the song in chapter 33 was Take My Hand by the Cab feat. Cassadee Pope from Hey Monday. awesome song from an amazing band! (= one of my 6 favorites! btw, this chapter is really...m rated at one part, where the talk REALLY comes in...well, here's chapter 34. please read, review, and enjoy!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Maximum Ride, its characters, its storyline, or its...well, anything. =(

Life's what you make it
So let's make it rock
Life's what you make it
So come on, come on

I was so thankful they took us into the basement to tell us about this, because I did not want anyone else hearing! I was embarrassed enough and brick red, to the point of no movement, but if they could hear, I knew they would be listening.

Daddy took a deep breath. "When two people love each other..."

"Not this again," Alex and I both said in unison, eyes tight.

"Momma gave it to me, and you gave it to him when we were twelve," I added firmly, fists clenching. "Please something new, if you're gonna make it worse."

Previously on Ari and Alex's awkward talk number five from their parents—it was worse this time with Alex and Daddy in here too, Daddy one of the speakers—we were both informed of what the other gender looks like.

This would've been so much better alone.

Momma let out an embarrassed breath, and I could see her cheeks turning pink slightly too. That made me extremely nervous.

"Before I start," she said slowly, taking an unsuccessful deep breath to try and calm herself, "let me just assure you that after this part, we're done with awkward talks, and we're gonna go to new things that won't be awkward."

We both just nodded and looked down at our feet, ready for anything. After the first talk, we were extremely far apart, and neither of us were looking at each other. That would've been a talk much preferred to have alone, just Momma and me, or just Daddy and Alex.

It wouldn't have been nearly as awkward if it was that way, but no. We get it the other way.

Fang looked over at Max. "You got this?"

"I'll start, you end," she said lightly, smirking at him a little, despite the awkward tension in the room.

Shoot me now, please!

"Well...we've talked with you before about the…changes your body made, and we talked about...other things with you, Ari," she went on, and I knew everyone knew what she meant by that. "We've told you about soulmates and what it's like for us, what'll happen, and whatnot; and we've told you about this thing called sex that people do when they're in love and, preferably, married."

"Which, you two have no choice," Daddy informed us flatly, looking mostly at me. "You will be married."

I scowled at him. "Daddy, seriously? I don't know if that'll be possible for me. I mean, I guess we could try, but he said his parents are extremely anti-right-out-of-high-school-marriage, so that might not be possible."

"Well, technically, he'll be eighteen soon, so he can anyways," Alex pointed out with shrug.

"Stop changing the subject we all want you to change," Momma said firmly, eyes widening a little in fear as her cheeks got an even brighter shade of red. "Look, guys, I don't wanna say this, but I have to. You guys need to somewhat know what you're doing before you do it."

My eyes shot wide open. "NO!"

Alex jumped up, knocking the stool he was on over. "Guys, no, no, no, no, no! We are not getting a talk about how to have sex properly!"

"You really need to," Momma insisted, wincing. "It's not exactly like that. You just...you have to understand what's going on!"

I shuddered. "Daddy, if you guys are trying to keep me a virgin all of my life, this is one way to go!"

He scowled at me. "Ari, I don't like it either, but it's life. Deal with it."

Iggy walked down there then, along with Ella, Alex's favorite aunt. I didn't have a favorite aunt, just like he didn't have a favorite uncle.

Naturally, he was more comfortable around women, and I'm more comfortable around men.

Anyways, Iggy held me down, knowing that I could easily fight him off. But, he also knew something else.

"Would you prefer I give you the talk myself?"

I bit my lip. "No..."

"Would you prefer everyone was here to witness it?"

I scowled now, making Daddy smirk at me. "Ugh. No."

"Then I suggest sitting down and being quiet and listening like a good little girl," he said softly before hugging me gently. "Sorry, kiddo, but you really do wanna know a little something about it before going on."

"We're not gonna tell you detail for detail," Daddy assured me, sighing. "There are just some things you need to know."

"Dad, we know how it works," Alex insisted. "Come on!"

"How then, Alex?" Ella challenged. "Why don't you inform us all how it works?"

He just scowled. "I don't wanna say it."

I rolled my eyes. "Wow, Alex. That's sad. Normally, you have absolutely no problem saying things."

He glowered at me. "This is different."

"How?"

"I don't know," he said firmly, frowning. "Just is. Why don't you tell then?"

"She doesn't even normally talk about that kind of thing," Momma pointed out right as I said,

"Well..."

Daddy's eyes widened. "Are you about to say it?"

I nodded. "Yeah. He told me to."

"Please, Ari," Alex said with a smirk, laughing a little to himself. "Why don't you explain to me how it works?"

I thought of the best way to word this, and I decided that the best way would be to say what Garrett told me the other day, when they found out I had never officially had this discussion and didn't really know.

"There are many different ways," I said carefully, repeating what Garrett said word-for-word. I decided not to focus on the people in this room, but rather his exact words. "The dick goes inside either the girl's ass, mouth, or vagina, whichever way you're deciding to go, and then you start going back and forth in a sort of humping motion, and you'll both be feeling so amazing, once the virgin girl gets past the pain, and you'll be peaking towards an amazing sensation called climaxing. The guy's elixir has sperm in it, so that's how the girl gets pregnant if it's vaginal sex." Then, I frowned, not remembering the rest. "Should I go on?"

Everyone was staring at me in shock, eyes wider than I had ever seen them. Of course, I had seen them wide before, but never like this. They were just completely frozen.

I shrunk down a little, my shoulders sagging the most. "What? I'm dating a football player. Do you really think his team is gonna let me go long without knowing what sex is?"

Momma just blinked and nodded, lips pursed together again. "Yes; that's...yeah. Right. Okay, new topic!"

"Yes!" Iggy exclaimed, pulling up a chair for Ella and himself. "Anyone wanna think of something?"

"I'm still in shock she said that," Alex announced, holding his hand up in the air, as if he was raising his hand in class to ask a question.

I just laughed. "Ooh! How about we talk about fluffy bunnies?"

Momma shook her head. "No, guys. I actually had another topic for us to talk about. Ig, El, you two can go now. They won't be trying to leave anymore."

They both just nodded and left, without a word. It surprised me a little, but I figured Momma must've asked them for some privacy at this point.

Daddy sighed. "This is slightly too late for you, but you can hear it anyways."

Momma looked at Alex then, even though I'm pretty sure she was also talking to me too. "Guys, this talk is about love; nothing awkward, unless you're not into mushy stuff. I mean, none of us really are, but this stuff is important."

"Go ahead, Momma," I said brightly. "We're ready for it. This is part of it we actually weren't dreading."

She just smiled. "This is for both of you. This isn't just about love, though. It's also about life." Then, she took a deep breath. "Take a chance, because you never know how absolutely perfect something could turn out to be. Life is too short to wake up in the morning with regrets. So love the people that treat you right, forget about the ones that don't, and believe that everything happens for a reason. If you get a chance, take it. If it changes your life, let it. Nobody said that it'd be easy; they just promised it would be worth it."

"When life gives you a reason to cry, give it a million reasons to smile," Daddy went on, fitting in perfectly with what she was saying. It was almost as if they planned this, but I knew they didn't. That was how the whole soulmate thing works. "Have fun. Live your life to the fullest. You have forever, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't always live."

"Never say I love you if you really don't care," Momma continued. "Never talk about feelings if they're just not there. Never say you're going to if you don't plan to start. In the end, people usually turn out to be who they promised they wouldn't. You just have to find that one person who doesn't, the one person who makes everything you go through worth it."

Daddy nodded. "Love has nothing to do with what you're expecting to get—only with what you're expecting to give, which is everything."

Momma looked right at me now, smiling. "It doesn't matter how long you've known him. All that matters is that he's had you smiling from day one." Now, her attention shifted fully to Alex. "It's hard to wait around for something when you know it might never happen, but it's even harder to give that up if you know it's everything you ever wanted."

"Momma, I'm not giving up," he said firmly, teeth clenched tight. "I can't."

She just sighed and nodded. "I guess I figured that. I just...I want you to survive so badly that I just...I want it to happen now. I want to know you both are safe, forever, like the rest of us...now."

"We're safe, Momma," I whispered, voice assuring and a small smile on my lips. "Yall know I am, but he is too. I just know it. Momma, I know Elli. She's pissed, but I still have my plan. She'll understand, and when she sees that I really didn't kiss Matt, she won't be mad at him anymore, and they can get together."

Momma smiled. "As long as you're absolutely sure."

I laughed a little. "I am."

Daddy laughed. "Word of advice, Alex. Tell her how you admire her. When she's upset, hug her. Pick her over all the other girls you hang out with, bring her flowers just because, and kiss her in the rain. Slow dance with her even if there's no music. Throw pebbles at her window at night, and if you wanna be with her, just tell her."

"When a girl is quiet," Momma added, laughing a little. "Millions of things are running in her mind. When she's not arguing, she's thinking deeply. When she looks at you with eyes full of questions, she's wondering just how long you're really gonna be around. When a girl says I love you, she means it. When she says she can't live without you, she's decided her future, and you're it. When she says, "I miss you," no one in the world could miss you more."

Daddy just nodded.

"One last thing," Momma spoke up, smirking at Daddy and Alex for a second before beaming at me. "Ari, know this. Men are like floor tiles. You lay em' right the first time and you can walk all over them for years."

And that was something I just couldn't help but laugh at and agree with.