Hey There Guys!

I hate to say it, but this is the last, ever, official Linked By A Pen chapter! Scary!

I've been working on this for longer than I care to say, and there's been highs, and lows, and complete rock bottoms. But the person I want to thank is the person whose eyes are reading this. Yep, everybody and anybody who's ever skimmed or read a chapter. Sent hate mail, death threats, long and rambly reviews. They got me through the rocks and everything I've had going on at the moment,
so thank you!

But, before I bore everybody to death, if anything ever comes up on here, it'll be the bonuses I have planned for some point. No AN's or whatever's : )

So, here's the last ever official LBAP chapter!

Max POV

"Yeah… Hi?" He says with a smile.

My eyes widen considerably. Bloody hell I'm screwed.

He's hot.

Like, damn hot. With arms, and legs, and that face. That's a nice face. A damn nice face. And all that hair? What I wouldn't give to run my hands through all that black hair.

"What are you…? Why are…? Here. You live… Um. I like your hair?" I cough out. Going pink as I run through what my mouth just did.

"Thanks?" He says, holding in a laugh. As I look around, taking in my surroundings, I realise we have an audience.

"Mind your own bloody business!" I yell. Can't these people just give me a break? I glare at the girls who are just plain sneering at me. A quiet laugh catches my attention. I whip around, only to pause at Fang.

"You really are a piece of work. No wonder your solo. What am I going to do with you?" He says laughing at me. I look at him with a blank face. And heres me, getting my hopes up about a happy ending. His eyes widen as he takes in what he just said.

"Excuse me. I have to go. Sorry you drove so far to meet me." I say, charging off briskly.

He's just like everybody else. Insulting me, or controlling me. I pause. Stop over reacting Max! I turn to face him, ready to apologise. There's nobody there.

Swallowing my pride, I talk myself into walking back into the room. Only to come to the wonderful view of a red mound of hair, and a black mound of hair, making out like nobody's business.

Well then, I guess its cianara suckers!

And Fang? Yeah, screw you Fang.

Fang POV

It's decided. I'm crazy. What sort of person hijacks their friend's car, ties them up in the back, and drives across states? A lovesick person, that is.

"Fang! I'm not going to stop you, but seriously. I need to pee."

Groaning, I pull over. We won't get there till tomorrow. At least.

"Get out of the car then!" I say.

"Um. I'm kind of locked into the boot…" He says. Head palming, I unlock my door, and make my way over to the boot. Yep, the boot. I may have kind of locked the 'almighty Iggster' in the boot of his car… Whoops?

"Coming!" I call, unlocking the door. He clambers out, rather ungracefully. He raises an eyebrow, and I just shrug with half a smile.

"Sorry?" I say, a question in my voice. He glares, and walks off to the forest. I can hear him pee. Dude, please tell me I'm not blushing. A couple minutes later, he comes up, and walks to the driver's door.

"Iggy, what are you doing?" I say. He looks at me confused, and I just deadpan him in return.

"Driving…?"

"Nope, back in the boot." I order. Groaning, and grumbling under his breath, he obliges. Smirking, I lock the door, despite him pounding on the metal.

Pushing the pedal, I turn on the radio.

Foot tapping,

Head bobbing.

Here I come.

-Time Skip-

I pull over at a post office. I swear, Iggy has a bladder the size of a pea. But, I learnt it's painful to stand there while he… Goes. Walking in, I get strange looks from the tuxedo. Walking up, my heart is thudding with excitement.

I cant wait to see her face.

"Can I have a stamp…?" The old lady at the desk smiles at me.

"Sure honey." She says with a Texan accent.

"What class?"

"Air, or whichever can get there fastest."

"That'd be good old air sweetie. Now what style? We have oriental, Persian, Chinese, British, British American-"

"Just, plain normal." I barge in, getting impatient. She gives me a 'calming' smile. Not. Working. In a hurry here mam!

"Okay then. Now, what picture would you like?" Do I look like I care!

"Whichever you have on hand." She nods, and takes out a 2inch clear file, only to begin flipping through all the stamps.

"Oh! I remember when those were brand new to stock. Everybody wanted one. Even all the little boys began sending letters. Would you like to see honey?" She says her voice thick with melancholia.

"No thanks." I say.

"Really? They're splendid! They photography skill is right-"

"Fine then." I say in a hurried tone. Just get the message lady. She hands over her stamp book, kittens. Joy.

"The other page. Nobody wanted the kittens." She says. I let my eyes drift over, only to cough with shock. My eyes widen considerably.

The best-selling stamps were…

Playboy bunnies.

In stamp form.

No wonder the little pigs were sending letters all of a sudden.

"I'll just have the war admirals." I cough out awkwardly. She smiles, nods.

And page. By. Page. Begins to look for them.

Are you freaking kidding me! Just when I'm about to lose hope, she opens up to the page.

"How many?"

"Just the one."

"That's 75 cents sugar." Having learnt my lesson, I pull out the exact change, in big coins, and hightail out of there.

I bloody well hope Iggy's done on his 'loo'.

-Time Skip-

As me and Iggy drove on and on, I began to doubt my actions. Quite drastically. I mean, what if she doesn't like me? Or if she has a date after all? Or if she really is a creepy old lady with a fetish for 18 year old males. Sure, the last one is a bit farfetched, but still…?

But, what if she really wants you to be there? Or if she's as hot as you know she is (Iggy got me a picture of her from his pen pal, Ella, her sister oddly enough). And what if you meet, fall in love, dance the night away, get married, have lots of little you's and grow old together in a mountain top cabin, rambled my inner Nudge.

No, I'm totally serious, whenever I'm freaked out, a little mini Nudge pops into my head. It's kind of freaky.

"Achew!" A small sneeze catches my attention. A familiar sneeze, actually. I hastily put my foot on the break.

"Iggy." I say warningly, he looks up shyly from behind the map in the backseat.

"Please tell me you didn't." I grind out.

"Well, you see dawg. She threatened me! And she was all scary, and I was scared, and her eyes were glowing red with scariness, it was a scary moment for both me and Toto, so I-"

"James Iggenbert Lysander! You did not! Did not! Smuggle my little bloody sister into the car!" I all but scream, managing to keep my calm face on. Barely.

A shuffling behind my seat causes to turn around. A cliché blanket is covering up a small lump.

"Monique Jones. Get out here. Right. Now." I say, royally pissed off. A little black head pops out, to be followed by a nervous grin.

"Hey, bro! Fancy seeing you here! Come here, um often?" She squeaks. Closing my eyes, I breathe in deeply.

10, 9, 8, 7, 6…

-Time Skip-

"I can't believe you two." I say. Glaring ahead. I, to be honest, still have no idea how we got in this situation. The situation is as follows:

Iggy driving, Nudge shotgun, and me? Yep, you guessed it, sitting in the backseats.

Of. My. Own. Car.

"It's for the best Fangless! We wouldn't want you to crash due to reckless driving in your current state, it'd be pretty tragic. Imagine how Max would feel, she'd be all like, oh no! Fang, my dearest love! How I wish thee would just blink those huge eyes, once more, and smother my mouth with yours, and stick your slobbery pink tongue in my mouth like a labra doodle, and have little babies with me and-"

"Shut up!" I yell for the fifth time this ten minutes.

This isn't normal. I decide.

And it's just what I need when I'm trying to relax before I meet who, I'm pretty sure, is The One. Yep, I really need this right now.

Fang. Breathe.

In, out, in out, and open your eyes. They slowly flicker open, why's it so bright? Are we even-

"IGGY!" I roar desperately. No! I jerk to the side, seatbelt cutting into my neck viciously. The car pummels to a sudden stop, and I fly forwards, the world spinning.

Shit.

And then, it stops. My eyes re open, and I take note of how fast and hard I'm breathing.

"Everyone okay?" I rasp, worried. More about Nudge though, she's the smallest and if she was hurt-

"I'm fine!" She says quietly.

"Same." Iggy says in a low voice.

"I'm so sorry." He says worried. My eyebrow twitches up questioningly, we're all okay and-

"I hurt your car mat." He says, scared. Scoffing, I whack him on the back of the head.

"You're an idiot. Now, move your ass, and let me drive." I command, still shaken up. He does as I tell him and shuffles over.

Smart.

-Time Skip-

"Okay, now left here. There, there! Pull in!" Nudge squeals. I pull into a gravel driveway. Looks… Safe? Surely Max wouldn't live in such a cliché suburban type place. Well, she always says how she doesn't fit in with her family…

I can feel my usually chilled heart, race out of control, at the prospect of meeting Max. Slowly, and kind of surely, I walk up the driveway to the bright red door.

'Tap, tap, tap'. My fist bangs three times before I take the step back, just like the movies Iggy made me watch.

Squeals, and thundering footsteps sound towards the door.

3, 2, 1?

The door swings open, but nobody's there. Ghosts!

"Down here!" I sweet, innocent voice sound. I lower my gaze towards the smallest little girl I've ever seen stands tall and proud, bottom lip pushed out.

"Angela! Don't open the door!" I high strung voice screams from the kitchen.

Angela? That woman from the kitchen is most definitely not Max.

"Hey, are you Angel Ride?" I ask, kneeling down to her level. She squints suspiciously, looking me up and down.

This is so, Max's little prodigy.

Then, oddly enough, she gives me the biggest grin I have ever seen. Throwing her whole face into it. She even begins bobbing up and down on the spot.

"I knew it! I knew it! I knew it! I knew-"

"Knew what?" I interrupt. She looks up at me, except now with trusting eyes.

"I knew that Maxies prince would come." She says with a lisp. I give a low chuckle.

"I'm no prince. But I'm guessing you're her little sister?" She nods extravagantly, hair flying. "She's told me a lot about you. Where is-"

"Oh, hi there." Says a now husky voice. Standing up, I look at the girl in front of me. No older than seventeen, and yanking down her top furiously.

"Hi? My name's… Jackson." I lie quickly. She appears to take my quickness, as eagerness. Smirking, she pulls up her skirt.

"This is Lillian. She's my babysitter's daughter. I don't like her." Angel says, or rather states. I smile at her.

"Ignore the brat. Pleased to meet you Jacky." She says, lowering her voice with each word. She begins walking forward, so I walk backwards.

"It was really great meeting you Lillian. But I'm looking for Max." I say, trying desperately to get her to leave me alone. Why do I attract all the nut jobs? I mean, I ended up with Iggy for god's sake!

"Max! Max! Why does everybody give such a damn about the precious little Maximum Ride! What has she ever done? Cause fights? Ruin my little sister? Make me look insignificant? Why does everybody care so much about the little slu-"

"Um! Little kid behind you!" Angel sings. We both swing our heads to look at the little devil. And true enough, she's standing there with a skinny hand on her hip, looking pretty scary, despite the whole under four feet tall thing.

"Angel. Names Fang. Where's Max?" I ask hurriedly. She smiles, and looks at me. Proudly? Beckoning, she puts a hand on my shoulder. Bringing my ear up to her cherub like face.

"The prom. You can find it." She reassures me. Smiling, I stand up, and ruffle her hair. She shoots me a glare.

"Oh, and Fang?" She calls to my retreating figure. I stop, and turn to face her. Lillian's headed inside.

"You hurt her, I'll kill you!" She sings, skipping back inside. The door slams with a shut, despite her not touching it.

Scary child.

-Time Skip-

"No scary little kids?"

"Check."

"No creepy babysitters?"

"Check."

"Breath?"

"Check."

"Armpits?"

"Check, and mate, checkmate! I think you're ready." Iggy looks at me, then punches me on the shoulder.

"Go kick some ass."

Nodding, I head out of the car. How is it, that one girl can make me so jittery? I don't get scared. But Max, Max just makes me feel like a kid again. Which is why I'm crossing an empty parking lot, halfway across the country, to gate-crash some random prom.

Yep.

I'm officially whipped.

And I don't care!

This is me, officially taking my man points card, throwing it in a trash can, and burning it.

As I get to the large double doors, I'm stopped by two pretty large guys. Both look around my age. They stare me up and down. So I stare back.

"Well. What do we have here?"

"A little emo gate crasher." The other one taunts. Keep your cool Fang.

"I need to talk to Max." I say. Maybe they know her?

"Maximum Ride? She's not accepting any challenges until Monday. You're gonna have to wait punk."

"Challenges?"

"None. Any grudges gotta wait. What, you thick or sumin?" He says, with an oddly brummy accent. The other one is standing there silently.

"I aint got no grudge. But I gotta talk to her." I say. Don't they understand how urgent this is? She could be slow dancing with some loser by now!

"Name. We'll pencil you in for the club." He draws out a pad of paper, covered with graphs, and names. As I peer closer, I realise its marks.

Max vs. Siren= M

Dome vs. Max= M

Dylan vs. Max=M

Tay vs. Max= Tie

Tay vs. Max (rematch) = M

And it goes on and on. No way can Max be in alley fighting. Right?

"Fang. Fang Jones." I say. He pauses, pencil mid-air. The two thugs look at one another, then me.

"Jones?" He repeats. I raise a brow, but nod.

"We be awful sorry mate. We didn't realise you were…"

"THE Fang." Silent says. I look at them confused as they step aside. I take advantage however, and quickly walk through the doors into a lobby sort area.

"But Fang?" One yells. I turn and look at them again. The night makes them look pretty sinister. They wish.

"Hurt her, we hurt you." One says. I nod once. And begin to walk down the double stair case. The whole place is well lit, but not enough that you can see the cracks in the girls make up. I wonder just how many people want to protect Max.

My dress shoes make sharp clacks on the stairs, getting me some attention. All the girls openly gawk. Not that it boosts my ego or anything. I feel myself getting more, and more nervous with each and every passing second.

"Damn." I hear a particularly slutty girl whisper to her friend.

"Hey!" I squeaky voice… Squeaks. What now? I turn and face the confident girl. Her hair is long and red, but it's not natural. She's pretty, but it's not natural either. In fact, it's so maked up I wouldn't recognise her if I passed her on a deserted street.

And then there's her dress.

Or, what could be a dress with about another three metres of fabric.

Ignoring herm I try walking past, but she grabs onto my hand. Hers is oily, like she's used many a bottle of hand cream. Her hot pink nails dig into my skin.

"I say hey. Don't be so rude." She all but purrs. I swallow my fear, and remove my hand from hers.

"Excuse me." I say. A few people look at me in awe. She must be some queen bee around here. Shame.

And then I see her.

Would it be bad if I said my world stopped spinning?

She was sitting there, alone. And all I wanted to do was go over, sit next to her, and bring a smile to her lips.

Her hair's long, and blonde, but not prissy. She's beautiful, but not over the top or fake looking. But most of all, she sat with an air of 'fuck off'. It has to be her. I know it is.

Placing one foot in front of another, I try to stay upright. The room is a blur, and as horrifically cliché as it sounds, she's the only thing making sense in here.

"Max?" I ask. She looks up at me with the biggest brown eyes I've ever seen. But there's something harsh about them, like she's seen things, and knows things she shouldn't.

"Fang?" She replies, voice filling the air around us.

Crap! I just realised how weird this will be to her. Some random comes up to her, and know her name and- What? Did she say Fang?

"Yeah… Hi." I say with a smile. Dude, she is so out of my league.

Her eyes go blank as I assume she has a mental debate like I always seem to have.

"What are you…? Why? Here, you live… Um. I like your hair?" She says, going the most adorable shade of pink. What I wouldn't give to kiss her. If she was with someone, I'd be long dead.

"Thanks." I say with more than one meaning.

"Mind your own bloody business!" She suddenly yells.

That's it, we're getting married.

Looking around, I realise how many people are staring at us. I hadn't noticed…

"You really are a piece of work. No wonder you're solo. What am I going to do with you?" The words tumble out before I can check them. I know I've done something wrong as her face shuts down, hardening.

"Excuse me. I have to go. Sorry you drove so far to meet me." She hisses. I freeze, shit. What have I done now?

Walking off unnaturally fast, I can't help but smile at her guts. A set of guts I won't have access to unless I get my act together and make a move. A proper move. Looking over, I check where she's gone. The front door. If I go around the one that says exit, I should…

"Hey, hot stuff. We haven't been properly introduced. My names Lissa. What's yours?" The slutty girl from before whispers into my ear.

Don't have time! Gotta find Max! My head goes off, damn, this girl has a strong grip!

"I've gotta go." I say. Get the message!

"Afraid I can't let you do that. You see, when there's something I want, I get it." Her voice goes threatening. Where'd Max go?

"I've got to go." I repeat, keeping a neutral face. Trying to get her to leave me alone. What? I don't hit girls!

"Sure. We both do. To my house or yours?" Before I can register what's happening, her sticky lips are shoved against mine. And her claws, digging into my hair.

I'm screwed.

Her tongue sticks into my mouth, and she groans. My eyes widen, not again. Out of the corner of my eye, I see a flash of blonde move quickly.

Having had enough, I relent and shove her off me. Her green eyes are blazing. But I've got more important things to do.

"Nice to meet you Lissa. I've got to go." I say.

Hissing, she tries to grab onto my arm, and what's left of her dignity. I shake her off, and run in the direction Max went. I hope I can get there in time.

Max POV

"How could he?" I all but sob. I'll admit, I'm curled up in a ball in a tree, trying to not let the tears flow.

I trusted him! I thought that maybe, just maybe, we'd have a shot. That it could go somewhere. But no, he had to go and screw it all up.

'Why's it affecting you so much Max?' My inner Angel asks. And not like the fluttery one, but my evil little sister one.

'It's not like you fell for him.' She taunts with a giggle. I'm going crazy. I really am.

'I did not!'

'Whatever you say Maxie.' And with that, she's gone. Leaving me more confused than ever, actually. I really hate that little sweetie pie.

"Max? Let me talk!" A masculine voice calls through the woods. The voice breaks me out of my trance, and it's one that I can easily identify as Fang. Sucking in my breathe, I wait for him to leave, but oddly enough, he smirks, and walks over to under my tree.

"Max, come down." He orders. My eyes widen. How'd he know I was here? He must be bluffing.

Right?

"Maximum Ride! I know you're up that tree. Come down." This time he tries to make eye contact, but I avoid it. Instead I look upwards. Now or never. I can't really stay up here forever.

Max! Why are you giving in so easily?

It can't be the way the moonlight is hitting his dark hair.

It definitely can't be the way his huge, onyx eyes are staring up at me. And my face, not under my dress.

And it absolutely, positutely can't be the way he's giving me a funny little half smile.

No. Way. In. Hell.

But before I can stop them however, my legs have gotten my out of the tree and easily onto the ground in front of him.

"Can we start again?" He asks immediately, eyes looking oddly worried. I appraise him. He seems sincere…

"Sure." I say, my voice guarded. I might be letting him in, but he isn't hurting me. Fangs face shows no emotion, his lips a blank line, a hot one, but blank.

The only part of his face that I can read, are his eyes. And I can read them pretty damn good.

"Will you go back to the dance with me?" He says.

"Aren't you gate crashing?" I ask smirking ever so slightly. This isn't his scene. But then again, it aint mine either.

"Sure." He copies me, but chuckling under his breath. I frown. Fang doesn't laugh.

-Time Skip-

We both laugh till we cry, drawing attention. But I don't care this time around.

"You-ha-ha- didn't!" I wheeze out.

"I so. Did!" He hisses, trying to draw breath. My cheeks go red from the exercise. My insides are churning, and the room is too hot. I stop, and draw breathe so I don't choke.

"In the boot?" I wheeze. Making eye contact, we both start off again.

I don't remember ever feeling this happy before.

Curious.

Fang wiped his eyes, then stops, and looks at me. I know there are mirrored tears rolling down my face. Carefully, he moves closer. Holding out his thumb, his eyes ask if it's okay. He seems to find the answer is my terrified eyes.

Max! Breathe! I order myself. He's moving closer, I can see every lash on his face. Gently, as if I'm fragile, he wipes the tears from under my eyes.

"Thanks." I rasp. He doesn't reply, but I can see the contentment.

The band, a bunch of scared juniors, begin to play a slow song. One with a strong melody. In sync, we both start humming it under our breath. Smiling, he stands up and holds out a work hardened hand.

"Maximum Ride. Please may I have this dance?" He whispers, bringing my hand to his lips. Biting my bottom lip, I nod my blonde head.

"Thank god." I barely hear him whisper under his breath.

I put my long arms around his neck, and his are suddenly around my waist.

"Relax." He mutters. My eyes drift shut, and I carefully place my head on his neck. We sway in time to the music. Occasionally, he spins me around. A small smile graces my lips as I hear him sigh happily.

"Max?" He asks. Nodding, I look up to face him. Yep, he's that tall.

"I have something for you." He says, almost sounding afraid. He slips a folded up piece of paper into my hand, and looks into my eyes. Confused, I look back to him. He nods.

Opening the paper, my eyes pop out of my head as I hold back a gasp. There, in black and white, for the world to see:

I Love You,
Maximum Ride.
Want To Have An Adventure?

I look up at him, and slowly, slowly, ever so slightly nod my head. Carefully, moves closer, and picks up my hand in his. A smile on his perfect face.

"Good." He whispers.

3rd Person POV

"Max and Fang smile at one another, a new secret in their eyes. The world happier, fuller, and a lot less scary."

Laughing in an amused way, Ella swats at his head.

"Iggy! You're such a retard! Now, please, help me the hell down from this balcony." Ella orders, every bit of her sister. Bowing, with a blonde eyebrow raised, he lifts up a pale hand, which she takes with a small curtsy.

They're hidden in the balcony of the old hotel. Out of sight, and apparently, out of mind.

"Why, thank you kind sir." She says with a chuckle. Slinging an arm around her shoulders, he frowns.

"You know, there's one thing that annoys me." He says.

"And what's that honey?" She says. Looking happily into her trusting eyes, he laughs.

"Well, it's just after all this planning, and being locked in a boot for 6 hours, I'd hoped…" He trails off.

"Hoped what?" Ella asks with curiosity in her voice.

"Well, just that they'd do more than hold hands." He says sheepishly. Glaring, she swats his head. Again.

"Let's go Mr Cupid." She winks, as they climb into his car giggling.

"It is odd though, how we've all been linked by a pen." She mutters curiously.

Isn't it?

The End

The End guys! Eek! Tell me what you thought, and I'm sorry it took SO long to write!

The last questions:

If your life was a movie, what would the movie be called?

Why did the chicken cross the road?

What should I write next (no sequels).

There we have it! I'll miss you guys!

Blue-Songbirds