Okay dear faithful readers! Here is your new chapter! I would just like to take a time out and say thank you to all of you who are reviewing! You guys are freaking amazing! I'm pretty sure I got like twelve reviews on the last chapter, and that is just the most awesome thing ever! I love you all so much! Anyway…. I think that's all! Please REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! Enjoy the chapter and let me know what you think on how I portrayed the characters' emotions. I wasn't sure if I was as spot on as I would like to be. PLEASE NOTE THIS CHAPTER IS IN FANG POV!

KarleeRay

Fang POV

Three Weeks Later

I woke up that morning with a sinking feeling in my stomach. My hands splayed the sheets beside me, searching for the warmth of a body that wasn't there.

Ignoring my paranoia, I sat up, blinking around my room. My body felt hot and sweaty as I slipped out from under my sheets and headed down the hallway to the bathroom.

"Hey Fang," Iggy muttered, storming into the bathroom while I doused my face in cold water. "I gotta take a piss. Hope this doesn't make you uncomfortable."

I shook my head, and then turned in surprise when Gazzy bursted inside the bathroom.

"Well let's just have a party," I said sarcastically, roughly shoving my tooth brush into my mouth.

"Dang," Gazzy yelped, holding a hand to his pants. "I gotta go bad!" He turned, scampering down the hallway to the other bathroom.

A mere thirty minutes later, I'm seated at the kitchen table, stuffing bacon and eggs into my mouth. I would never take the new availability that we have to food for granted.

That sinking feeling I had in my stomach lessoned slightly as my appetite started to fade.

"Ella's acting weird, man. Real weird," Iggy told me, trying not to spray me with his chewed up food.

"What did you do?" I asked him, knowing that with Iggy there was always a little more to the story. His sightless eyes send me a quick glare, and he was just about to answer me when we were joined at the table by Angel, Nudge, Gazzy, and Ella. Iggy immediately shut up, throwing all his attention back to the loaded plate of food in front of him.

That feeling in my stomach came back full-fledged. My fists came up to rub my eyes. Something just did not feel right.

I looked up to see Angel, pinning me with her stare. I shook my head at her, a warning to stay out of my head. What do you think it is, Fang?

I sighed, exasperated, as her voice filtered into my head. Probably nothing. Stay out of my head, sweetie.

She shrugged her tiny shoulders, picking up her fork and beginning to shovel eggs into her mouth at full speed. She had eaten more in five minutes than a grown man could eat in one sitting.

My head snapped up when Max entered the kitchen, my eyes latching onto her form. My black sweatpants hung low on her slender hips, and she was sporting an oversized white t-shirt. One look at her told me she was stressed and had endured a rough night. Tired brown eyes flickered to mine, and I subconsciously noted the dark shadows lingering underneath them. A frown sat on her lips, and the tiny lines on her forehead told me she was thinking hard about something.

I watched as she walked right past the line of food on the bar and came to sit down next to me.

"You should eat," I told her on instinct. Max didn't answer, just sent me a quick glance before beginning to chew on her fingernails. Her foot tapped impatiently under the table, eyes cast far away to a place no one but her could see.

My hand came up, absentmindedly rubbing circles into the small of her back. She stayed quiet, slumping forward and putting her head on the table.

"What's wrong, Max?" Nudge asked, sounding worried and confused. I shook my head at her, telling her not to pursue it if Max didn't answer, and unsurprisingly, she didn't.

My own head came down, level with Max's, and I turned into her, putting my nose into her hair, just to remind her that I was there if she needed me.

The shrill sound of the house phone ringing broke off all conversation at the table. Max didn't even flinch, remaining completely immobile with her head practically glued to the table.

"I'll get it," Doctor Martinez called, breezing into the kitchen. She sent us all a warm smile before picking up the phone. "Yes this is she…." The smile dropped almost immediately after. Her dark brown eyes flickered over to Max for just a fleeting second, and I think I was the only one who even spotted it. My stomach twisted harshly, but I skillfully ignored it, not wanting to jump to conclusions. "Ummm yes, just one moment," Doctor M told the person on the other line as she quietly swept out of ear shot and into another room.

Conversation at the table picked up almost immediately. "So, I'm thinking maybe I'll try out for cheerleader next year. I'll be a freshman so I'll be eligible for the high school team. Will you do it with me, Ells? Please! Please! Please!" Nudge squealed, going on and on in her begging.

"I don't know. Do you think I'd make it? I don't think I'm perky enough. I may be into fashion and most girly stuff, but I'm not you, Nudge," Ella replied, scraping the leftovers from her plate onto Iggy's.

Doctor Martinez hung up the phone when she re-entered the kitchen, visibly upset, tears leaking from the corners of her eyes. Her mouth had just opened to relay some kind of news when Max's head snapped up from the table.

Tears traveled down her cheeks, and my heart seized up like it always does at that sight. "Don't!" She snapped, standing up roughly and pointing a shaking finger at her mother. "Don't tell me that!"

"Max," Doctor M started soothingly, tears flowing more heavily at the sight of her tormented daughter.

"No. No. No! I don't want to hear it!" Max snarled, pushing her way out from behind the table.

It clicked for me then, and I knew, just as Max had.

"I'm so sorry," Doctor M said, voice cracking.

Max bit her lip, so hard that blood began to trickle down her chin. "Max," I chastised before I could stop myself. I stood up, having no idea what to do or say, watching the one person I loved most in this entire world lose a battle she was destined to lose from the start.

I watched her as she began to furiously pace the kitchen floor, hands raking through her hair before she changed her mind and raked them down her face, leaving small trails of blood. I couldn't stop myself from surging towards her, but she quickly jumped back. "Don't touch me, Fang," She warned, venom leaking from her words.

The kitchen fell silent, the only sound being Max's erratic breathing and scuffled footsteps against the wood floor. My eyes flickered over to the table where the rest of my family was still seated. None of them looked confused. Some were crying and some were stone faced, but it was obvious they had caught on.

With a strangled moan, Max fell to her knees, bending forward with her eyes squeezed shut. She became an immobile statue, and there was nothing anyone could do except watch while the girl everyone thought was unbreakable, finally broke.

This went on for at least five minutes. The silence was stifling. Nudge had broken down halfway through, letting out a sob and quickly making Ella and Angel follow suit. It wasn't that they were crying about Trent, not entirely though that probably was some of it. They hadn't known him too well. They were crying for their sister, for the pain they knew she was enduring and for the struggle that the weeks ahead would bring her. Max had flinched slightly at the sound of crying, but otherwise remained in her exact position.

I flicked my eyes towards Doctor M, who quietly walked over to me. "I'm her mother, yes," She whispered, almost silently, into my ear. "But I'm not the one she'll want right now." She pulled back, eyes glistening, and looking me in the eyes, she nodded.

Cautiously, I looked over at Max. I knew that if I was going to get to her, I had to advance quickly or she would have time to either yell at me to stay away or get up and move away, possibly hurting me physically in the process.

My feet moved before I was ready, and I quickly glided across the floor and dropped down next to Max, wrapping her in a stone hug. Instantly, she began to writhe, trying to shove me off her. She struggled harshly, and she almost got out of my grasp once or twice.

"Max. Max," I whispered, and she instantly stilled at the sound of my voice. She flung her head back, letting it hang there. Her breathing sounded strained, and I had to ignore the pang of worry for her own health that was sent through me.

"I can't," She whispered, eyes squeezed shut.

"You don't have to," I murmured back to her, and at that, a violent sob escaped her perfect lips, racking her entire body. She turned in my arms, hands frantically clutching at the fabric of my shirt. Seeing her that messed up about something… I can't even explain it. It killed me.

I held her as tightly as I possibly could, trying to calm the racking of her body. She cried so hard that I feared she would make herself sick, and finally, she did. I tied her hair up in a rubber pony tail holder as she heaved and vomited into the sink.

I carried her bridal style up the stairs a few hours later, feeling for the first time in a really long time, afraid. Afraid of losing the girl I love, afraid that she was going to retreat back into herself like she did when she felt she had nowhere else to hide. I stopped in front of her bedroom door but quickly changed my mind, walking down the hall to my own bedroom. I laid her gently down on my bed, staring down at her. She hadn't uttered a single word since she found out the news. She was shutting down. I could practically see it.

Which is why I was beyond surprised to hear her voice as I turned to walk out the door, going to get her some food that I was hoping I could force feed her.

"Do you think there's a Heaven and a Hell?" Her voice was rusty and hoarse, but to me, it was a sign of hope. It was a sign that maybe, just maybe, she was going to reach out to me instead of shut down.

I turned, going to sit back beside her on the bed. A frown came onto my face as I considered her question. She stared up at me, blankly, not a single emotion on her face. "I think so," I said, finally.

Max merely shifted her eyes from my face to stare at the wall. I waited. "Do you think Trent went to Heaven?"

My heart literally felt like it was breaking. I hadn't felt emotion so raw and hurtful in such a long time, and we all know how great I am with emotion. "Trent…. If Trent didn't get to Heaven, then no one will."

Max nodded mutely. She surprised me when after a moment, she sat up. "Do you think…. I mean do you think he was happy? Do you think he suffered a lot? I tried to… to make him happy by visiting him, but I don't think he was ready to die. I don't think I helped at all," She confessed to me, words that shredded my heart.

"I know that you helped. You made him smile like no one else could. Remember when I went with you to visit him that one day, but I wanted stay in the waiting room and give you your time with him? Well, I watched from the window. Did you not see his face? He lit up, Max. He loved you, and you were there for him, every day, taking time out of your life for him. And I think, that anyone lucky enough to meet you, would die a happy man," I told her, letting the words flow freely from my heart… a rare occurrence, and I meant them, every single word.

Max's face started to crumple, her chest hiccupping. "I didn't even…. Get to say goodbye," She choked out, before bursting back into tears.

I pulled her tightly to me, the only thing I could do, and my heart felt heavy at the thought that this day would forever be remembered as the day that my Max lost her best friend.

I understand that a lot of people did not want this to happen, and some people even told me that if Trent died then they would stop reading. I hate to lose readers because I love you all so much, but I felt that this was what needed to happen, and this was part of my plan. So I'm sorry I let you down to those who will no longer be reading this story! Anyway, please REVIEW!

KarleeRay