* Sorry it's taken so long for me to post. Going back to work after the holidays sucks :( (Plus I got sidetracked with my HP fic, sorry) This chapter is definitely not one of my favorites. I had a really hard time with it. But some of the stuff in it will play out later in the story. If I decide to go back in time to change it later, I'll let you know. Anyway, it seems there were a lot of problems with the fanfic site last week. A few of you sent me PM's instead of reviews, which I totally appreciate. Thank you for not giving up on giving me feedback. :) And I couldn't access my story stats, which I found very frustrating. But all seems to be working now. I'm going to stop complaining so you can read!

btw: Gazzy and Angel communicate telepathically in this chapter-it's in italics, as are Gazzy's thoughts to himself.

Jump and Miranda watched Gazzy pile his plate high with food. Not what they were eating. Gazzy got a big glass of water and sat down with his creation.

"What, are you on a diet or something?" Jump joked.

Gazzy's spoon hovered in front of his open mouth.

"Ha. Ha," he said humorlessly, then licked the big glob of peanut butter.

"Not that I don't like all those foods, but don't you want some bread or crackers to spread it on?" Miranda asked. "It's not much of a lunch."

Gazzy eyed up the peanut butter, along with the apple slices, celery, carrots and a Greek yogurt. It wasn't a whole lot of food, but he dug in anyway.

"It jut a 'nack," Gazzy said with his mouth full. He chased the food down with a gulp of water. "Snack," he repeated.

Jump and Miranda got out some fat pretzels and began dipping them into the peanut butter.

"Hey! Don't do that!" Gazzy yelled. "You're getting crumbs in it!"

"So," Jump said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Well, I can't. . . .stand having crumbs in it."

Miranda and Jump just looked at Gazzy, surprised by his outburst. Miranda got out another spoon and put some of the peanut butter on a different dish for her and Jump to share. They all munched in silence.

When Gazzy had cleaned his plate, he put it in the sink and walked away, not quite satisfied.

Gazzy had been spotted making himself unusual lunches, picking at dinners and eating an unreasonable amount of eggs at breakfasts.

Making lasagna, or rather, trying to make lasagna, Iggy had finally had it.

"Who keeps eating all the eggs?" He yelled, to no one in particular. "Now I have to go to the store," he muttered.

"Uh, I'll go, Ig. I think I ate the last egg." Gazzy confessed.

"Fine. Thanks." Iggy was still annoyed, but since Gazzy offered to get more, he let it go. "What's with that anyway? You seem like you don't want to eat with us anymore. You don't like my cooking all of a sudden?"

"You're the best cook, Ig. I just like to eat in my room sometimes. And, well, maybe my tastes are changing or something." Gazzy was hoping Iggy would just drop the whole thing. He quickly grabbed a jacket and went to the utility closet to retrieve money for the store. He took more than he needed for eggs.

"Need anything else?"

"Nah, I have everything else I need. We can get Jeb to take us to the store tomorrow for a big trip," Iggy answered.

"Be right back." Gazzy took off for the nearest grocery, making a mental list of other things he wanted to buy.

Walking up and down t he aisles, Gazzy first picked up the eggs. He then went to the cereal aisle to get Rice Chex and Corn Chex. He knew he had to keep the load light for the flight home so he chose wisely. Bananas, potato chips and beef jerky were next on the list. He figured he had enough, so anything else could wait for tomorrow's trip.

Touching down in the yard, Gazzy stashed his extra purchases behind a bush and walked into the house. The kitchen smelled like spaghetti sauce, and Iggy was cooking lasagna noodles, while Miranda and Dani put together a salad.

John wandered in and inhaled deeply. "Smells soooo good," he said. "How long until dinner?"

"I'm almost ready to put it in the oven. So, like forty-five minutes," Iggy answered.

"John picked up one of the loaves of bread. "Oooh, can we make this into garlic bread?"

"Ooh, yeah," Miranda agreed.

Gazzy's mouth started to water. Garlic bread sounded heavenly.

"Okay," Iggy decided. "John, want to learn how? I need to teach you all how to cook so I can retire," he laughed.

Iggy and John went to work on the bread. They decided to use all three loaves. Gazzy quietly went to his room and closed the door. He shared a room with John, now that Iggy moved in with Dani, which was working out pretty well. They had enough in common that they got along. And John loved learning about all the bombs Gazzy had built. He was especially interested in learning how to make fireworks.

Gazzy snuck out his bedroom window to retrieve his bag of groceries. Hearing someone approach, he quickly dove behind the bushes to wait. It was Nudge and Angel.

"You have to at least try it, Angel. You might like it," Nudge said.

"I told Max's mom I'd give it a few weeks. But now I wish I hadn't. I haven't liked any of the other schools we tried."

"But this is different. Pleeeease come with me. We won't have to hide our wings or anything. And there will be lots of boys there that aren't our brothers."

Gazzy's ears pricked up at that. What did she mean by that? She doesn't have a brother, Gazzy thought.

"What do you mean? You don't have a brother," Angel asked exactly what Gazzy just thought.

Crap.

Angel must have known he was hiding nearby. That was her way of letting him know that she knew. Gazzy tried so hard not to think of anything at all. But that's impossible, of course.

"Well, they all may as well be brothers. You know what I mean, we're all family," Nudge explained.

"Max and Fang don't act like brother and sister. Neither do Dani and Iggy, or Miranda and Jump," Angel reminded her.

"Okay, but Dani and Iggy weren't raised like brother and sister. Neither were Jump and Miranda, really. And I don't know about you, but Max and Fang together weirded me out at first," Nudge confessed.

"What about your crush on Iggy?" Angel asked.

What? Gazzy had no idea. He wasn't sure if that depressed him or gave him hope.

"Angel! You promised you would never bring that up," Nudge scolded. "Besides, that was a long time ago. And Max and Fang were giving me strange ideas."

"So, you don't think you would want to, you know, get together with anyone in the flock?" Angel asked innocently, or so she sounded.

"Anyone? There's only John and Gazzy left. And they're both younger than me." Nudge paused. "And they're gross. Why, would you? Oh, I guess it would have to be John."

"I don't know. I'm not really thinking about that stuff yet. But John is nice. He seems more like a friend than a brother. " Angel shrugged. "Gazzy isn't that gross anymore, you know," she slipped in casually.

"Hmm, maybe not. But still," Nudge replied.

But still? But still what? Gazzy thought. What did she mean by that?

At least you got a maybe you're not that gross

Yipee, he thought flatly.

I'm sorry Gazzy

The girls walked into the house, leaving Gazzy the opportunity to come out of his hiding place. He picked up his bag and flew up to his window.

He couldn't help thinking about the girls' conversation as he hid his stash under the bed.

Not that gross. Was that what everyone thought? Didn't any of them notice that he wasn't nearly living up to his name lately? Ever since he'd talked to Max's mom. His stomach didn't feel all sour and bubbly and it had been more than a week since he cleared a room. Strangely, he felt more alert, too. Maybe because he'd been sleeping better.

Whatever. Stupid Nudge. What do I care, Gazzy thought. I'm going to meet all kinds of new people at school, too.

Gazzy wandered into the Great Room. The smell of lasagna and garlic bread filled the whole house and made his stomach rumble. It was his favorite thing Iggy made.

"Something wrong, Gazzy?" Nudge asked.

Like you care. "Not feeling great," he answered.

"Anything I can get you?" Why was she being so nice all of a sudden?

Gazzy decided it wasn't all of a sudden. Nudge was just nice to everyone. That was what was so great about her.

"Nah, I think I'm going to go lie down."

Gazzy went back to his room before too many others ambled into the kitchen area. He didn't want to have to answer a bunch of questions. Pulling the bag out from under his bed, he peeled a banana and ate it in three bites. Next, he ripped open one of the packages of jerky. He didn't mean to eat the whole thing, but he couldn't help it. He had been so hungry. Too late, he realized he didn't have anything to drink. He wanted the chips, but the jerky was already so salty.

There was a soft knock on his door. Quickly, he shoved everything back under his bed. "Who is it?"

"It's Miranda."

"Come in."

She opened the door to find Gazzy lying on his bed rubbing his eyes. He did a convincing job of appearing to have been sleeping.

"Are you hungry?" she asked him.

"No," he answered. "But I'm thirsty."

"Do you want some tea? Or water or something?"

"Water would be nice," Gazzy said weakly. That was a bit of luck. He was wishing for a drink and here was someone to deliver it. It was so easy to pretend to be sick. Maybe he'd try out for a play at the new school. He thought he was a pretty good actor. So far, everybody bought his act.

As Miranda was leaving, Angel came in.

Crap. Not everyone.

She put her hands on her hips. "Okay, what's going on? Don't make me read your mind again."

"I'm sick."

"Uh huh. You were hanging out in the bushes earlier. What are you up to? Why are you avoiding dinner, of all things."

He was about to fess up when she continued.

"Is it because of what Nudge said? Are you avoiding her?"

Gazzy picked it up and ran with it.

"Yeah. I heard everything you two were talking about. I didn't mean to eavesdrop. I just hid when I heard you coming. I figured you'd keep walking.

"Gazzy, you can't avoid her all the time. She doesn't even know how you feel," Angel told him.

"I don't even know how I feel, how could she?" Gazzy sighed. "I mean, it's just Nudge. But sometimes, when I'm close to her, I want to touch . . . her skin is so pretty. And her lips . . ." he stopped himself, blushing. He didn't mean to say any of that. It was one thing for Angel to read his thoughts. It was far different to say things out loud.

Angel cleared her throat and smiled. "Well, Nudge is very pretty."

"Grrrr. I hate feeling like this! I don't want to. I hate feeling goofy, wondering if I look okay or if my hair is sticking up."

"I thought you did that on purpose," Angel commented.

He looked at her as if she were dense. "I do. But it has to stick up in the right places."

"Oh." Angel shrugged. "Anyway, you can't hide in here all the time." Angel's brow furrowed. "What do I smell?"

"Lasagna," Gazzy answered.

"No, it smells like sausage. No, salami?"

"I don't smell anything." Gazzy tried changing the subject. "So what do I do about Nudge?"

Angel leaned forward. "It's your breath! You're eating something in here? You could have waited for lasagna, it's almost done. What's really going on?"

"Nothing," Gazzy protested, his voice rising in register. "I swear. I'm all broken up over Nudge." Not sounding at all broken up.

Angel's eyes narrowed. Gazzy tried his hardest not to think about the bag of food under his bed, in case Angel was trying to read him. At that moment, Miranda came in with a cup of tea and a big glass of water. She looked at the siblings, realizing she walked in on the middle of something.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Should I come back?" she asked.

"No," Gazzy replied. "Angel was just leaving."

"You're not off the hook yet," Angel said as she walked out.

"You look like you're feeling better," Miranda noticed. "Do you want anything else?"

"No. This is good," he smiled.

"Okay. I'll check on you later," Miranda said and started to leave.

"Wait," Gazzy stopped her. "Why are you being so nice to me? I mean, no offense, but you're not usually so, um, mothering." He smiled sheepishly. He hoped he didn't insult her.

Miranda chuckled. "Yeah. I know. But Max usually does that stuff for you guys. I figured I could help you out, at least until she's back from the hospital."

"Oh. Thanks," Gazzy smiled.

"You're welcome. Just don't tell anyone. I have a reputation to uphold," she laughed. She closed the door behind her, leaving Gazzy alone with his food stash. He reached under the bed and grabbed the bag of chips.

"Hello-o-o-o-o," he said in a sing-song voice. "I've been looking forward to spending some quality time with you." He laughed and hugged the bag. There was a knock on his door.

"Dang it!" he yelled.

Iggy burst into the room. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

Gazzy froze, trying his best not to rustle the bag of chips. He was glad it was Iggy, because he couldn't see the bag.

"Fine. I'm just trying to have some quiet time and people keep coming in here," Gazzy explained.

"Sorry, I wanted to check on you. It's not like you to skip out on lasagna," Iggy said.

"No. I'm sorry. Miranda brought me tea. And Angel came to check on me too. I'm fine. Really," Gazzy assured him.

"Okay buddy. I'll leave you alone."

"Thanks, Ig."

When Iggy finally left, Gazzy proceeded to tear open the chips. He downed half the glass of water before shoving handfuls of the salty snack into his mouth. Without meaning to, he finished the bag. He drank all of the water and some of the tea.

Suddenly, Gazzy didn't feel well for real. All the grease and salt combined with a large, filling glass of water made his stomach churn. He lay down, clutching his belly, almost wishing he could throw up.

Karma, he thought, must be a girl. 'Cause she's a bitch.

*poor Gazzy lol I think we're back to Max in the next chapter, unless I decide to switch a couple of things around. . . so much to get to. I thought I wrote a chapter 14, but my notes go right to 15, so who knows lol

Thanks for reading!