A/N: Thanks for everyone's reviews and sorry for the wait. I'm not sure how well I've edited this chapter. Actually, I can't remember if I've even edited it at all. I didn't want to waste any time getting it out to you lovely readers. :)

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Maximum Ride

Chapter Twelve – Difficult Decisions

Iggy's POV

Ella's hand felt warm in his. The soft skin was a stark contrast to his calloused hands. He couldn't picture a life where his hands were soft. Life had always been something he'd had to shape with his own hands. To picture someone else being able to go through life without lifting a finger made him mad. But it was stupid to blame Ella for her comparatively easy life.

He didn't blame Ella, but he did find himself occasionally resenting her.

"What did you think of the movie?" Ella asked, squeezing his hand just a bit tighter.

"It was alright," he said with a shrug.

I hated it, he felt like saying.

"I liked the part with the dog. That was pretty funny," she said.

"Yeah," he said with a fake laugh.

I hated that part, he felt like saying.

"Do you want ice-cream?" she asked, gesturing to a small shop up ahead.

"My treat," he said with a smile.

He tried to stop thinking and enjoy the ice cream, but it was no use. Something, he didn't know what, was putting him in a bad mood. Ella was beautiful, smart and one of the nicest people he knew; yet, he always found himself having bad thoughts about her. It was almost like his subconscious wouldn't let him love another girl.

Apparently, he would be stuck mooning over Nudge for the rest of his life.

"Iggy, is something wrong?" Ella asked, giving him a look of such concern that he immediately felt guilty.

"I'm just thinking," he told her with a reassuring smile.

Ella checked her watch, gave Iggy another look, and then smiled sheepishly. "I have to head home soon, I've got heaps of homework to do before tomorrow."

"Okay, do you want me to drop you home?"

"Nah, my mum is out and about today. She can come and pick me up."

"Are you sure?" he asked.

She grinned. "I think I can manage."

He leant across the table and gave her a quick kiss. Her lips tasted like strawberries and cream. Maybe it was her type of lip-gloss.

"Isn't that Nudge?" Ella asked as they pulled away from each other. Immediately, his heart rate picked up and his breathing grew rapid.

"Huh?" he asked with a voice higher than usual.

"Outside. She looks really sad." Ella was peering behind Iggy's head, where the window had a view of the street.

He turned slowly, almost dreading what his reaction to seeing her was going to be. Sure enough, Nudge was out on the street waiting at the crossing. Her hair was blowing every which way, making her look like a model in the middle of a shoot. She was gorgeous – everything he found attractive in a girl.

"Should we go talk to her?" Ella seemed completely oblivious to his strange reaction to Nudge. He felt bad, mainly because she would never suspect that he was thinking about another girl. She was innocent, while he was guilty.

"You should go home and work on your homework. I can go talk to Nudge and make sure she's feeling okay."

"Oh, okay. Good idea."

They parted ways with a kiss that didn't linger on his part. He liked Ella. He just wished that he could like her more than he already loved Nudge.

God, he felt absolutely terrible.

With quick steps and a determined expression on his face, Iggy made his way over to Nudge. The light had long ago gone green, but she still hadn't crossed. When he came up beside her he did the first thing that came to his head. He took her hand. He was aware that he'd only left Ella a few moments ago, but in that instant he couldn't care less.

When Nudge lifted her head, he could clearly see the tears making their way down her cheeks.

"Take me home," she whispered in a broken voice.

XXXXRULERXXXX

The car didn't belong to him. He'd borrowed it from his parents for his date with Ella. Now he felt like he'd somehow betrayed their trust by driving Nudge around in it.

"So, are you going to tell me why you were crying?" Iggy asked, his hands tight on the steering wheel.

"No."

"Why?"

"You'll think I'm stupid," Nudge admitted as she wiped away her tears.

"Too late," he said in a vain effort to make her smile.

Instead, she sobbed.

"I was kidding," he quickly revealed, casting a worried look in her direction.

"I just…I feel like no one in the whole world understands me. People like me, sure. But does anyone know me well enough to love me? Everyone seems to think that I'm so happy that I could never possibly need cheering up. Everyone thinks that I'm so confident that I never need a compliment. Everyone thinks I can look after myself, so when I need help or encouragement, it never comes. I feel so alone."

Iggy pulled up in front of Nudge's house, speechless. He had no idea that she could be so affected by what other people didn't do.

He leant over the middle of the car and gave her an awkward hug. He couldn't think of any words at that moment, but a hug seemed to be exactly what she needed. She clung to him tightly for a long time.

"Do you want to come inside?" she asked with a sniffle.

"Sure," he replied, swallowing back his emotions.

"My parents are away on business and I don't really want to be alone right now," she admitted.

"I understand," he said as he took the keys out of the ignition and followed her towards the house.

Of course, the house was beautiful. He expected nothing less from a house on the Cliffs. He'd been there before when he was younger. Then, he and Nudge would hang out for hours, watching movies and playing in her huge backyard. Nudge's parents weren't pretentious. They didn't care that Iggy wasn't rich. Instead, they welcomed him like a son.

Nudge led him towards her room, where she flopped down face first onto the mattress. He pretended that he wasn't nervous being in her room (they used to hang out there together all the time when they were younger), but just the thought of Nudge and a bed was causing him to sweat.

"Do you feel better now?" Iggy asked her as he tentatively sat on the edge of the bed.

"Yeah, thanks Iggy." Her response was somewhat muffled by the bed.

"You're lying, aren't you?"

"Yeah, but we can pretend that I'm feeling better. I'll try not to cry again until you leave," Nudge managed to say as she lifted her face from the bed.

Iggy frowned. "Or, I could try and make you feel better," he suggested.

"Don't worry about it, Iggy. You might have understood me when we were young, but we haven't been close for years. I understand that we've grown apart. You don't have to try and prove anything."

"What are you talking about? I'm pretty sure I understand you more than you do yourself."

Nudge sat up at this and gave him a disbelieving stare.

"I know that you care about everyone around you, no matter if they're your friend or not. I can just see you worrying about Max and Fang more than you worry about yourself. It upsets you that they don't talk to you about what's going on between them. It also upsets you that they aren't smart enough to see that they should be together."

Iggy took a big breath, but was nowhere near finished.

"You always laugh at jokes, even if some of them aren't funny, because you don't want to hurt the person's feelings. But I can always tell when you actually find something funny, because your eyes crinkle and your laugh lowers an octave.

"You smile at everyone when you greet them, even if you've never met them before. Except if you're in the middle of worrying about someone. Then you might as well be gone to the world. It happens when I try to talk to you, but you're thinking about Max and Fang.

"You've never once asked about my girlfriend, but at the same time you seem to know everything about us. Just like you know that Max and Fang should be together, Lissa is a bitch, Julia is lonely, Sam is most likely gay, the school band is fabulous, and the football team is full of wankers.

"Everyone thinks you're happy all the time because you're an amazing person. If people don't see your distress or loneliness, it's because you always put other people first. You give everyone so much attention that they run out of time to give any attention back to you."

Iggy had been watching her reaction throughout his little monologue. Her eyes had grown huge and her lips were quivering with some untold emotion. He wished he could know what she was thinking, just this once.

"I also know that someone does love you. I've loved you since we were little, and I think I always will."

With that statement off his chest, Iggy felt a huge relief. It was like a boulder that was slowly crushing the life out of him had been lifted. At that moment in time he wasn't thinking about the inevitable rejection he would get from her, but about the way it felt to finally have told her how he felt.

"Iggy…" She trailed off and looked at him like she'd never looked at him before. Then, without any warning whatsoever, she burst into tears.

"C'mon Nudge, you promised no more tears, remember?" he said, trying to soothe her. "I know you don't feel the same way, so don't feel like you have to say anything back to me."

"Oh Iggy, you big idiot. Why didn't you tell me sooner?" she sobbed.

He didn't get a chance to reply, because he hands had fisted into the front of his shirt and she was pulling him towards her. They fell back onto the bed together in a tangle of limbs. He looked into Nudge's eyes and saw that she wasn't crying tears of sadness, but tears of joy.

Without thinking about it, he leant down and kissed her on the lips. What surprised him even more than his actions was that Nudge kissed him back.

It started off slow and sweet. He kept pulling away just to make sure that she actually wanted this. Then he just forgot about everything else and started kissing her harder, pouring years of unrequited love into the kiss. Soon, they were both panting from lack of air and mounting passion.

She dug her fingers into his hair and he planted his hands on her hips. Her t-shirt had ridden up so that he could feel the smooth skin there. Electric sparks travelled down his spine and caused him to shiver. One of her hands travelled down his back until it hooked onto the hem of his shirt. With a swift yank, she managed to pull it over his head.

The kiss continued to escalate. Nudge was squirming, pressing her whole body up against his. It felt like he'd been a parched man denied water all his life, but now he was swimming in it.

After a long moment, however, Iggy started to remember that what he was doing was wrong. He still had a girlfriend. One that would not even suspect that he would be with another girl. In fact, he was disappointed in himself. How quickly he'd forgotten all about her, the girl that wouldn't hurt a fly.

"Nudge, I have a girlfriend," he whispered after he'd pulled away.

Nudge big, beautiful eyes opened and looked right into his. They'd be full of passion a few moments ago, and now they were full of quiet understanding. He rested his forehead against hers for one second, and then untangled himself from her. He was already feeling the guilt settle on him like a smothering blanket.

"I have to go," he said, reaching for his shirt and pulling it back on.

"Okay," she replied sadly. "Thanks for…caring about me."

He gave her a steady look. "Nudge, I'm sure that more people care about you than you think."

"Yeah," she sighed in a way that said she didn't believe him.

He looked at her intensely, trying to tell her that she was the most beautiful, wonderful girl that he'd ever met.

"I hope you know that I think I love you too," she whispered, causing his heart to falter. He looked at her for a long time, wishing he could keep on kissing her. But he couldn't do that to Ella. She deserved better than that.

"I'll show myself out," he said.

Nudge just nodded.

A/N: You know what this means? The next chapter is Max and Fang's slavery chapter. Who's excited? I am!

Also, tell me if you're a fan of Iggy and Nudge or Iggy and Ella. Sorry I kind of made Iggy a bit of a jerk, but it's necessary. If he was happy with Ella, then things wouldn't be interesting.