Well hello there you faithful readers you! The new chapter is up and I am in an exceptionally good mood! I'll tell you why too, though you probably don't care! Anyway I was up late last night just watching TV with my best friend and enjoying being lazy for the first time in forever! Well we were sitting there watching some Jersey Shore when it goes to commercial break… and what movie trailer did I see for the very first time you ask? THE MORTAL INSTRUMENTS! WHOOOOOO! I friggin love that series and I am seriously psyched for the movie. All I can say is, they better not mess anything up too badly!

Anywho, I am really not sure about the quality of this chapter, so please REVIEW and let me know what you think! You guys have seriously been amazing in your reviewing lately so keep it coming! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW!

KarleeRay

"No way! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Nudge cries, jumping all over me while simultaneously trying to pull the Uggs I bought her onto her feet. "They're perfect! Oh I love you! I love you so much!" She plants a big kiss on my cheek, and I can't help but grin.

We had already opened most of our presents, and there are only a few more left under the tree.

"Your turn, Fang," I murmur, smiling softly as I retrieve the present I had gotten him from under the tree.

I watch, tensely, as he carefully tears into the paper and peeks inside the jewelry box. The tiniest of smiles creep onto his face as he extracts the necklace, turning it over to examine it. I know his hawk like vision will pick out the "Forever" engraved into the bottom corner, and I hold my breath for his reaction. His eyes slowly make their way over to me and before I know it, he has dropped the box onto the couch, taken my face into his hands, and brought his lips down onto mine, right there, in front of everyone. There are numerous cheers from the flock members, and I can make out the flashes of a camera going off from behind my closed eyelids.

I break the kiss, grinning up at him. "I take that as a positive response?"

Fang only nods, and then returns to his spot on the floor around the Christmas tree.

"Alright who's left? Angel? This one is yours from… Max," Mom says, reading my messy handwriting on Angel's wrapped present. She places the present in Angel's waiting hands, and my eyes track her every movement, waiting for her reaction. Angel's quick capable fingers tear into the wrapping paper and unfold the flaps of the box. Everyone in the flock instantly goes silent as their eyes land on Celeste, Angel's long lost bear. I had kept my gift a secret, craving this exact moment… this moment of remembrance, to where we were and where we are now.

Angel looks completely shocked, eyes wide with wonder. She pulls the bear out of the box I wrapped it in, turning it this way and that. Finally, she looks up at me, blue eyes boring into mine. She isn't smiling and I'm afraid, for a moment, that my gift had the opposite effect of what I had hoped. Then, I notice the tears, leaking out of the corner of her eyes. Absentmindedly, she clutches the bear to her chest, eyes never leaving mine. "I…. don't… I don't know what to say, Max," Angel manages, before her face crumples. I lurch forward and pull her onto my lap, feeling that motherly instinct to protect.

"You don't have to say anything," I murmur into her hair. I can feel everyone's eyes on mine and Angel's little scene, but I really don't care. This is about me and my baby.

"She's perfect," Angel says, smiling and holding out the bear for both of us to see. "Just like I remember."

I kiss the top of her head, and she climbs out of my lap, making her way over to my mom, whom Angel has a close relationship with. I think Angel sees my mom as her actual mother.

A few more presents go around. Gazzy opens up the ridiculously expensive remote control car he had been drooling over for forever, and Ella opens up her own pair of Uggs that she got from Mom.

Finally, there's only one present left under the tree, and whose is it? If you guessed me, then you would be totally right.

My hands shake slightly as I read the scribbled handwriting on the paper.

To: Max- From: Fang

I pull aside the paper and flip open a black jewelry case, eyes widening as I take in its contents. Nestled in the box is the exact same dog tag necklace that I bought Fang. Instead of black wings, there are pure white ones engraved into the fine silver. I turn it over, entranced by its beauty. My eyes laser in on the engraving at the bottom corner. 'Forever'.

I look up, shocked, stunned, flabbergasted. Fang and I had gotten each other the same exact present. We had always been perfectly in sync, but this….. this was taking it to a whole new level.

I slip the necklace around my neck, admiring it, and then look up at Fang, grinning. "We match," I whisper, gesturing to our necklaces. He gives me a small half smile, brightening the room, before pulling me into a hug.

"That was delicious, Mom," I say, picking up my empty plate from the table and taking it over to the sink.

"Yeah. That was like the best meal ever…. Or maybe everything just tastes better because it's Christmas, you know? Because Christmas is so great, so everything is so great on Christmas. You think?" Nudge asks, and my mind struggles to follow where she was going with that. Okay, I'll admit. It wasn't that hard to understand, but…. Alright fine, I'm a little distracted. Just a tad.

My eyes swerve to the clock. It's nine now. Visiting hours at the hospital will be ending in thirty minutes. I take a deep breath. He told you not to come. You need to be with your family on Christmas.

I drop my face into my hands, frustrated, and I feel Fang's knee bump mine under the table. I look over at him.

"It's okay," He whispers. Figures. He would know exactly what was wrong without me saying anything.

"No… it's really not," I answer, softly, feeling my jaw tighten. Nothing about this was okay. Trent should be at home, spending Christmas with his family. Trent should be happy and cracking jokes like he always does. But most of all, Trent should not be friggin dying, deteriorating in some hellhole of a hospital! Why? Why do bad things happen to good people?!

Suddenly, I can't take it. I stand out of my chair so fast, so angry, that it tips over backwards. I could care less. Ignoring everyone's questions, I march over to the stairs and jog up them to my room. I know I'm going to explode. The need to hit something makes my fingers twitch, and the moment I enter my room, I act on that need. My knuckles smash into the closest wall, leaving nothing but a small dent. Man, these walls were tough ones. Mom probably planned this all out, knowing that mere normal walls wouldn't cut it when you were housing a houseful of mutants.

A frustrated growl leaves my mouth, and I pull my fist back and swing again, harder this time. The skin on my knuckles is shredded, but I hardly feel a thing. I turn, launching a hard kick to my bed, not wanting to seriously damage anything. It was completely unsatisfying, feeling the squishy mattress under my lethal kick.

Not caring about damage anymore, I whirl and snap a hard kick to the wall, hissing in pain as I feel the skin rip off the side of my foot.

I limp around my room for a moment, breathing heavily and trying to calm down. I want to. I can't. I need to. I won't.

My fist, seeming to have grown a mind of its own, slams itself back into the wall. I realize that this gives me a lot of satisfaction, so I just stand there, pummeling the wall with both fists. The pain in my hands is excruciating, but I refuse to stop.

Finally, I tire myself out. I stop, breathing heavily. My eyes stare straight ahead, overlooking the damage I've done.

Suddenly, my legs crumple beneath me and I go to my knees, clutching my ruined hands to my stomach. I can't even attempt to stop the sobs that wrack through my body.

With tears streaming down my face, I look up, needing to see Fang walking through my door. He wasn't.

Carefully, I pick myself up off the floor, stumbling blindly to my door. My vision is completely blurry, my tears like a waterfall. I make my way into the hall and burst through Fang's bedroom door as fast as I can.

Fang looks shocked that I'm allowing him to see me like this. He stays where he is on the bed, stunned.

"I- I just-," I manage before I begin to sob again. That seems to be all it takes for Fang to snap back to reality, and he reaches me in seconds, pulling me into his arms.

"I'm here," He whispers into my ear.

Suddenly, I feel extremely pathetic, and I pull out of his grip. "I'm sorry," I manage through hiccups.

He reaches out, grabbing my wrist and pulling me back to him. "Never be sorry."

"I just don't get it," I tell Fang as he crouches down in front of me where I'm sitting on the closed toilet seat. His face is grim as he takes my foot into his hand. He holds it over the edge of the bath tub as he douses it with peroxide. I wince, and his eyes flick up to mine.

"That'll teach you," He says simply, before going back to my foot. It's bleeding pretty badly, so he lightly dabs it with a wet wash cloth, trying to stop the bleeding just a tad before trying to stick a bandage on it. His face is completely emotionless as he continues, "You're angry, I know. You have every right to be… but this… This is not okay, Max." Fang gestures to my various self-inflicted wounds.

"I know." My head hangs in defeat.

"You know I wish I could protect you from everything. But I can't protect you from yourself," He says, wrapping gauze around my foot.

"I don't need you to protect me," I counter, immediately.

"I know," He agrees.

There's silence as he finishes bandaging me up. "I won't do it again," I murmur, feeling serious déjà vu to the time on the beach when I tried to cut my chip out.

"I know," He mutters, agreeing with me yet again. He starts to leave but quickly changes his mind, squatting back down in front of me. "You're not alone in this. You know that. So the next time you feel the need to freaking explode like that, you come to me first! I can help you, Max. I can, if you'll just let me! Hell, I'll break into the school and steal a punching bag for you if I have to. I'll let you hit me, if that's what it takes. Just don't hurt yourself because this…. Seeing you do this…."

"What?" I prompt him, softly.

"It kills me," He says, earnestly, black eyes boring holes into mine, and somehow I know he's having the same déjà vu that I am.

"I'm sorry," I reply, helplessly.

He throws me the smallest of smiles before leaning forward and pressing his lips softly to mine.

Fang breaks away quicker than I would have liked, and I sigh. He stands, pulling me to my feet with him and to my delight, he drags me into his room so we can cuddle. Yes. I said 'cuddle'. Don't make fun. I bet I have a boyfriend cuter than yours, so there.