Dear readers, writers block sucks. You all know it, I know it, and now it's over. So, read on! Personally, I love this chapter….please don't hurt me after you read it….muah ha ha!!!

MAX POV

Fang2 came back about an hour later, with the Gasman's and Iggy's laughing in toe. But when they came in the kitchen and saw the look on the faces of me and Max2, their laughter stopped. And after getting a double Max lecture, they retreated to the basement to play videogames in silence with Skip and Ty.

I hid out in my room till the girls came back, and then sat in Nudge and Angels room till dinner listening to them excitedly babble about their day at the magazine studio with Nudge2 and watched their mini fashion show with the new clothes they had gotten to keep from the photo shoot, even though there was no way I was going to let them take the clothes with them. They were so not suitable for flying bird kids on the run.

Ok, so I admit it. I might have been trying to avoid Fang a little bit. But after my idiot of a future self spilled all those things about me, I just didn't think I could face him. Not yet anyway.

Dinner was a huge event. The Iggy's spent all night in the kitchen, cooking up a final feast for us, on the eve of our separation. Max and Fang3 would be returning to their time tomorrow, and the older flock would be heading home in the morning as well.

The dining room smelled amazing. There was a huge chicken in the center of the table, surrounded by tacos, salad, fruit, veggies, rolls with butter, pizza, the whole shebang. I didn't know where I was going to start! My contemplation was interrupted as Fang sat down beside me. I stared at him, unbelieving. He didn't look at me, but I knew the small shrug he gave was meant for me. It wasn't much, but I would take it.

"Alright, alright!" said Nudge2, standing up trying to get everyone's attention. The chatter died down. "Because this is our last night all together, we, the older flock, decided that we wanted to give you, the younger flock, some advice. Don't worry, we've already consulted our future seers and this advice won't change anything in the long run. Just a few things to make the future a little smoother."

"Me first!" shouted Angel excitedly, and I smiled at her. My baby.

"Well, you might want to resist reading minds so much." Said my future self, "It gets you into a lot of trouble." The others nodded and agreed. Angel just smiled. Personally, I don't think she would take that advice to heart.

Gazzy2 and Iggy2 stood up, to advise their younger selves. "Guys," said Iggy, " I know it seems like a ton of fun, and a really good idea, but when you all finally do defeat Itex and Max saves the world and stuff, you guy with decide to throw a huge fireworks party."

Gazzy2 continued, "When you do, you might want to make sure that everyone is out of the way before you set them off. Especially Nudge. There were some pretty nasty burns after that."

"Yeah, not fun." Said Nudge2 glaring at the two pyros.

"Oh!" Said future Max, "And when you feel the need to make a huge bomb while on the roof of a hotel in Chicago, DON'T! The whole top half of the hotel was demolished."

"Hey!" retorted Iggy2, "we set off the fire alarms first, so it's not like anyone was in the building!"

"Except that janitor guy," said Nudge2, "he was in the hospital for like a month."

"Yeah, I felt really bad about that…" stated Gazzy2 guiltily.

Nudge2 jumped back in. "Nudge, one day, you will finally convince Max to let you buy a skirt and cute clothes and shoes that Max says are 'not practical for bird kids on the run.'" Nudge1 beamed. "Well, you might want to listen to her. It didn't end well."

A little put out, Nudge1 asked her future self, "Fine. Ummm, any advice about possible future guys?"

"Oh my God. Tons!" They retreated into their own little Nudge like conversation.

"Fang's turn!" said Angel, smiling. I looked up from my chicken to listen. What! I was curious!

"Wow. This one might take a while." Said Iggy2 laughing.

"Really?" said Gazzy1, "Did Fang make a lot of mistakes and stuff?"

"Yeah, you could say that. And there names were…"

"Samantha, Amy…"

"Jessica, Molly, Nicole…"

"Danielle, Rachel, Ellie…"

"How many of them had red hair?" I muttered, and Iggy2 laughed.

"Actually, only a few of them."

"Gosh Dad, I didn't know you were such a player!" said Ty laughing at his Dad. Fang2 and Ty had been on better terms lately, but I knew there would be tension between them for a while still.

"Hey," said Gazzy2, "What was that redhead one that Max totally punched out?"

Nudge2 looked up from her conversation with her younger self. "Oh, you mean Jennifer? Wow. That one was seriously psychotic or something!"

"Dude…she stalked you for like a year. Wherever we went- she showed up. She wasn't connected to Itex or anything either!" said Gazzy2

"Haha very funny." Said Fang2. Max3 did NOT look happy, and was glaring at Fang3, who raised his hands innocently.

I was no longer interesting in the advice for Fang. Lissa was one thing, but Samantha, Amy, Jessica, Molly, and all the other million girls they mentioned, I mean really?! Uh.

And then, it was my turn.

"Max, well Max- ummm I don't know what I can really tell you without messing anything up." Said my future self looking at my apologetically.

"No saving the world advice or anything?" I asked

"I wish. But I can't take any chances. Don't worry. Just remember, that you're not in it alone." She said.

"Yeah," agreed Iggy2, "and let some of the rest of us carry the load every once in a while!"

"Oh, but pretty soon, when you go to Africa and meet-" began Nudge, but was cut off my Fang2.

"Stop." Fang2 said seriously. "You can't tell her that. It'll change things critically."

"You can tell that?" Fang spoke up for the first time, probably curious about his future power.

"Yeah, the rest was basically harmless, but there are some things you can't know. I can tell when something starts to change." He looked at Fang pointedly. "Like when someone makes a decision that will change things." A look passed between them that I didn't understand. What was going on between them?

The look went unnoticed to everyone else. "Cool," said Sam. She was still ignoring me. Obviously still mad.

"So, any more advice for Max?" asked Nudge

"Ummmm, well try to control your cookie obsession. One time, you'll try this chocolate chip cookie, and then you were sick for like 2 days."

"Yeah, that was gross." Said Fang2.

Everyone ate for a while, them Nudge looked up. "I have a question. You remember when we found all those encrypted files about our parents and stuff? Do we ever- I mean, do they-"

"Yeah. You find your parents." Said my future self, a hint of sadness in her voice.

"You actually decide you want to live with them," said Iggy2. I felt a searing pain in my chest. I didn't think I could take it if they left. They were my life. I looked around at my flock, all excited about the idea of finding their parents. When I looked at Fang, he gave me a reassuring look. I noticed even though he was looking in my direction, his eyes didn't meet mine. Why wasn't he looking at me?

"Really?!" Nudge was almost bouncing up and down in her seat.

"Yeah, but it doesn't last long. Fang stayed with them for what?" Max3 looked at Fang3, "a few hours maybe before going after Max? We all missed Max and the flock too much." So I guess it was soon then, if Max3 knew about it already.

"A few weeks after, Fang came and got us all and surprised Max." said Nudge2.

"I was tired of her mopping around." Said Fang3 pushing Max3 lightly with his shoulder. They smiled at each other and joined hands on the table. I looked away.

"Can I just clear up one thing? I do save the world right?" I asked.

"Yes you do. And defeat Itex, and all that."

"It's hard, and there's a lot of trouble along the way, but we get there eventually." Said Max2.

We ate the rest of the meal in our own little conversations. It was nice. And it struck me how much I would actually miss them. Everyone went home tomorrow. Well, everyone except my flock. It would be nice that the house would be less crowded, and I was really looking forward to it being less confusing, with not as many versions of everyone. And maybe with everything less chaotic, I would get a chance to talk to Fang and Sam, and finally sort this whole thing out.

I glanced at Fang sideways. He must have felt me looking because he looked up from his mashed potatoes toward me, but still not meeting my eyes. I looked away aggravated.

After dinner, I was excused from washing dishes again (thank god). I showed and changed in the bathroom and was walking to my room, when Fang passed me in the hallway before disappearing into his room. I took a deep breath and followed him.

"Hey can we talk?" I asked upon entering. He was sitting on his bed, leaning against the headboard, typing away on his laptop.

"That depends. About what?" he didn't look up.

"You know what."

"Obviously not Max" His voice showed no emotion. His eyes stayed glued to the screen. This was getting ridiculous. I snapped.

"God Fang! Can't we just stop this already! I'm sorry about what I said, thought, whatever. I didn't mean it! This whole future thing is totally screwed up and I hate it! I hate not talking to you, I hate that Sam hates me, I hate that I can't even look at you anymore without it hurting, and I hate most of all that you won't even look at me! I'm doing the best I can ok? This is the best I can do! So can you please, PLEASE just look at me!"

He looked up, and I couldn't read his face. "What are you talking about Max? I look at you." He was looking towards me, but his eyes were focused on a spot just to the right of me.

"Please stop lying to me." I said slowly and deliberately.

"I'm not-"

"Yes you are! You don't look at me Fang, not really. Sure, you look in my direction, but never at my eyes. Why is it so hard for you to admit?!"

He stood up, setting his laptop aside. "I'm sorry max. But I can't do this right now." He walked right past me, right out of the room. I felt like screaming.

FANG POV

I split out of there. Max just didn't get it. Did she not understand that it hurt me too? She wasn't the only one who was suffering from this. I wanted to look at her. More than anything. I missed the silent conversations we could have with just looks, I missed how with one glance into her eyes, I could see everything she was feeling. But I knew, that if I looked at her, I wouldn't be able to stand it anymore. I wouldn't be able to stay away from her. And I needed to do this. This was the only way.

The rest of the occupants of the house were sleeping. Everyone was leaving tomorrow, and soon, we would be too. For the flock, things would go back to normal. But for me, everything would change. Everything has already changed.

I went for a short fly around the house, just to cool off, when I saw my future self on the balcony outside future Max's room, where we had talked that first night we had come here.

I landed on the edge of the balcony "Hey."

"Hey." he didn't look at me. He was staring at future Max sleeping soundly in her room.

"How you holding up?" I asked.

"Not so well. I just want to talk to her. To make her understand why I left, and that I regret it every second. I don't think shell ever forgive me for this." His voice may have sounded blank to most. But I heard the hint of hopelessness in it.

My future self turned to look at me. "Plus, I'd like us to spend a few last moments together before we forget that we ever loved each other in the first place."

I looked away "So, you know then."

"Yeah I know. I knew the second you made up your mind. So did the 19 year old version of us. He's just putting on a good face for his Max."

"I'm sorry. It's just; I don't have any other choice."

Fang2 sighed. "I know. You think it's the only way to fix things."

I looked up to meet his eyes. "Max and I can never be together. It's the only way to make sure that none of this ever happens. If Max never loves me, than she can move on. She can be happy, with no runaway husband, no pain, none of it."

He nodded. "When I left, it nearly destroyed her. I see that now."

We were both silent for a bit. Then I had to ask, "Do you know-have you seen-"

"Yeah I know. But I'm not sure that you want to know." He looked at me.

"I do. I need to know that she'll be ok."

He sighed. "She marries Danny, the guy from the photo that Sam showed you. He was my best friend when we first moved here, and he eventually married another friend of ours, Amy, from the photo also. But because of your decision, we never meet Amy. Max falls in love with Danny and they move to live in New York."

My throat caught. "And-and what about us?"

"We," he paused, "We live here. Alone. Max and us, were never the same. Friends, but never as close as we used to be."

"Is she happy?" That was what was most important to me.

"For the most part. She has kids, and Danny is good to her. But I think she misses us sometimes. The future can change, but there's always a sense of what could have been."

"And what about Sam? And Ty and Skip?"

He closed his eyes. Pained. I waited. "When the change happens, they will cease to exist. Without us and Max, they will never be born."

"How much time is there? Before the change?"

"I'm not sure," he said. "Max still hasn't let go of you. Maybe a few days. A week at the most." A week. That was it.

I looked away. "I'm sorry. I really am." I meant it.

"I understand. This is the only way. I just wish that things could be different."

"So do I." He had no idea how much I wished that too.

We stood there together. Thinking about what is, what will be, and what could have been. The three things that have been churning in my mind, burning into heart, and ripping me apart from the inside out.

ANNDDDDD CHAPTER! :D

I know I know! Don't kill me!

Soooo what did you think! About the advice, about Max's explosion, about Fang's plan!?!?!?!

I know it wasn't written the best, but I'm in a hurry.

I'll update soon! As long as you….

REVIEW!!!!!!

Love,

Maxride08

Hannah