Hey everyone! I know that I say this every time, but I am so incredibly sorry for the complete lack of updates in... 361 days, (this year was a leap year!).

Zach: I say you burn her at the stake!

Abby: Pay no regards to him... he's a bit moody.

Zach: Bite me.

Abby: Well... I suppose that could be arranged! *wink* But anyway, a few matters. First of all, PLEASE DO NOT BURN ME AT THE STAKE, IT WAS A JOKE AND I DO NOT INTEND ON SPURRING ANY MURDERS. *ahem* Anyways, second of all, yes I know it has been a while, but I actually went through a lot this year, (and I don't mean to put up a pity party), and it was really hard for me to deal with much of it. So I know that isn't much of an excuse, but I hope you all can forgive me. Third of all, I want everyone to know that I don't plan on giving up on you all. I know my updates are sparse, and for that I am eternally sorry, but I can promise that I won't give up and I will always try my best to entertain. The last matter will be discussed AT THE END OF THE CHAPTER, (so please read!).

Zach: Anyway, just read the dang chapter.

"Uhhhh… There! That one! It's totally a… erm… duck?" The sweet, deep voice from behind me hummed. I chuckled, stifling unstoppable laughter.

"Yea, ok maybe a totally deranged, body-building duck… on serious drugs." I rebutted, pointing at the cloud Fang was trying to identify. Our picnic was so simple that it had the same effect as Fang's dream-kiss; I forgot about how sick I was and how ugly I had become.

I forgot the eternal cracks in my lips, chapped beyond repair, and the feeling that no one would ever want to kiss them. I forgot the dark circles imprinted underneath my eyes and how skeletal they made me appear. I forgot about how dull and sparse my hair had become, the beautiful mid-day sun unable to reflect in its locks. All that mattered right then was me and Fang, lying together on a cloud, (well ok, not exactly a cloud, but a blanket with clouds on it!), looking up at the wispy white objects in the sky.

"Fang?" I asked, flipping myself around to face my best friend and his beautiful chocolate brown eyes. He nodded in reply. "When… When I go… You can't forget me. You won't. I won't let you. And… and if you ever feel lonely, just remember today. We've literally been to Cloud 9 together, and now look at us! We're looking at clouds… on a cloud. If you ever miss me, just look up at the clouds, because that's where I'll be. I will always be with you."

I felt myself choking back tears but told my eyes to keep them in. I couldn't lose it now, not on this perfect day. Fang shifted and reached out to my touch my hair in his slightly calloused fingers. He inched closer and my breath hitched—I knew for sure he would kiss me.

But he pulled my head into his chest and kissed the top of my head, lightly squeezing my arm. I felt him shake his head and heard a bit of a sniffle. Curious, I looked up to see tears in his eyes.

"Maximum Ride Martinez, don't you dare think that I would ever forget you. You are the most beautiful human being I have ever been around and just sitting with you inspires me to be a better person. You are truly magnificent and I am so lucky to have a best friend as fantastic as you. So can it, meathead, I think I see a cloud that looks like Oprah!"

I shoved him away from me in a fit of giggles and knew that though he didn't acknowledge what I had said about the clouds, that he stored it within him. He still wouldn't talk much about himself in the future when I'm gone.

After about 20 more minutes of cloud watching, Fang's eyes widened and he sort of jumped in a fit of realization. He frantically dug through his backpack, pulling out thermoses of soup, water bottles, a set of keys, until his hands reached what he had been searching for.

"Max, I almost forgot. I can't believe how stupid that would have been." I looked incredulously at him, eyes curious and mouth agape. "Be prepared to scratch another thing off your bucket list, kiddo." He grinned a toothy smile at me and pulled out a temporary tattoo of wings. I gasped and he pulled out a paper towel and poured some water from one of the water bottles onto it. Within a minute, I had a pair of wings 'tattooed' between my shoulder blades.

I giggled and pulled Fang into a hug, holding him for longer than necessary.

"Thank you, Fang. Love you, bro," I said, punching his shoulder. I looked away, knowing only to myself that the feelings I had for him were surely not meant for "bros".

Fang started to put all of the items he removed back into his backpack and reached for my hand. I stood up and we folded the blanket into the bag.

"So what's next, Captain Fnick?" I snorted. He slung his arm around my shoulder and squeezed me tight into the nook of his shoulder.

"We're going to school."

Those were four words I hoped never to hear coming out of Fang's mouth with a smile.

A HALF AN HOUR LATER

Blindfolded, Fang guided me through the halls of our high school, not telling me where we were going despite my consistent pleas. We walked ten steps down what felt like a narrow hallway, and then he guided me up 3 steps, turning us left at the top, and taking five more steps until he stopped me.

"Ok, we're her—no, Max, not yet!" He exclaimed, grabbing my hand that was extended to remove the blindfold. As I started to interject, his other hand covered my mouth softly. I felt him move closer to me, until I felt the warmth of his breath at my ear. "Just trust me, Maxxie."

My face twisted up, hating the stupid nickname, but obliging just the same. Fang instructed me to move my feet in certain ways, and I felt him slip something up over my hips. Something else was clipped around my waist and I thought I felt some sort of cord against my erect elbows.

"Ok, you can take it off, Impatient Ingrid," he said, and no sooner than he could finish, the blindfold was off my head. I realized I was in some sort of harness contraption.

Fang guided me out onto the stage of our school auditorium and my confusion doubled. I turned around to express how lost I was feeling, when Fang tossed over a pair of fluffy white angel wings. He wrapped his hands around a rope and pulled down, revealing a backdrop of white clouds and a blue sky. Walking over to another pulley system, he smirked.

"Get ready to fly, Maximum Ride."

Soooo? Does this sort of make up for my absence? Obviously not completely, (though within the next week or so expect, (no pinky promises however), chapters in all of my incomplete stories!), but I hope it's a start.

So onto other matters. You all know that I try my best to keep in touch with each and every one of you, so when you review you can nearly always expect a reply, because you all matter to me. I accept criticism and love the praise, and I absolutely love being there for all of my readers. I hope that sometimes I can help people through things through my words, and I hope you all know that my private messaging is always open if you need someone to talk to about absolutely anything.

Because of all of this, and so you can all be constantly, (more or less), updated on the status of my writing and stories and such, I have created a blog and twitter for fanfiction!

Zach: CAN I GET A YEEE-HAAW?

Abby: YEEE-HAAW!

Zach: CAN I GET A PRAAAISE THE LAWD!

Abby: PRAAAISE THE LAWD!

Zach: CAN I GET A... Yeah, I'm done. Proceed.

Abby: So obviously you all know that links do not work in fanfiction, (something I have always been curious about, but have never grown the lady balls to ask the fanfiction creaters), but here they are. Just delete the spaces!

Tumblr: the7thflockmember . tumblr . com

Twitter: twitter #!/ 7thflockmember

The purpose of these are to keep you all in the loop of my writing and so I can easily contact you, yada yada. Also, if anyone ever needed any sort of help, my ask box on the tumblr will always be open, and I will always answer any questions on the twitter.

Love and Innovation,

Abby

Fly on xx