I don't own MR

Iggy

In the days that followed our sweet kiss in the woods Nudge and I became much closer than I ever would have originally dreamed. It became a daily thing for us to share a longing look before slinking off into the shadows just to steal a couple of kisses. We were careful to hide any and all thoughts of us being in a secret relationship from Max, Fang, and Ari. It was mostly at night, after everyone was sound asleep, that I gave up on cleaning stains off dishes and quietly tiptoed up the stairs into Nudge's room; where she would sit on her bed wide awake waiting for me.

It was one of those nights yet again. I was up late claiming I was determined to scrub a pot that was already spotless, clean. Max and Fang had headed off to bed with only a raised eyebrow of suspicion whereas Ari slumped away; ever since we got into that fight our friendship- or whatever it was we had- wasn't the same. I could still smile and joke with him; but it was always a little forced.

For a moment guilt swayed into me like the rolling waves, consuming me with the bad taste. Lupo and Ari together were my biggest fear. Lupo cheating on me again because I wasn't loving her enough was my biggest fear. And yet here I stood, the biggest hypocrite in the world, abandoning the dishes and walking up the carpeted stairs; careful to skip over the creaky one so as to not wake anybody.

As I reached the top of the steps, I paused. I thought about how angry Lupo would get; how hurt she would be; how broken she would feel, and I almost headed back towards our shared room. But then I remembered something. I may love Lupo but my life doesn't revolve around her. I can't lay next to her and cry for the rest of my life because she won't talk to me. I can only hope that she'll forgive me for taking out all my pain with Nudge.

Shifting my feet back towards Nudge's room, I snuck over there and quietly pushed the door open, peeking in. "Knock, knock," I whispered with a smirk already spreading over my face as Nudge giggled quietly. She stood just a few feet in front of me, a smile wrapped across her face. I wondered if she knew this was wrong. If she felt any guilt. Although now was not the time to interrogate Nudge on her feelings. So I closed the door and in one swift motion shoved her against the wall, connecting my lips to hers.

I became lost in the way I forced our bodies to mold together, the way our mouths never separated. For the smallest second I felt a spark; the same kind I felt with Lupo; but then it was gone. It never stayed. The love that I tried to make myself feel never quite stuck around long enough to get the full intoxication of a long, passionate kiss.

As we kissed, Nudge pushed me backwards and I struggled to keep my lips connected to hers as she pushed me down on her bed. Something in the back of my mind sent up a red flag. It had never gone farther than a kiss yet, and I wasn't sure if I wanted it to even with the lack of self restraint I had.

"Nudge," I mumbled into our kiss as she began to tug my shirt off.

"Yeah?" She answered back and I sighed to myself. How could I just say no to her? I mean sure it was simple, but once I stopped, I had a horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach that everything would. Maybe it was for the better. Then the guilt wouldn't eat me alive and I wouldn't have to worry about Nudge's feelings. On the other hand, I hadn't relieved this much stress and built-up tension in a long time. I could speak freely with Nudge and count on her opinions to back me up or tear me down. I could even talk about Lupo, Ari, or anybody I wanted to with her without the constant fear of judgement. Don't get me wrong, I can do that with Lupo; but not right now. Not with her emotional struggle. It's too much for her to have to deal with her own feelings and mine.

"Um, we should probably-"

"Stop? You wanna stop don't you?" Nudge sat up, sighing quietly. "I knew this was going to happen. Every time I find myself liking a guy this always happens. At the last second the stop and I never see them again. It happened with Ari and now you're leaving too."

"Whoa! Ari?" I asked, avoiding the rest of her words. Maybe if she rambled on for awhile I could think through my emotions and needs.

"Yeah, it was a long time ago, when I first started helping them. We kinda just clicked. It was before you and Lupo came into the picture though. Max thought it was adorable and never let us forget it. We went everywhere together when I was around, and when I was back at HQ we never stopped talking and…"

As Nudge continued to speak of Ari I let myself detach from the conversation to think. Could I honestly go through with a step as big as this? Could I live with myself knowing I had hurt Lupo in the worst way possible. She did it to you, a voice chimed up in my head, but even as I tried to convince myself I knew it wasn't true. Lupo was a horribly jealous person when she could be and I had spent too much time with Max and not enough with her. She was just trying to get noticed; and one simple kiss with Ari wasn't exactly the same thing as what I was about to do with Nudge. The more I switched back and forth, the more confused I became. What was right? What was wrong? I didn't even know anymore, honestly. I sat there for a long time, only catching words here and there of Nudge's long monologue before making my decision.

"And after that he broke it off-"

"Nudge," I cut off, looking her in the eye. Her eyes were so beautiful the way they shimmered so many deep fall colors before settling on a warm brown. She began to look down towards the dark purple sheets on her bed before I lifted her chin to meet my gaze once again. "I never said I wanted to stop," I whispered and a small smile crossed her face before she pressed her lips against mine and I got lost in the sinful feeling once again.

Max

"Something's up with Iggy," I said to Fang casually as we laid together on our king sized bed, one of his arms wrapped around my shoulders and our legs tangled together. This is how we spent most nights since we got back home. Better to curl up and just enjoy each other than to sleep with each other almost every night.

"You got that right," Fang nodded in agreement, twirling my hair on his finger. "Maybe it's just that the lack of Lupo has gotten to him," he suggested, but something inside of me had a gut feeling that that couldn't be right.

"I don't think that's it. That got to him a long time ago." I sighed, unsure of what could make my friend look over his shoulder as often as Iggy did.

"It's probably just withdrawal, Max. I know how hard it was to go without you by my side just for a day; let alone a week. He just needs Lupo back. That's the only thing that's going to help right now so unless we can knock some sense into her we need to stay out of the way,"

"I guess you're right," I mumbled, resting my head on his chest as I thought of something; anything we could do to help my two best friends. Finally, after wracking my brain for what felt like years but was truly only minutes, I got an idea.

"We could find her kid-" I started, but Fang stopped me almost immediately.

"No. It's too dangerous. Besides, whatever was inside of her is in a test tube now, Max. We wouldn't know how to get it or what to do with it." He looked down at me, an obvious question and fear in his eyes. Once I set my mind to something I would do it; and he, of all people, knew that. Of course, at the same time I thought about everything I went through when he wasn't around and I had to save him, and decided I didn't want him to have those same feelings.

"Alright. I won't go after her kid. Not yet anyways. Seven months from now though, we go. We get baby Lupo and bring him or her back, okay?" I pleaded.

"Max-"

"You wouldn't even hesitate if it was our child, so I don't want to hear anything other than an 'okay' out of your mouth," Fang sent me a smile; the kind that made my heart beat slightly faster than normal.

"I was going to say okay," he leaned down and pressed his lips against mine and I snuggled closer, glad to have Fang with me through it all.

"So, to change the subject, what do you want to do, cause lying around has become boring," he told me, sitting up. I followed suit, thinking for a minute.

"Well, I don't know. Christmas is coming up in a few weeks, maybe we could try and come up with gifts for everyone?" I suggested meekly.

"Whoa! Are you serious? When did that happen?" Fang asked, sounding slightly bewildered. I couldn't blame him though. After all, time flew faster than a jet when you were running for your life.

"Yeah, time gets away from you, huh?" I joked lightly and Fang nodded in agreement.

"Okay, so let's start with Nudge, she'll be the easiest."

"Makeup and magazines galore," I told him and smirked at the thought. Nudge would absolutely flip out if she got a box full of torture devices, aka makeup.

"Alright, Iggy? Maybe a new pan cause ya know, what chef doesn't wanted new cooking stuff?" Fang offered and I laughed.

"Wow, just a pan?"

"Well, maybe a few forks too- no knives though." Fang chuckled as I shook my head at him.

"Or we could just give him a gift card to some fancy Chef store and let him go wild."

"That would probably be a much better idea."

"Alright, how about Ari?" I asked, more to myself than Fang.

"How to be nice to your sister's boyfriend, book and movie version," my boyfriend spoke up, without any hesitation. I laughed at the thought of it; that would be one present Ari would gladly return.

"Or maybe a guide on how to not break so many bones in one escape mission," I added.

"Some treats to train him to be a good boy," Fang and I were leaning on each other with laughter by this point. To a lot of people it probably wasn't as funny as we were making it out to be, but after not laughing in so long; everything becomes funny. However, my laughter began to subside as a small thought began to grow in my mind.

"Fang, we're broke. We can't get anything without asking Nudge for money, and I don't want to do that," I told him honestly as he began to sober up.

"Yeah, and I don't think we could even shop in that town anymore. There's probably search dogs all over the place looking for us."

"Well maybe you could fly us over to… um, uh, I mean, maybe we could head over a couple towns?" I stuttered, trying to hide the fact that I had forgotten Fang didn't have his wings anymore. He sighed and looked down at the blankets on the bed, thinking long and hard about something.

"Maybe, or maybe we could just get Iggy to go buy everything but his present, and get Nudge to buy his?"

I snorted at the thought of Nudge buying Iggy's present. "She'd tell him before she knew," I insisted.

"Well Ari maybe?"

"Puh-lease, the day Ari goes into a store to buy something for somebody is the day I die," I joked.

"Well then what are we going to do?" Fang asked, raising an eyebrow in question at me.

I thought for a moment, unsure myself until an idea came to mind. It was something I hadn't done in a long time, but it always worked.

"I've got an idea," I said matter-of-factually.

"What is it?" Fang wondered out loud, looking into my soul for an answer.

"You'll see," I told him, and winked.

Guys, please R&R! I miss all your amazing reviews!

Ooooo, what could Max be planning? And yes, I did something I thought I'd never do in this story, I split a chapter up into 2 POV's. This will probably be the first and last chapter like this, but it was just too short with just Iggy's POV

Soar on

VR