the song in chapter 34 was Life's What You Make It by Miley Cyrus. i'm not a fan of the song, or a lot of her other songs, but it fit. anyways, here's chapter 35. read, review, and enjoy please.

btw, you'll find that this is a lot like the original story's chapter, just like the next few will be, because i love those so much, but there'll be a new one coming after those, one that's such a huge, surprising twist of things, HUGE!

also, some of you were asking if this was just the same thing as the other story. well, so far, basically so, but there are some new chapters, some big changes, and some editing going on. after this, though, it won't be the same. lemme just say this now: don't kill me!

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Maximum Ride or any of the things that go along with it. James Patterson does. Poo him.

Every single day
I find it hard to say I
Could be yours alone
You will see someday
That all along the way I
Was yours to hold
I was yours to hold

"You've got a football game today, don't you?"

That's always a fun way to end the day, right? I mean, honestly. It was so easy for Seth and me to get wrapped up in each other, to the point we completely forgot our surroundings, meaning time to, or day, or events happening later that evening.

He nodded, still not catching onto my point that I just realized before I asked the questions. "Yeah. Away." He brightly smiled at me, my favorite smile that turned my world upside down—in a good way. "You coming?"

My heart fluttered, and I couldn't help but smile back, as per usual. "If you...if you want me to."

"I do," he said honestly before softly kissing me again. Then, somehow, he caught a glimpse of his watch, and his eyes shot wide open. In that instant, he grabbed my hand quickly and laced our fingers together, already taking off before he said, "Come on! The bus leaves in ten minutes!"

I laughed blissfully, now holding back and struggling, nearly bringing him to the ground. "Seth, let me make this a little easier."

He turned to face me with a frown. "How?"

I snapped and we were in the locker room, him staring around him and me giving him a look, as if the how should be obvious. "Like that."

Because it should've been obvious.

"Oh," he said slowly, lips pursed in a tight line. "That...that works."

I nodded and looked around me then, now aware of what we had just done. "Oopsie."

There were guys in the process of changing, lots of them. Well, more like in the process of completely stripping down to where they were butt naked. Honestly, some already were, but I definitely wasn't looking at them.

Seth laughed at my panicked, wide eyed expression and covered my eyes. "Here. Let me get the blindfold."

"No offence, guys, but Seth, do you honestly think I'm looking?"

"Good point," he agreed before kissing my temple softly. I heard him take off his shirt. "Don't move."

"Hey, Sethie!" I heard someone exclaim eagerly. It sounded like Josh, the defensive quarterback. "You're back and smiling. What's up?"

Seth laughed softly. "I'll be right back sweetheart."

"I'm not moving," I reminded him before sitting Indian style in the floor, crossing my arms over my chest as I sat. But, I realized something when I sat down. It was...wet tile I sat on. "We're in the shower room, aren't we?"

"Yeah," he said slowly, extremely slowly. He grabbed my wrist gently and yanked me up, only slightly delicately.

"My butt's wet now," I informed him with a scowl. "Dang it." I snapped a new pair of jeans on and laughed, eyes still squeezed tightly shut. "You know, I try not to do this."

He chuckled softly and kissed my forehead, making me smile even brighter than before. "It's alright. Come on. I'll lead you to safety."

"Promise?"

"Do you trust me?" he challenged. I could just see him cocking an eyebrow at me and looking at me with his special look he had for these kinds of things.

"Yes," I said honestly, without any thought whatsoever. The truth was, I did, way more than I ever should, and I always would, no matter what.

"Then, that's your answer," he said simply as he gently sat me down. I could feel the wooden bench underneath me then, so I relaxed a little. Although I knew Seth wasn't gonna lead me astray, I don't like not being able to see. It makes me feel bad for Iggy every time it happens.

"There we go."

I just waited patiently as he changed into his sweatpants, his under armor, his tee shirt, and his sweatshirt.

"Ari!" I heard Josh exclaim eagerly, arms tightly wrapping around me in an eager, excited embrace. "You're back! I was beginning to wonder!"

I laughed but kept my eyes closed, once again. "I'm back, Josh."

I felt a warm arm wrap around my waist then, right as Josh released me and put me back down on the ground, and Seth pulled me close to him. "She's back, where she'll always be."

I looked up at him and smiled. My eyes were still closed, but I could see his face, in my mind.

"That's good," Josh agreed, scoffing and laughing all in one sound for a second. "He's better off that way. We all are. Ari, do you know how important you are to this team?"

"Uh, no," I admitted slowly, lips pursing together in thought. "I honestly don't know how I'm important at all."

"Everyone's decent!" Jake, the quarterback, announced loudly, very eagerly. "You can open your eyes."

Decent as in they all at least had pants on. Seth was completely dressed, to my dismay.

I mean, which was totally great.

"Well," Garrett said blissfully as he walked in, shirtless. He was a little more muscular than Daddy, but he only had a four-pack. He also had a farmer's tan. "Without you, Seth is useless, and when Seth's useless, we're all useless. You're the life in Seth, and Seth's the life in this team. Therefore, you're just as important as any of us."

"Alright!" Coach Matthews exclaimed, walking out of his office, right after Garrett put his shirt on and the last person got ready. "Let's...Ari! You're back!"

Seth laughed and nodded. "Yeah, Coach. You can say it. You were right; I was wrong."

"Well, now that you mention it, I did tell you so."

"Yeah," he said softly before picking up his duffel bag and wrapping his arm around my waist. "You did."

Coach Matthews put his arm around my shoulders. "Alright, Ari. Now, you're my new assistant coach. You get to go to every game and every practice. That boy's useless without you."

"Tell me about it," I said before grinning up at Seth. "I tell him the same thing, but he just doesn't seem to listen to me."

Seth just laughed before slipping on his converse.

Coach took his arm off my shoulders and clapped his hands together in a very loud manner. "Let's load the buses! Freshmen, bus one! Sophomores, bus two! Seniors, juniors, and Ari, bus three! Let's go!"

Seth grabbed my hand with a smile. "You just can't even imagine how happy I am right now."

"Actually, Seth, I can," I disagreed, smiling a little. "Because, I can promise you, I'm happier."

The cheerleaders were walking out to their bus at the same time the football players were, making me realize that there were more than I originally realized. Seth was walking slightly behind me, because he was talking to Andy.

Lindsey was walking with her posse and some of the other cheerleaders surrounding her like she was some sort of Greek goddess when she was the farthest thing from it. Sure, I guess, she's pretty, kinda, but her eyes...bleh.

"So, yeah, I don't think it's much longer until Seth and I get back together," Lindsey informed them brightly before squealing softly. "I mean, that stupid bitchy little bird freak is just brainwashing him. They won't be back together."

"Um, Lindsey?" one of the cheerleaders, some bottle blonde, said slowly, right as I froze and debated walking over and giving her a piece of my mind.

"What?"

She just pointed over at me without a word, and Lindsey looked over to. When she did, her eyes got full of rage, jealousy, and every other bad emotion in the world. I could guess what she was thinking, and it wouldn't surprise me if she plotted some way to destroy me while on the bus.

I just laughed demonically and shot her the bird, smirking, especially when I felt Seth come up behind me and put his hands on my shoulders. She gasped, eyes on him, and I just gave her a smug look before kissing Seth's cheek.

At that point, he pulled me up onto his back to give me a piggyback ride, and I couldn't help but laugh again. "Seth, what on Earth are you doing?"

Josh laughed at us as he got on the bus, shaking his head and saying something about us kids.

They all sometimes act like parents, to both of us, even though some of em' are younger than Seth; some younger than me too.

He kissed my arm. "What on Earth does it look like I'm doing?"

"I don't know," I admitted. "But, Seth, I love you."

He smiled brightly up at me. "I love you too." Then, he laughed. "You have officially made my day." With that, he got on the bus.

It's amazing to see him play, in case you didn't know. He's just so full of life and energy. Whenever he wasn't playing and the defense was in, he was talking to me. It was rather fun, and Coach Matthews just knew that talking to me was the best thing for him.

Because it was.

A part of me was nervous, especially whenever he got tackled. It made me worry about him even more than before, even though I knew how violent football was. But, it made me realize that things happen, and he's not invincible yet.

He ended up scoring nine touchdowns that game, and he had a total of three hundred and seven yards rushing.

I laid my head on his shoulder, and he was leaning against the window on the bus ride home. Sure, I could've snapped home, but I didn't want to. I wanted time with him. He was mine again, so we wanted time. Everyone else was practically asleep.

His hand tenderly rubbed my arm, and I smiled softly up at him. "You did really good tonight."

He smiled back down at me and shrugged, as if it was no big deal. To him, it probably wasn't. "Thanks. But, I couldn't have done it without you, you know."

"I've been told that a couple of times," I said honestly, grinning up at him only to receive my favorite smile in return.

Then, he let out a sigh of content. "Ari, I think it's time."

For a second, my eyebrows furrowed as I stared up at him, trying to figure out what he meant. It could've been anything, but I couldn't think of what it really could truly be. "Time? What do you mean?"

"It's time," he said gently as he sat up a little more, moving me even closer to him. "It's time to take our relationship to the next level."

My eyes slightly widened, and I shot up, just barely missing his nose with my head. "Uh..." I swallowed visibly before looking at him, eyes still widened a little. This conversation made me think about the talk from the other day, and my cheeks started burning. "Seth, it can't get any farther than that, and you and I both know that would be better waiting until—"

"I want to introduce you to my family," he interrupted, smirking at me. "Tomorrow. I'll pick you up at six, and you can get to know my parents, my sister, my aunt, and my uncle." Then, he started softly rubbing my cheeks. "You know, I've never seen you blush before. It's actually really adorable."

Huh? His family?