I woke up with a warm breath on my face. I slowly opened my eyes to come face to face with Jake, his slight smile, and closed eyes filling my view. I reached up and gently—as to not wake him—moved a stray piece of hair out of his face, but the contact made him tighten the arm that I hadn't noticed was around my waist. Slowly, Jake's eyes opened and just stared at me.

After a few minutes of this, I didn't know what to think of it so I whispered, "Jake…?"

He blinked and shook his head a little. "Huh?"

I sighed, my eyes searching his, "What are you thinking about?" I snuggled into his chest and waited for his answer.

He hadn't said anything so as I was contemplating looking up, he started, "I was just thinking about…stuff. Like, uh, how Billy will get on without us, you know?" (A/N: Wink, wink) I smiled against his skin and was about to say something—what, I, now, cant remember—when a thought struck me.

Fang.

What had happened to Fang?

I pushed away from Jake quickly and stared up at him. "Jake, where's Fang? Why am I here and not there? And is there someone with him?" My eyes were flickering across his face, while everything was going in slow motion. If they had let him alone, he could have started cutting, or drinking, or gotten himself even more high; I hadn't checked his room yet. Or worse, he could have run away, and hide, doing said things, making sure we never find him. Oh my gosh, after all we've been through, he's going to throw his own life away.

I started hyperventilating, and when I felt warm, strong arms around me, I started thrashing, and when I couldn't feel his arms anymore, I longed for the comfort, but I needed to do this; I needed to make sure Fang was okay.

When I got to the door, I turned around for a quick second, and the look on Jake's face almost killed me; there was pain and sadness, mostly. I had to pretend it wasn't there, blink a few times, and ran out of the room.

I needed to make sure Fang was okay; I needed to make sure Fang was okay…

When I got to his room, I didn't bother knocking, and if he was changing he'd have to deal.

As I was saying, I burst into the room and my eyes quickly landed on the bed that was…empty. My eyes started darting around the room, as I closed the door quietly. Then I heard a…sob? I turned in the direction to find a black ball curled up in the farthest corner. Within closer inspection, I saw that it was Fang. I ran up to him, sat down and put a hand on his back, but he flinched away and looked up. When I saw his face, my heart broke; his eyes were red and puffy and emotionless, he was shaking all over; his cheeks were wet; he tried to hide what was in his hand but, I saw it.

A razor blade.

I was such an idiot!

"Fang," I whispered shakily. "Give me the blade." He shook his head, closing his eyes. "Why?" I tried placing a hand on his back again, but he just shook it off.

He lowered his head and made a fist around the blade. "It's…my only friend." He smiled a gruesome smile. "It actually likes me." I sucked in a breath and gently took his fist.

"You have to stop." Again, he shook his head. "Listen, there are so many people that would miss you. You cant just throw your life away! Because if you do, lots and lots of people would be really sad, they would miss. Think of the other people."

He finally looked up, his eyes void of emotion. "But no one likes me. Iggy said I was too much trouble and he's given up. Nudge said I was being stupid and I was a waste of space, and I ruin everything. Gazzy doesn't talk to me; I heard him tell Angel he wanted Iggy as a dad, and I was messed up. Angel…she said she hated me, that I took everything from her and then she'd told me about how awful my thoughts are." Wow, in just a few days too.

"But," I racked my brain. "What about at school, you must have a lot of friends there, right?" As subtly as possible I started massaging his hand.

"Pft. They're all losers. They always say how tough they are and get drunk all the time…but before I came here, I went over to Neil's, and he told me to get lost and to stay away from the other guys. In less than a week I lost everything."

I focused on his hands, ignoring the horrified feeling Fang was giving me. They weren't loosening, so I slid my fingers along his wrist until they were just loose enough for me to pull them apart. I grabbed the razor blade in one hand and rested the other on Fang's cheek. "Well, we can forget about them for now, alright? Then, when we get you clean, they'll like you again."

He opened his eyes and looked at the blade while speaking, "What about you, will you like me then? Will you be able to stand me if I get clean?"

"No, Fang," I said, and his eyes shot to me, utter hurt and loneliness in the otherwise emotionless orbs. I gave a small smile. "I like you now. But I still want you to get clean, okay?" He nodded, a hopeful look on his face.

"What?!" I looked up to see Jake standing there, shaking, holding the doorframe and giving me a hard glare. "What do you think you're doing?"

…what? "Well, I was just talking to Fang, and…" I trailed off, not knowing what he wanted.

"'Just talking'; just talking, Max? When I hear you say you 'like' the guy that almost killed you, and want to help him, all while holding his hand, I find it really hard to believe you were just talking'!" He yelled.

"That's not what I meant! Jake, what has gotten into you? I'm trying to help Fang, remember? My best friend since age two? All I was—" I cut myself off when I saw the murderous look in his eye. I had never seen him so mad, let alone ever imagined. Instinctively, I leaned back on Fang; afraid Jake might lose control and possibly hurt me or Fang.

Fang wrapped his arms around me—his hold pretty limp from the cutting—and made a growling noise, attempting to push me into the corner; a tiny bit farther away from the very angry Jake.

"And now you're letting this druggie 'protect' you?" I winced as he made quotations around protect, but he was really scary; I was a little too shocked to be myself.

"Druggie, Jake? This 'druggie' has a name." I shot back, realizing I should just be quiet, but now that I'm getting back into the regular swing of having Fang by my side—defending each other—I don't think I'll be able to stop.

"So now you're defending him? What should I call him, emo?" He shouted back.

"No, I think you should call him Fang! And I mean, what happened to our whole 'Saving the World' concept? I want to help Fang, Jake. And when you said you loved me, I thought you'd be helping me, because when I lost Fang I had to do it by myself, and let me tell you; it sucked. Now tell me, what is so wrong with Fang, because I clearly don't have a problem with him at the moment, besides helping him clean up? And are you ready to commit now that you know what I'm doing, Jacob; what I was made for, or will you leave, because I seriously doubt this imprinting thing will make it impossible for you to walk away!"

Oh, no. Oh, no, oh, no, oh, no. I had said too much. I had said way too much. I could see it in his eye; he was contemplating.

Shrimp.

"Well you know what, then? Let's test that theory, Maximum." He yelled, locking eyes with me before turning around, walking out the door and slamming the door behind him. My eyes started watering and my lip was trembling. For a few seconds I controlled myself, but then I completely broke down.

Fang turned me around best he could and pressed my face into his shoulder. For now I could forget who's fault it was, I just sank into Fang, sobbing over the love of me life. Why couldn't I ever get it right? The first time I was in love he almost killed me then almost killed himself, and the second….was all because I was trying the fulfill my destiny.

~.

3rd person POV

Right after Iggy and Nudge heard the slamming door, they heard loud sobbing. Instantly they ran up the stairs but were nearly run over by a very mad Jacob.

"Dude, what just happened?" Iggy asked warily. "We heard a bang and then someone crying…is everyone alright?"

All Jacob did was push past and run out of sight.

"Okay then…" Nudge said to Iggy who was starting to get a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach.

"C'mon," He gestured with his hand towards the hallway which lead to Max and Jake's room and Fang's room. As they walked in silence, the sobbing grew louder, and it was almost unbearable for him—he knew instantly it was Max.

They started running and burst through the door, Iggy waited the painful silence until Nudge told him what was going on, the only problem? Apparently Nudge took this time to be speechless. Figures. At that moment Iggy wished he could see more than ever before. More than when he and his girlfriend went on their first date, more then when he heard about his parents, more than the earth and trees, right after they escaped with Jeb. He wanted to see so much it was causing physical pain.

He was about to snap at Nudge to tell him what was going on. But then his vision became all foggy. You know, like when you breathe on the glass of the city bus window on cold winter days? It was like that, and Iggy was getting irritated, but then he realized something; he was beginning to see something, like the fog was leaving after the sun's come out.

Soon he saw that he was in a room. A big room. And more importantly; Fang's room. And the first thing Iggy saw was someone facing into someone else. Within closer inspection he noted it was Max clinging to Fang's front.

He instantly ran over to their side and put a—hopefully—comforting hand on Max's back. She gasped and leaned into his touch, but when she looked up, a smile on her face, she instantly looked back down, new tears pouring from her eyes and all traced of a smile gone.

"Max…what happened? Are you alright? Hurt?" Iggy asked quickly, searching for any blood or wounds of any sort.

"Y-es." She said. "My heart hurts. He left, Ig, he actually left. And it's my fault…" She trailed off and she with a vague look she whispered, to herself most likely, "Everything is always my fault."

And with that she stood up and hung her head.

Max's POV

Everything was my fault. It was always my fault. I stood up, fully planning to walk away, maybe save some lives…?

As I turned to the door, Fang grabbed my hand desperately, making me turn to him. "Max, wh-where are you going? You ca-ant leave! Please, I…I'll do anything! Anything you want, I-I'll get clean, anything. Please." He begged, pulling himself up and putting his arm around me. "Where are you going to go, Ma-ax?" I shrugged half-heartedly, making him just repeat no over and over, latching himself onto me.

I felt a hand on my arm and turned on to see Iggy, a slight smile on his face. "Max," He started gently. "Would it make any difference if I state how beautiful you are?" I gasped. He could see? Since when?

"Maybe?" I said—more like asked—in astonishment. "But, listen, you—really—don't need me here. I need to stop messing people's lives up. Iggy you need to keep a close eye on Fang. Make sure he gets the help he needs and isn't hanging around the wrong crowd."

A look of determination crossed his face as he put his hands on wither side of my face. "Maximum Ride, you are not leaving. I don't care what you say, you are staying here. It's obvious you cant go back and live with Jacob, because of something that happened, and you have no where else to go, and it is also obvious that Fang needs you, not me, not Nudge, or any of the others, you." I looked back at Fang and sighed.

"Alright. Fine. If you think you need me then I guess I'll stay. So first, Nudge, could you please get me some gauze and some hydrogen-peroxide? Second, Iggy I cant believe you can see, and if you are faking it I will kill you. Third, Fang go sit on your bed." After saying this, Nudge hurriedly ran out of the room, Iggy gave a small smile before leaving and Fang went to sit on his bed.

I sat beside him and took his wrists in my hands. Nudge came back, holding the two objects as far from her as possible, she set them down and ran out again, closing the door.

"Okay, Fang. This will hurt a little." I told him, taking the brown bottle and holding it above the several cut marks along either wrist.

"No, Max, it's, uh, it's fine." He stuttered, trying to get his arms out of my grip.

"Listen," I said soothingly. "I don't want this to get infected, or anything. I know you don't want to do this but we have to, okay?" He started thrashing, so I pinned him down. "Fang. Shh, shh. I know this brings back memories of the school, but you injected yourself, so it cant be all that bad, right?

He stopped, looked up as far as possible and clenched his fist. I sprayed on the hydrogen-peroxide and waited for it to stop foaming to gently wrap the gauze up his whole left fore-arm. I did this again for the right and when I was done I lay done beside Fang.

"What are you doing?" He asked, turning his head towards mine, then added as an after thought, "Not that I have a problem with it, but I'm just curious."

I smiled and replied, "Just resting." Then frowned. "What am I going to do, Fang? Jake probably hates me, and I…miss us. I missed hanging out with you, despite how I kept telling myself I hated you, and was never going to miss you ever again…" I didn't know what else to say so I just ended there. Fang didn't say anything, but wrapped an arm around my shoulder, and I just sighed and fell asleep.

Jake's POV

I ran as fast as possible to where the rest of the pack was, which happened to be…at the Cullen's? Great.

Because I hadn't switched, I just walked up to where Sam was talking to Carlisle and Edward on the porch.

"…alright, well, we'll be on our way then." Sam said, turning around.

"Hey, Sam," I said when he saw me. "Why're you guys here?"

"Bella's ca r broke down when she was coming to see you at Billy's, so we offered to drive her to the Cullen's place. What about you?"

"Um, well," I looked around trying to come up with how to put what happened, and noticed we were still on the porch. "I kinda yelled at Max and then we got into a fight and walked away, more like ran, but whateve—" before I could finish, I was being pinned against the railing, a forearm pressed against my neck. I looked up to see Jasper's piercing gold eyes glaring into mine.

"You may have promised to keep Max safe from her old Flock, from the people who hurt her, but we promised to protect her from the people that hurt her and can hurt her. And you have just crossed that line." He growled. In a split second the rest of the Cullen's were all gathered around us, all shooting hating looks towards me.

"Okay, listen, I don't remember you ever being involved!" I said, racking my mind for a past agreement.

"Well, Jacob, we didn't think we had to run it by you when we were protecting someone from harm. And if you must know, it was because of Bella. She asked us to protect Max as much as we could, for she knew what 'The Flock' had done to her." Edward said through gritted teeth, stepping forward. "Now, what exactly happened."

I took a deep breath—well tried to, then remembered someone was strangling me. I glared at Jasper until he loosened the pressure enough for me to talk properly. "Alright, well last night we found out Fang is messed up more than I thought, so Max started yelling at him, and when he had gotten to sleep I had went in to find Max crying. I took her to bed but in the morning she freaked out and said she was supposed to stay with him, or he might try something. She pushed me away to go help him! After a while I decided to go check on her and I saw her holding his hand, and saying that she likes him. She likes the guy that almost killed her! So I asked her what the frick she was doing and she said she was 'talking' to him. Yeah, right. So she started saying how this was her destiny—to help people. And then she asked if now that I've seen what she is entitled to do, I wanted leave. If I wanted to leave her because, and I quote, 'I seriously doubt this imprinting thing will make it impossible for you to walk away.' And I told her I was going to test the theory, so I walked away." I finished.

"That's not right, Jacob. She was holding his hand because she was trying to get a razor blade out of his hand—you know that—and you also know that when she said she like him, she was saying that she hadn't abandoned him like his friends and family did." Edward growled, still glaring at me.

"Well, I guess…" I mumbled.

"Anything else you want to add? Or maybe some lies just for good measure." Jasper hissed, putting pressure on my neck.

"No," I gasped out. I looked as far around me as I could to see that the rest of the pack was coming out of the forest in human form.

"Come on, Jasper, let's go see how Max is doing, okay?" Alice said, walking over to put a hand on her boyfriend(husband?)'s shoulder. With one last shove the two of them hurried over to the garage.

"Leave." Esme hissed. "Get off my property. All of you, get out of here!" I scampered off the deck and ran through the forest, for the first time really thinking about what I had done.

I had walked out on Max. Right when she had needed me the most, I had just left. I had heard her crying as I had left but…oh my gosh, she will never forgive me. Never.

I just ruined my life.

Blahhhhh! I've finished the chapter! So I was a little scared because someone reviewed saying they knew someone going through one of the things Fang is going through and I will feel horrible if/when I get stuff wrong. So, sorry in advance!

Okay, uh, first, I need more reviews. What's happened?

Second, I'm pretty sure we'll be having a snow day tomorrow—and if not, I'm skipping—so I'll try and start the next chapter tomorrow, sorry this on took too long, but I've been comforting my *best friend* that went through assort of break up. And I felt really bad, and I will be going to London to kick the douche's a*s.

Third, if you have any questions, don't be afraid to ask.

Fourth, please check out the poem I've posted. It's under The Host, but I was very close to putting it under MR, so tell me what you think (I suck at poetry) and should I post more? Like it? Dies from horribleness?

Thanks, hopefully you all have a much warmer winter than me and never have to push a car because it's stuck. It really sucks.

And remember to tell me what you want to happen!