I sighed as I sat down on the bunk in my cell. I shared with one other girl. She held her hand out to me, waiting for me to grasp it.

"I don't shake hands," I stated, wincing. No offense to her but I didn't trust any jailbird's hand. Not even mine anymore, I suppose.

She laughed. "Fair enough," She dropped her hand into her lap. "I'm Shannon," She smiled at me. "I'm in here for hit & run, though it wasn't me, just my car. What about you?"

I hesitated before telling her, figuring there was really no point. "My abusive ex-boyfriend planted drugs in my apartment. His friend is a cop and got him to arrest me. Why are you in jail if it wasn't you- just your car?"

She shrugged before looking in her lap. "My brother... He has some disabilities although he denies them. A little too much, as well. And, well, he took my car out for a joyride and he hit one of the little girls that lived down the street. And then he drove off. Since my brother is older and has a criminal record- shoplifting, things like that- he would have been in here way long and might have gone for the death sentence. I took the blame and they said eight years in jail since I'm blind in one eye. They figure the disability is what had led to the hit & run."

I blinked. "If you're blind in one eye then you're not supposed to drive. At all. Ever. Didn't they catch you on that?"

She shook her head. "No," She smiled again. "I'm just glad it's me and not my brother. He'd have gone suicidal if he were in jail. I'm sorry about you though," She grimaced. "Your ex-boyfriend is a total asshole,"

I laughed. "You don't say," I sighed. "Honestly, I don't really care that I'm here- more the fact that I can't take care of my family because of all this."

Shannon nodded, understanding. She twirled a ring around her finger. "I know what you mean. I have four kids; three are eight and the fourth is five. My husband can't handle them and my brother, though I'm sure Davis was kicked out because of all this." She laughed once without humor. "Funny how a family can fall apart without one person,"

"My family is a little different than yours..."

"Not married? Illegitimate children?"

I laughed. "No. I'm a school teacher. Choir director, actually." I told her everything about my classes, my students, and my family and friends. It felt great to get everything out. To just... get it all off my chest and be free for a change, for an instant, and not feel suffocated.

She smiled at me. "The best kind of family is the kind that's drawn to one another."

I smiled back, my hand held out to her. "I couldn't agree more,"

She clasped my hand in hers, shaking it as we smiled at each other respectively.

Ella sighed as she ran down the hall to Omega's classroom. As she opened the door, she was tackled, all of the sudden in the middle of the classroom. She kicked Omega off of her.

"Good, Ella, great strength," He praised. "Although, I have no idea why you're here," He titled his head confused.

"Max was arrested!" She screamed in an incredulous tone. "Why isn't anyone doing anything?"

"Because you're not supposed to know what we're all doing," Omega responded, instructing his students to do their cool-down stretches. "It's been a week, Max is our family, do you honestly believe that we'd go longer than a millisecond without doing something?"

Ella shrugged, helpless. "I'm desperate."

Omega hugged her to his side, rubbing his hand up and down her arm for comfort. "I know, I know. We all are. Sadly, whomever planted the drugs has inside help. It's not a normal case, the officer will be trying to keep her incarcirated. Ella, we're trying, trust me when I say that, alright?"

She nodded, sighing. She felt like crying- Max wasn't there at all, ever, anymore. She was locked up, no doubt worried for everyone and scared for herself (though she'd never admit it). Fang was depressed all the time, a total trainwreck. He wouldn't talk to anyone ever and barely ate. When he slept, he slept on the couch, almost never going into his and Max's bedroom. She knew why. He'd see their bed, smell her scent, remember things that happened in that room, see her personal belongings. Ella didn't think Fang would be able to handle that at all. She nearly locked the room off to him for fear of him going berserk. Iggy and Nudge weren't themselves either.

Iggy never cracked any jokes and, from what she heard of Nudge, didn't try to start anything. Though, Nudge wouldn't either, nor would she babble like usual. SHe would say three words, mainly, at most, and then shut up the rest of the time.

Angel and Gazzy were quiet and unenthusiastic. No one was the same without Max around. No one. Jeb and Val prayed that what Max was charged off would be dropped and that she could return to work without a problem. Sam, however, gave up hope, jumping after another tail since Max's wasn't there to look at every day.

And Dylan...

Well, no one had seen Dylan. But they were all sure that he was devastated- Lissa sure was. She went crying to Nudge and Iggy, worried. She didn't even care that Dylan tried to leave her for said-arrested girl. All she wanted was for Max to be safe and out of jail.

All anyone wanted was for Max to be in their arms, safe from everything and anything.

Okay, it's short, yes, but it's my Christmas present to you all. I finally got the plot back under control and I finally remembered where the hell I was going with this all- kind of, lol. Anyway, there'll be another chapter soon, I hope. Anyway, my Dad got my computer fixed again but he forgot to install Word so everything I type is on here, on an old document that I had uploaded a long time ago- I'm just going over it and typing all these chapters for different things. It's so confusing! Anyway, um, so, Christmas... my aunt got me a sewing machine so now I can make things for my friends and bitches ;3 my brothers got Mum and I a red Wii (surprisingly), and Santa got me an iTouch, so I'll be superduper busy with those! lol, but I do hope I am able to finish this before summer. I have other things i want to write and I'm going to give myself a time limit and update limit.

So here it is: time limit is= no more than a year and a half. Would like to finish it in less than 1 year.
update limit= There will be no updating unless I get the actual review count number to be what I ask (mainly staying at 15 or more).
And the last limit to go with it all= If I don't getthe review quota met, the time limit, or both, then the story will be discontinued for three months.

All that will make organization and updating easier actually, if you think about it. If I have a deadline, I won't slack, I'll make it the best I can, with possible long chapters. If I have a quota to be met, I'll be happy enough to write more and WANT to update. It's not a joke when people say reviews are appreciated. They determine how fast someone will update.

Anywhoo, reviews are appreciated! :3 (And the time limit thing starts now for this story= if this isn't done by summer, I'll just cry. And I would LOVE fifteen reviews!)