HAPPY NEW YEARS EVERYONE!

So, since I've been a complete bitch who hadn't uploaded this fic for who knows how long, I decided, for New Years, I would finally come here, notice everyone that I'm not dead, and hopefully have you guys hooked on this story again :)

I hope you sincerely like this, as it took me forever to write (again, I hate my writer's block for this), and please don't forget to review and comment!

If any of you remember the plot to Boys Over Flowers, please do not hesitate to tell me because I might need it in the near future and if you have recommendations for me to watch or write about, PM me anytime you want! (Prompt requests all the way)

And for anyone still asking, this is still Fax. It's just going to take some time for Fang to, you know, lose his douchebaggy personality.

So, without further ado, here's the next chapter!

Maximum Ride has been abused at the orphanage for more than 12 years. She not only starves herself for the little kids, but she also takes punches for them as well. After one faithful day, she enrolls into the most famous and expensive school in the world on a scholarship but this may turn out horrible in the end. Before, she had only one fear: the little kids getting hurt on her account, but now, she has another fear to deal with: a student finding out about her abuse. When one of the most popular and influential students find out, can Max keep her dignity by figuring this out herself or will her walls break down?

She didn't know why, but as she rode towards the orphanage after a long day of school and work, she got a terrible feeling riding up her back. The feeling increased as she parked her bicycle behind the building and walked up the front stairs that she had to take a minute, trying to figure out just what this feeling was. Was it because she was tired? Or was it something else?

She decided to ignore it for now as she opened the door and just as she expected, two blonde angels stood up from their sitting positions with big smiles on their faces.

"Maxie!" Both screamed as they ran up to her, and she, with her arms wide open, caught them in a big hug. The others came out, some cautiously and some with comfortable smiles, and soon enough, everyone was toppling over each other to get their portion of Max's hugs.

'This is why I can't report Batchelder, Ella. I'm sorry.' She thought quietly as she escaped the kids piling on top of her.

"Come on. I have food to share." She announced and everyone got to their battle stations. It was evident that Batchelder did not know about the extra food portions she brought in every day from school, and if he knew, everyone would be murdered in no time, and she would be first in line.

They all rushed to their room, which was filled with damp, grey bunk beds, and everyone lined up in front of her, the smaller ones at front and the older ones behind. Little by little, she divided the food she got from school and passed it out to everyone until nothing was left for her, which was completely fine as she ate at school, albeit little.

When Max gave food to Angel, the smaller one hesitated slightly. She caught it and crouched down to be at Angel's level.

"Hey, baby, what's wrong?" She asked as he patted Angel's hair and her baby looked at her with tearful eyes.

"You have no food again." Angel cried and everyone in the room froze. Max looked around her and saw everyone giving her guilty, even remorseful looks, and she bit her lip.

"Guys, you should know me by now. I'm completely fine. Besides, I already had my part at school. It's your turn." She tried to soothe and while the smaller ones were happy enough with that explanation, the two blonde twins and a few older orphans still looked severely unhappy.

Max sighed as she gave out the remaining food and no one had time to savor their food because they needed to finish it as fast as they could before Batchelder suddenly popped up out of nowhere.

"Are all the windows open?" She asked and the older ones took care of that. In a maximum of 3 minutes, all the food was gone and the smell was substituted from deliciousness back to darkness.

Max heaved a relieved sigh as this day was another success. At that moment, the door was busted open and everyone froze in complete and absolute fear. Batchelder strode in high and mighty, looking around the area, inspecting it even, before landing his eyes on Max.

"Ride, I need to talk to you." He barked and she followed him immediately. Angel and Gazzy, on the other hand, prevented her from doing so.

"Don't go, Maxie!" Gazzy cried in anguish and Angel buried her head on Max's leg. She looked at Batchelder for a split second and she did not like the look on his face one bit. She bit her lip before turning back to them, patting their heads and soothing their fears away.

"Don't worry about me, ok? I'll be back soon." And painfully, she had to tear her two babies away. Once done, she ran towards Batchelder and swallowed a forming lump down her throat.

Batchelder tsked loudly and glared at the others before leaving. She was just an inch behind. They walked all the way to his office, and she couldn't help but cringe at the memories of those 5010 nights of pure torture she had to deal with inside that room.

Batchelder went in first, leaving the door open for her to enter, and when she did, he ordered her to close it. Another lump formed inside her throat.

"Did I do something wrong?" She brought up hesitantly, looking at Batchelder every now and then. He said nothing for a few seconds, making her even more jittery.

Then, when he spoke with a menacing smile on his face, her whole world crashed down. "Your 'precious babies', the twins that just hugged you, are getting adopted."

Night 5011 was peaceful as Batchelder decided that today, because he was earning money, he would be kind enough to let Max go this time. That, however, did nothing to lessen the pain she was feeling now. She actually almost begged him to hit her, do anything to her because she knew that she would have rather had physical torture than this mess.

When she entered the room, everyone huddle around her in surprise, their eyes wide open at the fact that this time, there were no new bruises and injuries that had to be mended. She put a forced smile that could have fooled any passerby, but these people were her family, and they knew something was wrong.

"Max, what's wrong? What happened?" Eve, one of the older orphans who was turning 13 in a just a week, asked worriedly. Max swore inwardly at the perceptiveness everyone had.

She kept her forced smile. "Nothing's wrong. Something good happened to Batchelder so he decided to let me off. It's a good thing, isn't it?" When no one was buying that story, she sighed and lifted her shirt a bit. Some winced at the sight of her stomach.

For once Max was glad that she was hit.

"I may or may not have been hit by Batchelder once before leaving." She confessed and Eve stepped forward with a hug.

"I'm sorry." She said while the others got the first aid kit. Then, Eve put her face closer to Max's. "You're telling me what happened." She whispered and Max cringed.

"You'll know soon enough." She replied and waited for Mary, another older orphan at the age of 14, to inspect the bruise.

"Thankfully, it's not bleeding so I don't think we need to do a lot. Do you still want it bandaged?" Mary asked once she was finished, and Max shook her head.

"I can deal with one tiny bit of damage. We need to save some of these bandages off for you guys when you get hurt." She spared at glance at the soccer loving kids, who gave her sheepish grins.

"We don' got hurt, Maxie!" One of them said as he showed her his unscraped knees proudly. She smiled back, a genuine smile this time, and ruffled his hair.

"Good. Be careful next time, ok? And if those bullies show up again, you gotta tell me." Max reminded them and they all nodded.

"They ain't got no place to steal our ball, right Maxie? We gots it fair an' square."

"Right you did." Max then clapped her hands. "Now, time for bed. It's too late and Maxie needs to do her homework." Everyone groaned but complied to her wishes, making her smile once more. Then, when her eyes found Gazzy and Angel getting ready like usual, she couldn't help but cover her face with her hands, begging the universe not to let anyone see her tears.

"What? What are you saying?" Max jumped out of her seat and screamed, horror evident in her eyes. Batchelder wasn't fazed in the slightest.

"Did you not hear me? Are you just that stupid? The twins are getting adopted." He replied slower, as if he were talking to a kindergartener. "Now sit down and don't interrupt me. I'm not done yet."

She refused to listen to him. "Why? Why them? Who's adopting them? Why now, of all times?" She kept asking, her face full of terrible, heartbreaking emotions.

"Ride, calm the fuck down. Did you not hear me? I still have shit to -"

"I refuse to let them go. I refuse to have them leave. The people adopting them should find someone else, but not them. I've taken care of them since they were fucking babies! I -"

Her next words died out when Batchelder abruptly stood up and kicked her hard in the stomach. She instantly fell down, coughing violently, and looked at Batchelder with pleading eyes.

Batchelder was merciless. "Shut the fuck up. I told you, I'm not done talking." He sneered and calmly walked back to his desk, leaving her on the ground, clutching her stomach like her life depended on it.

"If you must know, they're a married couple who can't have babies. They want the twins because they're everything the two want: cuteness and obedience. They will come here again in about a week with all the papers and forms signed and ready to go." Batchelder explained.

She couldn't even look at him in the eye. "Why are you telling me this?"

He smiled, which she caught from the corner of her eye. "Because you're going to be the one telling them. You know, to ease the pain."

She stood up slowly, eyes facing downward. "You're expecting me to tell my babies that they're going to be ripped away from me? On my own? Do you even know how much we love each other? You're practically forcing me to walk to my own deathbed here."

Batchelder chuckled. "Over-exaggerate as you wish, but the fact still remains. The couple is going to come in a week's time to take them away, and you're going to be the one to tell them. Think about how nice I am. I'm telling you this beforehand so that you can spend as much time with them as you like. I won't even lay a hand on you or the other children for the time being. It's going to be a glorious week."

"You're a monster." She said in a shaking voice, trembling all over.

"I believe we already established that, Ride. Now leave." He demanded and just like that, she was kicked out and left to rot.

When the lights were out and she finished her homework, which only took about half an hour long, she got prepared to wake her most favorite babies up. She was trembling, and she knew that, but at this point, she gave up in trying to calm herself down. There was nothing she could do to ease the pain that was in her heart. So this was the feeling she had when she came back from her work.

She took a deep breath as she mentally began to prepare herself and she woke the two up before she could change her mind. They opened their eyes groggily and whined that they wanted to sleep more. She felt her eyes water in despair.

"Sorry, babies, but I got to talk to you." She whispered and they immediately got out of bed, as if all the energy was back in them. They all walked out of the room and Max crouched down to the ground, her back to the wall to support her. The twins looked at each other worriedly.

"Maxie, what's wrong?" Angel asked first, Gazzy nodding from behind.

Max didn't have the heart to say it. She didn't know how to begin. So, instead, she asked something else. "Do you guys ever wonder why I come so late?"

Angel answered first. "Eve said that it was because you were working for money. You're saving up money so that we can all leave, right?"

Max smiled, but couldn't help but cringe slightly at the way she used the word 'all'. "Yup, exactly. But don't you guys wonder what my workplace looks like? What I do to gain the money?"

The two looked at each other eagerly, getting the hint on where this talk was going. "Are you going to show us where you work? Can we really go and see?" Gazzy jumped up and down energetically while Angel looked like she didn't know how to react. They were obviously happy, though, and that was enough to make Max smile once more.

"How about I take you guys to both of my workplaces on the weekend?"

They both nodded. "It's just two days, right? Tomorrow's Friday, right? It's not long!" Angel squealed in delight.

Max pushed it a bit further. "And maybe, I can take you guys to my school, too. I don't think people would say anything if I was just showed you guys around and I could even get visitor passes for you. What do you say?" That just made the twins jump around excitedly even more.

Then, Gazzy suddenly stopped and frowned. Max's hackles went up.

"Maxie, why so suddenly? Why now? You even had to wake us up late when you could've just told us tomorrow." Gazzy said and Angel hesitated as well, understanding her brother's point. Max's eyes widened a fraction before settling down to her regular poker face in a split second.

"Because I'm only taking you guys. If i told you tomorrow, everyone would hear and would want to go as well. I can't possibly take that many people all at once, you know? You guys should know by now that you're my favorite, right?" Max easily countered and the mere fact that the twins were her favorite made them light up like a Christmas tree.

"Maxie, do you really love us the best?" Angel asked hopefully and Max nodded.

"Obviously, baby. Now, don't tell anyone else about this, ok? It's our little secret." She said with her finger resting on her lips to universally signal silence, and the twins, though giddy, nodded silently.

She then pushed them back inside. "Ok, now go back to bed. Sorry I had to wake you guys so early."

They both shook their heads. "it's alright, Maxie. You know we'd do anything for you!" Angel replied with Gazzy agreeing with her from behind and Maxie had to look away as they got comfy in their beds again.

She stayed with them until their chests rose up and down slowly, signaling their sleeping, and it was then that she finally broke down, albeit quietly.

"We'd do anything for you!" Angel had asked her before sleeping. She covered her face with her trembling hands as she tried to wipe away her infinite tears.

"Then, don't leave me behind." She whispered softly before sulking away.

Eve couldn't help but cry along with her.

When Max awoke, she felt strangely refreshed. She soon realized that it was because there was no pain in any area excluding her stomach, but she had gotten used to that ages ago. Then, as she stretched and inspected the area, her eyes landed on two blond children, still soundly asleep. The night's incident occurred to her and used all the strength she had to will her tears away.

She needed to get ready for school.

She hastily ran to the bathroom to put concealer on any remaining bruises and scars she's obtained during the years she was here and when she was done, she marched to the cafeteria where the grub was already set out.

She cringed at the bleak oatmeal that looked more grey than orange but sighed, knowing everyone had no choice but to take it and hopefully get enough energy to survive until she came back with extra food at night, after all her work shifts were done.

By the time she got ready to distribute the food, everyone was already in line, waiting patiently with plates in their hands. No one complained and no one fought each other this time, which was, instead of being peaceful, strangely creepy.

When Eve came up with her food, she looked at Max with a knowing look and Max stared at her in horror. How did she know? Did everyone else know as well?

'I'll tell you about it before you leave.' Eve mouthed and Max nodded subtly, hastily finishing up the distributions. There was no leftover food for her this time either, something she paid no attention to anymore, and quickly got ready to go to school. When she was finished, she found Eve standing in front of the door, arms crossed and a grim look marring her face. Max gulped as she walked towards her.

"What's up?" Max asked uncertainly and Eve hugged herself tighter.

"Is it true? Are Angel and Gazzy really leaving?" Eve asked quietly and Max, grief-stricken, nodded slowly while looking away. She heard Eve let out an equally grief-stricken gasp and soon enough, both were at the verge of tears.

Max had to ask. "How did you know?"

Eve shrugged. "I was awake when you woke them up and talked to them. I didn't mean to spy or anything, I just… couldn't get a lot of sleep. I put two and two together and soon enough, I was crying, too."

"Is that why everyone was quiet today? Does everyone know? Do they know, too?" Max said, eyes widening. Thankfully, Eve shook her head.

"No, I'm pretty sure no one else knows. Just that, I'm pretty sure everyone could feel the tension. Maxie, we know you too well. You can't hide anything from us."

Max couldn't help but give her a tired smile. "i know. That's the one thing I don't like; that you guys can read me like a book."

"Hey, it goes both ways though, doesn't it? It's extremely unfair that you can know something's wrong the moment you look at us. I mean, I'm a pretty good actress, if I do say so myself, and you can still sniff out anything that might've happened to me. It's insane."

Max smiled more genuinely and patted Eve on the head. "Well, in just a few years, you can do the same." Her smile then disappeared. "Take care of Angel and Gazzy for me, ok?"

Max could see Eve barely containing herself. "How long do they have?"

"They're leaving on Thursday. We only have 6 more days."

"What are we going to do? What are you going to do?"

A few tears slipped out and trailed down Max's cheek. "Give them the time of their lives. What else can I do before they leave us forever?"

There was something… different about the aloof, vague, extremely difficult Maximum Ride today. Something that Fang couldn't really understand but could still detect easily. It happened when the Flock arrived and like usual, the females screamed in delight and the males merely looked at them like gods. Iggy immediately detached himself from the group to find the one and only Max, and while Fang wanted to do the same, there were too many fangirls he had to deal with.

When he finally had the chance to escape, he furrowed is eyebrows at Iggy's worried expression. He jogged over to where Max, Iggy, and Nudge were at, and he could instantly notice it as well.

It was as if she were devoid of life even further, as if that were possible.

Nudge was trying her very best to coax the problem out of her while Iggy dramatized everything to try and get her to laugh. Nothing worked, though that was to be expected.

When the bell rang, signifying the start of first period, Max just left without saying anything to the people next to her. That was enough evidence to have everyone look at each other in pure confusion and worry.

"What's up with her?" Fang asked, breaking the moment of silence when Max left. Nudge and Iggy had no answer for his question.

"Don't you think she's a bit more… I don't know, dead-like?" Iggy described bluntly and Nudge hit him on the shoulder.

"Don't say that! She's had enough as it is!" Nudge exclaimed but that didn't help her hands to stop trembling viciously.

Iggy, on the other hand, was rubbing his shoulder. "Don't hit me! It's not like I'm the one who made her like that." Immediately after saying that, both looked towards Fang, who at the moment, felt very offended.

"Hey, why are you looking at me? I did nothing to her. You saw me, I barely even touched her. Dude, you were there when all that shit happened. Vouch for me or something."

Iggy just shrugged. "I don't know, man. You were pretty aggressive when you talked to her. And you did kind of invade her personal space."

Nudge's eyes widened. "Excuse me?" She screeched as she sauntered up to Walker and eyed him suspiciously. Fang had to push her away slightly because of the uncomfortable small distance between the two.

"Tried to invade. Didn't work out and she fended for herself anyways. That alone shouldn't have made her like this. You have to admit, I've done worse to her in these couple of days." Fang defended and Nudge crossed her arms accusingly.

"Ah, so the jackass finally admits his wrongdoing. What's next? A zombie apocalypse?" Nudge asked sarcastically. Iggy couldn't help but snicker from behind. Fang merely huffed as he turned away from the two.

"Whatever it is, it's not my fault. You guys are closer to her, aren't you? Ask her what's up because I am sure as hell that she won't talk to me."

Nudge also scoffed at him. "You can say that again. You're going to have to do so much to even try and get her to talk to you normally."

Fang glared at her. "I know that. And I'm trying, but not now when she's become like that, which is making t practically impossible for me to do anything at all. It's pretty fucking annoying, if you ask me. Go talk to her or something. She might tell you if you try. You are her best friend, aren't you?" He intentionally provoked and like he expected, it worked.

Nudge grabbed Fang's shirt, but while Nudge looked close to killing him, said person himself just looked down on Nudge with a smug grin. "How fucking dare you? Don't you know how difficult it is for me to at try and break her shell?" She screamed, ignoring looks of several students who were roaming the hallways.

Fang didn't look fazed at all. "A true friend would've already broken that."

"What do you know about true friends?" Nudge spat out and Iggy finally decided it was time to intervene. He caught her by the shoulders and pried her away from his best friend. She struggled but it proved to be useless as Iggy was definitely stronger.

That didn't stop her from trying though. "You're the one who couldn't even keep his emotions together! The Flock was almost in shambles because you were too selfish and only thought of yourself, not others."

Fang narrowed his eyes scarily. "What the fuck did you say?"

Iggy looked at both of them in fright. "Guys, calm down. Screaming at each other won't help this situation at all. We need to think of way to help Max, remember? Come on, stop this and let's go to class. We're making too much of a ruckus as it is."

Thankfully for the strawberry blond, the two looked away form their glaring contest. They both tsked but said nothing more. Iggy sighed in relief as he let go of Nudge. He then rubbed the back of his head in uncertainty. "So, who's gonna try first to get it out of Max?"

Both men looked at Nudge. She sighed as she put her hands up in surrender. "Fine, I'll do it. But don't count on me. As much as I hate to admit it, what Walker said is right. Even I'm not at the stage where Max can tell me anything, much less everything that's been happening to her. I'll be lucky if I can at least get her to talk."

The three of them looked at each other with uncertain gazes. Then, they heard a teacher yelling at them.

"What are you all doing in the hallway? Where are you hallway passes? You're supposed to be in class!" An old man with a very old-fashioned suit said as he ran over to them. Fang merely crossed his arms in anticipation. Iggy sighed as he slapped his own forehead.

"Fang, don't do it." Iggy warned but Fang feigned ignorance. Nudge just wondered who this 'Fang' person was.

"Don't do what?" Fang said as he looked away form Iggy's gaze. Then, when the teacher was finally close enough to see whom he was yelling to, he stopped dead. Fang glared down at the old man and at this point, the teacher was shaking visibly.

"Who do you think you're talking to, old man?" Fang asked menacingly and the teacher dropped to his knees, begging for forgiveness.

"I'm so sorry, Mr. Walker. I had no idea it was you and Mr. Griffiths. I just looked at the girl and thought you were just a normal student. I am so terribly sorry. Please forgive me." The teacher rambled, bowing his head and rubbing his hands together in forgiveness. Fang said nothing for a moment, but then smirked.

"I'm offended that you weren't able to recognize me. I will, however, be merciful." Fang started to say and the teacher looked up with hope gleaming in his eyes. Fang's smirk grew. Nudge's and Iggy's eyes widened. "You're suspended from the school for a month. Think about what you did. Now, get out of my sight." The teacher scurried away.

A few moments later, Fang's stance relaxed. "God, I haven't felt this good ever since Ride came to the school."

Iggy and Nudge's jaws dropped.

"What the fuck, Walker?"

"Dude, why the fuck did you just do that? The old man didn't do anything wrong!" They both yelled in shock and anger. Fang merely shrugged.

"I needed to feel power again. What? Not like i'm going to change my ways just because of one person. It's like you don't know me at all."

Nudge had nothing to say to that. Iggy had to accept the fact. It was true, they should have known. Nick Walker, Fang, had been doing this kind of thing since he lost his father. There was no way he would change because one person refused to submit to his ways.

Still, "That doesn't mean you have to scare the poor old man to death!" Nudge shouted, still in shock.

Fang just shook his head. "Whatever. You two figure out what's wrong with her. I'll just sweep in when she's at her weakest, I'll get to know her more, and she'll like me more when I 'empathize'. Boom, I win." And with that, he left.

Nudge and Iggy looked at each other in disbelief. "What the fuck, Iggy? I thought the bastard had changed. What the fuck is this shit? Why the hell is he still acting like a complete jackass?"

Iggy had no answer for her either. "Why are you asking me? I thought he changed, too, after meeting Max. How was I supposed to know that he didn't?"

"You guys had a huge fucking fight because of it." Nudge pointed out.

"And then he met Max, they talked, he was obviously shocked because of it, and I definitely thought he'd have changed then. It was going so well, I actually thought he was opening up again and changing his ways. Guess not."

"What exactly happened to him, anyways, to have him messed up like that?" Nudge then asked with her arms crossed and Iggy rubbed the back of his head.

"Ah, I don't really know how to say it. I mean, it's his life, so I really shouldn't say anything about it."

"Now you just made me all curious." Nudge huffed and Iggy laughed.

"Well, it's not really a secret. The guy lost his dad when we were in elementary school and you should know by now how all rich people parents are strict and fuck." Nudge nodded in empathy, remembering all her parents' nagging on how to get more money and how she should marry into a high class family.

Iggy went on. "Well, Fang's mother just got stricter after that, even changed Fang's last name to hers because she wanted to show how even as a widow, she was still powerful. It worked but because of that, now Fang's got a real twisted version of reality. He just misses his dad, you know? He didn't really have a father figure growing up, much less a loving mother figure, and always had to deal with how to deal with power to his advantage."

"Well, he learned wrong. There's a difference between having power and becoming a complete tyrant." Nudge said but couldn't help but understand Walker a bit better now, going as far as to say that she could sympathize.

Iggy laughed. "Yeah, tell me about it. But still, you can't really blame the guy for being like that. His mother is… very unique at showing her love, let's just say. She's practically a tyrant herself, you know? Fang wasn't always like that, and while I completely support your going against him, you can't really hate him after you know what he's been through."

Nudge crossed her arms. "Ok, let's just say that, yes, I do understand why he's such an ass. Fine, he has his own problems and I can't really blame him for being this way. But even still, why would he go through such lengths to make one poor innocent girl suffer? What did she ever do to him, minus the fact that she's the first to disobey him?"

Iggy tapped his chin in thought. "Well, isn't that the main reason why he hated her?"

"I do the same." Nudge pointed out. "And I haven't got anything thrown my way yet, though I think that's because he knows I'm connected to Max and he needs to 'break her shell' apparently."

Iggy shrugged. "I really have no clue. Maybe because she said something she wasn't supposed to? Now that I think about it, Fang told me that on her first day, he caught her listening to one of his original songs and telling him that it must've been hard to lose someone you love."

Nudge's eyes widened. "She said that?"

Iggy nodded. "Yeah, and after that, well… You know what happened."

Nudge's eyebrows furrowed. "Does that mean she lost someone, too? Could that be why she's like that? Because it's an anniversary or something? I mean, even I would definitely be pretty sad about it."

"It's a possibility and we definitely shouldn't rule it out, but that being said, it's not the only choice we have. I mean, we can tell how much shit she's been through even without her having to say anything. There might be something else, so let's not jump to conclusions."

"Yeah, I get it. Well, in any case, I'll go talk to her. If it doesn't work, though, think of something, ok? It's becoming really hard for her to even talk, and we've only known her for so long." Nudge said, rubbing her shoulder, and Iggy had no choice but to agree.

"Hey, Max? Can we talk?" Nudge called out once lunch time came around. Max looked surprised for a second, as if she was suddenly being brought back to reality after being who knew where, and nodded.

Nudge walked up to her and forced a regular smile. "You doing ok? You seem pretty down today. What's up?" She tried to say as casually as possible. Max merely shrugged. She said nothing back, which made Nudge even more restless.

They walked to their original table where Iggy was already at, and as he waved at them frantically while simultaneously making his fangirls go away, Nudge grabbed Max by the shoulder, which in turn made her jump in surprise. She still wasn't even there with Nudge, still off in her own world. That just worried Nudge even more.

When they arrived, Iggy still had his natural smile on as they sat down with their food, but both couldn't help but notice how Max's portion was gradually getting smaller.

"Hey, aren't you hungry? Why don't you eat some more? The lunch ladies aren't going to say anything, you know?" Iggy tried to say but it was lost to Max's ears as she barely nodded and her eyes roamed, looking at nothing.

Nudge couldn't stand the silence. She stood up. "Do you want me to get some of the grub packed like always? What would you like to put in this time?" She asked, just as she always did, but this time, she waited for a response.

It didn't come.

Instead, to the surprise and shock of both of them, Max started to cry.

It was very subtle, almost unnoticeable to peers who were just walking past their table. To those very close however, which was, at the time, Nudge and Iggy, they could clearly see small droplets trailing down Max's cheeks.

They didn't know what to do but to look at each other once before rushing up to the skinny, almost stick-like girl, and beg her to say what's wrong.

That, of course, did nothing as she quickly wiped away her tears and fled the cafeteria without another word, not that she had said anything in the first place.

"I say we follow her once school ends. She always goes somewhere without telling us, saying she has something to do. Maybe something happened to her then, and we can fix it for her, make everything better, you know?" Iggy suggested as he and Nudge walked to their next class, which was Spanish.

it was right after lunch, when Max suddenly just left, and there was exactly a five second silence before the two of them went bat shit crazy. Everybody looked at them like they were a pair of madmen, but they didn't care, because they had just witnessed something unusual and terribly burdensome. It wasn't until the rest of the Flock showed up that they could finally calm down and tell the others what had happened.

"Wait, so the weird new girl cried? I thought she didn't have any emotion whatsoever." Dylan had commented once they were done. Sam had just looked a bit agitated and Fang had been very hard to analyze.

"Of course she has emotion, you dumbass! She's just been through so much that she's locked them all away!" Nudge had retorted, which then earned her a very nasty glare.

"Did you just insult one of the Flock? I could easily make your life a living hell, you know." Dylan had stated, which then earned him a nasty glare. Iggy had sighed, so done with his friend's antics, and had smacked him on the head.

"What the fuck, dude!" Dylan had cried and Iggy just shook his head.

"Don't threaten my friend, dumbass. And she's just trying to help. Look, point is, this is the first time Max has shown any emotion to us at all, much less cry in front of us, someone who's locked away those kinds of emotions for who knows how long. Something's up, and I, for one, am not going to just let it go."

Everyone had been quiet. Then, "Wait, since when did you consider her as a friend?" Dylan had said, pointing towards Nudge, and she was extremely close to biting the sandy-blonde man's head off.

Iggy had sighed once more. "Are you serious? Did you not hear what i just said?"

"Dylan, shut the fuck up. So, what's the plan?" Fang then suddenly had commented, and everyone had looked at him with confused, and in Nudge's case, suspicious eyes.

Fang had merely shrugged. "Hey, I'm as curious as you are."

Right then, the bell had rung, and everyone was getting ready to leave to their next class, even Nudge.

Which now brought the duo to here.

Nudge thought about it and to be honest, it sounded like a good plan. It was a good way to not only figure out what was wrong, but to also find out more about the mysterious girl herself. Nudge was a naturally curious person, just like every other human being in the world, and she wanted to know more about Max than she expected.

"it could work. I mean, we're not going to do any harm, are we?"

Iggy shook his head. "Don't worry. We won't have to go through that much, but if the situation calls for it, then I will not hesitate the beat the man down." Iggy said in a vicious tone, which made Nudge step back from him for a second. This was the first time Iggy had such a serious aura around him, and she did not want to know how he would react if he were mad.

"What do you mean? What are you thinking?" Nudge asked and Iggy got out of his stupor. He shrugged as they stood in front of their classroom, not going in. The teacher looked at them once but shrugged, closing the door and starting the class.

"You know, I really hate that one of the perks of being in the Flock is skipping class without teachers yelling at you." Nudge commented and Iggy laughed slightly.

"Hey, but now, since you're connected to one of us, you don't have to worry about those kinds of things either!"

Nudge gave him a disgusted look. "Since when was I connected to you or any of them, for that matter? That is just disgusting."

"Well, don't I feel hurt now." Iggy scoffed and Nudge punched him on the shoulder.

"You never answered my question, Griffiths."

Iggy rubbed the back of his head. "Ah, well, I don't know. If Max is this messed up, something big must've happened in her life, right? Like abuse or something. Does she ever talk about her family?"

Nudge shook her head. "No, you, of all people, should know by now that she does not talk about herself, period. But if it is something like abuse, we need to report it as fast as we can. That's the only way to make it better. I still stand by my first reasoning that it's someone's death anniversary, but if it what you think it is, then we'll do everything we can to stop it."

"Not before I kick the bastard's ass first." Iggy muttered darkly and this time, Nudge had to agree.

The two of them were stealthy and sneaky, waiting for the perfect moment to move, to strike, and to hunt down. After the talk, they immediately went to Max's class, which was History. completely ignoring that they had Spanish class themselves. When the bell had rung, they jumped out of the way just in time to see Max coming out and getting ready to leave. She never did go to her locker, both noticed, as the girl hurried out. They were just a few steps away.

Both had no idea where they were. The streets were just slum-like, with people outside, begging for money or food, and the buildings torn down and run over. Nudge was getting less and less hyped for what they were going to see when Max was done moving, and she hugged herself even closer. Iggy noticed and quickly wrapped his arm around her.

Nudge looked at him, surprised. "What are you doing?" She whispered.

Iggy just kept looking forward. "These people look like muggers that could potentially kill us. Better to go a as a crowd than just as individuals, right?"

She had to admit, he made a good point, but she was feeling uncomfortably hot having his arm around her protectively. She brushed him off before the hotness became unbearable.

"As long as we stick together, I think we're going to be fine." She excused herself and while Iggy gave her a confused look, he didn't say anything back. Nudge sighed in relief mentally before gazing back at Max, who was a few feet away.

It felt like they were walking forever, and they had no idea where they were. They were close to just giving up and going back before dark, but finally, Max stopped in front of a building and quickly went in. Nudge and Iggy looked at each other once before running towards the building.

The sign read, Martinez Family Restaurant.

"A restaurant? In a place like this? I've never heard of this before." Iggy said in awe and Nudge agreed with him. "Is this the right place?"

The question was confirmed when they heard a woman's voice. "Max, why'd you come so late?"

Max responded back in daze. "I forgot my bike." There was silence, both inside and outside the restaurant. Nudge and Iggy looked at each other uncomfortably. Max was obviously still out of it.

"How many stars do you think this place has?" Nudge asked to break the silence between them and he shook his head.

"I have no idea. It's definitely not five stars, though. I would know if it were five stars." Iggy said and Nudge remembered that he owned his own cooking show. He would definitely be a food critic as well if he were that good with culinary arts.

They both stood there awkwardly. "Should we - should we go in?" Iggy finally suggested and Nudge shrugged.

"Men first."

"No, it's ladies first. That's how it always went!" Iggy retorted and soon enough, both were bickering about gender equality and general stereotypes in front of the restaurant.

"Um, excuse me, you're making a bit of noise. If you're not going to eat here, would you mind leaving?" A woman's voice suddenly said and they both turned around to see a brown haired, average height girl with an apron and a notebook in her hand.

Iggy flashed his signature smile, which made the girl blush for a second. Nudge groaned, knowing where this was going to go.

"I'm terribly sorry, ma'am. Actually, we do want to eat here, but we haven't made a reservation yet. Is that ok?" He asked smoothly and the girl nodded dreamily.

She soon snapped out of it. "It's completely fine. Ah, but would it be ok if you waited five to ten minutes? We just opened and we haven't got anything prepared yet."

He still kept his smile. "Of course, we wouldn't mind."

Her face brightened. "Great! Would you mind telling me your name so I can write it down and you can come back a few minutes later? It's like reserving a table right now." The girl chuckled and Iggy chuckled with her.

"Sure. James Griffiths and… Hey, are you ok?" Iggy trailed off as he saw the girl's eyes widen. She took a few steps back and her back laid against the door.

"What did you just say? Did you just say Griffiths?" She asked with a trembling voice. Nudge and Iggy looked at each other in confusion.

"Yes?" Iggy said hesitantly and before he knew it, the girl threw her notebook at his face, a direct, critical hit.

"Ow! The hell was that for?" He yelled and the girl looked at the window at her side before dragging Iggy across the street. Nudge hurriedly followed from behind. When they crossed the street and entered an alleyway, the girl pushed Iggy to the wall and slapped him as hard as she could.

Both students were stunned at the act.

The girl started to cry. "How dare you? How dare you come to the restaurant as if nothing's wrong? How dare you come near Max at her only haven like that? When you're just feigning ignorance? You have no right!" She screamed and Iggy finally got the gist of it. So, did Nudge.

"Hey, wait a sec. You're targeting the wrong Flock member. Iggy here isn't the one who hurt Max. He's actually the one who helped her." Nudge explained calmly and the girl's eyes widened in shock.

"What? But I thought -"

"That all the Flock people are douchebags? Yeah, I know the feeling. But," Nudge looked back at Iggy and his slumped form, "one you get to know him in particular, he's not so bad. He's actually a normal human being."

The girl looked conflicted and Nudge took that chance to help Iggy up.

"Whew, thanks. Thought I was going to get beaten up severely. Do you really think I'm a nice person now?" He asked as he got up and Nudge, blushing furiously, punched him on the shoulder.

"Yeah, right, bastard. I just said that because you looked extremely pitiful. You can repay me back later." She retorted and before Iggy could say anything cheeky, the girl turned back to them with a furious glare.

"Then where is he?"

"Who?" Iggy asked in confusion. The girl huffed as she put her hands on her hips.

"The bastard who made Max's life even more of a living hell."

Nudge and Iggy knew exactly who she was talking about. But even so, they still had no idea who this person even was.

"Um, who are you, exactly? How do you know Max so well?" Nudge asked and the girl, slightly taken back by the sudden question, contemplated whether she should tell them.

She finally shrugged. "My name's Ella. My family owns the restaurant and Max has been helping us out ever since the restaurant was made. We're practically sisters at this point." She looked extremely bitter when she said that.

"So she works? Hey, do you have any idea why she's in such a funk today?" Iggy asked and Ella looked at him in shock.

"How did you know?"

"She's been out of it all day at school. We're worried for her. She's always been… dead-like but this time, it's grown worse. We want to help." Iggy explained and Ella bit her lip in worry as well.

"I had no idea. If I could just help her…!"

"So you have an idea why she's like this?" Nudge asked, hopeful. But Ella shook her head in bitterness.

"No, I don't know either. She just avoided me when she came in, even though we both knew that I knew something was wrong. Is that why you followed her? I doubt she would have said anything about working part-time jobs."

Both hung their heads in shame. "We had no choice. We had no idea why she was like that and we wanted to help so badly." Iggy said.

Ella raised her eyebrow. "Is that the whole reason?"

Nudge pursed her lips. "We may or may not have also wanted to know more about Max in general. She barely talks about herself, if not at all, and we were curious." She confessed and Ella's face was unreadable. Then, she sighed and massaged the back of her neck.

"I guess I can't blame you. Well, this is a bad time. Try coming again tomorrow. She works from 2 to 7, sometimes even over that."

"Wait, why not today?" Nudge intervened.

"Because if she's in this much of a funk, she's definitely not going to like that you two followed her, when both of you knew that she wouldn't have liked it."

"Then what difference does it make if we come tomorrow? She's still going to have her suspicions." Iggy pointed out.

"You're right. She's still going to know either way. The sole difference is that something might happen today that will change her mood. I really don't think she wants to see you two today if she's going through something. Wait until tomorrow. Let's see how she is then. You never know, she might go out of it."

"And if it doesn't?" Nudge asked and Ella hugged herself.

"Then, there's nothing I can do. It's all just a gamble, in the end. Especially if it involves Max."

So, how was it? Good, bad, meh? Tell me in the reviews!

I really have nothing else to say to this. Is this just another filler chapter or will this just progress into something worse? I sincerely hope that I'll be able to write another chapter for this because I really am loving this story more and more as I go along.

Question: would you like Nudge X Iggy or Ella X Iggy? I'm honestly perfectly fine writing either of them, so I'll just leave it up to you guys. If you don't really contribute, it's completely fine, but I might just end up having Iggy all alone, and so will Nudge and Ella (unless you'd want a Nudge X Ella, in which case, I would also be completely fine with)

Well, that's it for me, and thank you so much for waiting :) I will try my best to upload as much as I can, but with other stories on hold, that possibility is little to none (sorry)

Again, Happy New Years everyone and let us hope for a good 2016 year (trivia: I'm graduating high school in 2017, which is only one year away. Dear god, help me)

Peace,

FlyAndDontLookBack