Okay, I'm-a gonna post all of the chapters I have tonight. Everyone I care about already reviews every chapter meticulously. :)

Chapter 8

Hey. Iggy here. You think just because Max is gone, all the narrative duties go to Fang? No.

Fang hadn't slept for the six days that all five of us had been staying at the ICBG base. He hadn't been complaining, and didn't even move during the night, but I could tell from the sound of his breathing that sleep wasn't happening. On the sixth night, I figured I ought to talk to him.

I kissed Nudge gently on the lips. "I'm gonna go talk to Fang, prettiness. Okay?"

"Okay," she said. "Tell him we all love him."

"Absolutely, sweetheart," I said.

I rolled out of our shared bed and found my way to Fang's room. I knocked.

"Come in," he said glumly.

I walked in and sat at the foot of his bed. "How's it going, dude?" I asked.

"I don't know," he said. "Why?"

"You haven't slept since you got here," I said. "I know you're not made of stone, dude. Max is your true love, and you miss her. You'd have to be an idiot to think it's anything else. If you want to talk to anybody about that, I'm here for you."

"Well, that's the problem," he said. "The only person I ever could talk to was Max."

"Baloney," I said. "There are four kids here who know you every bit as well as Max does. We know the real you. And, I'm quoting Nudge here, we all love you."

"Yeah?" Fang said. "Well, thanks, Ig. I… I appreciate it, but I don't think I need to talk about anything."

"Come on, Fang, if you can't sleep let's go to the practice arena," I said. "You know, spar and talk, like you did with Max."

"No, Iggy, you need your sleep."

"Nah, I've slept every night this week. Don't need to do it again."

He chuckled at my bravado. "Fine. I don't know if that'll work, though. When I sparred with Max, we were… talking about really deep stuff, you know? The future, sex, problems among the flock. We were equals, you know? In the fighting and the talking. You know, it was during one of those talks that I first guessed that maybe you were in love with Nudge."

"And that was a great day for everybody," I said, fondly remembering the moments. When she had asked my advice in her relationship with Aaron, and I had gladly given it. Then, when I had defended her when Aaron wouldn't, and she had thanked me with a prolonged, tender kiss. And when, looking over the ultrasound photographs of baby Airy, she had told me how much she loved me, and asked me if she could be my girlfriend.

I also felt her up that day, but that doesn't make for a very romantic story. I try to keep my priorities straight.

"Anyway…" I said, trying to get back into the moment. "Come on, Fang, let's go fight."

"Ah, no thanks," he said. "I think I can sleep now. I guess all I needed was a bit of comfort. Thank you, Iggy. I mean that."

"No prob," I said. "You ever need to sort some stuff out, I'm here for you. I'm your brother."

"You're absolutely my brother," he agreed. "Goodnight, Ig. I… I sure do love you a lot. Go back to Nudge." In seconds, his breathing was heavy and regular. He was sleeping.

I went back to the room that I had been sharing with Nudge. "That was amazing," she said. "I heard through the wall. Cheering him up like that? That was beautiful. You can do anything, Iggy. You know that?"

"Oh, I don't know about that," I said. "Not anything. I'm not Keegan. I just… I just know how to… how to make everybody feel better."

She hugged me tightly. "I lovey-lovey-love you, Iggy. You make me feel better every day."

"Wouldn't be nothin' without you, cocoa puff," I said.

"Sure you would," she said. "You saved the day all the time before you were ever even willing to talk to me. And remember when Max's sister was hitting on you?"

"When did that happen?"

"Oh, you remember. Dinner, after the big… you know. When we first met them."

"Hmm. Ella, huh? I always figured I was just a neat little spectacle."

"Come on, Iggy. Everybody loves you."

"I don't care about everybody loving me," I said. "Just you is fine."

She kissed me from chin to hairline. "Can you imagine our babies, Iggy?"

"Kind of."

"Yeah. They'll probably be really beautiful. You know? 'Cause I'm black, and you're very…"

"Swedish?" I said.

"Well, yeah."

"You know, I still don't know what that means."

"Oh, sure you do. It's just how you're all tall and pale and blond and chiseled and muscled and beautiful and… oh, my God, I love you."

"Nudge, will you shut up and go to sleep?" I said lovingly.

I lay flat on my back. She was still kissing me and nuzzling me when I drifted off to sleep.