OKAY OKAY! I'M SORRY I TOOK SO LONG! I FAIL

Thinkin' about getting a beta…it might help me with deadlines….

Disclaimer. *Sigh* These are so stupid. I DON'T OWN IT, OKAY?

"I love you, Max." I smiled as I kissed Angel on the forehead. Just say it. Say it back! I opened my mouth, took a deep breath, but no words came out. I couldn't do it. "It's okay, I know you love me." I smoothed her hair from her face. I was so glad that she was okay. When Walter grabbed her, I'd been so afraid that she would be hurt.

Nudge entered their shared room, and I took it as my cue to leave before she could rope me into a one-sided, endless conversation. I was Nudge's favorite conversationalist. I sat and listened to her without a word edgewise.

I checked in on Camy and Ella's room on my way to my room. They were both sound asleep. I smiled. At least they'd been spared of this horrible experience.

For some reason, it had been decided for me to get my own room; A decision that I honestly couldn't complain about. As I closed the door behind me, I let out a soft sigh. What a day.

I turned to see a full-length mirror on the back of my door. I looked pretty beat up. My right eye was swollen and purple, my hair disheveled, and my favorite shirt's sleeve was ripped. I had a scratch across my right cheek as well, which only accentuated my huge bruise. I was a mess.

A silent mess.

I was tired of everyone having to cater to my silence. I couldn't even ask questions. I couldn't call for help. I couldn't even tell Fang and his family "thank you" for all of the kindness they'd shown me and my sisters.

I took a few steps back and met my eyes in the mirror. Say it. SAY. IT.

"Thank you." Mrs. Knight said softly, from the other side of the door. I grabbed the knob and opened my door slowly, feeling and probably looking confused. She stepped cautiously into my room, holding out an ice-pack for my eye. I took it and set it on my bed.

"Please, have a seat, Max." She offered, gesturing my bed with one hand as she closed my door with the other. "I want to talk to you."

I did as she asked, and waited for her to sit down as well before raising an eyebrow. She said nothing for a moment. We sat in an awkward silence. Suddenly, her hand was resting softly on mine.

"Max, I'm so sorry this has all happened to you." She said, her voice a tad choked up. I concentrated on the floor to keep from losing my cool. "You're so much better than all of this. You've always been such a strong girl. I'm so proud of you."

I didn't know why Mr. Knight was here, or where she was going with this, but for some reason, I could feel my throat tightening up. There was a heavy pressure behind my eyes for a moment. She was so…mom-ish.

"I wish- I wish I could take away everything that's happened to you. I wish I could grab Anne and shake her by the shoulders, and beg her to answer how she could let this happen to you girls. You're mom and I used to be pretty close…but after you're father died, she closed up. She stopped talking to me-stopped talking to everyone. We tried to reach out, but she would have none of it."

I nodded. I could remember how she was before. She would laugh with other women. I could remember her touching my father's arm softly. Remember, him draping one of his big, loving, arms across her shoulders.

"Max, I know you're trying. I can't read you like your sisters, and I definitely can't read you like my son can, but I can see you trying to reach out. You're doing well. Just keep trying." I nodded again, for lack of a better response.

"That's not why I came up here though," she admitted, "I wanted to thank you."

I looked up at her in surprise. Thank me? Why would she want to thank me? All I'd done was eat her food and get her window broken.

"I haven't seen Fang this happy since before you stopped talking. I hope you know how hard it was for him without you. He'd kill me if he caught me telling you this right now. It's just, he was so…different. It was like, well, like he'd lost you." She let out a small chuckle. "You know how he can be when he's pouting."

I smiled at her phrasing, and the fact that I did know how he was.

"He looked for you, ya know?" I tried not to look too surprised. "When you stopped talking, he wouldn't shut up about it. Hard to imagine him all talkative and worried, right? He was though, and then when Ella told him about your dad, he was so concerned about you. Of course, that was almost 8 or 9 months after. I didn't know either. We missed the funeral, everything."

"Then suddenly, you disappeared. Fang came home, and said that you missed school. He went over to your house, but some strange man opened the door and told him that you and your family had skipped town. Told him, "Sorry, but don't bother me again please." Fang knew something was not right about him though."

Mrs. Knight paused for a moment, looking at the wall like she could see it all. I was trapped in her story, silently begging her to continue.

"He said it, but I didn't believe him. He went back a few times. He kept saying that something wasn't right about it. He kept saying that you would tell him if you were going to leave town. He kept saying…that he knew you were suffering." Mrs. Knight's voice hitched and a few tears streaked down her face.

"Then he started mentioning the strange men that kept going in, the fact that they and that strange man were the only ones that left. At first, I thought the man was a drug dealer…until…until I saw your mother answer the door." Her grip on my hand tightened. "I didn't want to believe it, but I knew that something was wrong. I knew then, that Fang was right. Wherever you were, you were suffering.

"I called Fang's father. His work transferred him to a hospital in Boston for a few months. He said that I should call the police. Either Fang was listening in, or he figured something else out, but when I glanced out the window-he was already halfway across the street. I was worried sick. I thought…I mean, he didn't even have anything to protect himself."

I could feel myself staring at Fang's mom with wide eyes. Here I'd been thinking that Fang abandoned me, but he searched harder for me than I even imagined.

"I just…he wasn't the same without you here. None of us were. I just wanted you to know that, no matter what happens, you and your sisters always have a place here." I could feel the pressure behind my eyes building. Mrs. Knight ran a hand through my hair and gently kissed me on the forehead. "You might put that ice-pack on your eye to dull the swelling."

She stood and headed towards the door. "Goodnight, Max. Just know, I love you very much."

As the door shut behind her, the tears began to fall.

So, this was 3 pages in word. I thought Max needed some questions answered, and I liked the idea of her and Fang's mom sharing a closeness.

I'm sorry I've been taking so long between updates guys. You deserve a better author. I got SO busy, and then when things finally cleared up I couldn't think of how to pick this story back up. You guys are so patient with me though, so thanks. You are awesome.

YourMoosyFate