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On with chapter 9. ENJOY!

Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride. All rights to publish Maximum Ride remain with JP.

Did I ever mention how I hate makeup; glitter, sparkles and pretty much anything girly. Well in case you were wondering, I despise being made to look like a girl because the formfitting clothes restrict movement when I have to fight. Well, apparently Ella didn't get the memo because right now I was sitting in front of a mirror while she styled my hair and I was not liking it.

"You are going to look so pretty when I finish Ember. I have your clothes picked out and everything," she chattered on.

"Look Ella," I said trying to break it to her gently, "I appreciate this but, I'm not really the girly type."

"I know but Max never lets me give her a makeover and your black hair is so shiny and silky that it styles perfectly, please let me do this while you're here."

I know I normally don't seem like a nice person but her face looked so sad in the mirror that I had to agree to let her beautify me, besides surprisingly since our personalities clash so much I was beginning to like Ella's happy go lucky nature.

"Fine," I sighed unhappily giving in to Ella's torment.

"Yes! You're the best Ember and when Mom takes you shopping for clothes I am totally coming with you. You can get comfortable clothes for when you're on the run but we need to buy you some good outfits for when you stay with us."

I managed to give her a small smile and decided since I had her alone for the time being to get some answers that I would never get from Max.

"So, what's the deal with Max and Fang," I asked casually praying she didn't see anything suspicious in my question.

"Well, their kind of like a thing. They've been friends since forever and started dating a few months ago. It's so sweet since their like perfect for each other, now we just need to find Iggy a girlfriend, but it's hard because of the whole wing thing."

Part of me was happy for Fang because he was able to find someone to be with despite everything that has happened to him but another part of me was jealous that Max was able to know more about my brother than me. I wanted to get to know Fang and be able to have some type of family with the Flock but I had a feeling that Max was going to get in my way.

"Don't worry about Max," Ella said as if reading my mind "she'll come around eventually."

Ella and I slipped into a comfortable silence before she proudly announced that she had finished with my makeover and turned me towards the mirror. Looking at my reflection I hardly recognized myself. Ella had brushed all the tangles out of my hair and straightened it to frame my face. The jeans were a little tight for my taste but, they could have been worse and the black shirt decorated with silver stars definitely fit my personality. My olive skin was scrubbed clean of dirt and if it weren't for the wings, visible from the slits in the shirt I almost looked normal.

"Wow, Ella. You are really good at this stuff." Even though the styled hair and smoky makeup wasn't my thing, I had to compliment Ella because she did a really good job.

"No problem and thanks for letting me do it. I can tell your not a big fan of this type of thing, neither is Max but at least you actually tough it out for me."

I gave Ella my first genuine smile in a long time and from the happy smile that grew across her face, I could tell that she knew I was not faking happiness.

"Ella, Ember dinner is ready," called Dr. M.

The two of us turned towards the door and walked downstairs into the dinning room where everyone was already sitting around a table filled with food. Gazzy and Total wolf whistled and I sent them both a glare before taking my place at the table between Ella and Iggy.

"Doesn't she look great" Ella gushed. I managed to force a smile making Dr. M laugh at my obvious discomfort.

"I can see Ella made you her own personal Barbie doll", she commented.

"Yeah, I guess," I mumbled suddenly not liking everyone's eyes on me.

"Well then let's eat," she said smiling and taking her seat opposite Jeb.

The Flock and me ate most of the food on the table because of our increased calorie intake. It was the best meal I had ever had and the first time I had ever felt full. Since I escaped the School, I had to go garbage picking for food and even when I was kept at, the School they never gave me enough to eat.

After we had finished eating, everyone stayed at the table talking. The Flock was catching up with Dr. M and I was sitting in my chair staring at my lap since none of the conversation was directed at me.

I felt a pair of eyes starring at me and looked up to find Iggy's sightless blue eyes directed at my face. I wish I could help Iggy, losing his, sight must have been horrible but I couldn't do that if I wanted to keep my secret.

"Ember can I feel your hair, I have an ability that allows me to feel what color things are it would help me form an image of what you look like," he asked quietly.

"Um, sure Iggy."

I stayed still as I watched Iggy lift his hand and run it through my hair lightly, with the most delicate of touches his fingers felt the top of my wings and slowly he brought his head down to rest softly on mine. His eyes had never left my face and I couldn't find myself to look away from his cloudy blue eyes trying to image what they looked like when he could see. I suddenly realized everyone had their eyes focused on us and our still touching hands.

"Wow," Iggy said pulling his hand away from mine, "You and Fang have the same color hair, skin and wings. If there wasn't a one year age difference between the two of you, you would think you were twins."

I gave a small smile as the chatter resumed around the table and once again returned my gaze to my lap accept for when I would glance in Iggy's direction every few minutes. All traces of our encounter had evaporated the instant I noticed everyone's staring faces. I noticed that the hand Iggy had touched seemed to tingle at the recent contact and I much to my fear I missed the feel of his hand above mine.

I was relieved when the sky grew increasingly dark and Dr. M sent us all to bed. When Ella and I reached her room, I noticed an extra bed had been pulled into the room. Ella explained they had moved the bed from the spare room in until it was decorated and painted in the colors that I wanted so that whenever the Flock visited I had my own room. I immediately protested the generosity but, Dr. M and Jeb both insisted on beginning the renovations once we had left so that workers did not get suspicious of our wings promising that it would be finished in time for our next visit.

I lay on the bed staring at the ceiling thinking about Iggy and my reaction to his touch at dinner. No matter how hard I tried, I could not stop the blood from rushing to my cheeks every time I pictured his face and my head was so full of thoughts that sleep was not an option. Needing air I quietly swung my feet from the bed and on to the floor. I walked over to the window in Ella's room and jumped out snapping my wings open, catching air, flying up and landing soundlessly on the roof.

I let out a breath and starred silently at the stars with my hands hugging my knees to my chest. A few minutes after I had arrived on the roof a tall, thin figure sat down next to me and I looked over to find Iggy. The moonlight shone on his face and he smiled at me when he noticed I was looking at him. Do not ask me how he knew or how he knew where my head was but he did. Before I could ask how he knew, I was on the roof he answered for me. "I have sensitive hearing and heard your footsteps. What's wrong?"

He seemed genuinely concerned and there was an unidentifiable emotion in his eyes. I did not know what to say, though, because there was no way I was going to tell him that he was the one haunting my every thought.

"Uh, I was thinking about Fang and if he even wants a little sister let alone a sister like me." This was partly true because I was worried about that but with the weird emotions about Iggy Fang was not top on my list of worries at the moment.

"Fang's a good guy Ember and although he doesn't show it he does have a compassionate side and deep down I bet he's super excited that he has you as his family. Besides even if he never thought about having a sister why wouldn't he like you?"

"I don't know," I said, "Maybe for intruding on his perfect family or being a reminder that our parent's abandoned us." I looked at Iggy to see if he had an explanation for me this time and of course, he did.

"Ember you haven't been intruding everyone has already accepted you with open arms and if you're worried about Max she will come around, trust me. As for the second part you can't possible be a reminder that your parent's abandoned you because you are a reminder that you didn't abandon him," he said pointing at me, "out of everyone in his family you came to find him and be a part of his family."

I stared at Iggy in complete wonder and amazement. He had found a way to ease all of my worries and he had cared enough to try.

"Thank you Iggy," I replied with more emotion than I had ever shown before.

"No problem," he said as he stood up and placed a hand on my shoulder, "I'll leave you to your thinking and if you ever want to talk just ask."

I watched as he walked to the other side of the roof and didn't take my eyes off him until he disappeared over the edge. My heart was pounding and my mind whirling about my feelings for Iggy. I had never felt like this before. My heart felt exposed and vulnerable. For the first time I was afraid because there was no adrenaline to keep the fear away like in a fight. For the first time I was afraid of getting my heart broken.

WOW!!! That was my longest chapter yet.

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