stupid prick cheated on you, that's what! Gosh, see? This is why you never trust a werewolf. Untrustworthy, I say. I mean, sure, they're all trustworthy in their little pack, but when it comes to other people…they're like crazy people! And speaking of them being crazy people, it's like, if someone does something to them they need to get revenge. Horrible revenge! Gah…I just don't know how you stand them." I hadn't noticed this before, but this guy had a really cool English/kinda Irish accent. (You guys can pick between Charlieskies/AmazingPhil's accent and 3sixty5days' accent. Cause…I couldn't decide! I love them both very much. But it'll probably be British…most of the time.) But…that's beside the point…what is he talking about.

3 minutes later~

Oh. Right. Jacob.

Even thinking his name made me sad. But I was done being sad! I would show him that I didn't need him as much as he didn't need me. So I cleared my throat and held my head high.

"So, Alice, may I ask who this is?" I asked her, pointing to the British guy.

"Oh, right," She smiled. "Max, this is Tristan. Tristan, this is Max." I looked up at him but found he was already at my side, holding my hand.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." He said while kissing up hand. I laughed a little and looked at him; he was rather good looking. He was tall, pretty skinny, gold eyes, and his hair was black, kinda longish, had blue and purple in it and kept falling in his eyes.

"Hey, hey! Tristan—stop." Edward said quickly, rushing over to push him away from me.

Tristan looked up innocently, "What?"

"You know what. Stop putting your charm all over her. She just went through something no one should ever have to go through and I can hear what you're trying to do."

He looked away from Edward and stared at me, regret covering his face. "I apologize, that was uncalled for. Forgive me."

The fact that I had no idea what was going on probably showed all over my face because Jasper explained, "Tristan has a…power just like me, Alice, Edward and Emmett have. Its almost the same as mine, but a little more limited in some ways. Basically he has a lot of charm. Like…he can make anyone fall for him, and really, he can get people to see who they want in him. For example, if a girl is looking for a twenty-one year old with short brown hair, blue eyes and is tall he can make them see him as that. Understand?"

(Arrrghhh! My creative brain would not turn on! Sorry for the terrible explanation)

Oh, well…that kind of made sense. A little.

"Well…I forgive you for…whatever it is you did." I said to Tristan after a few seconds.

"Okay, now everyone out!" Alice shouted, shooing everyone out of the room. "Now. Max. Tell me how you're feeling."

I thought about that for a bit. How was I feeling? Well…I could be angry and sad, but I wasn't really. I was going to forget about what's happened. Even though its going to be hard, I'm going to try my hardest to forget about dumb Jacob and his dumb girlfriend. Because really? I think I've been beating myself up for nothing. This was not my fault. All I was doing was what I was supposed to do. And I realize now that if I had to say what I said again, I probably would. (She's talking about the bad stuff. Liiike this part… 'And are you ready to commit now that you know what I'm doing, Jacob; what I was made for, or will you leave, because I seriously doubt this imprinting thing will make it impossible for you to walk away!')

So before I answered her I took a deep breath and actually smiled, "I'm good actually. And I am going to forget Jacob and live the rest of my life like an actual person, now."

Alice screeched and clapped her hands together, jumping up and down. "Yay! Because you know what? I think Tristan likes you! Like, actually likes you, not a fake like. You know? Anyway, he is really nice and really nice on the eyes—" (Jasper—Hey, I heard that!) "—wouldn't you agree?"

I nodded. She was right. As she talked on I realized how nice this was; just talking about guys like a couple of cliché teenage guys.

"…you guys would be adorable." She said with a note of finality. "You should get together. Listen, I know you just broke up with the damn mutt, but he doesn't matter anymore. Really, this just shows how stupid he is for giving you up! And you don't have to get…together with Tristan right now, but you should just talk and get to know him for awhile—like I said, he's a really great guy—and then you two get together! I know he'll be waiting until you feel like you feel comfortable with him. Are you even listening to me?"

"What? Of course I'm listening! I was just thinking about what you're saying. And I think you're right; about waiting and getting to know him first." She grinned really wide.

"I knew you'd say that! Now, we need to get you ready for when you two go on a walk and talk about life."

Alice went to look through the closet and I stood up to help her find whatever it was she was looking for, but fell right over.

She rushed over and stood me up. "Maybe we should get some food in you first…"

~twenty minutes later~

After grabbing my bag I finally made my way down the stairs to where Tristan was waiting. I was now full of pasta and bread, and looked great—well, that's what Alice and Rosalie said at least.

I got to the third bottom stair and jumped from there, but of course being passed out for who knows how long can make you very unstable, so when I hit the ground my knees gave out and I almost fell on my face. But right when my face was about to turn into a pancake, someone's arms wrapped around my waist and brought me back up to stand properly, but not letting go.

I turned around and saw that it was non-other than Tristan. I smiled a little because one, well, he just kept me from a lot of pain and two, to tell you the truth…it was really nice to have someone's arms wrapped around me. I mean, yeah, they weren't exactly the arms I wanted but still, it was something…I guess.

I looked down, guilty. He didn't want me anymore and it seemed that this Tristan really liked me—I shouldn't be thinking about stupid Jacob while trying to get to know him. It's unfair.

"Hey," Tristan said softly, lifting my head up to look at him, "Listen, you don't have to feel bad for thinking about him. Sure, he's a total douche, but I understand that he was your imprint and I get what that means. I should be lucky that you're even willing to talk to me after all this." He chuckled sadly.

"How do you mean?" I asked just a bit confused. "After Jacob, you mean?"

"Yeah, I guess…I just mean, what's all happened to you. The Cullens…told us what's happened. About that Fang guy and with Jacob." Suddenly his arms were around me and he was giving me a big hug. "What they've done is terrible and I guess I'm just happy that you're even giving me a chance; if I was in your shoes I don't think I would ever trust a girl with my heart again—not that I'm saying you're in love with me, but you get what I mean, I hope…what they've done is unforgivable, and I wish and pray that I can change what they've done to you, and make you happy again."

He pressed his forehead against mine, looking down and closed his eyes. What he was saying was a little jumbled up, but I got what he was saying. And I was so touched I almost cried, but I'm Maximum Ride and I don't cry. So, instead I put my hands on his shoulders, gave a little squeeze and pulled him back a little. I tried to smile again, "How about we go on that walk, and we can talk a bit more about this."

Tristan nodded a small nod and grabbed my hand before brining me to the front door and opening it for me. "Where should we go?"

"Doesn't matter to me."

So he gave a smile and started us off through the woods. "So I know a lot about you, but I don't think you know much about me…so should we just take turns asking questions?"

"Sure," I looked up away from the moss covered trees. "I'll go first; what's your favourite colour?" (You can tell I'm Canadian, eh? Okay…I didn't do any of those things on purpose…)

"Black or red. Yours?"

"Definitely red or yellow. Weird combination, but I mean, I like orange too."

He chuckled at my joke and I smiled at the sound. It was a nice sound. "Okay, your turn, again."

Okay, so Max will have a (~) at the start when she's talking just because it will probably get confusing cause it will just be dialogue for a bit, now.

~"Hm, do you have hobbies?"

"Being morbid and a loner I guess. Alright, favourite food?"

~"That sounds like fun, and, favourite food…anything, really. When you're on the run you don't really get to pick favourites…"

He squeezed my hand at that.

~"What do you like to do…besides being morbid and a loner?"

"Well I like writing poetry. I'm not very good, but I don't show anyone, so that's okay"

~"Will…you ever read me any?"

"Probably not," He chuckled. "It's, really, not very good."

I ran my shoulder into his and said sarcastically, "I'm offended you don't trust me enough to read me some poetry. Really, I am."

He started laughing with me but then it died a little. "Do you trust me?"

"Not totally, because I just met you and all, but I might be able to later."

"Okay…I want you to trust me. It's taken me one hundred years to learn to trust and I want to have someone to trust me back."

I stopped us. "Why did you stop trusting?"

"You could say I haven't had the best life, being a vampire or a human. But you don't need to hear about my stupid life, we should talk about you. And how I will…be here for you."

He pushed a stray hair behind my ear. "No, tell me. Please?"

"You really—"

"Yes, I do, so tell me already."

He took a deep breath. "Well…when I was five I was abused by my parents. That went on until I was eight when I was put in an orphanage. But when I was there, the kids…they had been through a lot more. What happened to them made the abuse I got seem like nothing. Well I had this friend named, Daniel (Almost named him Jeff. Then I hit myself.) and he was my only friend there. He had been there for forever it seemed, and he was older than me—eleven or twelve, I think—and when he was four he had been abused in all ways by his parents, his baby-sitter and brothers. He had to take pills everyday and it seemed that everyone either loved him or feared him, or both. He made sure no one would hurt me.

"When I was nine, someone came and said they wanted me. I was thrilled, she seemed like such a nice lady, but when Daniel heard, he was not happy. He wanted me there forever—just like he had been. You see, he was getting too old for anyone to want to adopt him and it made him angry whenever someone was adopted and he wasn't. He told me to not go, to put up a fight, but this had been what I had been waiting for, and I wanted to go so badly. So when I told him I wanted to go two days before I was said to leave, he got so mad; he was throwing things and hitting me. He called me bad things and that he wanted me dead.

"Eventually the person in charge got me out of there and took Daniel somewhere away from the rest of us. We went to bed, still shaken up." He took a huge—un-needed deep breath and closed his eyes tighter. "I had finally gotten to sleep when I heard my door open, I had sat up and looked over to see Daniel walking in slowly and quietly. I asked him what he was doing in my room. He started apologizing and begged me to forgive him. He told me he didn't want me to leave thinking bad of him. Eventually he told me how he loved me and that's why he didn't want me to leave. I was instantly happy, that's what I had always wanted; for someone to love me. But then he started…doing things to me. He started touching me. I went along with it because he had said he loved me and I thought this was what you did when you loved someone.

"I guess you cant call it rape because I was willing, but afterwards I felt sick. It had felt wrong but I wanted to be accepted. I didn't say anything because I promised I wouldn't tell…he said it would be our little secret. The next night as I was going asleep again, he came into my room and just started kissing me again…I told him I wasn't sure about what was happening and it didn't feel right. He got an evil kind of smile on his face and told me it wasn't right but he wanted it anyway—because he loved me. That time was rape, I would think. But still, I didn't tell anyone. Then the lady came to get me. I was told to put my stuff in the trunk then to check my room to make sure I wasn't forgetting anything. When I got there, Daniel was waiting. He watched me as I searched under the bed and in the desk. When I found nothing, he name up and just kissed me. He said he still loved me and he would miss me. And that when he got out he would look for me…so we could 'be together again'. That really scared me. I left as quickly as I could.

"I was at the lady's house—Linda I think was her name—six months before she said she loved me. We had been watching TV on the couch, her arm was around my shoulders and she just said it. She said I was such a nice young man and she loved me; just like she would her own son. But the last part didn't matter; didn't make any different. I jumped up as quickly as I could. I could have that happen to me again. What Daniel did to me couldn't be repeated. I ran to my room and locked the door. I stayed in there for days. I wouldn't talk to her, I didn't eat, the only reason I survived was because I had a water bottle in there that and I only took a bit each day. Linda got mad at what was happening and she just yelled. All the time. About everything. And that was scary.

"So I left through the window one night. I found a bus stop and kept to myself in there. I drifted between there and a few other places for a few years. Around my 18th birthday he was there again—just like he promised. Daniel told me he had gotten out a month earlier and he had already ran away. He said that now we would never be apart. But I told him I wasn't sure and I didn't want to go with him. He got so mad. There was an empty bus about to go by and he just…pushed me in front of it. He told me I was worthless and I didn't deserve him. The bus was actually going pretty fast and when the driver came out, Daniel promised he wouldn't tell anyway while he dragged me off.

"I was dying and he knew it. I was bleeding out and I was in so much pain. It was like, I knew I was dying but I just wasn't dying quick enough. Daniel…touched me again before leaving me. That's when Ember showed up. She turned me and waited until I was done. When I woke up again I hated her so much. I ran away and tried to find somewhere to live. I was on the run for about fifty years until I found Ember and Aaron. I've been with them since then. I only started trusting them about a hundred or so years ago…"

Tristan trailed off, stepping back to lean against a tree and sank down. He buried his face in his hands and he was shaking with dry sobs. There were tears running down my face as well, but I ignored them. Right now I need to comfort this poor boy. I walked over to where he was and put my hand on his back. He flinched a little but then moved back over. I wrapped my arms around him and rested my head on top of his.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry…I shouldn't have made you re-live that. And you shouldn't have ever had to go through that." I kept apologizing softly and every once in a while I would give him a kiss on the head or something like that to try and calm him down.

We sat there for nearly an hour. When Tristan's shaking had sub-sided a bit he looked up and saw the tears on my face. He grimaced and wiped under my eyes with his thumb. "Don't cry."

I admit, I laughed. "How…how am I not supposed to not cry? That was horrible. What happened to you should have never happened to anyone. And the fact that I now know a person that that's happened to? That's heartbreaking."

"You shouldn't cry because it's in the past," He whispered, staring intently at me. "And you've had so much worse, this is nothing compared to the torture you've gone through." He pushed some hair behind my ear again. "But let's think about the present and the future…okay?"

"I…I guess." My mind was going a bit weird. The way he was looking at me, how close we were and what he had just finished telling me was making my head spin a bit. But…that shouldn't be happening. I love Jacob don't I? Yeah…but he doesn't love me. I had messed up. My one chance at happiness. Well, then again…here is Tristan; he seems like such a nice, sweet and caring guy. Maybe this was all meant to happen.

Focusing back on now I saw that Tristan was standing up and about to help me. I took his waiting hand and didn't let go when we were both upright.

"C'mon, I promised I'd make you happy. I don't want you to be sad. What can I do to make you smile again?" He asked, taking his hand out of mine to put around my waist and bring me closer.

"I'm…not sure. My life is such a mess right now. Just, let's talk for a bit. Where are we going anyway?" I looked around to see if there was anything interesting we might be headed to and didn't see anything.

"It's a surprise" He said mysteriously.

Five minutes later and we're standing outside of some old looking building. Tristan frowned. "There used to be a really cool ice cream shop here. Guess it went out of business. Then again, the last time I was here was fifty years ago."

I laughed and he smiled. "What should we do now?"

"Well, do you want ice cream? Because I'm sure there are some average ice cream shops around here somewhere."

I showed him where there was a little family-owned ice cream shop and we went inside. "I would like a small chocolate cone," He said to the cashier, the to me, "And what would you like, m'dear?"

I blushed and looked up at all the kinds, "A medium mint chocolate?"

"Okay, so a small chocolate and a medium mint chocolate, please. Max, why don't you go chose a booth to sit in and I'll pay." I would have objected to him buying me stuff but one, I didn't want to argue with him and two, I didn't have any money anyway.

So I went and chose a spot to sit quietly.

Tristan came two minutes late and sat beside me. "So," I said in a conversationalist but quiet voice. "Isn't that gross for you? The ice cream I mean."

He just shrugged. "I'm not sure about other vampires, but to me human food and treats just taste like nothing. All it has is a texture. But it's not like I'm going to die if I…wait, never mind. It just doesn't have any taste."

I nodded, amused and licked my mint chocolate cone.

We stayed at the place for another hour just talking—I didn't want to bore you with the boring details and conversation.

We left happier than when we entered. Our hands were clasped and swinging a little between us. But then Tristan's phone just had to ring. He didn't take his hand out of mine, but stopped to take the call.

"Hi,"

Pause.

Groan. "You have to be kidding me."

Pause.

"But…I don't want to."

Pause.

"Fine, whatever!"

And then he hung up without properly ending the call.

"Who was that?" I questioned as we started walking again.

"It was just Ember. She said we need to get home, so when we get into the woods, I'll carry you; it'll be faster. Not that I'm saying you aren't fast, but…yeah…" He finished rather lamely.

I raised an eyebrow, "Okay. Fine. But the only reason I'm letting you carry me is cause you bought me ice cream, go it?" I wasn't about to tell him that I was not hating the idea of him carrying me.

We walked for a few more minutes then stopped in a little clearing. "Okay," He started, "So how about you get onto my back and then you put your arms around my neck?"

I almost laughed at his nervousness but then I figured why he was probably nervous to have me…that close and I looked down, ashamed.

He lifted my chin up again, "Hey, why are you feeling guilty?" The way he was looking at me made me want to build a time machine and take away anything that had ever hurt him. Ever. But I couldn't so I just shook my head and told him to turn around. I used my wings as to not hurt him, then pulled them a little so when he started running they wouldn't catch and get ripped out of my back. I wrapped my arms around his neck and shoulders and rested my chin on my forearm beside his head.

"Do you get dizzy easily?" He asked, looking forwards, and putting his hands under my thighs, just above my knees.

I looked at him like he was crazy even if he couldn't see it. "Dude, I can fly. I don't get dizzy." He chuckled at that and then we were off.

When we could see the house, Tristan slowed down and started walking over to the front. He let me down but put his arm around my waist. We walked up to the door and he opened it for me. I thanked him before turning around.

And who I saw in the living room made my mouth fall open instantly. What were they…?

"Hello, Max."

So I never found the rough draft so I started this one fresh I guess you could say.

Anyway, sorry that took so long…some…stuff happened in my life and it was really hard and I'm actually not quite over it yet. Im not sure why I decided to finish this because one of the things that's happened to me I get reminded of every time I right 'he' but whatever, I'm happy I finally finished it.

BUT HERE'S THE DEAL! Who do you think should be in the living room when Max gets back? I'll put up a poll on my profile, but I warn you, I wont start writing the next part unless I know who you want to be there. Thanks.

Iggy: I will dig a hole and label it love/ And trick her to fall in from above/ Strategically placed at the front door/ Ill coax her to come back to get more.. Me: Yeah, sorry, I've been obsessing over Hellogoodbye for a while. Homewrecker is his favourite. Iggy: Sure is. Me: Anywho, hope you liked this chapter, I'm really sorry if I did the middle wrong (The part about Tristan) and I hope I didn't offend anyone. Review.