A/N: Hey guys, I know you've been waiting eagerly for this chapter, and I'm sorry for the wait. It's the last chapter, so I wanted to make sure it was extra special and as close to perfect as I could get it. Hehe. But also, I've been super busy this week. It's been awesome! My city had a Gay Pride parade over the weekend, so I went down to check that out. And I also saved up all summer for tickets to a My Chemical Romance and Blink 182 concert that was last night. It kicked ass. (But oh my God...the venue reeked of pot when the show was over. It was hilarious! Tom was all like "Come on! We're trying to do professional show here, and we smell weed!")

Without further ado, you may now read ahead to enjoy the final installment of Winging It. :D

Chapter 18: Going On No Plan Here...

Max's POV

"Are you ready kids? Aye, Aye Captain! I can't hear you!"

I was slumped morosely on the couch in my father's living room, staring at the wall ahead of me, when Ari came in and flicked on the TV to an episode of Spongebob Squarepants. He glanced at me rather nervously out of the corner of his eyes and then sunk down to sit cross-legged on the floor in the middle of the room. Though he appeared to be engrossed in the show, I caught him sneaking glances at me every five minutes or so. I sighed, annoyed.

Both Ari and my father had been treating me like a bomb waiting to off ever since I'd arrived at the airport where they were waiting to pick me up. Jeb had hugged me almost tentatively and Ari had been avoiding eye contact. They'd asked me a few polite little questions like "How was the flight?" and "Did you get everything packed up alright?", but they didn't even MENTION the fact that I had just traveled across the country to come back to them (extremely reluctantly, mind you) simply because they had called and practically begged me to come home. That's what frustrated me most of all.

The fact that they had wanted me home SO BADLY, and were now regarding me like I was the carrier of some deadly virus that could begin to spread at any moment was infuriating. But I figured that no amount of begging, pleading, yelling, or cursing would ever convince them to let me go back, so I had taken a leaf out of Fang's book and resorted to mostly silence and monosyllabic responses when necessary. And also (though I was reluctant to admit it), I kept my anger at bay for the sake of not wanting to cause any further tension in the house. My father still really got on my nerves, but my time in Sierra Vista seemed to have softened me, and I now felt tiny stabs of guilt whenever I found myself getting angry with him.

I knew that everything he was doing for me was what he thought was for the best, even if it only ended up making me miserable. So I'd been taking alot of deep breaths and alot of walks to calm myself down. Most of my time was spent strolling around town or lounging around the house. It was the first time that I was beginning to realize how truly friendless I had been while I was living here. The summer months were flying by, and I dreaded the thought of having to go back to school in September and trying to find my way in yet ANOTHER group of strangers. It was already August 15th, which meant I had a measley half a month left.

As for my friends back in Sierra Vista, thinking of them always gave me a stomachache. Caitlyn had kept her promise and I continued to be updated about the ongoings of small-town Arizona life via many Polaroid photos she mailed to me quite frequently. But looking at these caused tears to well up in my eyes and I felt so homesick that it hurt, even though I was technically HOME. But it's like that saying goes...Home is where heart is. And my heart did not feel here. It was thousands of miles away back in Sierra Vista.

JJ and me kept up a correspondence through lengthy letters in which she told me about everything from the adorable new shoes she'd bought at the mall, to Iggy and Gazzy's ridiculous escapades which often involved various home-made explosives, to her thoughts about how Fang secretly contained all of his emotions in his glossy black hair. Her stories made me laugh, but I ultimately found myself crying at the end of each one.

Ella called occasionally and put anyone who was in the house at the time on the phone to say a brief hello. Angel's little voice squeaking over the reciever and Gazzy's quick little "What's up?" always made my day. I even looked forward to listening to Nudge ramble until Ella forcefully yanked the phone back. I'd complained jokingly to JJ in one of my responses to her letters that I hadn't heard anything from Iggy yet. To my immense entertainment, a little surprise from him was attached to the next piece of mail I got. It was just a sloppily colored page torn out of a Hello Kitty coloring book signed "Iggy P.S. Give me a break, I'm blind", but I folded away in a drawer for safe-keeping just the same.

Sadly, I had noticed (Okay...more like I had been brooding about it for the past few weeks), that I had not heard a word from Fang. No letters, no phonecalls, no nothing. I was starting to wonder if he'd just decided that our friendship wasn't going to work long-distance. That thought was very distressing, but I refused to take off the fang necklace he'd given me as a parting gift. It was almost like a security blanket. Even though I knew my situation was shitty, that necklace made my days here just a LITTLE teeny bit easier. And I would take whatever I could get.

But regardless of my friends' near-constant letters, phonecalls, emails...whatever...One thought was always lurking in the back of my mind.

When would they stop?

I mean...they can't just keep on writing to me forever. Can they? They'll eventually make new friends, and have things to do with them. Once school starts, they're bound to be swamped with homework. It would start by just not having time to write a letter. And then they'd forget to call the next week. And the next. And so on and so forth until I just slipped out of their minds completely. I stayed up to all hours of the night with terrifying thoughts like that running through my head. My nails had been reduced to ragged stubs from my constant tearing and biting at them. There were dark circles under my eyes from all the sleep I'd been missing. They say it's hard to sleep with an empty stomach. Well, it's IMPOSSIBLE to sleep with an empty heart.

My distant gaze finally slid into focus on the television screen. Squidward was chasing Patrick and Spongebob through Jellyfish Fields. I was instantly reminded of me and Ella's ritual of watching Saturday morning cartoons together in Mrs. Martinez's comfortable, welcoming living room. My chest was getting all tight at the thought. I stood up from the couch and began to amble out towards the front hallway. I saw Ari's eyes following me, but ignored him. I slipped on a pair of flipflops and twisted the knob on the front door. A refreshing breeze greeted me, and I sucked in a deep breath with my eyes closed.

"I'm going for a walk!" I called back to Ari in the living room. "Tell Dad where I am if he, asks, okay?"

"Alright. See you when you get back?" Ari called back in a questioning voice. I rolled my eyes and slipped outside. What did he think I was gonna do? Run away? Not the thought hadn't crossed my mind a few times in the last couple of weeks. It seemed almost inviting. I'd lay awake for hours at a time, fantasizing about just packing up a small suitcase and then hitchhiking all the way back to Arizona. I was SURE Mrs. Martinez would at least allow me to stay for a couple of weeks. But then I realized that it was REALLY dangerous to hitchhike, and I didn't exactly have any money for food, and...well...there was really just no way that that plan was ever going to work out.

As I reached the sidewalk, I discovered that I had no destination in mind. I didn't feel like going to the park, nor was I in the mood to browse around any of the stores downtown. Hmmm...And then a mental picture of the perfect destination popped into my mind. I felt nerves in the pit of my stomach fizzing away at the thought. Did I dare go back? I thought about it for a good long minute, and then decided that it was the only place I was really interested in going. Besides...even facing the ghosts of my past was better than sitting at home and worrying about when Sierra Vista and all the people I had met there would become just that. Ghosts in my past.

The Watson Mansion was just as I remembered it from that night so many months ago. The walls constructed out of sandy-colored bricks, with large, sheeny windows, and a dark green awning that stretched out over the majestic front door. It sat ontop of it's hill with lush grass surrounding it and swaying in the gentle breeze. It looked exactly the same, but seeing it in the day time when it was still light out, made it look that much more intimidating. The gate that surrounded it seemed miles higher than my memory had pictured it. The entrance to it was shut tight and didn't budge when I leaned my weight against it. That meant they seemed to have fixed it since I'd brutalized the wiring that helped power it.

I was pressing my face into the space between the bars of the gate, just staring up at it and feeling generally nervous. I began to wonder about countless things and soon found myself pacing back and forth in front of the wrought iron bars. I wondered what Mr. Watson was doing right now, and I wondered if he'd gotten more efficient security measures since the last time. I wondered (and stab of fear jolted me at the thought) if Mr. Watson was even still alive. The curiosity was killing me. I paused in front of the little intercom box embedded in the wall of the gate. It was connected up to the house so that visitors could announce their arrival and be let in. All I had to do was press that small, red button...

But I was no visitor. I felt more like an intruder returning to the scene of the crime. Which, if you want to get technical, was true. But still... I reached my hand out hesitantly until it hovered just centimeters away from the smooth, red surface of the button. Then I wrenched my arm back and held it curled into my chest as though I were afraid it would suddenly be possessed and hit the button without my permission. It had been a mistake to come back here. I swiveled on my heels and started to hurry away from the mansion and away from my torment.

I was stopped in my tracks when a crackling noise sounded behind me. "Hello again, old friend." I heard a raspy voice say. I whipped around, expecting someone to be standing at the gate. But there was no one. There was another burst of static and then the voice again. "What brings you back here to this old man's house?" It took me a second to realize that the voice was coming from the intercom. I debated for a few seconds and then rushed back towards it, and tentatively pressed in the button.

"Mr. Watson?" I asked, though I couldn't imagine who else it could be. Nobody but Mr. Watson would talk like he was quoting a movie. There was a wispy chuckle on the other end.

"Yes. I was strolling past the windows and noticed you pacing outside the gate. Is there anything I can do for you?" I thought for a minute. I wanted to push the button again and ask him if I could come in. But it seemed rude to invite myself, and plus, I was feeling extremely awkward already. I laughed lightly to myself. It was almost funny how much I had changed since I was here last. I had had no problem scaling the gate, tampering with it, and then sneaking into the mansion and raiding the safe inside it. Now I was feeling rude about ASKING if I could come in. The static jolted me back to reality. "Would you care to come inside? I've just put on a pot of tea, and I daresay I always make to much for just one person." I bit my lip. Then I jammed my finger into the button. It was too good of an opportunity to resist.

"Yeah...yeah...I'd like that." I said quietly. I could've sworn I heard another chuckle from Mr. Watson, but the noise was covered by the sound of the gate creaking noisily as it swung open. I took a deep breath and then stepped onto the grounds. I was feeling a little better now that I had permission to be here, but still...my steps were hurried as I made my way up to the front door. I was just debating whether or not I should knock when it opened up to reveal a smiling Mr. Watson. He was clad in a pair of tan trousers with a white shirt tucked into them. A golden pocket watch dangled at the breast pocket. His hair was just as starkly white as I remembered it, and his beard seemed to have gotten longer since the last time I'd seen him. His eyes crinkled behind his wire-rimmed glasses as he beamed at me.

"Come right in. I was just grabbing mugs for the tea. I hope you like jasmine. It's rather my favorite, and I've just had it imported."

"Umm...yeah...sure." I had never had a cup of tea before in my life, so I had absolutely no idea what he was talking about, but I figured it would be easier just to play along. Mr. Watson made his way towards a set of oak doors just to the right in the spacious entry way. I trailed after him and suddenly found myself in a vast library. It was surreal. Shelves lined every inch of wall, crammed full of a wide array of books varying in condition from ancient-looking to nearly brand new. A long, tall set of windows on the wall ahead of us let in a warm, peaceful sunlight. There was a fireplace to my left with two squashy red armchairs and a table with a reading lamp on it. To my right, was a large writing desk cluttered with papers and marked novels. I found myself gaping at the sight, and quickly closed my mouth.

"Go ahead and take a seat." Mr. Watson said, gesturing to the chairs. "I'll be right back with the tea." He hurried out of the library, leaving me alone with the collection of books. I sat down and waited anxiously, tapping my foot on the ground just to hear the noise. Mr. Watson returned moments later, balancing a tray with a china tea pot, two ornate mugs, small dishes of sugar, and a tiny plate of these dainty little cake thingys. "Help yourself." he said, putting it down on the table separating the two chairs. We prepared our tea in silence. I was sort of at a loss for what to do, but just followed his lead. "So...what brings you back here. I haven't seen you in quite some time. I thought you'd gone to live with your mother in Arizona."

I glanced up at him from dumping several spoonfulls of sugar into my mug of tea. "How did you know about that?" He chuckled.

"Well, word gets around fast, and when you're an old man like me living all alone up here in a big house like this, you almost HAVE to become interested in the town gossip, lest you die of boredom." There were several moments of silence filled with only the sounds of spoons chinking against the porcelain mugs.

"Yeah...I was living with her. For a little while, at least." I said finally, preoccupying myself with one of the small cakes. Mr. Watson made a noise of intrigue.

"May I ask why you decided to return?" I bit my lip and clutched my mug a little tighter.

"It wasn't exactly my decision." I said a tad bitterly. I glanced up and found him looking at me with curiosity. I shrugged my shoulders. "I don't know...I got out to Arizona, and I didn't like it at first. AT ALL." I thought amusedly about the immediate hatred for Sierra Vista I had felt upon my arrival. "But then...I don't know..." I continued, "I guess it sort of grew on me. And well...I met a bunch of really great people. And I ended up really liking it. But then...my dad called and said he wanted me to come home, and well...Here I am." I finished dejectedly. Mr. Watson continued to stare at me, looking like he was deep in thought. "What?" I asked, feeling suddenly exposed and vulnerable. He smiled lightly, though.

"You are very different from when I first met you."

"Yeah...alot's changed since then." I looked purposefully out the window. His eye contact was too intense for the moment. He cleared his throat quietly and I heard him set down his mug on the table. The room was filled with absolute silence. I bit my lip, feeling something I was wanting to tell him welling up inside of me. I wasn't sure how he would react.

"Mr. Watson." I burst out, looking at him nervously. He just raised his eyebrows calmly to show that he was listening. "I...I hope you don't mind, but...I kind of...sold your necklace." I stuttered. I wondered briefly if he would be angry with me, but I was quickly relieved of my worries when he chuckled. I exhaled my building tension. "You...You're not mad?" I asked skeptically. I knew that he'd said it meant next to nothing to him, but he'd GIVEN it to me in the hopes that I would appreciate it more. And me selling it off wasn't exactly showing how grateful I was for his gift.

"Well, I suppose that depends on why you sold it. Was it just for the money?" he questioned quite calmly. I shook my head frantically.

"Well...yes, I guess...but...not for me. A friend of mine..." Fang's image popped into my head, but I shook it away. "His little sister has cancer, and she needed this operation to remove a tumor from her lungs. They...didn't have enough money to pay for it, so I...so I sold the necklace to a jewlery store and used the money to help pay for the surgery." I trailed off sheepishly, for he was looking at me with a weighted gaze. I felt my face heating up. "I'm sorry!" I burst out. "I know you gave it to me hoping that I would...have more appreciation for it then you did, but...she REALLY needed this operation. I'm sorry, I just-" I was cut off when Mr. Watson suddenly burst out laughing. He threw his head back and clutched his chest as he emitted raspy laughs from deep in his throat. I just stared at him, wide-eyed.

When he finally stopped, he wiped the corners of his eyes with the back of his hand and looked at me full-on, grinning. "I didn't give that necklace to you hoping that you would want to keep and treasure it." he said, shaking his head, "I gave it to you so that you could put it to BETTER USES than I ever did. Better uses than sitting locked up all day long and looking pretty. I never wanted you to like it. I wanted just the opposite in fact. Our generation is too focused on the material things in life." I was staring at him with an open mouth, listening attentively. Then something occured to me.

"If you were hoping that someone would put it to better uses than just for looks or money, then...why on EARTH would you give it to ME?" I asked incredulously. "Mr. Watson...I was...I was RAIDING your house for objects like this." He smiled warmly and looked thoughtful.

"Well, I saw something in you that I hadn't seen in any of your companions. Do you remember what it was?" I thought hard for a moment and then shook my head when I failed to recall it. "Underneath that wall you'd built around yourself. That layer of anger and spite and determination to prove yourself..." I looked at the floor, almost ashamed that he had been able to read me so well, having only met me once before. "Underneath all that was a compassion for other human beings that far outweighed your desire for any material object or success." When I looked up at him again, I found his eyes boring into my own.

"I knew that even though you tried so hard to conceal that caring, that when the time was right...you'd be able to make the right decision about that necklace. And that you would realize that despite the fact that it was beautiful and valuable...it was still just a bunch of damn rocks hanging from a strip of metal." he said, starting to chuckle. This time, I laughed with him. He DID have a point. He cleared his throat. "And the fact that you sold it to save your friends life, shows me exactly where your priorities lie. And it proves that I was right about you. I've always prided myself on being able to read people." He winked at me, but I was trying to hide my face. When he was telling me all this, it had struck something in me and I felt a hot tear trickling down my chin. Mr. Watson became politely interested in his cup of tea, giving me time to wipe my eyes.

I set my own mug down on the table and stood up, clearing my throat. "Um...thanks for the tea, Mr. Watson, but I should really get going before it gets too late." I could see the sun beginning to set out of the library windows. He nodded at me and started placing the cups and plates back onto the tray he'd carried them in on. I started making my way towards the door to exit the house. "Bye!" I called over my shoulder.

And then something occured to me. I paused and turned around. "Mr. Watson...I don't think I ever told you my name. It's Max. Max Ride." He smiled at me.

"Well, Max, you are welcome back here any time you'd like. Just ring that old intercom." I nodded in thanks and started walking again. "Oh, and Max..." I stopped and spun around. "If I don't see you before your birthday next week...Happy Birthday." I frowned in confusion.

"How...How did you-?" I stuttered out. Mr. Watson shrugged.

"Like I said, word gets around fast." I rose my eyebrows.

"Word about my BIRTHDAY?" I said skeptically. He gave a short burst of laughter.

"And it...may have helped that I've been talking to your father in the past few weeks." I felt my eyes go wide.

"YOU HAVE?" He shrugged again.

"Yes...he seemed to think you might have been bothering me awhile ago and wanted to apologize. I simply told him we were quite good friends and that you were welcome back anytime. So we've been talking about this and that. Your birthday came up." He paused, as though debating about whether or not to tell me something. "And...I do think you'll quite enjoy the present he's gotten you." He smiled knowingly as he passed me with the tea tray and started to retreat into the kitchen. I was frozen on the spot, staring after him.

"Wait! Mr. Watson! What do you mean, 'I'll enjoy my present'?" But he had already dissappeared around the corner.

What Mr. Watson had said about this mysterious present I was supposed to be getting from Jeb had stuck with me. The day before August 24th (my birthday), I stayed up half the night just running through things that it could be. I tried to imagine what could possibly make me happy. I didn't WANT anything you could buy in a store. I wanted...No. I didn't want to think about what I wanted. Because I knew I could never have it. So I'd rolled over in bed and squeezed my eyes shut tight until I dozed off into a restless sleep.

When I finally woke up in the morning, I felt like a zombie crawling out of the grave. My alarm clock told me it was 9:30 a.m. but I was exauhsted and stiff. It felt less like my birthday than it had ever felt before. I stumbled down the stairs, half blind in my sleepiness and ambled into the kitchen. My father was sitting at the kitchen table with a cup of coffee and a book of crossword puzzles. He glanced up when I walked in. "Morning..." I said, trying to be civil and not sound depressed. As I was digging through the freezer in search of toaster waffles, I heard Jeb stand up from the table.

"Max." he said, and I paused, immersed to my shoulder, in the freezer. "There's something I'd like to talk to you about when you have a minute." He looked on the brink of blurting something out. I retrieved the cardboard box labeled EGGO from the frigid depths and stood up.

"Okay...I have a minute." I stared at him with what I hoped was a patient expression. He let out a loaded sigh, and I felt agitation growing inside of me. I hated it when people tried to draw everything out into long, suspenseful conversations. I liked to simply get to the point. But my father just leaned against the counter and looked at me like he was studying me, with a thoughful expression on his face. I turned away, feeling awkwardly watched, to prepare the waffles.

"Well, I just wanted to let you know how grateful I am that you decided to come back and stay with us. I know you weren't very happy about leaving Sierra Vista." he started. I didn't turn around, but started fiddling with some pears that were sitting on the counter by the toaster. He must have got the hint that I wasn't planning on saying anything just yet because he began to talk again. "Um...I can tell that all this moving has been really hard on you, and I want you to understand that I didn't do any of this to make you miserable. I was only trying to keep you safe. And...I guess I just tend to interfere too much."

My father sounded pitiful. I sighed and turned around to face him. "Dad, I know. I'm not angry with you. Well...not anymore...But...I just miss everyone is all." I bit my lip. 'MISSED everyone' was the understatement of the year. He smiled at me, but it looked a little watery. "But I...I really..." I took a deep breath. "I love you and Ari. And I know you missed me. And it's not that I didn't miss you, I was just angry, and...and..." My throat was closing up. Repressed emotions I didn't even realize were THERE were welling up inside of me and threatening to spill over. Jeb took a tentative step forward and patted my shoulder. I didn't flinch away.

"I know, Max. I know you care about us." He took a deep breath and for a moment, it looked like he was muttering a silent prayer. "Which is why...I'm giving you a choice." I looked at him with curiosity and furrowed my brows. "I'm giving you a choice because I know now that...that you're old enough and mature enough to make good decisions for yourself. You've given me more than enough proof in the last few months. Valencia told me so much about what you were doing in Sierra Vista, and it has made me so proud, Maximum Ride. So proud." Jeb looked as though he were swelling with emotion. It was almost visible. I was still lost.

"Anyways...what I'm trying to say is that I trust you to make the right decision. Now...you can either stay here with me and Ari and we can find a good school somewhere around here. Any one you want. Or..." He studied me like he was deciding how best to break the news. "I was thinking that maybe it's time we relocated. I've been looking, and I found a nice house that's just two hours away from Sierra Vista. What I was thinking was that you could go and stay with your mother for when you're going to school, and then you could come back and stay with me on weekends."

I was dumbstruck. He was letting ME choose? ME? The kid he hadn't even trusted to live in his house a few months ago? And not even just that! He was willing to leave everything behind here and move all the way out to Arizona. "You...you'd do that for me?" I asked incredulously.

"Max! Of course I'd do it for you! I...I'd do almost anything for you. And I've already talked to Ari about it. He's all for it. We want you to be happy, too." I felt my eyes tearing up.

"Are you sure it's okay with you?" Jeb just smiled and nodded feverishly. "Then, yes! Oh my God! Yes!" Without thinking, I threw myself at my father and wrapped him in a huge hug. "Yes! Holy shit! Yes!" I was practically jumping around the kitchen by now.

"Maximum!" Jeb scolded my language, but he was laughing.

"Max! I think this box is yours!" I straightened up from packing a small suitcase of things to take to Mrs. Martinez's house since I was going to be staying there this week. Me, Ari, and Jeb had just moved into our new house in Flowing Wells, Arizona. It's pretty nice here, and it's only about an hour and forty minutes to Sierra Vista by car. Ari suddenly entered the room I'd recently claimed as my own and set down a box labeled Kitchen on the floor. I peeked into it suspiciously.

"Ari...I don't think these plates from the box clearly labeled KITCHEN belong in my bedroom." I said, rolling my eyes at him. He grinned sheepishly.

"Dad told me to put them away and I didn't feel like it. I thought you might be interested." he said hopefully.

"Nice try kid." I said, ruffing his hair. Then I paused and took a step back. "Ari...are you really okay with this whole moving thing?" I asked with concern. He only smiled wider, though.

"Yeah! This place is cool! There's all sorts of lizards and bugs in the backyard. And I met one of this kids from nextdoor already. He says he'll teach me how to ride his dirt bike if I want!" I could feel excitement coursing through him like it gave off an aura. I felt elated, as well. I was glad to see that after everthing Ari had seen and been through (most of which was the result of my being an idiot and getting myself into bad situations), that there was still a kid under all those layers of adult he'd built around himself.

"Alright...Well, you can learn the art of dirtbike riding AFTER you put these plates away." I said, nudging the box closer to him with my foot. He sighed, but picked it up and lugged it out of my room. I turned back to packing, but soon heard my dad calling me from downstairs.

"Max! Are you ready to drive up and see your mother? I called ahead and it sounds like she and Ella can't wait to see you!" I didn't need any more convincing than that. I eagerly bounded down the stairs with my bags, feeling like fireworks were exploding in my chest.

When we pulled up in front of Mrs. Martinez's house awhile later, it finally sunk in. I was moving back to Sierra Vista! I almost felt like I could cry. I hopped out of the passenger's seat I'd been sitting impatiently in for the last two hours, and started running up the driveway towards the door. Jeb hung back just slightly. When I was halfway there, though, the door burst open and Ella came flying out of it and straight towards me, tripping over her own feet in the rush to get to me. We collided on the walkway and nearly tumbled into the shrubs on my left from the impact.

"Oh my God! I missed you so much!" My half-sister squealed in my ear, clinging onto me. "It's totally not the same without you here!" I just nodded and laughed. Then I looked over Ella's shoulder and spotted Mrs. Martinez coming down the front steps, beaming. When Ella finally released me, I stepped around her and walked over to where Mrs. Martinez was waiting. We just looked at eachother for a moment. And then I flung myself forward and threw my arms around her neck, pressing my face into her shoulder. I could feel her warm, motherly arms come around me as well.

"I missed you, Mom." I mumbled, but so that she could hear me. I heard her let out a sudden sniffle and pulled back. "What's wrong?" I asked, confused. She shook her head and smiled wetly.

"You've never called me 'Mom' before." she said in a shaky voice. I threw my head back to laugh. I hadn't even realized I'd done that.

"Oh my God, this is so cheesey." I said good-naturedly, pulling her into another hug.

"Everyone's going to be SO glad to see you." Ella gushed, coming towards us. I could still see my father lingering a bit awkwardly by the door. "We haven't told anybody that you're coming back yet." she started to giggle. I felt my jaw drop open.

"You haven't?"

"Haha...nope. They're all in for a real surprise." Both Ella and Mrs. Martinez were laughing at my astounded expression. Then Ella got a mischeivious gleam in her eye. "And you know..." she said, slowly, "Tomorrow's the first day of school." I almost face-palmed. In all my excitement to be back, I'd completely forgotten little things like the fact that I STILL had to go to school. But the torture of school paled in comparison with the torture of not having seen any of my friends for a few months. I was actually more than glad to be going back to school. Ella continued though, nudging me playfully with her elbow. "And I think it'd be the PERFECT place to surprise a certain dark-haired someone who's really missed you." I rose my eyebrows and frowned.

"He never even sent a letter or anything." I mumbled to her, but she just smiled.

"Oh, that's just because he's too embarrassed to admit that he has a huge crush on you, and he didn't want to SEEM like he missed you. But trust me, he did. And, also trust me...that boy is CRAZY about you." Mrs. Martinez had tactfully slipped past us to go converse with Jeb, leaving me and Ella to talk about Fang issues in peace. Ella looked at me knowingly when I blushed. "Max...are you in love with him?"

"No!" I said defensively, but shrunk away under her suspicious glare. "I don't know..." My half-sister rolled her eyes.

"Well, fine...don't put a label on it just yet. Go with the flow. You'll see him in school tomorrow." Ella started to make her way over to my car where my things were sitting in the backseat. She grabbed one and handed it to me, and then grabbed one to carry herself. "Now come on. There's SOOOO much I have to tell you about." I listened amusedly to her babble as we entered the house and climbed the stairs until we reached the familiar guest room, which I guess was no longer a GUEST room. It was MAX's room. I smiled at the thought.

"And then, the lights came on and I found out it was Angel the WHOLE time. And Gazzy was just sitting there, laughing." Ella was rambling on through some story she was telling. I blinked in confusion. "But yeah, I've been babysitting alot lately, and we took the kids to a waterpark last weekend. That was fun. Fang came with to help us, and Shayla tagged along. I like Shayla. She seems sweet. I was thinking of inviting her over next weekend or something." She paused, out of breath at the end of her sentence. I rose my eyebrows.

"Hey Ella...have you been hanging out with Nudge alot recently?" I asked slowly. She looked at me curiously.

"Yeah, she was just over here last night. Why?" I laughed.

"Oh, no reason."

It felt like every nerve ending in my body was going haywire when the bell for school rang the next day. Mrs. Martinez had dropped me off just in the nick of time. Most of the kids were already inside. I'd had a slow start this morning, and we'd made it out of the door with just minutes to spare. Buena High School loomed in front of me, and I felt everything I had felt on my very first day all over again. This time, though, there was an undertone of excitement to the mix. I readjusted my backpack on my shoulders, took a deep breath, and stepped in through the front doors.

A rush of high school noise pounded against my eardrums as I made my way cautiously down the halls. A few people did double takes with looks on their faces that said 'I feel like I've seen you somewhere before', but nobody seemed to flat out recognize me. I kept my eyes peeled for any of my friends, though there was on in particular that I was especially eager to see. My heart was beating double time when I rounded a corner swiftly, and then stopped in my tracks. Several yards away from me, standing awkwardly by the lockers, was just the guy I was looking for. Fang was as tall, dark, and handsome as ever. My stomach did a back flip, and I think even my kidneys were shaking with anticipation.

I grinned broadly and broke out into a half-run towards him. But just as I opened my mouth to say his name, I spotted something else that made my acrobatic stomach plummet. Leaning against the lockers in front of him, talking to him and making flirty hand gestures, was a girl I'd never seen before. She had vibrant, red curly hair and pale skin. And, I saw when she turned her face to laugh, she was very pretty. I narrowed my eyes to slits felt my teeth clenching. My superb hearing, allowed me to make out what she was saying in her overly-sweet voice. "Oh my God, Nick," she gushed, "Thank you so much for carrying all those books for me. They were REALLY heavy. I don't think I could've done it without you. You're so STRONG."

"Er...yeah...no problem, Lissa." Fang said quietly, biting his lip. I noticed (with gratefulness) that talking to this Lissa chick seemed to be the last thing he wanted to do at the moment. But she continued to hang all over him anyways. I flexed my fingers. And then I sighed. Maybe I should just let him be. Maybe he really DID want to talk to her, and I was just misreading his facial expression. (It wasn't hard to do. He only had so many expressions) I released the tension in my hands.

"Just walk away, Max. It's been three months. Even if there WAS something there, it's probably long gone now." I thought dejectedly. I turned on my heels and started to walk in the opposite direction down the hall. And then I stopped again. My hands curled into fists once more. But they weren't fists of anger now. They were fists of determination.

"For once in my goddammed life...I am going to get a HAPPY ENDING." I said firmly to myself. I wheeled around and marched right up to where Fang and the girl were talking. Fang was looking at the floor and didn't seem to notice me coming. I paused behind the girl named Lissa and tapped her smartly on the shoulder. She turned halfway so that I came into her view and rose her perfectly shaped eyebrows.

"Can I he-" But I cut her off by grabbing her forcefully by the shoulders.

"Sorry, girl...this one's taken." And I opened the nearest locker and shoved her inside of it, closing it with a slam. There was a seconds pause, and then she began to bang on the door, yelling for help. I ignored her pleas completely. When I looked over at Fang, I saw that he had dropped his stone-wall expression and was openly gaping at me in shock.

"M-Max?" he stuttered. "What are you...What?" He didn't seem capable of forming full sentences. I had planned this conversation out last night. I'd practiced it in front of the mirror. I would cooly explain that I was coming back to live in Sierra Vista and then everything would be A-Okay. No confessions of my undying love for him, or anything. It was planned. But looking at him now, with his dark, shining eyes and olive skin, something came over me that I will never be able to explain. And I threw my plan out the window and stepped swiftly forward until I was kissing him.

It was like the world was on fire. My lips fit perfectly to his, and the way my hands were threading through his soft hair was like they'd been made for this. It took a second, but I felt the warm weight of his hands hesitantly on my hips before he gripped tightly and pulled me closer so that we were pressed chest to chest. I never wanted to stop. I would have stayed in that burning world for forever if not for the lack of oxygen that was making me lightheaded. We eventually broke apart, but only for the sake of our suffering lungs. Fang looked at me with heavily lidded eyes, panting. "What...What was THAT?" he asked. I laughed nervously and shrugged my shoulders. Now I felt like maybe I had intruded. Moved to quickly. I twisted my hands together.

"Umm...Winging it?" I said, unsure. He looked at me for a long moment. Then he laughed softly, stretching out a hand to take mine and pull me closer again.

"Hmm...I like this whole 'winging it' thing." he whispered to me with a smile in his voice.

"Yeah, me too." I muttered before standing up on tiptoe to press my lips against his once more. And...do I dare? Oh, what the hell.

And they all lived happily ever after.

THE END.

A/N: It's done! It's done! I finished it! Yay! Oh my God, I can't believe it! After all those months! I think I'm gonna cry. Hold on...

*Blows nose and dabs eyes*

Okay, before I wrap it up officially, I have a few thank yous to dish out. First and foremost, a very VERY tremendous amount of thanks to Shayna-18. You were amazing. Thank you SO much for your marvelous outline. It was truly one of the most complex and interesting plots I have ever had the pleasure of turning into writing. You were also so very helpful. Endless thanks.

And thank you to anyone who read. I really appreciate it. You are all beautiful. :D I mean it. Thanks to my reviewers as well. Your imput, praise, and suggestions helped a TON.

As for anyone who hated this story...You have no soul. That is all.

SO LONG AND GOODNIGHT.

xoxo,
MurderingxMyxTeddyxBear