A/N- I'm updating less and less! ;_; I'm so sorry! School is out in two weeks, so after that I'll be online more uploading more stuff. Speaking of, the poll for my next story ends May 1st, 2010. If you want to vote, vote now! I will say, FAX is so far ahead that it's going to win. I already have an idea for a new story, which will begin on May 10, 2010. Keep an eye out!

A few days passed, the happiest days I had experienced in a while. I had forgotten to pack the letter from Fang, which helped a lot, and our house didn't constantly remind me of Fang. We had packed all the clothes and supplies we needed to live there, and I was aware that we'd be staying for a few months, long enough for me to forget about Fang. No matter how much I tried, though, there was always a lingering trace of Fang on my brain.

Slowly, I felt myself slipping under Dylan's spell, his charm and ease, his joy for life. I tried to tell him that Fang was, and always would be, my only true love, but he just wouldn't have it, and sooner or later, I ran out of willpower to resist. He had me wrapped around his finger in an instant, but I didn't care. The days were full of laughter, quiet glances at one another and stolen kisses late at night.

Iggy was happier than ever that I was recovering, and was back to his usual funny self, trying to teach me how to cook without burning everything, and I was failing miserably at it, although I was just happy to spend time with my oldest brother. Gazzy was eager to please, and helped with anything that might make my life easier, minus some teasing on his part. He just couldn't help it, we had grown up together that way.

I felt Angel and Nudge distancing themselves from me. I knew that Nudge hadn't told me the truth, but I dismissed it, convincing myself that they would both come around sooner or later. They never did, and often texted each other back and forth to avoid talking in front of me. I worried about what they were texting about, but I never wanted to know, I didn't know if it would shock or anger me, or both.

Half a month, and I was beginning to believe that we would never go back to our old life, that we would stay in the hotel forever, and enjoy the time we had there. No one mentioned anything about the old house, because they had noticed the change in me. Most of the time I didn't think of Fang, and they knew it. They wanted me to forget, almost as if they didn't care about Fang whatsoever. I knew it was a lie, but I tried to convince myself that I didn't care either.

I no longer felt lost, or lonely, because I had Dylan. I no longer felt incomplete, or in any way no longer whole, because he was with me. I felt better than I had in months, all because he had agreed to stay with me. Logically, I should have loved him more, and forsaken Fang for him, but I couldn't bring myself to. Dylan had told me to tell him when I made my choice, but I was putting it off, because the truth was, I couldn't make the choice. I loved them both so much that it felt like I would explode.

Daydreaming once again, I felt water splash on me as I stared out the window at the pool. Gazzy looked at me with a mischievous grin, and I smile-scowled at him, sending him diving under the water and out of sight. Angel and Nudge dozed on their inflatable chairs in the other end of the pool. I sat on my lounger in my old shorts and ratty T-shirt, but every once and a while, Dylan would look at me like I was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

I only groaned with despair as I glanced at Dylan in the pool, his body covered with droplets of water and his soaked hair splattered across his forehead. His tan chest and abdomen glimmered in the light, and his piercing eyes locked on mine for no longer than a second, but just long enough for me to become weak at the knees and look quickly away. I hated how love made me vulnerable and weak, but I suppose it was something I'd have to deal with.

Gazzy scrambled out of the pool and ran over to the towel rack, grabbing one and running over to me with it. He dried himself off while sitting down next to me. Thinking about Fang while he was around made me nervous, as if he was the one who could read minds. He looked up at me curiously as I nervously played with a piece of my hair. "Hey Max?" he asked in a curious turn. I turned toward him. "How come we stopped going on missions after Fang left?"

I took a deep breath. "You know, Gazzy, when something like that happens to you, even though it's hard to understand, it was like the whole world was flipping me off, and I thought, screw the mission. There was really nothing else we could do anyway, and it wasn't our problem. It still isn't."

"Well then, why did we stop seeing Dr. Martinez and Jeb?" he asked.

"My mom told me to forget about Fang. I don't blame her for being worried, but I didn't understand how she could want me to give him up so easily. Jeb kept trying to push me towards Dylan, which is why I didn't love him for so long."

"Do you love Dylan now?" Gazzy whispered.

"I don't know, Gazzy," I sighed. "I don't know."

Damn it! I flew out of the neighborhood and into the sky. Although their neighbor had tipped me off that they had gone to Las Vegas, Nevada, I didn't know where they were or how to find them. Just because I knew the city didn't mean I knew where they were. In that city where thousands of people were crawling around daily, how was I to find six –if you counted that rat Dylan- normal-looking teenagers?

Why did they have to go to Las Vegas, of all the stupid things they could do? I wondered whose idea it was. I knew they were expecting for it to take me twenty years, but now I would never find them, and had no idea when they would be back, or if they would be back. From the looks of it inside, it looked as if they had just picked up and left.

Had Max missed me as much as I had missed her, or had she moved on? To some human, some worthless boy from down the street or somewhere else? Or to someone closer? I was fairly certain that she'd never go for Dylan, she'd protested so much against being forced together with him, she'd never fall in love with him now. Was it Iggy? I had always worried about that. He was the same age as her, and even though he acted like her brother, he could have been thinking about something else.

Oh, God. This was torturing me. I started to panic, and only flew faster. I had to get to them before anything serious happened, before anything like that did happen, if it hadn't happened already. I didn't know what I would find when I got there. Nudge and Gazzy could be going out, or worse, if there was anything worse than that already was.

I whipped out the cell phone that Mike had given me and called him. It rang three times before he picked it up. "Been eating the barbeque chips again, you pig?" I practically yelled into the phone. "I have a crisis here!"

"Ow!" he yelled right back. "I'm 5'2" and 107 pounds, there's no way I'm fat! I'm, like, the shortest guy you know!" It was like he was there, because he sensed my death glare through the phone. "Okay, okay, chill. What's your 'crisis', dude? I got American Idol recorded, and-"

I grimaced. "You're as bad as my sister. You wanna know about my sister, the really funny thing? She's not freaking in my house, and neither are the rest of them! They're gone, Mike! Gone, nada, zip."

"What do you want me to do about it?" he asked lazily.

"You're the freaking computer nerd! I want you to get your lazy butt off that ratty couch I know you're on, grab your laptop, and figure out some tech-y way to track them!"

"Okay, okay, I'll see what I can do. I'll text you the address in five minutes, okay?"

I smiled and pressed end. Dylan would pay.

I loved swimming in the pool, because no one could see that I was crying. I could say that my eyes were red from the chlorine, that the tears running down my face were water droplets, and plant a fake smile on my face despite how much I cared for Fang, and how much Max apparently wasn't willing to let him go.

I had tried to be a brat a couple of weeks ago by lying to Max about what Angel and I were talking about, but it wasn't because I hated her. I was in love with Fang, so desperately in love that I had been willing to put Fang ahead of my sister, and that had been wrong, I knew. I hadn't even told her how I felt about him, and I knew it was wrong to feel that way, too.

I still didn't know when I was going to tell her that Fang was coming back. I didn't think it was any hurry, because Angel had predicted Fang's return weeks ago, and he still wasn't here. I had no idea whether to hope for his return or dread it, or what would happen when he did come back. In my fantasies, he would walk up to me, pick me up and swing me around, claiming that he loved me all along. In real life, he would walk up to Max and snatch her from Dylan, leaving both of us alone.

Dylan had already put up with so much. I understood where Max was coming from, I just wish Dylan had placed his love somewhere else, somewhere safe. I felt utterly and completely sorry for him, that he had tried so hard, and it had almost always been a case of unrequited love. Now, however, they were spending more time together, and sending each other glances when they thought we couldn't see. They would sneak into the hall into the late hours of the night, and they thought I didn't know. Angel and I were the only ones who did.

Angel and I had joked many times of simply making Max and Dylan fall in love with her mind controlling abilities, but she had then said that it wouldn't be real love, and when she turned her back, it would go back to the way it was. Now, I found myself wishing that it would really be like that.

"You know I can't do that," Angel slid her shades down and looked at me. "I'm on your side, I really am. I want Max to be happy, and Dylan's a free spirit that makes her happy. But Fang also loves her more than anything, as much as it hurts you, so I'm willing to look at it either way. Whatever happens, you'll be alright," she promised me.

"I want to believe you, Angel, but it always seemed that Max got to have a love life with whoever she wanted. Now I'm fourteen, that's as old as she was when she fell in love with Fang the first time. It isn't right, and it isn't fair."

"Nudge, stop acting like a spoiled brat. I know you're hurting inside, and I get that you truly love him, but Max will ultimately make the choice."

I turned around and blinked away my tears, disappearing under the water once again.

I grinned at my phone as I proudly held up the address while wandering through the streets of Las Vegas. I only had a while longer to look for the hotel, it was on the other side of town, but I figured I'd take my time walking to figure out what I was going to say to Max, Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy and Angel. And how I was going to confront Dylan if anything had happened.

I clutched the iPod in my hand like it was the only thing supporting me from falling over and dying of a heart attack right then as I brushed past people, taking my time, my heart pounding. An emo-ish boy once and forever, Fall Out Boy blared in my ears and a black sweatshirt, black T-shirt and black skinny jeans cloaked me, and my bangs brushed against my forehead and covered my eyes, warning strangers to stay away.

Maybe that's why little kids ran from me all the time.

There were a million places to gamble in this city, but I didn't have a single penny in my pocket. I had nothing, nothing to my name and certainly no help for the flock or Max. I had nothing to offer her, nothing to help them make it through another day. Not that I had any money to begin with.

I crossed blocks and blocks of cement slower than any normal human, despite the inhuman speed I possessed. I was taking my time, because I was scared. When the Erasers were coming for us, I met them with a snarl on my face and a fist to their nose. When Jeb betrayed us, I was ready with a half-smile and a tissue for Max. Now, when I really needed to be strong for her, I just couldn't be. I felt like running away.

I had a lot to figure out. I had to figure out what Max really thought of me, and what she really thought of Dylan. I had to figure out what I thought of Nudge, who had always been no more than a sister, but whenever we were alone, I had always felt a certain feeling around her, which I had tried to squelch down, and was coming back now, after nearly two years.

I had to figure out what I really thought of the entire situation, and what I really thought of Max and Nudge. It wasn't some grand competition, in my mind, Max was clearly the first choice for me, the girl that I planned to spend my life with. I had always loved Nudge like a sister. Until that day when Max just had to help Ella, and leave me alone with her, and I realized how beautiful she was inside and out.

I shook my head furiously. No, Fang. Get a hold on your emotions. It's just because your world's falling apart at the seams, just because you can't get a hold on reality, just because you're delirious or not thinking clearly, that you think Nudge is anything special in your heart.

It wasn't true, but I made myself content with that. I would forget everything I saw in Nudge, and forget everything Max had ever felt for Dylan. I was coming back for Max specifically, and neither Nudge nor Dylan would stand in my way. I would sooner kill anyone that did than endure one extra moment without her.

As I wandered through the streets, lost without a clue, despite the address in my hand, I felt emptier than ever, and my head weighed heavy with despair.

I woke up with my head nestled into the soft pillows of the hotel. A warm breeze blew in the window, and I lifted my head, expecting to see Dylan and the others watching TV and playing Monopoly on the floor. What I found, instead, was the whole room empty. The others had just randomly disappeared. Was I really alone? I wondered. I slowly crept off the bed and over to the computer with free internet access on the other side of the room. Now was my big chance.

I quickly jumped into the chair and logged on as a guest. My eyes flashed as I clicked on the internet, and shifted to the door every five seconds, desperate not to get caught. I opened a new tab with internet solitaire, just in case. I didn't want to be caught, or else my secret would be out.

I typed in the address bar, .com. I smiled at him having named the website after my full name, a sign of how much he had loved me. Screw Angel and all the others, I knew that Fang was perfect for me and I was for him. Dylan would just have to find someone else, I thought with a grimace. I scanned the blog posts from two years ago, and then a year ago when he had left. My eyes lit up as I saw the post right above that, dated for three days ago.

" I'm sorry for the long absence. I told you in the previous post that I would be gone for twenty long years, but now I've destroyed the branches of Itex, and it's taken much shorter than expected. I'm posting to say that it's over and done, that I've made it a little easier on everyone destroying the large corporation. It wasn't easy, and there's still dried blood on my knuckles, but at least it's gone.

I'm going back for Max. I don't know if she'll still want me to come back, or if she's mad as hell at me for only leaving her that stupid letter, or if she's missed me nearly as much as I've missed her. The new guy in the flock, Dylan, might have even got her to like him back, but I'm going to try hard to get her back.

I don't even know if I have readers, or if anyone's checked this in the last months, but I'm too busy to check or care. I'm posting this for one reason and for one reason only, that if Max happens to be out there, she'll read this and understand that I'm sorry for everything I did to her, if I did anything at all. She's strong enough to live without me, but I'm not strong enough to live without her, and I'm coming back. Coming back for her.

Wherever you are, Max, I love you and I'm truly sorry. I need to find you, and I don't know where you are. I'll check at our house, but something tells me you won't be there.

Fly on,

Fang "

I slumped against the back of the chair in defeat. There was no way this could be true. My eyes flashed with wonder as I realized that he had finished, and that he was coming for me. He was coming to find us, but I had no way of finding him. Would he ever get to us? Would he ever find us? Though I should have been happy, I felt nothing but a sick dread, because sooner or later, I would have to tell Dylan that he was coming back.

This was what Angel and Nudge had been hiding from me, taking their time to throw Fang off my trail, hoping that I would just be happy. I didn't have people decide for me, and I certainly wasn't going to get who I had to love decided for me, either. I loved Fang. I loved him. Dylan didn't matter to me.

The door flew open, and I scrambled to exit out of where was. Just when I needed a little help, just when I needed it to finally work in my favor, the computer froze, and I was stuck where I was. Dylan stalked in with a murderous look on his face, and suddenly, I was afraid. But not of him. It was the same fear I had got in my stomach when I had read Fang's letter for the first time.

He stood behind me, and I was rooted to the spot. I wanted to run away, or run into his arms and never let him go, or say some unkind things that I couldn't believe myself for thinking up. "Fang's blog," he read, and I could tell he was grimacing. "I might have known," he said coldly. "Come on, Max. I think we need to talk." I followed him weakly.

He led me into the hall, and slumped against it. I stood, paralyzed with fear as he bowed his head and just breathed for a few minutes, and I made up my mind that I had to tell him, once and for all, that nothing more could possibly happen between us. In an instant he cried out and flung his fist into the opposite wall. I closed my eyes, unflinching.

"Why do you do that?" he said into the wall. "I tried so hard to help you for months on end. I thought you were over him. I tried so hard to make you happy, and I knew that it was a show. I came in today and I wasn't surprised. You just can't let him go. Pathetic," he said bitingly. I winced.

"You knew I loved Fang!" I screeched at him. "I told you time and time again, and you wouldn't let it go! You tried to get me to cheat on him with you! He said he was coming back for me, and now he is! What if he found me with you? You're the one who's pathetic, chasing after me all the time!"

"You…you…you conceited little bitch!" he shouted. "He left you! He lied to you, and you and I both know that he never would have come back if it had been so long! I was trying to make you happy, and you couldn't let him go!"

"Let's just end this!" I yelled back. "I meant it when I kissed you, and I meant every bit of it! But I can't do that to Fang, and I'll always love him! Don't make this harder than it needs to be, just leave the flock! Leave, I don't need you!" I sank to my knees and sobbed.

His eyes softened and he bent down to pick me up. I hung limply in his arms. "I know it's normal for him to be hard to forget. He was your first love," he said. "But remember that I'll never do anything like that to you, and he's gone now. Let him come, and let him see that I love you like he never did."

"Don't ever leave me," I whispered quietly," and he descended, pressing his lips to mine. He felt so familiar and open that I pressed harder against him to deepen the kiss, and my arms wound their way helplessly around his shoulders as he rotated me so that I was leaning against the wall of the hallway so that my legs were around his waist. My hands ran through his hair as my mouth moved in sync with his for a while.

I realized somewhere in between all of this that I loved, craved, even, fighting with Dylan. It was indeed as if we were made for each other, and like the person who made him knew exactly what I liked. He went soft and slow, not hard and fast like Fang did. He already knew that I liked the spot in between my wings stroked, and most of all, that he was the only one for me. In that moment, I thought, screw Fang and spend your life with Dylan, Max. And wouldn't that have been a terrific idea?

I knew I was missing the picture. I loved them both too much for my own good, in different ways. I still didn't know which way was stronger. I guess until I figured things out, I would hang on for the ride, and see where I wound up.

I was mildly annoyed as I heard a loud cough behind us, and my heart nearly stopped as I looked up to see a certain dark-haired mutant in front of me.

How was that? I already know where this is going, but I love the torture. Review!