A/N Hello guys! I know I posted my little AN just the other day, but I promised I would update… soo here it is! It may not be as good, or as long. But, hey, as long as you have something. ;P

"Get back here!" a deep voice roared through the house.

The pale little boy stumbled his way up the stairs, pushing open an old door and diving onto the mattress; the only type of furniture inside of the box-shaped room.

The sound of thundering feet came closer and closer to the little boy, and he could hear the pleading screams of a young girl who was sobbing her heart out. The little boy tried his best not to whimper when the tall, dark figure appeared in the doorway, but he couldn't help it – he was scared. So, so scared.

"I've told you before not to run away from me," the voice hissed unhappily as the shadow crept forward. A smaller shadow appeared beside the big one, moulding into the larger shape as the little girl clung onto the leg of the big man.

"No!" she screeched, knowing what was about to come to the little boy who was cowering back in fear. "No!" Her determination was always there, even though she knew the consequences.

The man grabbed the scruff of the little girl's neck, flinging her into the wall with a loud bang. She crumpled to the floor, sobbing, as she watched on, helpless now that she was injured – even though she would've been no help, anyway.

The little boy closed his eyes and waited for everything to be over and done with. He waited for the man to have his fun and go. He waited for the soft singing that somehow distracted him enough to fight on and never give up.

And they all came: one by one. In the exact same order. In the exact same way.

(Page breeeeaaaak!)

I woke up, startled, my body jerking into an upright position as I tried to catch my breath. I could feel the beads of sweat dripping down on my forehead and my back.

The nightmare was different every night – but each of them were still of the past. Some were the times when I was happy with my family, although they were still frightening, but most of the nightmares were the torturing ones. The ones I wished I could forget, but can't.

"Max!" Iggy's voice called out from down the hall. "Max! Get your lazy ass up and get ready!" I could hear his footsteps becoming louder and I instantly remembered my recent nightmare. They're exactly the same, I thought.

"I'm coming, Igs! Just getting ready for a shower!" I yelled back to him. I heard a little grunt of a reply before the footsteps descended down the stairs.

With a sigh, I threw my covers back and headed towards my bathroom for a shower, seeing as though I was all sweaty. Not nice at all.

So there I was, having a nice hot shower and someone bursts through the door with a bang. "Max! Hurry up! Get out! You're wasting all the water!" Nudge shrieked.

There are a couple of things I can handle even if I do dislike them being carried out, such as:

A Nudge and Ella forced makeover session.

An Iggy explosion.

Even putting up with Fang's emotionless face.

But no one, no one, is allowed to interrupt me while I am showering. That, I cannot handle. Especially when a person such as Nudge, barges in and tells me that I waste the water, when it takes her 45 minutes to wash her hair and when said person just does not shut up.

I mean, that girl can talk for England!

"I mean, I know I use a lot of water, but when it's the morning, Max, couldn't you be a bit considerate? It's only a shower so I don't know why I'm worrying, but I can't have greasy hair for school, Max! Oh, God, I need to get an outfit ready. What should I wear? Maybe that pink top with that pretty little white skirt, but I wore that the other-"

"Nudge!" I shouted, now standing in front of her, clad in my towel. Her mouth snapped shut and she looked at me sheepishly.

"Sorry!" she mumbled, holding her breath to stop the word-flow.

I frowned at her. "Couldn't you have waited until after I had gotten out of the shower to tell me I wasted the water? And what the heck has clothes got to do with this?"

"Clothes have everything to do with this!" she said hotly, arms flailing. "Where did I put that skirt? Oh, Max, you should wear a skirt! All you have in your closet are pants. No dresses and no skirts. I think we need to go shopping."

"No!" I shouted at her. "No skirts, no dresses and no shopping! Never!"

"But…" she started to protest quickly.

"No buts," I warned her darkly. "I am not going anywhere with you to buy dresses and skirts. End of. Now tell me why I wasn't able to have my shower in peace."

"I need to get ready!" was all she said, before running out of the bathroom and into her own bedroom. I shook my head in amusement.

Walking over to my closet, I pulled out the clothes that I was going to wear today. After I dressed I looked at my attire in the mirror; a plain black t-shirt, my light blue ripped skinny jeans and a purple hoodie. My hair was tied up into a messy bun and I had no makeup on my face, unlike last night.

With a yawn, I grabbed my school bag and pounded down the stairs and towards the kitchen that smelt like bacon. I don't know what I'd do without Iggy.

"Morning, Max," Iggy mumbled as I came through the kitchen doors.

"Morning, dog breath," I replied with a smile as I nicked a bit of bacon. Iggy tried to snag the bacon off of me, but I batted his hand away and stuffed the meat into my mouth. I grinned triumphantly as he scowled at me.

"Classy," he muttered under his breath as I belched, while placing the plate of bacon on the table.

After a while, Jeb finally came down in his bath robe and the newspaper, Ella and Nudge came down giggling over something that I didn't even care about.

Until they started looking over at me with mischievous smiles.

"What are you two smiling about? It's getting kind of creepy, you know," I said with my mouth full of chewed up bacon.

"No reason." Ella sent Nudge a secretive smile.

"Ella," I said firmly with a glare.

"Max." She matched my tone.

"You better tell me now, or I'll tell a certain someone sitting around this table what your true feelings towards them are," I threatened with an evil smile.

"You wouldn't," she hissed.

"Oh, I would." Smiling sweetly at her, I slowly turned my head towards Iggy, who sat there with a confused and fearful expression on his face. "Hey, did you know that El-" I was cut off by bacon being shoved into my mouth.

"It's nothing, okay, Max?" Nudge started off. "We're just having a laugh. Together. It's not like we're planning any…" She trailed off with a stern look from Ella. "Anyway, it's nothing for you to worry about." She paused, and for a second, I thought that maybe she would have stopped, but then... "Oh my, we have to go! We're going to be late! Come on you lot, get a move on! Go, go, go!" That was the end of that and we were all pushed out of the door.

Something black caught my eye as I exited our front gate. Fang.

"Hey!" I called down the road to him. He turned at hearing my voice and gave a nod to confirm he had heard me. I ran to catch up with him and smiled when I did. "How are you?"

"Fine." A man of many words…

"Yeah, I'm great too, thanks for asking," I said sarcastically, grinning when I saw his lips twitch.

As we walked silently down the road for a while, my mind drifted back to the dream I had had this morning. I always hated that one; the one where I was helpless, where I couldn't help but seem weak. But I was a kid, I couldn't do much else.

"Max?" Fang's quiet voice disrupted my thinking. I looked over and saw that he was looking at me in an odd fashion.

"What?" I said with a big fake smile.

"What's bothering you?" His eyebrows scrunched together a bit, making him that much hotter.

Forget I even said that.

"Nothing," I said forcefully, way too much out of character. And Fang noticed.

"Tell me." He didn't say it as a question.

I shrugged indifferently. "Just a rough night, that's all. Bad dream." I noticed that we were nearly at school and I almost sighed in relief to get away from this awkward conversation.

"Bad dreams wouldn't make you upset." In only one day, Fang knew what I was like. What I did. How I did it. And it was hot.

"I guess bad dreams conquered me once and for all." Total utter lie. "Oh, look!" I feigned surprise. "We're at school. See you in English, Fang!"

I danced away, literally. Acting as if the conversation never took place, acting as if my life was how it is from the beginning. Running away from the thing that haunts me.

Like I always have. And always will.

I hope.

A/N Thank you guys so much for being patient with me! I should have updated sooner but, you know, with everything that happened I couldn't. Anyway, I'll try update quicker!

I hope this chapter satisfies you. You get an insight on Max's and Iggy's past.

;D

See you guys next time! ;P

Ohh! And a HUGE thanks you to ISuckAtUsernames! She's an amazing Beta and she's awesome at getting my stories back in time! ;D And she's sooooo patient! ;D THANK YOU! ;D