In response to some reviews, in the last chapter Fang is OOC because he's that desperate. Just thought I'd clear that up. I'm sorry…

Do I ever own Maximum Ride?

Max's POV

Iggy was still in the exact same place I'd left him when I got back. And I'd been gone for a good hour. Maybe he was asleep. I knew he would be all numb and stiff when I had to move him. And I would have to move him.

I landed as quietly as I could with that heavy pack on my back, which meant me landing on my bad leg and gasping out in pain, falling to the ground. Iggy broke his emotionless mask to turn around and look around for me. He got up and came over to me. It didn't surprise me when he didn't trip over me. He always knew where I was.

I tried to get up, but my leg really hurt, and I couldn't, and I was just overwhelmed about everything with Fang and Iggy…So I just stayed down, crying.

Iggy kneeled down next to me. He realized I was crying, then crossed his legs and sat next to me with one hand on my head and the other on my shoulder. His hands felt good. Gentle, barely there, comforting. I usually would've been ashamed to cry in front of anyone, but not at this moment with Iggy.

"It hurts doesn't it?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yeah…" The nod would've answered his question if he was asking about my leg or my heart. Both hurt.

He sighed and slowly started to take the backpack off of me. I let him, and took my arms out of the straps when I could so he could drop it next to him.

"Here. I'll make it better…" I heard zippers open and knew what he was looking for.

"I put all the first aid stuff in the left side pocket…" I told him.

He didn't reply. Just went for the pocket and got what he needed. Moving down by my legs, he was really gentle with moving my pant leg up. I whined a little bit, but it could've been worse. At least my jeans were all torn from the Eraser's claws…

Iggy was really gentle when he wrapped my leg up with the bandages. I think he did a really good job. When he was finished, he started to pack up the bag again, but I stopped him and got up on my knees. I started fixing him up. He just sat and dealt with it. I put a few 6 inch by 6 inch band-aids here and there, wrapped his arm in bandages, and put a smaller band-aid on his cheek. Otherwise, it looked like the Eraser had just played with him, swatted him around with open paws like a cat does to a bird until it accidentally kills it…He was covered with huge dark bruises that were about the size of Eraser paws…All over his back and chest…If only Erasers were cats instead of dogs and that cat-bird reference would've been more true…

After I finished, I packed up the bag and threw it against the wall of the cave, sitting back down in front of him again.

He was looking up at me with this look I'd never seen on him before. He looked just the same as he did before. Sort of blank. But I knew him better than that. I could barely see it when he swallowed. He just looked completely relaxed. He still had his legs crossed, and he was leaning back, supporting his weight on his arms.

I wasn't sure what to think of this. He was leaning back, away from me.

"Do you hurt anywhere?" I asked quietly.

He paused. "Not really."

"Not really? What do you mean like that?"

"I don't know…"

"You have to know…"

"Well I don't."

He looked down. That was his way of saying 'end of discussion.' Well it wasn't. I pulled his chin up to look him in the face. He looked up reluctantly.

"Iggy…"

"Max…"

I had to smile. "Don't mock me."

"I will." He smiled too. I just realized now how much I liked his smile. Especially when he showed his teeth. It was cute…

"Iggy…You love me right?"

"I said what I meant. And didn't I say that I love you?"

"Yeah…I guess you did say that…"

"The only question I have is this: do you love me back?"

The question threw me, even though it didn't surprise me at all.

"That's all that's wrong with me, Max." he went on. "If you didn't love me, I'd be crushed. But then, if you did, Fang would be crushed…Either way, one of us is screwed…"

He looked genuinely sad. He knew I'd end up hurting one of them.

"Now you know my problem…" I moved forward and put my arms around his shoulders, hiding my face in his neck. I felt the muscles in his neck move when he swallowed again, and he hesitated before putting his arms around my waist. "I don't want to hurt either of you…"

"Did you meet Fang at the house?"

"Yeah…" How did he know that? "How did you know?"

"He has a smell. It's on your shirt."

"Oh. Okay…" Something only Iggy would notice…

"What happened?"

I sighed, then pulled away a little bit so I could face him. "I'm pretty sure that I already hurt him pretty bad. He seemed pretty bad off when I left…"

"Oh. What'd you say?"

"I only promised him that I'd be back."

"Not that you'd choose him?"

"Not that I'd choose him. I promised I'd come back but not that I'd choose him."

"What did you mean by that? Exactly?"

I sighed quickly and pushed away from him. "Iggy, don't make this harder on me than it has to be. Please tell me you're not going to try to influence my decision. Or I won't choose either of you."

"I didn't mean it that way." He sat forward a little bit and he reached up to take my face in his hands. "You're crying. Again. Why do you always cry when we talk like this?"

I took a deep breath and wiped at my eyes, then I put my hands over his. "Because I don't know what to do…"

"What do you want to do?"

"I don't know…"

He moved forward so our heads touched, like before he'd first kissed me in the tree. I thought he was going to kiss me again. I wasn't sure if I wanted him to or not.

"Max…I promise. I won't try to influence your decision. Sure, I'd be happy if you chose me, but I wouldn't be happy with it if you weren't happy with it. Even if you choose Fang, I'll be fine with it as long as you're happy. That's all I want. You to be happy. Okay?"

I nodded, sobbing. He pulled me close again, and I gave in. I curled up in his lap, feeling weak and vulnerable and embarrassed, and cried into his shoulder.

He kissed the top of my head. "It's okay…" he whispered. He probably didn't know what was really wrong.

"No…It's not…" I told him shakily. "Because…Because I really want to choose you…"

He paused. Then held me tighter. "Okay. If that's what you want."

I stopped, considering my next move. Making my decision, I got back up and pushed him down onto his back and got on top of him. He kind of groaned when my weight settled on his chest, but then he calmed down when I kissed him. And I kissed him hard.

His reaction was really cute. He was surprised at first. There was a quick intake of breath and he made a soft moaning sound as he exhaled. Fang never did that. Fang never hesitated to hold me closer. Fang never shifted uncomfortably. Fang never spread his hands out wide on my back.

Fang never did a lot of the things that Iggy was doing now that I liked.

Okay. I really like this chapter too. I'm liking how this story is turning out. I think after I get done the next chapter I might have some writer's block…But yeah. I'm thinking I might go into Iggy's POV next. And he's male which means that this make-out session might get a bit graphic…but it could be worse. And I'm aware that now Max is a bit OOC. Apologies! Anyways. Please Review!

--Fire wolf12

--PS--I'm considering posting a story I've been working on for a while, but I'm not sure how my readers will react to it…I might get some bad reviews…not sure…Well, thought I'd ask. I'd like to post it. If you review this chapter, could you do me a favor and tell me if you'd be angry with what I write if I did bad stuff to Iggy? I'm probably overreacting anyways…oh well…