A/N- I went back and re-read the previous chapters since the story is ending soon and I wanted to make sure to tie up any gaps or loops I'd forgotten about. (Right now I'm at 27). However, at Chapter 22 I realized I made a horrible mistake. I made Jeb and Ter Borcht come to Lucia's house- which is weird, because I've mentioned it a few times in the latest chapters that Jeb and Ter Borcht aren't at the house at all. And then in Chapter 24 Stella MAGICALLY appears, even though I had stated she wasn't there.

I went back to edit the chapter to the current timeline. And to clear things up: back in Chapter 22, Jeb stayed with Ter Borcht and the car after he received a wound that forced him to call an ambulance. Stella went with Max. Sorry about the confusion; blame me not even knowing my own story.

Thanks for the reviews! Y'all made Sparkles happy.


You know, I've never seen Fang cry before.

I thought men didn't cry.

But then again, Fang wasn't a man. He wasn't a boy, don't get me wrong, but he really wasn't as macho as everyone thought he was. Under that I'm-so-suave-and-removed exterior, Fang was just a guy who needed a hug.

And maybe men should cry. What's with our society, forcing men to shut up and look tough, while women can go cry their eyes out as much as they wanted?

It really doesn't make sense.

Screw society, I say cry whenever you want to.

"I'm so sorry, Max," Fang said, rubbing away the tears with his sleeves. "I won't…do that…again."

I sent him my thoughts on the situation: "Oh," was all he said. He continued: "And Max…you know in the beginning, when we didn't know what was going on with our heads and all? How I ran away after we figured out we could hear each other?"

"Yeah."

"That was because I didn't know if you were able to see my past. I didn't want you to know…"

Something had been bothering me for a while. I really didn't want to ask, but I didn't want to go prying into Fang's head for answers.

"Fang- you never ended up telling us what happened the day you were shot."

Silence.

A weird silence, though: one that held countless stories, and immeasurable emotions. It was a silence that could have stretched to infinity, beyond, and back, and all within a second.

"I don't know."

"Are you sure?"

"I don't lie, Max." That was a whisper. "I may not tell you something- but I don't lie. At least, anymore. When I went out flying, my thoughts were all jumbled up and mixed with yours. I didn't know what you could hear, and what you couldn't. I remember realizing the storm was really bad, but I kept flying. And then I remember nothing. No pain, no sudden blackout. Just waking up at your Mom's house."

I rubbed my hands together, unsure of what to say. What could I say? I wasn't a guidance councilor! Luckily, a knock at the door saved me from making a fool out of myself.

"You can come in," I said.

It was Iggy. "Max?" he called, trying to figure out where I was in the room.

"I'm over here, with Fang."

All of a sudden, a blush spread across his cheeks and he grimaced. "Oh- sorry- I'm not…uh…interrupting anything, am I?"

Fang laughed. "Gods no, Iggy. Can you get your mind out of the gutter for even a moment?"

"Do I have to answer that?"

I replied instead of Fang. "Of course not. You're a fourteen-year-old teen with more hormones than brain cells. I wouldn't expect anything else. So what's up?"

"Eh..." If I didn't know better, I'd say Iggy was blushing.

Wait a minute-

Fang, can you leave? I asked. Sorry, but can you make up some excuse?

He cocked his eyebrow up, and said aloud, "Uh, I'm going to go do…some…stuff. Things I do."

God. Men just can't make up excuses to save their lives, can they?

Fang left. I waited for Iggy to say something, but he stood there with a blank look on his face. "You wanted to talk?"

He nodded, the blush –I can't believe it!- creeping up his face. "I actually wanted to talk a while ago, but things got interrupted."

Honestly, I was slightly scared of what he had to say. First Fang "wants to talk," and I learn he murdered someone before his fifth birthday. So when Iggy "wants to talk," what would I learn?

Iggy sat on the bed, in the place where Fang had just left. His precision was spot-on. "It's nothing bad, I'm just curious."

"Shoot."

"Well, I asked Fang…I asked Fang…what…what…" He was so clearly stalling that I winced.

"Iggy," I said, placing a hand on his shoulder, "it can't be that bad."

"It's not," he breathed. "But it's hard…to say."

Times like these, I feel like Dr. Phil. As Flock leader, I'm sort of shafted to make sure the Flock is emotionally stable. "You can take as much time as you want."

And in the end, it only took him a few seconds.

"Max, how do you know if you're in love?"

Hmm.

That was a shocker. Sarcasm not intended.

"Fang just went on about some random nonsense that didn't make any sense when I asked him. And, well, you're…you're the only person I can really ask. I'm so, so sorry, you don't have to answer-"

"Iggy…" I wringed my hands together, nervous.

"Please, just answer me. Please."

I took a deep, deep breath. Deeeeeep.

"Um…Ig. Well. There's a difference between love and love. You know, between a teenage crush and a forever type of love. Which one are you talking about?" My voice was unnaturally high.

I had never seen Iggy this anxious. He was sweating bullets and biting his lip. "Forever."

My eyes went wide. Was he serious? He had to be. "But you know, teenage love can easily be mistaken with, well, real, love."

"I know. And I also know you're in love with Fang, even if you don't fully realize it yet…anyways, I wanted to know how you feel about him. The emotions."

Damn. I'm no deep-thinking poet who can describe emotions.

"Fang completes me, almost literally. He's my best friend. We've always had each other, you know? And honestly, that's as far as I can really say. Mainly because I'm not comfortable thinking about my feelings, and especially not towards him. All I'm saying is that I see Fang in my future, not in my past."

Iggy stared at me, unblinking, his eyes somehow piercing mine.

I continued, since he wasn't moving. I meant to talk normally, but my voice came out extremely quietly. "So who's the lucky girl?"

I swore time stopped. Neither of us moved, and not a sound was heard anywhere in the house. In a way, this was impossible. But then again, nothing's impossible. Except for slamming a revolving door, but whatever. If you were really into it I bet you could.

Iggy shifted positions. "What if it's two girls?"

Oh, snap, Iggy was a player!

Hahahaha…no.

"Do I know them?"

"Yes."

"Are they the girls I'm thinking about?"

"Yes."

"This is interesting."

"Yes."

I twisted a piece of hair around my fingers. "With the two lovely ladies you seem to be contemplating- do you feel the same about both of them?"

"I don't know what I'm contemplating!" he said, throwing his hands up. "Arrr…"

"You sound like a pirate, mate."

"Shut up."

We sat like that for a while, comfortable.

"But with you and Fang, have you talked about what you're going to do when all of this craziness is done with?" Iggy twisted and lay on the bed.

"Of course not. Every day is different, and if I try to keep up with everything my head will explode from the confusion. 'The future' is about five minutes from now, if you get what I mean."

"Of course I do."

"So what are you going to do about Nudge and Ella?"

He shrugged. "I'm not sure. Wait it out, perhaps?"

I smiled, still nervous he might go into another rant. "Sounds like a plan. You want to go downstairs and raid the house for some lunch?"

"Indubitably, my dear Watson. Indubitably."


As Iggy and I stepped into the kitchen, I noticed something orange and long flying towards me. Other than the fact that there were several well-placed innuendos in my last thought, I noticed that the aim was rather good. I dodged the carrot at ease and glared at Fang, where the projectile had come from.

"What's up with the carrot-throwing?" I asked, sitting at the table and grabbing an apple

"It's called boredom," he said. "Lucia and your Mom have placed us under house arrest. I was nearly tackled by them when I tried going outside to swim in the pool. Apparently we're 'at risk of an assault at any given time,' so we're stuck here."

I shrugged. "It can't be that bad, this place is a mansion."

"Ah, but you're forgetting that there are hundreds of closed-circuit cameras in this house transmitting our every move to security." Fang was leaning back in his chair, and ate a slice of cucumber on a plate in front of him.

"Lucia has security?" Considering our previous track record with anything associated with 'security', I'd say we were screwed.

"Yeah," Gazzy said. He was across the kitchen, sticking his head into the refrigerator. "You know all those servants? Turns out they double as security."

My mind flashed back to Bonnie, my overactive hyper maid who could rival Hannah Montana in perkiness levels. She was security? "How do you know this?"

"Oh, it was easy," Angel said. I jumped- she was right behind me, and I hadn't noticed her. I wheeled around to face her. "I was so bored… I started going through the servants' heads and found that if they wanted to, they could snap our necks in a split second. Oh, they're fine- they don't want to hurt us."

I kneeled down to her level. "It's good to know, Angel, but remember what I said about going through other people's heads?"

She had the grace to look slightly ashamed. "Sorry, Max…but I found out something else, too!"

"Yeah?"

"I know why your Mom never talked about Lucia, and why she hates her!"

Now that was interesting. "Really? Why?"

Angel opened her mouth, but as she did so, a new voice carried to us from down the hallway: "Don't."

It was Mom.

"I need to tell her." She walked down the hall to us. Behind me I could tell that Iggy, Fang and Gazzy were all watching closely.

I stood up, and in the back of my head I noticed that I was eye level with her. "Do you want Ella to know?"

She shook her head. "No, not yet. Later. I'm not sure how she'll take it. Here, sit down." She motioned to the kitchen table, where Fang and Iggy were already placed. Shortly afterwards Gazzy joined the rest of us, piles of food in his hands.

Mom looked at us all. "Where's Nudge?"

I shrugged. "Not sure. Do you want her here?"

"No, that's fine; I know you'll tell her. Anyways, let me tell my story, and don't interrupt, because I'm not sure if I'll be able to pick up again." I just noticed how disheveled she looked. Her hair was falling out of her bun, and her clothes were rumpled.

"Lucia's ten years older than me," she began. "She was everything my father wanted. Blonde, smart, perky as hell. I think he liked Lucia because she reminded him of his wife.

"My father was rich- he had started up a drilling business in the sixties, and the money literally poured in. Lucia was born with money; it was just a fact of life.

"He wanted another child. Specifically, a boy, so he could pass on the business in the 'proper' father-to-son way. But when my mother was giving birth to me, she hemorrhaged, and died.

"So now my father had lost his wife, the most important thing to him, and I was female. But still, I'm pretty sure he loved me. But then, when I was twelve, a man showed up on our doorstep.

"It turns out my mother had an affair with the man, and I was his child, not the father I had thought. To this day I'm not sure who my real father is. But either way, my 'original' father was furious. He kept me in the house, but he released his fury for my mother on me. He pampered Lucia, his 'true' daughter, while I was shunned. He never talked to me. Ever. He used Lucia to talk. For example, if he wanted me to pass the vegetables at dinner, he would say, 'Lucia, tell her to pass the vegetables.' I was her.

"When he died, he gave Lucia all of the money. I wasn't even in the will. Lucia took pity on me, handed me a few thousand dollars, and I didn't speak to her for years. I got a scholarship, entered vet school, and a few days ago was the first time I've seen Lucia in over a decade.

"I had to pay for my mother's mistake. And ever since then, I've been mad at Lucia for what she's gotten, and what should be mine. Ella shouldn't have to live in a small house in the middle of Arizona. Lucia is a millionaire. Not that she does any work, naturally, she hires people for that.

"But that's why."

She started to play with a hangnail, and the rest of us looked around, trying not to meet anyone else's eyes.

I thought things like that only happened on soap operas.

"That's interesting," Fang said.

I sighed. Fang was never tactful.

"So why don't you want Ella to know?" Iggy asked.

"I don't want her to grow up hating Lucia just as I did." Mom huffed. "She's not that bad, really, once you get used to…her ways."

"Does Lucia know about all of your past animosity towards her?" Fang asked.

"Of course not! She only sees the bright side of life. Sometimes that can be good, but other times it's just plain ignorant."

We would have responded, but Stella walked into the kitchen with a cell phone in hand. She was frowning. "I just got off the phone with the authorities in Mesa. Apparently, a Jeb Batchelder and an unnamed man disappeared from the hospital two days ago."

Mom narrowed her eyes. "Why hasn't he called? He probably has his cell, and I know that he always has quarters on him in case he needs to make an emergency pay phone call."

"I'm not sure." Stella turned to the rest of us. "What are you all doing?"

"Nothing," Fang said, standing up, "since we can't go outside." His voice was mocking and sarcastic.

Stella threw her hands up. "We're just trying to do the best for you all!" She turned to Mom, and said, "We need to talk privately."

"Sure." As Mom got up, she gave me a glare that I understood: Don't tell Ella.

The rest of the day was spent lounging around. Now that I knew of them, the CCTV cameras glared at me in places I would have glanced over before.

Two days passed, with nothing interesting happening. We only saw Nudge when food was around; whenever we looked for her she seemed to disappear. We contemplated hacking into the security cameras to see where she was, but decided against it.

Tensions started to rise, that much was clear. Stella, Mom and occasionally even Lucia would talk at night for hours on end. We tried eavesdropping, but failed miserably.

Things were changing around the household. People came in out and out, always with huge boxes.

One night, Mom came into my room, looking solemn. "What's up?" I asked.

She sat on my bed, putting a hand on my shoulder. I tried to sit up, but she pushed me back down. "I love you. You know that, right?"

"Of course I do!"

"Good."

She kissed me on the forehead, and left. My hand went to my forehead, where I could feel the remains of her lipstick. I could tell Fang was aware of this exchange.

What do you think she meant by that? He asked.

I'm not sure, I said. But something's going to happen. Soon.

Yeah, I'm thinking that too.

I turned off the bedside lamp, tired.

If something was going to happen, then sure as hell I'd be awake for it.


A/N- There are...exactly six chapters left. The next will be posted soon, since half of it's already written out on paper.

Disneydork and I went on the craziest theme park ride on the past weekend. We were strapped together and dropped in a free fall two hundred feet in the air. It was amazing.

Anyways, enough with my rambling. The story is ending quite soon, which is good, because honestly, I'm starting to get sick of it. It's getting harder and harder to sit down and just write.

Con-crit and reviews are loved!