Love is Blind by MyNameIsCAL

Love is Blind-Chapter 1

Disclaimer: Ah, yes, I do not own Maximum Ride obviously. Thank you to Mr. James Patterson for the use of his characters (Max, Fang, Iggy, Nudge, Gazzy, Angel, etc.) and his wonderful series.

On another note, we are entering Figgy territory. I thought I might give this a try. I am saying this as a warning, so don't say you haven't been warned, it's going to be a serious legitimate relationship between Fang and Iggy, not some comedy spoof. Please do not post any hateful or offending comments. Thank you.

---Fang's POV---

It had been a rough couple of years before, but the world had been saved and Itex had been vanquished. The flock, Iggy, Angel, Nudge, Gazzy, myself, and Max who was somewhat of our leader, had gotten a large amount of money to make up for all that happened to us. Dr. Martinez, Max's real mother, wanted us to stay home and get an education. It only seemed right, after everything she did for us, to get a proper education. We couldn't live off the money forever.

We were seniors in high school now, a year behind because we had never been to school before. Luckily we didn't have to start all the way from kindergarten. With some tests, Max, Iggy, and I got into High School. Thank God for the internet. We would be lost without it.

Nudge was a freshman. Gazzy was in his last year of middle school. Angel, well, she was the youngest, but she managed to get herself a year ahead instead of behind, now in sixth grade. We made friends with other people, but it was easier to keep to ourselves. It felt safe and stable, like solid ground.

Things were still complicated though. There was Max. We were, I guess you can say, in a relationship. That had been established long ago. As of now, we were eighteen, legal adults by the United States of America's standards, old enough to smoke and drive and get married. In many ways, we were more grown up than we were when we escaped Itex. Although we felt older than that. I felt like dozens of lifetimes had passed me by. After all we had been through, it was hard not to feel like that.

College was ahead of us now that we were halfway through senior year. As of now, we were all going to the same college in Arizona. It wasn't some big name school and that was ok. We just wanted to get through. Max wanted to travel the world after we finished college. I think Iggy and I wanted to do that too. We had been grounded for so long that going places whenever we felt like it seemed like a good idea.

"I'm going shopping for a prom dress with Mom today," Max said as we walked towards the car we shared.

"Oh, really?" I think I still needed a tux for that.

"Yeah, so the car is yours for the rest of the day," Max smiled.

I don't know if Max felt it too, but I was starting to think there was a disconnect in our relationship. Something wasn't quite right. I was afraid to talk to her about it. She seemed happy, but I was starting to think that I wasn't. Maybe it was just the stress of school. Although I had nothing to worry about. We already had college planned out for us.

"You people are so slow," Iggy muttered. He was leaning on the car, his backpack on the ground. "What were you doing? Making out under a staircase or something?

Max unlocked the car. I picked up Iggy's backpack and chucked it at him. He caught it, laughing. Iggy hadn't changed much over the years. He still had those pale blue eyes, slipping in and out of focus. The girls in our school loved him, but Iggy always seemed irritated by it. He once told me that they'd all be crazy for me if I wasn't so scary and didn't have Max.

Today, he was wearing worn out blue jeans. His t-shirt looked a little too small for him. He had started to work out and you could see the muscle gain. My eyes traced his arm muscles. I looked away suddenly, glad he couldn't see me. What the hell was going through my head? I glanced at Max to make sure she hadn't seen me staring. She was fiddling with the keys, trying to get the car opened. It made me glad that Iggy couldn't see me.

"We should go out if you have the car. It's Friday night. We can get some food. I heard from Ella that someone's having a party," Iggy said. "Although if I remember correctly, Gazzy has a date."

"A date?" Although that wasn't surprising. If you took one look at Gazzy, he looked like the kid that always got in trouble but every girl fell head over heels for him. He was a good kid though, despite his earrings and spiked hair. Over the years since we had started school, Gazzy and Iggy had grown apart though. They were no longer partners in crime. I can't remember the last time they had built a bomb with each other.

Iggy laughed. "Yes, a date. I find it amusing."

Max finally unlocked the car and we got in.

Alright, so that's the beginning. Next chapter will be Iggy and Fang taking Gazzy to the theater for his "date". It might be interesting for Iggy and Fang too. Hehe. Thanks for reading.

Love is Blind-Chapter 2

By MyNameIsCAL

Gazzy seemed reluctant to let Iggy and I take him to the movies, but we promised to leave him alone.

"I heard from some freshman that everyone likes him," Iggy said as we waited to get popcorn.

"Really?" I said.

Iggy answered. "He's just like you, except younger and he talks. He's something different and mysterious. I mean, people know we're different. They're interested. Although I think most people like Gazzy because he's a rebel…"

"I'm rebellious?"

"Silently." Iggy laughed.

I frowned. "Why does Max even like me?"

"Because you're…" Iggy paused. "Because she enjoys trying to figure you out. And she doesn't just like you, Fang, she loves you."

I paid for the popcorn. None of this relationship stuff ever made sense. The fact that Iggy had everyone figured out bothered me. He was the blind one. How could he see through everything?

"Oh my gosh! Gazzy these are your friends?!" I think Gazzy's date found us, dressed in the boring, cliché name brand clothing.

Gazzy replied sheepishly. "Yes."

"you didn't tell me they were high schoolers! What are their names?" she asked.

I let Iggy talk. Talking to Max and Iggy and the flock didn't bother me, but put a stranger, or someone I didn't trust, in front of me, and it was much easier to keep quiet. The distrust Itex drilled in us made me wonder if there was something wrong with me sometimes.

"Does he talk?" She pointed at me, cutting Iggy off.

"Yeah, I do," I said.

She seemed more interested in us. Gazzy looked angry.

"I'm Nicole," she told us.

I didn't know what to say to her. She was too…I couldn't think of the word. Social, maybe.

"Hey, Fang, do you think we could get some pizza after the movie?" Gazzy interjected.

I shrugged. "Sure."

And then Gazzy dragged Nicole towards the theater, away from us.

"Middle schoolers seem so annoying once you go through high school," Iggy chuckled. "C'mon, let's go supervise them."

The theater was pretty much empty except for another couple. We sat a few rows behind Gazzy and Nicole. They seemed to be caring on a nice conversation now. Gazzy no longer seemed to be upset.

"You taking Ella to prom?" I asked, trying to make conversation with Iggy.

Iggy grabbed a handful of popcorn. "I don't know. Maybe I'll bring Nudge."

That surprised me. He and Ella had one of those inconsistent relationships. They didn't go out a lot and they didn't spent a lot of time together, but when they were together, you'd think nothing could tear them apart.

"Ah, ok." I wondered what was stopping him from asking her.

He changed the subject, grabbing more popcorn, his leg leaning up against mine. "You should steal the car from Max more often. I never get to go out anymore."

Now that I thought about it, Iggy was always the one stuck at home. No wonder he was so eager to go out tonight. Ella was involved with a thousand clubs and Nudge had her freshmen friends. None of them were around enough. I suddenly felt guilty that I hadn't offered to let Iggy tag along with Max and me.

"Yeah, I should," I heard myself agree.

The movie started and our conversation ended.

I find myself staring at Iggy as he eats his pizza. You need more sleep, I told myself.

"So what are you and Max doing this weekend?" Iggy questioned as he finished his pizza.

"I don't know, probably nothing," I admitted. Max always wanted to go out, but I just wanted to stay home.

Iggy switched the subject again. There was something off about him. He rambled on about how he wanted to make pizza over the weekend. I sat there and listened to him until Gazzy and Nicole were ready to leave. I couldn't shake the feeling that this felt so much more relaxing than running around with Max.

Max and I lay on the roof. It was past midnight now, but we did this most nights, even when we had homework or something important to do the next day.

"How was taking Gazzy to the movies?" Max had just told me about her dress shopping for prom.

"It was alright." I didn't feel like talking tonight. I just wanted to lay here on the roof and stare out at the stars until the sun rose and I was forced to sleep.

"Would you mind if I went to a party with Ella tomorrow?" She could tell that I didn't want to talk much.

I put an arm around her, pulling her closer for warmth. "Of course not. I can take Iggy out or something. He seems to get bored at home."

"That'll be good for him." Max snuggled against me.

"I need to get a tux for prom too," I sighed.

"What?" Max frowned.

"Nothing just tired. It's been a long week," I closed my eyes.

Max sounded relieved. "Oh, ok."

I kissed her forehead. "Goodnight, Max."

She smiled, reaching to kiss me back. "Goodnight, Fang."

Love is Blind-Chapter 3

By MyNameIsCAL

Iggy had his best pair of sunglasses on. Ella claimed they reminded her of Scott Summers' glasses from the X-Men movies. In fact, she had been the one who bought them for him.

Which reminded me…

"So what's up between you and Ella?" I asked Iggy as I started driving.

He shrugged. "Nothing."

It was obvious he was lying.

"I mean, why haven't you asked her to prom?"

"Because…It's complicated."

"Complicated how?"

He shook his head. I wouldn't press the subject and further.

The mall was packed. Every now and then I'd see someone I knew. A couple of them stopped to talk to me. There were a group of girls who passed me, smiling and giggling. They were trying to get my attention, but I ignored them.

"We'll get the tuxes last," I decided. "Anywhere you wanna go first?"

"The music store."

That wasn't a surprise. We had hundreds of CDs, at least, back out the house. Iggy and I shared them. Max got mad when I left the CDs around my room. She cleaned up after us, still a somewhat mother figure since Mom was always busy working. One of these days, we're were going to get a rack and organize them, maybe over the summer. Then again, there were a lot of things we said we would do that never got done, like help Mom clean out the garage and basement.

Mom gave me a credit card to pay for the tuxedos, but I didn't have the heart to use them to buy our CDs even though she said we could get whatever we wanted. I have some cash from doing homework for the jocks flunking their classes. They had money and I didn't like a job that required me working with other people.

There was a group of girls in the store now from our school. I got the feeling they were following us since I had seen them earlier, ducking in and out of stores as we made our way here. I busied myself by going through some of the CDs in front of me, pulling the headphones on to sample the music. Iggy stood next to me, listening, but not to the music, to the things around him. He picked up on a lot of things since his sense of sound was heightened compared to mine.

"They all wish you were single," he mumbled, just low enough so only I could make out what he was saying.

"I bet," I scoffed, removing the headphones.

We took turns listening to some songs before deciding what CDs we were getting. Iggy would pay half and I would pay the other half. The girls followed us to the line. Only one of them was holding something and it wasn't even a CD. It was just a poster.

"That's seventy dollars and fifty-three cents," the cashier yawned.

Iggy handed me his wallet and I pulled out only twenty bucks instead of the half he was supposed to pay.

"You took the right amount out, right?" He questioned as we exited the store.

"Yeah, what are you worried about?" I smiled to myself.

He paused, thinking. I wondered if he somehow heard that I hadn't taken the money I should have. After a moment, he shook his head and we headed towards the food court.

"And what can I get you?"

Iggy opened his mouth but I found myself ordering for him instead.

"Well, then," Iggy laughed. "You actually remembered things."

"Well…" I let out a nervous laugh. "You order the same thing every time."

Iggy joked. "I'd order for you, but I have no idea what you want."

"Right…" I turned back to the kid who was waiting impatiently for me to order.

The group of girls sat a couple tables away from Iggy and me. We ate, ignoring them. I could hear them talking about me. It was getting to the point where they annoyed me. Iggy could sense that I felt bothered and distracted me.

"I don't want a traditional black tux," he said. "And I think I will ask Ella."

"Oh, really?" I chewed, thinking about why Iggy didn't just say he was going to ask Ella in the first place.

But I didn't get an explanation. Instead he went off about suit colors. Something about red or blue. I told him that red sounded nice. Hell, it'd match his sunglasses. I wasn't listening to Iggy though. The group of girls, I could hear them talking about me constantly. Finally I turned around and looked at them.

"Hey, you," one of them smiled. "Care to join us?"

I stared at them in disbelief. "No."

It didn't surprise me that Jen was the leader of this group. Being friends with her was like being a cult. They followed her, almost religiously. Jen was in a few of my classes, more importantly in the one class I didn't have with Max. She was at my lab table. At least Iggy was my partner in that class.

"C'mon, Fang." Jen was trying to be seductive, but her charm didn't work on me. "Have a little fun while Max isn't around."

Iggy realized I wasn't listening to him anymore because he stopped talking. Probably assessing the situation and what he was going to do.

"Well, if you change your mind," Jen stood and slid her finger across my chest. "Here's my number." She slipped a piece of paper in my waistband.

The group of girls followed her away. I removed the paper and threw it on the table. Iggy grabbed my arm. "Don't chase after them."

"I wasn't going to," I said through gritted teeth.

Iggy let go. "You were thinking about it."

I sighed. "Yeah, I was."

It was late now. Max had fallen asleep next to me, curled up against me. We had been watching a movie on TV. Usually this was what we did on Saturday nights, eating leftover food or microwave popcorn. The bowl was empty, between us, on the bed. We were in my room, where I had a small TV hooked up. I figured I would take down the bowl before going to sleep.

And that's when I overheard Iggy and Ella in the kitchen, talking. I wondered if he had asked her yet. She seemed amused by his red tuxedo when he showed her.

"So, I what I really wanted to ask you was if you would still go to prom with me." Iggy breathed out as if that were painful for him to say.

Ella let out a laugh. "Iggy, tell me, why would I say no?"

Now I was confused.

"I don't know, Ella. I just thought maybe you'd like to find someone else. Get yourself a boyfriend or something," Iggy mumbled.

"You're my best friend," Ella sounded like she was smiling. "You think I'm going to turn you down? Iggy, just because you're gay doesn't mean I'm not gonna wanna be around you."

I blinked a few times. Did I just hear that correctly?

Love is Blind – Chapter 4

By MyNameIsCAL

It never would have crossed my mind that Iggy went for guys. He did a great job at hiding it. Actually, I guess I never really thought about stuff like that. I mean, Ella was totally into him. I wonder if it killed her inside that she would never be able to win him over.

"Oh, jeez." Max sat up.

"What?" I yawned.

"Sorry, I feel asleep in your bed again." She started to leave.

I shrugged. "So?"

"Mom wouldn't approve."

"Not like we did anything."

She laughed, falling into bed next to me. "No, but still…"

I gave her a smile and leaned over to kiss her.

Sunday was always family day. It was Mom's only day off too and we owed it to her after all she had done for us. Iggy was cooking, as usual, with Gazzy's help. Nudge and Angel were cleaning the house. Max and I had just finished sorting through the laundry. For us, laundry duty was great. We would sort it all, stick in a load, and wait around for a while. A lot of time to talk.

"How many more you think we got left?" I asked.

She rolled her eyes at me. We played this game every time, trying to guess. Usually, I won, which is why it annoyed her. "I don't know, probably twenty!"

I chuckled. "Alright, I say twenty-three."

"Of course!" She punched me lightly.

Before I could respond, Ella walked in holding some more clothes. She looked at us. "I can sort them if you want."

"Nah, that's ok," Max said. "We can do it."

"Oh, Angel and Nudge are looking for you, Max." Ella started to throw clothes into the piles they belonged by color.

"Oh really?" Max shook her head. "Alright, I'll be right back."

And that left me alone with Ella in the laundry room, the thoughts of her conversation with Iggy last night were running through my head. I promised myself I wasn't going to tell anyone about what I heard, for Iggy's sake. But Ella knew already It wouldn't stop me from discussing it with her.

"I heard you talking to Iggy last night," I said quietly as I took some of the clothes to sort.

Ella's eyes widened. "You did? What did you hear?"

"Him asking you to prom."

She gulped. "Ah, well…"

"I'm not going to tell anyone," I assured her. "And don't tell him I know. I just was wondering if you knew anything else."

"I won't tell him you overheard. It's very private to him. I think he's scared to admit it," Ella explained. "And he only admitted it to me because he didn't want to lead me on. He thought I would get mad and I didn't because, well…You know, I still like him and he's…"

"Still your best friend," I interrupted.

"Right," she nodded. "And I admire his honesty. He'll tell all of you eventually. He wants to. Angel probably knows, seeing how she can get inside everyone's heads."

Max entered the room, seeming annoyed. Ella stopped talking and finished sorting the last few pieces of clothing before leaving.

"Angel and Nudge found a note that Gazzy's girlfriend wrote to him," Max sighed. "They thought it was funny. I told them to leave him alone."

"What'd it say?"

"Teenage love!" Max exclaimed. "What do you think?"

"Well, I'd like to think my letter were exceptional," I answered.

She laughed, amused. "They were exceptional."

And for the moment, Iggy was forgotten.

Promptly, after dinner, we gather around the TV to watch a movie, as a family. It was Angel's turn to pick a movie. Although according to her, Nudge had helped decide.

"We're watching a real movie," Angel said as she put in the DVD. "Something that has meaning unlike your stupid comedies!"

For effect, Angel dimmed the lights. Mom sat on the armchair. Most like she'd fall asleep within the first five minutes of the movie. Max was next to me, her leg pressed against mine, head hovering around my shoulder.

I wasn't paying attention to the movie. Iggy and Ella sat on the floor, leaning back against the coffee table, next to each other. They were talking quietly, just softly enough so I couldn't make out what they were saying over the noise from the movie. After a while, my attention drifts back to Max.

"Out of all the movies Angel could pick," Max whispered into my ear. "Why a sad one?"

I shrugged.

Max was right. The movie, which seemed to be some stupid romance movie that I would never have the patience to watch, ended up being about this guy. And this guy, well was struggling with drugs. His girlfriend was portrayed as someone who put up with a lot. Eventually, she left him. To the guy, she was the girl he let get away. Eventually, he got help and cleaned up, trying to win the girl back. And for a while, it seemed like it was too late for a second chance.

I glanced around the room. Angel and Nudge were really into watching the movie. Mom was passed out as predicted. Max drifted in and out of sleep next to me, her head rested on my shoulder, her hand planted in mine. Gazzy was texting, probably his girlfriend.

And I watched Ella drop her head onto Iggy's shoulder. He seemed hesitant, almost startled, just for a moment, before he drew an arm around her. I wondered if the same thing was running through Ella's head. Angel was trying to send a message to Iggy. Slowly, he was breaking Ella's heart.

Love is Blind – Chapter 5

By MyNameIsCAL

As prom grew closer, it appeared Iggy and Ella were growing closer too. Max thought they had finally worked things out, but I knew things were just getting more complicated. Either Ella was trying to squeeze every bit of Iggy's affection before it was too late or Iggy only put up with it to hide his secret from everyone.

Things between Max and I haven't been going so great either. Mostly we argue. It was like we were avoiding each other to some extent. The past four weekends we had neglected to plan something. I was hoping this was just one of those rough patches and that thing would get better after prom and the summer came around.

Sneaking up to the roof every night came to a halt, leaving me sleepless most nights. Sometimes I'd go up there alone and Max would come and things would go to normal for a little while, but in silence. Communication didn't seem like a strongpoint anymore, at least verbally. Iggy, who I had started spending more time around out of sympathy and maybe even a little anger towards Max for our arguments, told me it would get better. I hoped he was right.

It was a little bit of my fault and Max's fault for things started to fray around the edges. We would argue about little things. I couldn't remember how it all started, but it was probably over something petty like the things we fought about now. Some time apart, that's all we needed.

Tonight I wandered down to the kitchen, hungry from being up so late doing homework that I should have done when I had gotten home. Ella sat on the floor there, an empty carton of chocolate ice cream to the left. She was crying.

"Ella…" I took a seat next to her. "What's wrong?"

She shook her head. "You would know."

And I do. "Iggy."

"He doesn't love me. But I love him so much. I've fallen so deeply and hopeless for him," she sobbed. "I feel like it's some cruel joke. And Iggy, he's been really nice about everything. He asked me to prom because I still wanted to go with him, and maybe he wanted to go with me, but I think he did it more out of sympathy. I wish he'd push me away or just find someone else already."

"He would feel guilty if he pushed you away," I said.

"Yeah, I know," she whimpered, slouching against me. Ella was like a sister to me. And since Max cared a lot about Ella, I wasn't going to push her away when she needed comfort.

"It'll get better." It sounded like I was echoing what Iggy had told me about Max. "You'll find someone else. We still have college to go through."

But Ella began to cry harder. "I don't want to find someone else."

It was Friday night again. Max stood in my doorway, hesitantly walking in. "Ella asked me to go to the mall with her. We're going to take her car."

Max was waiting for me to protest, but after last night, I knew Ella needed to get away, so I nodded. "Alright, have fun."

She walked over to me and kissed me lightly. "You can have the other car. Thanks, Fang."

I took the keys from her. "Sure, I'll see you later."

More awkwardly, she replied. "Yeah, later."

Last weekend I had stayed home, letting Iggy cook up whatever he wanted to. But tonight, I wouldn't be able to stay here without punching a hole through the wall.

"Iggy!" I called down the hallway.

He stuck his head out of his room. "What's up?"

"I'm going out," I told him. "You coming?"

He grinned. "Absolutely."

I parked the car at the now empty commuter parking lot and Iggy and I wandered through downtown looking for something to eat. We found ourselves at one of the few restaurants that Iggy could tolerate. Everyone eating here seemed like a couple, making me feel slightly out of place, but I shook the feeling and tried to focus on the menu.

Iggy seemed to have more of an appetite than I did and since I have to eat, I settle for sharing food with him. We eat, mostly in silence. Everything seemed to happen in silence, lately.

"Can I ask you something?" Iggy blurted out.

I looked up at him. "Sure, ask away."

He hesitated. "What if I told you I was gay?"

"I already know, Iggy. I overheard you talking to Ella that one night you asked her to prom."

"Oh…" He stopped chewing.

"And Iggy, don't worry, it doesn't bother me," I added quickly.

"Ok, thanks." He sounded relieved.

I shrugged.

We headed back to the car after grabbing some ice cream. It had been a nice night out. I honestly didn't want to go home but Iggy seemed anxious to go.

"What's got you so worked up?" I asked.

"Nothing."

And then he grabbed me by the shoulders, pushing me into the alley. I should fight him, but I don't. That's when Iggy kissed me for the first time. He pressed his body against mine and we were leaning up against the side of the building. Suddenly, I'm kissing him back. His hands found my hair and I have my arms wrapped around him. If this hadn't been in such a public place, I couldn't say that we would have stopped sooner than we did.

When we broke away, he was smiling.

As wrong as that had been, considering I was supposed to be Max's boyfriend, I still smiled back.

Love is Blind – Chapter 6

By MyNameIsCAL

For the rest of the week, Friday night's events go…undiscussed. Iggy and I spent much of our time pretending nothing had happened between us. And it worked for a while, until we found ourselves alone in the kitchen one day. Max and Ella were out shopping for groceries.

"What are we going to do about the other night?" Iggy asked, turning to me and waiting expectantly.

"I don't know." We were inches away from each other now.

He touched my arm and then pulled it away, sounding ashamed. "It was a sort of impulsive thing, the other night. I'm sorry if you don't feel the same way. In fact, I'd understand. Tell me Fang, do you feel the same way?"

Iggy looked anxious, like I might beat him up or something. There was an awkward silence and then I pushed him against the wall and kissed him. When the car pulled in the driveway, we broke apart.

"I'll take that as a yes," Iggy grinned.

There was a smile growing on my lips.

The garage door opened.

"I just need time to work things out with Max," I whispered.

He nodded, understandingly. "Of course."

Things weren't going to be easy though. I didn't think telling Max Hey! I'm gay and I'm in love with Iggy and not in love with you would cut it. I'd wait for prom to come and go though. It would be best not to ruin anything planned. Even Iggy agreed that I should wait.

"Exactly how did you tell Ella?" I asked Iggy on the way to lunch one day.

He shrugged. "I don't know, I just did. I figured it would be easier now than later."

I hesitated. "You know you're breaking her heart."

"Yeah, I know." For a moment, he looked sad. "And you'll hurt Max too, but in the end, she'll move one. She's not fragile, not that Ella is fragile, but it won't take Max as long as Ella to get over you than Ella will get over me. But I should keep my distance from you. Max would definitely beat me up if she found us…together."

I knew Ella still loved him. Hell, he knew that too. As every day went on the way to lunch, Max and Ella would turn the corner. She would take his hand and he would let her. It was like there was nothing standing between them.

"Max would kill us both." And then I blurted out, "Why do you continue on the way you do with Ella?"

"Because she needs someone's hand to hold and I'll always be there for her." He answered my question with sincerity. "Just like I'd be there for anyone else in the flock. You know that."

Before I could say anything else, Max caught up to us, ending our conversation.

"We should…uh…" There was a moment of stuttering as she tried to form words. "We should do something this weekend. I've just been thinking about how stupid I've been."

"That would be nice to go out. And I'm sorry too," I smiled. You're leading her on, my head seemed to be saying. And now I knew how Iggy felt. At least Ella knew it was all a façade to what was really going on. The news would probably hit Max like a ton of bricks.

My meetings with Max on the roof suddenly resumed. She realized things were going to start falling apart if one of us didn't try to save our relationship. To me, it felt different being with her, knowing that it was going to turn into one big lie that I would always feel guilty about. Iggy insisted that if I ever changed my mind about him and me that he would understand. Maybe things had happened to fast and this was all wrong. When I was with Max, I wanted everything to be wrong and for me just to be with her because I didn't want to hurt her. But when I was away from her, it was Iggy that I knew I wanted deep down inside. All those days I had spent with him when Max and I were fighting had amounted to something, amounted to the way I thought I felt about him.

No, the way I knew I felt about him.

My thoughts kept me up at night. Long after Max had climbed back in through the window and back to her bed, I would lay awake on the roof staring at the stars or in bed, staring at the answerless sealing, wondering how I had ended up here.

This weekend Max and I would be going to a party. Someone's birthday party. Ella would be going too.

"She'll probably bring Iggy along," Max added.

I tried not to laugh or smile. "Oh ok."

At least I wouldn't be alone with Max. It would be awkward. For Max, she was trying to get things moving smoothly again. A place with other people would ease us back into movie and dinner dates alone. For me, alone time with Max would send me down another guilt trip.

"Why don't you ever sleep anymore?"

I looked up to see Ella shuffle into the kitchen.

"Because…I don't know, just too much thinking," I shrugged.

She opened the fridge and then closed it. "Iggy told me who he likes."

"Oh?" I faked my shock.

"Yeah," Ella sighed. "He likes you."

I didn't say anything.

"I don't know why I'm telling you. I mean, he didn't tell me not to tell you. I just sorta needed to get that off my chest and seeing that you're the only other person who seems to know his secret. But he really likes you to the point where he even feels that he's in love with you. Gosh if only I could be…"

"Ella," I interrupted her.

"Yeah?" She seemed to sense I had something more important to say.

I let out a deep breath. "I feel the same way about Iggy too."

Ella blinked in disbelief.

Love is Blind – Chapter 7

By MyNameIsCAL

"How did I get invited to this?"

Iggy sighed. "Because Ella has known Mikaela since preschool. "

Mikaela Fletcher was the richest person that went to our school. She invited everyone to her parties. There was a DJ and everything here. People were swimming in the pool, dresses and suits, drenched and ruined. They were drunk. I refused to touch the alcohol.

Ella came back with sodas for us.

"Where's Max?" I looked around.

"Bathroom," Ella said as she opened Iggy's soda.

"Why are we here?" Iggy was clearly annoyed that he had been dragged here.

Ella answered bitterly. "Because we thought it would be nice to include you for once. But obviously, you two have gotten along just fine without Max and me."

Iggy looked a little hurt and I shrugged it off, hoping the guilt would come and go quickly. Ella had promised not to tell Max under the condition that I would tell Max no later than after graduation about Iggy and me. She seemed to agree that I should let Max enjoy prom. Oh, and Ella also made me promise not to hurt Iggy. She was only looking out for him.

"As long as Fang is still with Max," Iggy said, defending us. "There's nothing going on between us."

It was true, after all. The last thing we wanted Max to do was find us together. The only way she would find out was by me telling her. Iggy and I had already decided we would keep our distance from each other. It's not like we were dying for a chance to get away and go make out somewhere.

Ella looked exasperated. "Yeah, I know."

The party got busted by the cops around ten o'clock. Max was already in leader mode when the sirens sounded.

"I'll take Ella to the car," she told us. "Fly home with Iggy. We'll see you there. If the cops stop us, it'll be less suspicious if it's just Ella and me. I mean, they're not going to expect any trouble from two girls. But if you're with us, they might not be as willing to let us go."

"Alright," I agreed. The idea of splitting up never appealed to me, even all the way back to when we were still running from Itex. Well, at least it would just be Iggy and me. We would have some time to talk. And then I added, "Be careful."

Max smiled and started to move in the opposite directions.

Ella let go of Iggy's hand. "Behave yourselves."

I watched them go and then led Iggy towards the backyard. We climbed over the fence and took off running, away from the chaos and noise.

Max and Ella weren't home yet when we landed. Angel was sitting in the backyard, reading a book. She looked up at us.

And then it hit me. She knew our secret too.

"Don't worry," she said to us. "I won't tell anyone. In fact, Iggy, I'd much rather stay out of your head."

He laughed, but it quickly died away as Angel stood.

"Well, Max and Ella should be home soon. I'll leave you two alone for a few minutes." And she was gone before we could protest.

Iggy sat in the grass, leaning against the house. He motioned for me to sit next to him.

"So, how are things going with Max?" he asked quietly.

"Well, I guess you could say they were getting better," I sighed. "But you know, it's just more guilt for me."

Iggy undid his tie. "I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry about."

Our conversation as interrupted by the car pulling up in the driveway.

"I'll talk to you later," Iggy muttered as he stood. "Ella will be…Suspicious if they find us here instead of waiting in the kitchen."

I followed him inside and we sat the table, Angel there reading her books. I doubted she was ever reading though. It was more like her sitting around reading our minds. But then again, she did talk about her books she read. I wondered if there was some way for her to multitask while reading minds. Maybe not.

Max pulled off her heels as she walked into the kitchen with Ella.

"We picked up a movie on the way home," Ella said, waving a DVD box in the air.

"Sweet," Iggy said. "Anything give you trouble getting home?"

Max shook her head. "The cops were only there to break up the party."

"Of course," I muttered.

"Where is everyone?" Max asked.

Angel looked up from her book. "Mom is still at work, Gazzy is with his girlfriend, Nudge is out with her friends, you're all here and I've been here."

"Would you like to watch the movie with us?" Ella offered.

"Sure." She shut her book and followed Ella into the family room.

Max fell asleep in my arms. I knew when the time came to break things off with Max, I would miss this. In all honesty, I would miss Max. She knew me better than anyone and it was because she was my best friend. Maybe people get their feelings mixed up like this all the time. You fall for your best friend at some point, whether it destroys the friendship or strengthens it was all up to how things played out. I'm hoping things would turn out ok between Max and me. I mean, Ella and Iggy seemed to get along fine.

If you didn't know Iggy was gay, you would think that Ella and Iggy was a couple. It was the way they talked to each other and the way they joked. But if you did know, then it came across as a more sisterly-brotherly type of relationship. Part of me was afraid Max would beat the shit out of me, but a bigger part of me believed that Max, over time, would forgive me and be my best friend again.

Still, I would worry.

Love is Blind – Chapter 8

By MyNameIsCAL

"So, tomorrow's prom," Iggy stated as he took a seat next to me.

It had been weeks since we had a chance to actually sit down and talk to each other. Ella had talked Max to go out with her to get their nails done. Max was dreading it, but it made Ella happy.

I closed my eyes. "And then before you know it, it'll be graduation."

Iggy inched closer to me. "You're not looking forward to breaking up with Max, are you?"

I shook my head.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"It would fall apart either way." I slipped my hand into his. "And I've thought about it over and over again about my feelings for Max. But I only love her as a friend…She's just…"

"The best friend you'd like to have around forever," Iggy completed my sentence. "The sister you'll always be protective of."

"Yeah," I agreed.

"I know how you feel," Iggy told me.

I felt like we had this conversation a thousand times already when he told me to tell him that if anything ever felt wrong or I had changed my mind.

"I'm sure of this," I insisted. "I just worry about Max."

Iggy squeezed my hand. "You go and enjoy yourself tomorrow, like you and I don't exist. And then once the buzz of prom and graduation finish, you and me, we'll figure out a good way to tell Max, I promise."

"Alright," I let out a deep breath.

"Now relax," Iggy leaned in to kiss me.

"You look nice," I whispered as Iggy passed me in the hallway.

He ran a hand down my chest, grinning. "I bet you look wonderful too."

We quickly made our way down to the hallway.

Mom had us all lined up on the front porch, all dressed up for prom. She took a bunch of pictures of us before we were able to get into the car.

"I want you home by midnight," she warned us.

"Don't worry, Mom," Ella assured her.

And then we were off to prom.

"We can't sit here all night," Max sighed, sipping her soda.

I was watching Iggy and Ella shuffle around awkwardly on the dance floor, smiling and laughing with each other. He looked like he was enjoying himself. I thought about what he had told me last night.

Grabbing Max by the hand, I led her to the dance floor.

"Well, then," she grinned.

I put an arm around her waist and we went in a small circle. Iggy caught my eye and gave me an encouraging smile.

"Ella and Iggy look happy," Max said, resting her head against my chest.

"Yeah," I looked over at them again, resting my chin on top of Max's head.

We never cared much for dancing or finding out who would be the prom king and queen. We left prom an hour early, walking to the car and driving to a quiet place Max and I had discovered while flying around one day. Taking a blanket out of the trunk, Max and I flew off to a nearby cliff, leaving Ella and Iggy sitting on the edge of the trunk, Ella describing the stars to him.

We sat on the blanket, Max pulling off her high heels. I pulled off my blazer and draped it around her shoulders. She dropped her head to my shoulder and we looked out to the desert.

"I'm gonna miss high school, believe it or not," Max said quietly.

"Me too." Or maybe I was just going to miss her.

"But college is supposed to be fun," she went on. "Or so Mom says."

We lay back now, Max's head resting on my chest, her hair surrounding me, the smell so familiar. I didn't realize I was crying until she asked, "Fang, why are you crying?"

I wrapped my arms around her, sobbing, "I don't know."

But I did know. I just couldn't get the words out.

"We'll tell her together."

I blinked. "Seriously?"

"Yes, seriously," Iggy repeated.

"When?"

"We'll sit Max down after graduation and we'll just tell it to her straight," he said. "I mean, not right after graduation, but you know, after things settle. Or, rather, this is just a suggestion."

"No, I don't really know what to do."

Ella walked into the kitchen with Max.

"You don't know what to do what?" Max questioned.

Behind Max, Ella shook her head. She was growing tired of keeping our secret.

"We were just talking about our science project," Iggy replied.

Max bought that and made her way across the kitchen with Ella. They were going out somewhere. After they disappeared into the garage, I let out a sigh of relief.

"That was close," Iggy muttered.

Love is Blind – Chapter 9

By MyNameIsCAL

It was the night after graduation now. We didn't go to the parties or the trips people had planned right after graduation. I certainly did not want to become another tragic case of a student who had everything ahead of him that got wasted graduation night. Instead, Iggy, Max, Ella, and I found ourselves at the same quiet place we had escaped to after prom, this time with a grill and some food. Our own private barbeque away from the rest of the world. Our own place.

Iggy helmed the grill, flipping burgers. He picked up a fork and pulled a chunk off of one of them. "Try this for me?"

"Sure," I said, reaching for the fork. Iggy was always convinced that his food never tasted good enough. "It tastes great."

He grinned. "Get me the buns then."

I smiled. "Of course."

I returned with a bag of buns and we began to put the burgers on them. He knocked over my cup of water as he reached for another bun.

"Hey!" The water poured off the table onto my feet.

He laughed, and sarcastically said, "I'm sorry."

I reached for the bottle of water and opened the cap, pouring some water out at him, drenching the front of his shirt.

"Jeez, what the hell are you two doing?!" Ella rolled her eyes.

"See! I told you we should have just left the water. They were going to waste it anyway," Max seemed amused.

Iggy wrenched the bottle out of my hand, and with perfect aim, he poured the rest of the water on me. Without really thinking, I tackled him to the ground.

But I guess that crossed the line because Ella started screaming. "I've had it with you two!"

I let go of Iggy.

"Ella, what's wrong?" Max asked, confused.

"I don't understand how you didn't see it, Max," Ella remarked.

"See what, Ella?" I stood, pleading with her not to say anything.

She let out a sigh and there was a moment of hesitation, but before Iggy could say something to Ella, she blurted it out. "Iggy and Fang are gay!"

Max stared, and then blinked. After a while, she began to laugh. "Haha, ok, good one, you three."

But Ella looked dazed and she suddenly sat down on the ground. "I'm not kidding, Max."

Max's gaze turned to me. When I didn't say anything, she turned to Iggy.

"Max…" I let out a sigh, running my fingers through my hair.

"It's true," Iggy breathed out.

"I'm sorry." I started to step towards Max. She pushed me away, but then pulled me back, crying. I wrapped my arms around her as she sobbed against my chest.

"How long?" she cried. "How long have you been hiding this?"

"Since we had started fighting," I whispered.

Iggy gave me a pained look. It wasn't his fault though. We should have told Max sooner. I shouldn't have been so stubborn or stupid. It never should have been this way.

"I just…" My own tears were welling up. "I didn't want to ruin prom for you and I wasn't ready to tell you."

Max continued to cry. "Can we just go home now?"

"Of course," I said, trying to hold my own tears back.

I sat on the roof with Max, no more tears left to cry. We had been up here, just talking for a while.

"I guess I was just afraid to lose you as a friend," I admitted. "I mean, you'll still be my best friend…"

Max laughed. "If Ella forgave Iggy, what made you think I wouldn't forgive you?"

"I don't know, I thought you'd kill me."

She stared off in the distance. "No, I wouldn't do that. I still need a best friend, Fang, and no one would ever be able to fill that spot but you."

I had to smile at that. "Thanks, Max."

She shrugged. "I'm glad we could talk about all of this."

"Me too," I agreed.

She began to climb back through the window. "Goodnight, Fang."

"Goodnight, Max."

And I sat there for a while, thinking about today and the things Max and I had discussed, the tears shed. We would no longer be sitting on the roof every night, talking to each other. In fact, I didn't think anyone really knew we sat up there. But the roof, it would still be special to Max and me. I made a silent promise to her that night, as I sat there staring up at the stars alone, that I would never sit up here with anyone else. It just wouldn't seem right if I wasn't up here with Max.

To my surprise, things went smoothly over the next few days. The only thing left was to tell the rest of the flock and Mom. Although telling the flock was easy, but telling Mom, that could be hard. Ella seemed to be annoyed that Max had gotten over things so quickly, but I knew Max wasn't the one to mope around. We had spent years before seeing things more terrible things than any one person should see in a lifetime, and we kept going.

"You know, we should take a road trip," Max took our conversation off topic. "You, me, Iggy, and Ella."

Iggy sat up straight. "A road trip?"

It was only five seconds ago we were trying to sort out what we were going to say to Mom.

"Yes, a road trip," Max repeated with a smile. "Our chance to travel before we're grounded in college for four years."

Ella had been silent for most of the discussion, but she spoke up now. "Yeah, take a trip to California for a week or two. Get some sun and go to the beach. It'll be fun."

"Yeah, we should do that," Iggy agreed quickly with Ella. He was still trying to make her happy, but then again, I guess I was still doing the same for Max. We felt guilty, we really did.

I nodded in agreement.

And then suddenly we were all packing, eager to leave and get away from home, forget about life for a while.

Love is Blind – Chapter 10

By MyNameIsCAL

The car was packed, literally. Iggy and I were squeezed into the back with the cooler and suitcase that didn't fit into the trunk. On the way out of town, we passed the Mexican restaurant.

"We haven't eaten there in a while," Ella said. She was now on speaking terms to us as a collective group, but never to Iggy or me directly. Well, at least to me. Sometimes she would talk to Iggy, as long as he talked to her first.

"We should go there on the way back," Max suggested.

Iggy and I didn't say anything. After that night we ate there, everything had changed. It was hard not to think about it, kissing Iggy. I wished I could, right now.

Our first official stop would be in San Francisco. But it would be a couple of days before we got there. Our final destination would Hollywood and LA before heading home. Max and Ella had everything planned out. Of course there was time to make unplanned stops. Mom pretty much told us as long as we got back before August, everything would be ok. August was always the month we spent together as a family. Now that we were going off to college, the four of us wouldn't get to see the flock or Mom that often.

Max, Iggy, and Ella went one with their conversation. I realized I wasn't talking, only thinking to myself, listening to the lyrics of the songs Max was playing off her ipod. And then this song came on. It was a song I remembered every lyric too. Max caught my eye in the rearview mirror and gave me a pained smile.

Wandering the streets in a world underneath it all
Nothing seems to be, Nothing tastes as sweet as what I can't have
Like you and the way that you're
Twisting your hair 'round your finger
Tonight I'm not afraid to tell you
What I feel about you

It was, I don't know, a long time ago I guess. Max and I, it was an on off relationship during those years of fighting Itex. When we sat down and confessed our feelings to each other, it was this song that had been playing. Once upon a time I knew how to play this on the guitar, just for Max, and we'd sit on the roof when no one was around to sing it. I couldn't even remember the last time I played my guitar. And it was this song that Max and I would hear every now and then and smile, but now, it just seemed like part of the past. It was bittersweet hearing it again.

Oh, I'm gonna muster every ounce of confidence I have
Cannonball into the water
I'm gonna muster up every ounce of confidence I have
For you I will, for you I will

I could still picture that moment, sitting on the roof for the first time with Max. We had the radio on, just because no one else was home. I still remembered the conversation:

"So, uh, Fang," Max hesitated. "What are we going to do about us?"

My eyes met hers. "I think we need to stop…Dodging this and, well I guess, we should make it official. You know, tell the flock."

She smiled. "You really think so?"

Forgive me if I st-stutter
From all of the clutter in my head
Cause I could fall asleep in those eyes, like a waterbed
Do I seem familiar?
I crossed you in hallways a thousand times
No more camouflage I want to be exposed and not be afraid to fall

"Yes, really," I grinned, something I rarely did back then. "I'm tired of hiding this from the flock."

We lay back on the roof, staring off at the sunset.

Oh, I'm gonna muster every ounce of confidence I have
And cannonball into the water
I'm gonna muster up every ounce of confidence I have
For you I will, for you I will

Max slipped her hand into mine, as we watched the sun go down, her head against my shoulder, as we looked up at the stars. Back then, I really thought Max was going to be the one. There were nights where we talked about walking down the aisle and naming our kids. One day we decided we were going to live in a big house in the mountains, another day by the beach. Our fantasies were always changing. And then after a while, we had just stopped talking about that kind of stuff.

You always want what you can't have
But I've got to try
I'm muster every ounce of confidence I have
For you I will, for you I will

For You

I would have done anything for Max. I would have given up my life for her, but I think I already proved that as we fought with Itex. Before that night, we had been so afraid to admit our feelings, so afraid to tell each other that we really did care.

If I could the lights in the mall and create a mood
I would
Shout out your name so it echoes in every room
I would
That's what I'd do
That's what I'd do
That's what I'd do
To get through to you, yeah

And it worked out all through high school. We tried all those cliché couple things. I bought Max flowers and chocolate on Valentine's Day, when all she ever really wanted was just to talk for hours on the roof. Things were comfortable between us before. I didn't know what happened our senior year, or what got lost between us.

For you I will

The song ended and Max shut off the music. She caught my eye one last time, looking sad. I changed my gaze to the desert passing by the window. I probably would still take a bullet for Max, sacrifice myself for her. I mean, I'd sacrifice myself for Iggy too and the rest of the flock, or Mom and Ella. But hell, if she really wanted, I'd still go on that roof and sit with her if she ever needed to talk. If she needed a hand to hold, or a shoulder to cry on, I'd be there as her best friend.

I wondered if she felt heartbroken or hurt and she just didn't admit it.

"Hey, are you okay, Fang?" Iggy nudged me.

I sat up straight, sucking in a breath. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"You sure?"

I nodded and Iggy took my hand. He asked me to describe the desert to him and so I did, just to forget about Max for a while, even though she was sitting right in front of me.

Love is Blind – Chapter 11

By MyNameIsCAL

"What's bothering you?" It was the first question Iggy asked me as Max and Ella left us alone to bring back some food to our hotel room.

I shrugged and fell back onto the couch next to him.

"You're worried about her, aren't you?" Another question.

"Yeah," I admitted reluctantly.

"So what exactly are you worried about?"

"Is that all you got to say?" I frowned. "We've got a moment alone and you're just going to question me?!"

He laughed. "I'm sorry."

"Shut up," I muttered.

He put his hand to my face and then ran it down the side of my arm. Before I could say anything else, he pushed me down on the couch. His face was inches from mine now. "How long has it been?"

I pulled him down against me. "Too long."

His lips pressed against mine and I guess to put it bluntly, we were there, making out on the couch, just like that, the tension between us broken. This was our first kiss where our relationship was no longer being hidden, at least from Max and Ella. And it felt right this time.

"Do you hear that?" Iggy pulled away from me, rolling onto the floor.

The door knob was turning. Max and Ella were back already. I looked at Iggy. "Fix your sweatshirt. It looks like someone was trying to rip it off of you or something."

He smirked, sprouting up off the floor and sitting on the side of the bed just as the door opened, the aroma of food filling the air. Ella brought the food to the small table next to the couch.

"I hope you don't mind Chinese food," Ella said. "We thought about Italian, but Max and I figured you could make better lasagna, Ig."

"Chinese food sounds great," Iggy gave Ella a smile.

Max stopped in front of me and eyed me suspiciously. "What happened to your hair?" She smoothed it out.

I suppressed my laughter, thinking about how Iggy had been running his fingers through my hair. Max rolled her eyes, but there was amusement in her expression as she continued to the table. Guilt would hit me after a while, but for now, I was going to enjoy my dinner.

"I was wondering you had run off to."

I looked up to see Max.

"Well, I don't think running ever solved anything," I replied.

She sat down next to me. "Not much of a view up here."

"No, not like at home," I agreed, and then, I asked, "Shouldn't you be sleeping?"

"Shouldn't you?" she countered.

"I'm not the one driving tomorrow."

She punched me, playfully. "Hey, you need to lighten up. This is our vacation. You're supposed to be enjoying yourself and not letting that song get you caught up in your thoughts for the entire day. Stop feeling guilty, because I know you do. As long as you're happy, I'm happy."

"Did Iggy put you up to this?"

"No, I'm just looking after you, alright? You're gonna make Iggy worry about you and you know that'll just make Ella worry and if we all spend this road trip worrying," Max paused to breathe. "Then we would have been better off staying home."

"What was the point of even taking this road trip?" I questioned.

"So we can get our minds cleared. It'll be better if we've got less on our minds when we go home and tell the rest of the flock and Mom about you and Ig." Max stood. "Now get some sleep. We're getting up early tomorrow."

It was about eight in the morning as we packed our things into the car and returned our room keys. We should be reaching San Francisco today. Iggy and I crammed into the back seat once again. His fingers drummed out a beat against my leg to the song that's playing. The radio was on, some grungy sounding rock song playing.

After a while, his head dropped onto my shoulder. "Describe what we're passing."

I looked out the window, putting my arm around him. "There's just more desert. We just passed a sign that said Las Vegas and Death Valley. There are mountains to the right. You go through those mountains and I think you'll be in Nevada."

It went on and on for a while like that until he started to get drowsy.

Iggy closed his eyes, yawning. "And the sky?"

"Cloudless. Well, there are a couple of them. It's the desert, Ig, what do you expect?" I felt myself smiling though. "But the sky is a beautiful blue, like your eyes, just darker."

He was asleep now, snoring quietly. I closed my eyes, and let my thoughts drift off into a dream.

Love is Blind – Chapter 12

By MyNameIsCAL

Iggy woke me up a couple hours later. It was lunch time. I didn't realize how hungry I was until my stomach growled in protest of me saying that I wasn't really that hungry. They all laughed, even Ella. It was hard not to laugh with them.

We stopped at a drive-thru, parking so Max could eat before resuming driving. Tomorrow I was supposed to start driving. Ella would follow. Iggy had joked before that he would be next and crash us into a tree or something and send a picture home of what happened to the car.

"And we could fly the rest of our trip," he carried on with a smirk. "Suspend Ella between us or something."

"I'd kill all of you if you did that," but she was laughing too.

"Nah, you wouldn't cuz then we'd just drop you," he countered.

More laughter. Today felt like a good day. I was glad.

Still, I didn't sleep that night. As Iggy snored quietly into my ear, I lay awake staring at the ceiling. I thought about last night and what Max had said to me.

Stop feeling guilty, she had told me. As long as you're happy, I'm happy.

But here I was awake, feeling guiltier than ever. I couldn't convince myself that Max had meant that. Maybe all the jokes, all the laughter, it was just some kind of façade to cower away from how we really felt. I rolled on my side, facing away from Iggy, but towards Max's bed that she was sharing with Ella. Peacefully, she slept. Part of me wished she was awake so we could talk again.

I rolled to face Iggy. He had stopped snoring. In fact, he was staring right at me now.

"Something bothering you?" His hand rested on the side of my face.

"Just thinking," I told him.

"Then talk to me," he responded.

And so I did, late into the night, we talked. After a while, Iggy kept the conversation going, his voice coaxing me to sleep.

"I've told you before, and I'll tell you again," he said softly. "Things will be ok. I promise."

"I know." I closed my eyes, leaning my head against his shoulder.

"And Fang," he whispered in my ear. "I love you."

"I love you too."

It was that night that I finally let Iggy convince me that things would be ok.

Our first stop in San Francisco would be the pier. We made dinner reservations at a seafood restaurant and hopped on line to wait for the boat to Alcatraz. Ella was taking pictures as we stood in line.

"Nudge asked me to send pictures back," Ella said as she snapped one of a seagull. "I figured we could email them."

"What's she gonna wanna see a seagull for?" Iggy asked after I told him what Ella had just snapped a photo of.

"I don't know, we don't have seagulls where we live, Ig," Ella rolled her eyes.

The two of them began to argue, like brother and sister. It reminded me of how Gazzy and Angel could get, especially after getting stuck with each other for long periods of time, except Iggy and Ella only did it for the sake of trying to outdo the other with comebacks. Gazzy and Angel, well I guess they were really trying to get at each other and they rarely laughed it off in the end.

"I swear if they don't stop arguing, I'll never think of seagulls the same way," Max sighed.

"At this rate, I'll never want to see another seagull again," I remarked.

Max laughed, shaking her head.

We got on the boat leaned on the railing, watching the pier fade in the distance. Iggy leaned up against me, his hair blowing in the wind. It was casual, the way we were around each other when others were present. And it was different than it had been with Max.

"Jail cells," Iggy said as he walked out of one, "are like big cages."

"They're certainly roomier," I said, putting my hands around the bars.

Max frowned at me. Why we were at a jail escaped me. I guess we had just hopped on the boat, going where tourists went in the area. I moved out of the cell quickly, trying not to think about how claustrophobic Alcatraz really was.

We moved through the rest of Alcatraz quickly. Ella stopped at the gift shop and picked out some postcards to send home before we got back on the boat. We sat inside this time, avoiding the winds that were now picking up.

"We still got an hour before our reservation," Ella said, glancing at her watch. "I wanna go back to the hotel to change."

"What do you gotta change for?" Iggy made his annoyance overdramatic. "I'm sure you look fine. It's not like we've been running around or something."

"But it's going to get cold," Ella responded.

And there they went again with their sibling rivalry. Sometimes I wondered if Ella argued because it gave her a reason to give Iggy a hard time. Either he was putting up with it or he was actually amused by it.

"I'm glad we don't argue," Max muttered.

I gave her a small smile.

Is it really that easy to let go of something without looking back? Well, perhaps that'll be the question Iggy, Fang, Max, and Nudge will be asking themselves for a while. Of course I'll break away from all the guilt soon. Gotta get through this road trip, the reactions of the rest of the flock and Mom when they find out, and eventually college. Oh, I've got plans with this story.

Thanks for reading!

Love is Blind – Chapter 13

By MyNameIsCAL

The next day, we split up. Ella and Max went off to go shopping, sparing us of carrying their bags and being doomed to a whole day of boredom at malls. It also meant they go the car though, so Iggy and I would either be walking or flying places.

"Max doesn't even like shopping," I said as we walked towards the beach.

"They just want to get away from us," Iggy suggested. "Besides, when's the last time we had time to ourselves?"

There was a grin growing across his face now.

"And Max and Ella won't be around to interrupt us," I smiled back.

We were almost to the beach now. Everyone from kids with their parents to people our age were at the beach today. It was crowded. Too crowded for my liking. That's when a little kid came running, plowing right into Iggy.

"Sorry!" the kid gasped as they both fell to the ground.

"It's ok," Iggy insisted.

"I'm so sorry."That must have been his mother. "Johnny, why weren't you looking where you were going?"

"It's ok," Iggy repeated. "I can't see, so I should have moved, really it's ok."

That only made the mother more embarrassed and she dragged her son off.

Iggy and I continued down the beach, looking for a quieter place to sit. His hand brushed up against me.

"Why must you insist on wearing black all the time?" he asked.

I took his hand. "What does it matter to you?"

"It doesn't matter. I just thought you would have a reason," he admitted.

We finally walked far enough to escape the crowd. I laid out the blanket we had been carrying and pulled Iggy down next to me. He laughed, touching my face, pulling me towards him.

And then we got lost in the moment.

The sun was setting now as Iggy and I sat on the beach. Our fingers were entwined together, hands resting in the sand. I dropped my head to his shoulder.

"Seeing isn't everything," he said softly. "But if I could see, even for a second, I think I'd like to see a sunset."

"They are beautiful," I said. "Every single one is different."

He put his finger under my chin and lifted my head. His lips met mine and we slowly kissed as the sun went down.

We left San Francisco, finding ourselves back in the car. The days started to go by fast. As summer slipped away quickly, I found myself spending more time sneaking off with Iggy. If we were near the beach, after Max and Ella fell asleep, we would sneak out there. When the beach was too far, we would find some other isolated place to sneak off to.

Occasionally, on nights where Iggy would rather sleep, I would find myself on the roof. Sometimes, Max would join me on the roof.

"You're not running off tonight?" Max took a seat next to me.

"I guess you've caught us." I held my hands up.

"I don't care," she said, but it sounded like something was bothering her.

"So what's up?" I asked.

Max shook her head. "Nothing, just tired. I don't know why I'm up here tonight."

She was lying though. Max was up here because now was the time for her to talk to me away from Ella and Iggy. It had been a while since we had talked to.

"So how are things with you and Iggy?" she questioned. I knew she knew the answer though.

"You're not up here to make small talk with me about Iggy," I stated.

Now she was laughing. It was the kind of laughing you did because you couldn't even lie to yourself to lie to the person you were talking to.

"You're right," she said, bitterly.

"Then tell me, Max."

"I miss you," she uttered.

The guilt came flooding back.

"I'm sorry, Fang. I just…It's not the same falling asleep at night without you," Max was fighting tears. "What did I do wrong, Fang?"

"Max, please don't cry." But her eyes met mine and now I wanted to cry too.

"You didn't do anything wrong," I said.

"Then how did I lose you?" she sucked in a breath.

I shook my head. "Max, it isn't your fault. It was mine. I shouldn't have led you on."

She slapped me. "Shut up!"

"Max, I'm sorry."

And then she leaned against me and began to full out sob.

I put an arm around her, my own tears rolling down my cheeks. This had all seemed so easy before. How could I be so naive?

Thanks for reading! Check out my new story "Not Alone" if you get the chance.

Love is Blind – Chapter 14

By MyNameIsCAL

The days go by quickly and slowly at the same time. Sometimes the nights drag out as I lie awake thinking, but the time we all spent together, it flew by too fast. Our road trip was almost over. We had gone through Hollywood, Beverley Hills, Los Angeles, Anaheim, Napa Valley, and our last stop would be San Diego. Our days were numbered and I was lying on the beach with Iggy now, staring up at the stars, telling him what I could see.

"What's bothering you?" Iggy interrupted.

I thought for a long time before I answered. "Nothing."

"It's not nothing when you gotta think that long to answer," he whispered in my ear.

Shivering, I turned to face him. "Max came to be crying the other night."

His hand rested on my cheek as I continued to talk.

"She thinks she did something wrong," I breathed out. "Iggy, I'm breaking her heart."

It took him a very long time to respond, like he didn't know what to say or something. "There were a couple of times Ella came to be, in the middle of the night, shaking me awake, begging me to take her back. I did the best I could to comfort her, but of course, it would never be enough to make up for what I did. I know how you feel, Fang. And I'm sorry…."

"Don't be sorry," I whispered. There was no reason to push blame and guilt around.

"It's hard to think of it this way," Iggy continued after a while. "But they'll find someone else. You know, things will be okay at the end."

"I know," I sighed, taking his hand.

We're on the home stretch now. Iggy had his arm around me, hand rested on the back of my head, running his fingers through my hair. He knew that distracted me, usually in a good way, but I wasn't in the mood for that today.

"Stop that," I mumbled.

"What're you so worried about?" He spoke into my ear, kissing my cheek.

"We're going home to tell them, Ig," I said, closing my eyes.

"It's gonna be fine," he promised.

I really hoped so because we were pulling into the driveway now.

"Good luck," Max whispered as we got out of the car.

Iggy was adamant about telling everyone right away, but me, I was ready to go crawl into a hole or run away. We set our bags down and he got everyone into the family room. It wasn't long until we took up the entire room, Max to my right and Iggy to my left. This was going to be torture.

"So, what's up?" Gazzy asked.

I glanced at Max. She was staring at the floor.

"Fang and I have something to tell you," Iggy cleared his throat.

Max closed her eyes.

"Just tell them already," I muttered.

They all stared at us, expectantly.

"Fang and I are gay," Iggy announced.

"You're kidding, right?" Gazzy started to laugh.

I looked up at them. "No, we're not."

Max spoke up now. "And this shouldn't change anything, alright? We're family and this would be no different than it was when it was Fang and me."

"Thank you, Max," I said quietly.

They're all staring at us, except for Mom, who looked like she was trying to search for something to say.

"Seriously," Gazzy finally said.

"We are being serious," Iggy replied.

Gazzy opened his mouth, but Angel cut him off. "Gaz, get it through your head already."

"Well, I'm glad that you could sit down and tell us all," Mom finally commented.

Iggy gave them all a smile.

"So tell us about your vacation," Nudge interjected. There wasn't much to say about Iggy and me.

Iggy began to talk and Ella pulled out the camera. Max got up after a while, almost like she was upset. I wanted to go after her, but Iggy had slipped his hand into mine. Angel's eyes met mine.

She'll be fine. It was almost like Angel was whispering in my ear.

I exhaled and tried to relax. Iggy let go of my hand and rested his arm on my shoulder. It wasn't long before his fingers were playing with the hair on the back of my head. After a while, my mind was no longer worrying about Max.

"Mmm, Ig stop that," I said under my breath.

He flashed a grin, sliding his hand down my back.

"Hey, aren't you all hungry?" Iggy suddenly said. "I got this great cook book. How about I cook something?"

"That sounds great!" Nudge and Gazzy agreed.

Iggy stood, leading me by the hand to his room. "We'll get the cook book."

It wasn't long before we were in his room, the door closed behind us. He pushed me into the bed, falling next to me.

"You're gonna drive me nuts one day," I smiled.

Iggy rolled on top of me, pulling at my hair again. "I'm sorry, I couldn't help myself."

He leaned down and kissed me.

"We're supposed to be getting a cooking book," I laughed, kissing him back.

We untangled ourselves a few minutes later, grabbing the cook book, and making our way down to the kitchen, like all the anxiety had from the beginning of the day never existed.

Thanks for reading! Please tell me any thoughts or suggestions you have!

Love is Blind – Chapter 15

By MyNameIsCAL

The last month of summer was barbeques, laughs, and a lot of fooling around by Iggy and me. For the most part, the flock took our relationship well. Iggy and I got more comfortable being together around them too.

"I don't like this show," Iggy complained, his hand running through my hair.

I was lying next to him on the couch. "We're not even paying attention."

"So?" he replied.

I pushed myself on top of him. "So, what does it matter?"

He grinned. "Well, no romantic music or anything?"

I leaned down to kiss me. "Since when did you like that kind of music?"

"I don't," he said slyly, kissing me back. "I just like to be obnoxious."

And then someone dumped water on us.

"Get a room!" Max shouted, standing over us.

Iggy rolled his eyes. "You just ruined a great moment."

"I have more water," she threatened.

I rolled off Iggy and onto the floor.

"I just want the TV," Max held up an empty glass.

"Watch out for bombs," Iggy warned as he stood, stepping on me.

"You better watch out for Fang first," Max laughed as Iggy stumbled and landed next to me on the floor.

Max was poking fun at us now. That was a good sign. She seemed less upset as she saw the flock accept us. Even Ella seemed to be doing alright. I mean, don't get me wrong, we were all excited for college. None of us were going to let anything get in the way of that.

"Fang, I can't find my ipod!" Iggy was freaking out. We were packing up our stuff, on the way to move into our apartment that Mom was going to rent for us near our college.

"Ig, I packed it for you last night, remember?"

He frowned. "Did you really?"

I picked up the last of our bags. "Yes, really. C'mon, I'll check again."

We headed to the car and I shoved the bags into the trunk. I searched for Iggy's backpack and pulled out his ipod, waving it in front of his face even though he couldn't see it.

"You're so annoying," Iggy stuck his tongue out, grabbing it from me.

"Hey, you two!" Max shouted from the front of the car. "Can we go now? I'm not getting any younger."

I thought back to when Max had interrupted on the couch and smirked. "Nah, you can wait a second, we were just gonna make out for a few minutes if you don't mind."

Iggy played along with me, pushing me against the car, already leaning down to kiss me.

"Jeez," Max sighed. "I'm sorry I even asked."

I pushed Iggy off of me as I laughed and got into the back of the car.

"Wow, Mom, this place is great," Max smiled as we started to bring our things in.

Mom smiled. "I thought you'd like it."

Nudge and Gazzy came in, holding more of our bags and boxes.

"You guys get to live here?" Gazzy remarked. "I wanna live here!"

"Are you saying you don't like Mom's place?" Max frowned.

He looked up at Max sheepishly. "No, I was just saying…"

Max ruffled his hair. "I'm just kidding."

The apartment was about fifteen minutes from campus. It had a room for each of us, although I got the feeling Iggy and I would end u pin each other's half the time. The boxes got sorted, Mom helped us put some plates and pots and pans into the kitchen cabinets, and we finally had everything inside.

Iggy started to work on cooking dinner with Ella as we finished unpacking everything else. I set up the TV and unpacked Iggy's things. Angel and Gazzy were arguing over what order to put the DVDs and music CDs in on the shelf next to the TV. Iggy was laughing, telling them either Max or I would end up rearranging them no matter what.

"Yeah, I'm gonna come and rearrange your room every week," I laughed to myself, putting things into the drawers in Iggy's room.

We said goodbye to the rest of the flock after dinner. Max hugged them all goodbye. After all these years, sometimes, in the right situations, she still felt like a leader. As grown up as Angel had gotten, she still went to Max when she had a nightmare. Although we never really grew up like we should have. Life sort of just demanded that we mature and make good decisions or suffer the consequences with death. It had all gone by so fast. Even too fast.

"We'll come visit, don't you worry," Max promised.

"Sure you will," Gazzy said sarcastically.

There was a round of laughter.

And then they were gone. It seemed so surreal.

Thanks for reading!

Love is Blind – Chapter 16

By MyNameIsCAL

College started quickly. It was a lot of late nights because I would have to do everything twice, once for me, and again to help Iggy. It was like the first few weeks already and Iggy and I had a paper due. At least it was Friday now.

Right now, even though it was Friday night, Max and Ella were out at the library, working on some project, leaving the apartment to Iggy and me. We were sitting on the couch, attempting to do our paper that was due on Monday.

"Mmm…Ig, what are you doing?" I murmured as his hand ran up the inside of my leg.

"C'mon, Max and Ella aren't here," he whispered in my ear, kissing my neck. "And it's Friday night. What loser does homework on Friday night?"

I stared at my blank word document. Well, he had a point. I shut the laptop and put it on the table.

Iggy gave me a smile, pushing me down on the couch, resting on top of me.

"You need a haircut," he told me.

"Do I?" I laughed.

He started to undo the buttons of my shirt, grinning now.

I woke up the next morning in Iggy's bed. The clock, which was upside down because Iggy still hadn't figured out the whole layout of his room yet, sat upside down on the bedside table. If you pressed the right button, it would say the time out loud.

But it was ten o'clock already. Iggy should have been up, making breakfast.

"Ig, wake up," I yawned, getting out of bed.

He grunted.

I picked up his clothes. "Get dressed. You gotta make breakfast before Max burns the apartment building down."

"Alright, alright," he grumbled.

"By the way," I said, moving back to the bed to kiss him. "I'm stealing one of your shirts."

He smirked. "Well, it would have been so much easier if you didn't have to have a shirt with buttons."

"But I like buttons," I said, just to be obnoxious.

"There wouldn't have been anything to slow things down if you weren't wearing a shirt with buttons! I figured ripping it would just be faster."

I rolled my eyes. "Sure, Ig. Get up soon."

"Yeah, yeah," he grumbled, pulling the blankets over his head. "You want another shirt with buttons? I think you put them in the closet."

I laughed, pulling one of his shirts out and pulling it on.

Max was in the kitchen, already dressed to go out. I wondered why.

"Morning," I said.

"Morn…Since when do you walk around in your boxers?" Max gave me a questioning look.

Ooops…I forgot about that. Oh well. "Since when do you get dressed to go out before noon?"

"I'm going out later," she replied. "Is Ig gonna make breakfast?"

"Yeah…" I frowned. "Out with Ella?"

Max shook her head. "A friend."

I stared at her, ours eyes meeting briefly.

"Jeez, Fang, am I now allowed to see other people?" Max started to set the table.

"No, I was just wondering," I told her.

"His name is John," Max answered after a while. "And would you button your shirt please…And since when do you have white shirts?"

I sat and did as I was told. "It's Ig's."

"Well, do me a favor and get dressed before John comes," she warned me.

"Of course."

She rolled her eyes.

"Jesus, Fang, could it kill you to put pants on!" Ella exclaimed walking into the kitchen.

Just as I could respond, Iggy came in.

"Wonderful, we got shirtless and pantless," Max threw her hands in the air, exasperated. "You two do remember you live with us, right?"

"Nah, I can't see you, so what does it matter?" Iggy said slyly.

"Oh, you shut up!" Ella whacked him in the back of the head.

He still laughed.

"What page is that paragraph about those people that were kidnapped and then escaped?" Iggy questioned, his rapid fire typing coming to a halt.

I flipped through the book. "Page eleven."

"Ah, okay." And he resumed typing.

This was going to be painful.

There was a knock on the door. I stood and started towards it, but Max cut in front of me.

"I thought I told you to put pants on!" she groaned.

"Well if he's gonna date you, he's gonna have to accept this!" I joked.

"At least I put a shirt on!" Iggy added.

"I liked it much better when it was off," I remarked.

"You two are impossible," she muttered, pulling the door open.

"Hey, Max." That must be John.

"Hi, John, come in." She moved out of his way.

"How are you?" John asked.

"Great." Max said, glaring at me.

I gave her a smile.

And John was staring at me, unsure of what to make of me standing there in my boxers. "So, these are your roommates?"

Max let out a sigh, motioning to me. "This is Fang. He's, well, he's my best friend."

My smile turned into a more appreciative one and Max returned it. Then she pointed to Iggy. "This is Iggy, Fang's boyfriend. He's also blind, by the way."

John nodded. "Ah, so you're gay?"

"If that's how you want to put it, yes," Iggy answered.

"Oh, well, my mom is Catholic, but you know, I never really cared about all that stuff," John said quickly. Still, I could tell it bothered him.

Ella entered the room, trying not to laugh as she saw me standing in front of John.

"Hey, John," she managed to say before ducking back into her room. I could have sworn she was in there laughing now.

"And how do you know these two?" John turned to Max.

Anxiously, Max replied. "Well, you know, I told you about those evil scientists and what not. They were there with me."

"Oh, right!" It sounded like he was suddenly remembering something. He stuck out his hand to me now. "It's good to meet you."

I nodded, shaking it firmly.

"Well, we should get going now," John let out a deep breath. "The movie is in an hour. I was hoping you'd like to stop to get some food after."

Max agreed. "Sounds good."

John opened the door, holding it for Max, but she stopped in front of me and gave me a hug.

"Well, thank you for behaving, mostly," she whispered.

I hugged her back briefly, confused. "You're welcome."

She smiled once more and dashed out the door, John following her close behind. I shut the door and Ella came out of her room, still laughing.

"I cannot believe you just stood there like that!" she shook her head. "I wish I could have recorded that."

I sat back down next to Iggy. "That's nice."

Ella took a seat on the armchair. "You do know she only brought John in here for your approval."

"Really?" I raised an eyebrow.

She nodded. "Max knows you care, Fang, and she cares about you too. She's not going to run off with someone that won't get along with you."

"Well, he seems alright," I responded.

"I say we have him over for dinner one day," Iggy was ready to chime in with a joke already. "And we can interrogate him."

"You make it sound like you're Max's mother or something," Ella countered.

Iggy stuck his tongue out at her. It was funny, we were supposed to be in college, yet here we were, being immature. "We'll interrogate your boyfriend too!"

"Sure you will," Ella sighed. "So, you working on your papers all day?"

"Pretty much." I started to flip through the book.

"No, he's lying…"

"Iggy, shut up!" Ella and I shot back in unison.

"Haha, sorry I couldn't help myself," he smiled sheepishly.

Alright, this chapter introduces a new character I made up, John. I hoped that was entertaining and not too weird. Most of my other stories, well, they're quite depressing, so I figured I'd have a little bit of fun with Fang and Iggy fooling around and making jokes.

Oh, and I was thinking, I should probably make up things for all of them to major in, since they're in college. Not that it matters, but it might later, depending how I let this all play out. Anyway, if you've got any ideas what they should be getting for their college majors and what not, lemme know because I could use some help!

So thanks for reading, as always! Thanks for all the reviews too! I didn't think I'd have that many for this story!

Love is Blind – Chapter 17

By MyNameIsCAL

Max came back late that night. I sat awake, having helped Iggy with his paper all day, I figured I needed to get work on mine after last night.

"You're still up?" she asked, yawning as she took a seat on the couch next to me.

I shut the laptop and put it on the table. "I've been trying to write the same sentence for an hour now. How was your date with John?"

She laughed. "I like John. He's funny. He took me to this place for dinner, on the opposite side of town from here. It was nice."

"That's good to hear."

"Well, what do you think of him?"

I thought for a moment. "I think Iggy and I…He feels uncomfortable."

"Ah, yes," Max sighed. "His mom is catholic. He told me that he's sorry for that."

I shrugged. "It's alright. You should have him over for dinner. Iggy can cook. Well, Iggy said that after you left."

"You know, that's not a bad idea," she agreed.

"I'm sure he'd be glad to hear that," I replied, thinking about how Ella had told me the only reason Max had brought John up to the apartment was for my approval. After a while, I said, "And thanks for introducing him to us."

Max seemed taken aback, like she hadn't expected me to mention anything along those lines. "Well, I just thought you all deserved to give me your opinions later."

I gave her a small smile. "Have you been on the roof yet, here?"

She shook her head. "I've been meaning to ask you."

"Well, shall we take a look?" I asked, standing. "And you can tell me more about your date with John, and then I'll tell you about my day with Iggy and Ella."

She smiled. "Alright, let's go."

We exited the apartment and headed outside, unfurling our wings in the parking lot and pushing through the air to the top of the building. Inside there had been stairs, but flying seemed a lot more appealing, especially because we didn't do a whole lot of it when we had to travel with Ella.

"Well, it's alright up here," Max said, looking around. "Not like Mom's roof."

I wondered if she was alluding to the scenery you could see from Mom's roof or all the memories we had left behind there.

We sat side by side on the edge of the building, our feet hanging over the edge. Every now and then a car would go by lazily.

"We saw this really stupid romantic comedy," Max told me. "I hated it, but you know, John just probably stereotyped me. I'm not sure if he planned it, but he drove me an hour across town and begged the restaurant to let us in even though they barely had any tables. That definitely wasn't planned, but dinner went nicely."

"Was it as good as Iggy's cooking?" I asked.

"Of course not," Max laughed. "And how was your day?"

I stared up at the sky, an airplane flying across it. "Well first, we started to plan world takeover, but Ella insisted that we'd never be able to, so we gave up and started to discuss ways too…"

"No, seriously," Max elbowed me.

"Well, Iggy and I sat around all day writing his paper," I finished shortly. "And then he and Ella cooked. Now see, my original story was a lot more interesting."

"Sure it was."

Max spent a lot of time around John and if it weren't for Iggy, I might have felt jealous. I worried that John would hurt her, that it was only the beginning of college and people jump into things too quickly, but John seemed nice. Not being with Max didn't mean that I didn't care for her like I used to. Most nights when she went out with John, I'd wait up for her.

"You're like a father," Ella commented as she came into the kitchen looking for coffee. "Max will be fine. Shouldn't you be spending time with Iggy?"

"But he's sleeping already," I countered. "Shouldn't you be sleeping?"

"No, I've got my paper to write."

"Doesn't Max have a paper to write?"

"She does everything right away," Ella shook her head. "I'm sure she finished last week."

Ella came over and took a seat in the armchair, staring at the TV. As much as Ella gave me a hard time about looking after Max, she also knew that I knew that she was still bitter about Iggy. They still talked and joked, like they were before, like Max and I carried on, but you know, it wasn't a lie that it wasn't exactly the same.

As the weeks went on, we all started to meet people. Ella found her own group of friends to distract herself with, Max had John, and Iggy and I met another couple. They were a year older than us, but they were happy to show us around. As we started to get comfortable with college, we stopped spending time in the apartment together and gravitated towards the other people we met.

"We must take you to this absolutely amazing restaurant." That was Phineas. "Perhaps this weekend. I know the owner. We can get in without a problem."

"You're such a show off," Gabriel, or well we called him Gabe, remarked. He was Phineas' boyfriend.

Iggy laughed. "Sure, that sounds great."

"Wonderful," Phineas smiled, clapping his hands together.

Gabe just sighed. He seemed like the totally opposites, but apparently they had known each other for years. It made me wonder how they got along.

We were walking across campus now. Iggy was holding my hand. Now that I thought about it, I couldn't remember how we had started to become comfortable at this in public.

"Now how does the blind one get someone as good looking as you?" Phineas joked, elbowing me. He seemed to flirt with everyone and you could tell it annoyed Gabe. But he never protested.

Iggy laughed. Although the way Iggy and I got into our relationship had been complicated.

"You must tell us sometime how you met," Phineas went on. "Ah, come now, Gabe. We're going to be late for philosophy!"

He took Gabe by the hand and dragged him down the path, leaving Iggy and I to continue our way to meet Max and Ella for lunch.

I thought it'd be nice to have some side characters that I made up to make friends with Iggy and Fang. It wouldn't be all that interesting if they were home every chapter in their apartment.

Anyway, thank you for reading! New chapter soon!

Love is Blind – Chapter 18

By MyNameIsCAL

"It's nice to see you're dressed."

John entered the apartment with Max. Like Iggy had suggested, Max had invited him over for dinner. They had just come back from a movie.

"It's getting to cold to walk around without pants," I joked, but John didn't seem to get it.

Max gave me a brief hug and led John into the kitchen. Iggy and Ella had been hard at work all day cooking, mostly because Iggy and I had woken up at noon. That left me to clean the house, something that Iggy couldn't have done anyway and Ella would rather spend her time with Iggy.

"I thought you said he was blind," John stated as soon as he entered the kitchen.

"Iggy's only the best cook there is," Max replied.

"Is he?" John seemed incredulous.

It wasn't long until the food was ready. Ella and I set the table, letting Max and John carry on their own conversation for a while. It had been, what, a month now since they had been supposedly dating.

Iggy's leg pressed against mine as he sat down next to me, Ella placing the food on the table. Steak, of course. And Iggy's steak was the best. But he wasn't making it to impress us. Iggy had joked about making terrible food to scare off John, but I told him that we'd let him have his chance with Max.

"Can I cut you a piece?" I offered.

John shook his head. "Nope, I'll cut it myself."

He took the knife out of my hand and started to cut a piece. I tried to catch Max's eye, but she was oblivious to what was going on. Iggy was too busy, trying to mess with me, his leg intertwined with mine under the table.

But Ella, she understood. "Fang, do you think you could get us some drinks? John, what would you like?"

He shook his head again, "I'm alright."

"Are you sure?" Ella pressed on. "C'mon, let me get you something. A soda? Water?"

"Alright, I'll have a soda," he agreed.

She came back and passed the soda to Iggy to hand to John. His soda remained untouched for the rest of dinner.

Iggy threw himself into bed next to me and continued to roll on top of me, his body pressed against mine. He started to kiss my neck, but I pushed him off of me.

"What's wrong with you tonight?" he asked, lying next to me now.

"John doesn't like us," I replied.

"Why do you care what Max's boyfriend thinks about us?" he laughed. His hand smoothed my hair. "What? Are you afraid he'll turn her against us? You know she'd put us first."

I let out a breath, closing my eyes. "I don't know. I don't want him to hate us."

Iggy, and maybe it was because he was blind, was more easy going about things. Everything was just whatever with him. I swear if it wasn't for me, he wouldn't get any of his work done.

"Things will get better, don't worry," Iggy promised, his arms coming around me. "Before you know it, John will be here every day, begging for food."

"Right," I said, trying to convince myself that there was truth behind Iggy's outlandishness. "Night, Ig."

He kissed me. "Night, Fang."

"Hey, hey," Phineas exclaimed as Iggy and I joined him and Gabe in the campus coffee shop.

"Hello," Iggy grinned, letting me lead him into his seat.

Gabe pushed to cups forward for us.

"I think you have a story to tell," Phineas said, waiting expectantly.

I had been avoiding this all week, and Iggy, explaining how Iggy and I got together. And I guess I shouldn't have felt ashamed, but you know, it was guilt. I hated guilt. Last time we had managed to evade telling them by explaining about Itex and the evil scientists.

"Well, you know, we've known each other for a long time," I began stiffly. "It was complicated and…"

Iggy interrupted, taking my hand. "I don't think it was complicated. After we admitted everything to each other, and let Max know, things fell into place nicely, don't you think, Fang? I just sort of pushed Fang up against the wall and kissed him one night and that's when we knew."

He had such a different way of seeing things. Either he was saving me from explaining the truth or he really thought of it that way. The way he kept going on and on about it started to make me think it was the latter. It was Iggy's whatever attitude that made him not feel guilty. Maybe my overactive guilt made up for the lack of his.

"Is that all?" Phineas always seemed amused. "You know, I think Gabe was quite afraid of me when I told him I was gay and that I had feelings for him. He sort of just stopped talking to me for a week or so. And we went to a boarding school for high school, so you can only imagine how awkward it was. Then one night, he just climbed into my bed and said 'ok, Phineas, I feel that way too'."

Gabe looked embarrassed, but still said, "Yes, that's how it happened."

The door to the coffee shop opened and John and Max came in, his arm around her as he talked into her ear. It had been almost a week now since we had dinner with him and almost three days since I had actually seen Max as we were all at the library at odd hours.

"Fang!" Max started towards me, breaking away from John.

I stood and she hugged me. John always had this look on his face whenever Max did that, not a look of disgust, but sort of a look that you knew it made him uncomfortable.

"Hey, Max," I said as she pulled away from me. "This is Phineas and Gabe."

Phineas stood and shook Max's hand. "It's good to meet you."

Max smiled and Gabe looked annoyed that he was never the first to greet anyone enthusiastically like Phineas.

"Will you be home tonight for dinner?" I asked. "Iggy is cooking."

Before she could answer me properly, John insisted they go get coffee now, so as he dragged her off, she told me, "I'll be there."

"Well, that was sort of rude," Phineas stated.

I sat down and thought up a lie. "No, I think they have a class to catch."

Love is Blind – Chapter 19

By MyNameIsCAL

It was November now, and as the days went on, I saw less and less of Max, spending more and more time waiting up for her. John always had a reason to take her out, even if it was just to do homework at the library like tonight. Ella seemed annoyed. Max was supposed to work on it with her. But whenever Max tried to get John to come over, he always found some reason to decline.

Iggy had gone to bed a long time ago, leaving me to work on my own things alone. As midnight grew closer, I finished my work and perched on top of the roof, wondering if John would bring Max home soon or if she would fly back by herself.

But the hour came and went. I almost pulled out my phone to call, but then John pulled into the parking lot and Max got out of the car, saying goodnight to him. He got out quickly and they stood there for a while, talking.

"Well, I better go," Max said, wrapping up the conversation. "Goodnight, John."

He leaned in to kiss her. "Goodnight, Max."

I watched Max disappear into the building. It was probably time for me to go back before she realized I was watching her.

"I knew you wouldn't be sleeping."

Swerving, I watched Max land on the roof.

"Well..." I spit out what I just happened to be thinking. "Then you know me too well."

"No, I know you better than anyone else does," she corrected with a sly smile.

I laughed. "So how was your date with John tonight?"

"It wasn't a date," she said, looking down. "How long have you been up here?"

"An hour," I replied.

She sat down. "Care to stay a little longer?"

I took a seat next to her.

"I know John isn't exactly comfortable around you and Iggy," Max began. "So I was talking to him, and I was thinking, maybe it would be a good idea to let him come home with us for Thanksgiving and he can meet Mom and the rest of the flock."

That idea, well, I didn't want John around. Thanksgiving was our time together, as the flock, and as family.

"Besides, John was just raised that way," Max continued. "And for Christmas break, he was saying I could go out a couple of days to meet his family. It would be good, maybe to see, what they're like, and I can get him to be more comfortable around you."

Max had good reasoning, and she was doing it for my benefit and Iggy's benefit. I couldn't say no to that.

"Can I open the window?"

John was squished in the back with Iggy and me as Ella had claimed the passenger seat, saying she wanted control of the radio, leaving the only open seat next to me. Between John and me were his bags, and he leaned on the door, like I might give him a disease or something.

"No," Iggy said. "It'll hurt my ears with the change of the air pressure."

"Oh, alright, then," John sighed.

"We're almost there," Max tried to reassure him.

Everyone was waiting for us when we pulled into the driveway. According to Iggy, they were all excited to meet John, to see who could possible replace me. Although I didn't think replace was the right word, but Iggy told me that's how they saw it.

"I'll bring the bags in," I muttered, passing everyone as they started to talk to John, like he was a celebrity or something.

I made my way slowly down the hall after putting the bags in each of the rooms. Mom had pictures lining them, tons of them, ever since she had taken us in, she had pictures of us. We hadn't really changed much, now that I thought about it, we just got taller, always looking older than we should have until now.

Mom had hung the newest pictures of us up. There were the ones from prom and graduation, still pictures of Max and me together. It was hard not to smile at them though because those had been good days.

"Do you ever miss it?"

Max appeared next to me, startling me.

"Miss what?" I asked, confused.

"Being younger," Max answered. "Not that we had much of a childhood, being in cages, but you know, it still was different back then."

"It was," I agreed shortly, staring at a picture of us from last Thanksgiving, my arms wrapped around Max from behind.

"We need to get a picture of you and Iggy up," Max said. "I bet you Mom will make us take a thousand photos before dinner again."

"It's tradition," I said, starting to head to find Iggy. "It wouldn't be Thanksgiving if she didn't!"

That's when John entered the hallway. He started to look at the pictures, stopping at the one I had been looking at before. I wondered how much Max had told him about us, if she had told him anything at all.

"Well, I better go find Iggy now," I mumbled, leaving them alone.

Alright, so I've been thinking, and I know how I want the end to go. I'm thinking that since they've got four years of college, I'm going to start moving towards the end of it, maybe have a few chapters of each year, and the summer and breaks in between. I'll try to make sure it doesn't seem rushed, but I don't think dragging it out just so it seems like they're in college for a long time makes sense.

Oh, and any thoughts about the future for John and Max? And just to see your opinions, how would you like the ending to go? I've got mine planned, and I'm not planning on changing it, I just want to see if any of you can predict it. Not that I'll tell you if you do!

Thanks for reading!

Love is Blind – Chapter 20

By MyNameIsCAL

John seemed pretty pissed off for the rest of the day. But now that we were all dressed up, ready for Mom's traditional thousand pictures she took of us, he seemed to cool off, at least in front of everyone else.

"Alright, everyone get in!" Mom said, motioning us. "John, will you take the picture for us?"

He gave Mom a smile and obliged quickly. After a few shots, it was time for Mom to go through random combinations. This could take anywhere from ten minutes to a half hour.

"Hey, Ig and Fang need one together for the wall," I heard Max say after a while.

Mom seemed to agree. "Alright, c'mon you two."

I dragged Iggy in front of Mom's camera.

"Ready? One…Two…Three…"

Iggy suddenly lifted my off the ground, an arm under my back, the other under my legs. Mom snapped the picture, laughing. After that, Iggy let me down onto my feet, and we posed for a more formal looking picture. John looked rather annoyed.

Always the gentleman, Iggy was gracious enough to stand for a few with Ella, and you could tell that made her happy by the way she smiled. John and Max are next, and they stand next to each other, John looking too anxious to pull anything in front of Mom. I run through all the pictures I remembered Mom taking. Once she finished with Max and John, it would finally be time to eat, and I was starving.

"Wait, one more," Max said before Mom could put her camera away. "Fang, c'mere."

Like I've said before, I never really say no to Max.

"For old time's sake," Max said under her breath.

I shrugged and we waited for Mom to take a few more. Then it was time for dinner.

"What she doesn't know isn't going to hurt her," Iggy whispered in my ear.

He was trying to get me to stay with him tonight, and now he was making it hard to leave, his hand in my hair, his other hand playing at the waistband of my pants. After a few more seconds I rolled on top of him and kissed him hard.

"It wouldn't be fair to John and Max," I told him after breaking away. "Besides, Mom would disapprove."

Iggy let out a contented sigh and then pulled me back down to kiss me. "Alright, goodnight, Fang, I love you."

I smiled. "I love you too, Ig."

And I slipped out the window.

"Fang?"

I was just about to go into my room through my own window, but Max was coming out of hers.

"Can…Can I talk to you?" she asked.

"Of course."

She flew up to the roof and a followed, wondering what she could possibly want to talk about now. We sat in our usual spot, the highest spot on the roof. I waited for her to speak, but when she didn't, I guess I had to fill the silence.

"What's wrong, Max?"

She looked at me and then out to the desert. "John's mad that I didn't tell him."

"Well, I'm sure he'll get over it," I told her. "And if he doesn't, well then…"

"Then I'll get rid of him," Max finished.

"Well, I didn't mean…"

But Max silenced me by leaning on my arm. "You and I both know that you don't like John."

"He doesn't like me either," I muttered. "And if he knew we were up here like this, it'd only give him more reason to hate me."

Max closed her eyes, head still against me. I wanted to tell her to go find someone else, someone who would accept us instead of trying to shield Max from Iggy and me.

"I keep trying to tell him you're like my brother now, the brother that looks after their sister because they care," Max said. "The brother that will stay up waiting for his sister to come home, the one that'll give his sister a shoulder to cry on, or a place to put her head when she can't take the world anymore."

I smiled and Max opened her eyes, looking up at me. "So if you were me, what would you do about John?"

I thought, kick his ass, but then I knew Max would never do that, so instead, I said, "Tell him what you want from him, tell him the things that are nonnegotiable, and if he doesn't agree, well then, break up with him."

She lifted her head. "Alright, thanks."

We sat there for a while still.

"Why aren't you in Iggy's room?" Max asked.

"Because Mom wouldn't like that," I answered. "And you and John don't get to share a room anyway."

Max laughed. "It's not like that between us. John's all about waiting. Besides, you and I, we always behaved ourselves."

"Mostly," I smirked.

She rolled her eyes. "Unlike you and Ig who can't even keep each other's clothes on."

"Hey!"

She chuckled.

It was starting to get late now. Tomorrow, well, we'd be off fighting the crowds to do Christmas shopping for all the Black Friday sales. I hadn't a clue what to get for anyone either.

"We better go to sleep now," Max yawned. "I'll see you in the morning."

"Goodnight, Max."

"G'night, Fang."

I'm not sure if it's coming across correctly, but I'm trying to portray Fang as sort of like a caring big brother to Max. So in no way does Fang have feelings for Max. Same thing goes for Iggy and Ella.

Thanks for reading! Next chapter is shopping, then we'll see how John and Max work things out, if they'll work things out. It won't be up for a while though because I, unfortunately, will be unable to access the internet until next saturday. But I'll be writing even though I'm not updating, so don't you worry.

Love is Blind – Chapter 21

EY! Here's a suprise update! I figured since I'm going away for a while, and since I had this chapter already written, I'd put it up before I go.

By MyNameIsCAL

Shopping. I absolutely hated it. And so did Iggy. It wasn't exactly fun for him not being able to see anything. But we had bought most of our present. The only person left to buy for was Max, and I hadn't a clue what to get her.

"Hey, Ella, you lost?"

I turned to see Iggy tap Ella on the shoulder.

"Huh?" Ella looked confused. "I lost John and Max. We got separated by this huge crowd trying to get into this store."

"Care to join us?" Iggy offered.

She sighed and nodded. I took Iggy's hand and we pushed through the crowd, trying to find a place to stand so I could think clearly about what to get Max.

"Hey, Ella, we need a present for Max. Anything you know she wants?" Iggy asked.

"No not really," Ella shook her head. "Oh wait, actually, there was this necklace she really wanted. It was, well, it wasn't anything fancy, which is why John wouldn't get it for her…"

"Alright, so let's go buy it then," I said.

She took Iggy's other hand and we pushed through the crowd.

"Oooh, this one's so pretty," the saleswoman said as she got the necklace for us. "Are you buying it for your girlfriend?"

I looked down to see that I was still holding Iggy's hand and tried not to laugh. "No, it's for my best friend."

"Oh, I see."

"No, really, she's like my sister," I said. "And I'm only getting her what she wants."

The saleswoman nodded. "It's free to engrave something on the back."

"From Fang and Iggy," Ig spoke up.

"Yeah, that sounds good," I agreed.

That was when the saleswoman realized Iggy and I were holding hands. She gave us a funny look and pulled out a piece of paper, telling us to write it how we wanted it. I did quickly and she disappeared into the backroom. Ella burst into laughter.

"Shut up, she'll hear you." But Iggy was laughing too.

When the woman came back, she thanked us for shopping and gave us a coupon. This necklace was going to leave a whole in my wallet.

"Good thing that's the last present," I said. "What did you buy Mom, Ella?"

She had collected money from us to get Mom one gift. "I heard Gazzy destroyed the grill doing one of his 'science' experiments, so I ordered one over at the appliance store. It'll get shipped to the house the day before Christmas."

"Oh, that sounds great," Iggy grinned.

"You're only happy because you can use it to cook," Ella punched him lightly.

"Hey, enough you two," I said. "Let's go find everyone else."

We still had two more days at Mom's house until we had to head back to our place. I lay next to Iggy on his bed, listening to music with him.

"How can you tell people apart without seeing them?" I asked, thinking how he had just picked Ella out of the crowd yesterday.

"By the way they walk and their scent," Iggy answered in a matter-of-factly way. "Mom smells like a hospital, no offense to her, and walks cautiously, Gazzy smells like chocolate half the time and when he doesn't usually some kind of chemical that he's been sneaking to make explosive. He's usually half running, half walking. Nudge smells like make up because well, you know, that's her thing and has this bounce in her step, Angel sort of skips around and smells like cinnamon. Ella smells like strawberries and she's really slow at walking, and Max, she walks with a purpose and has this very distinctive smell…"

"Of soap that's not scented," I finished for him.

He shrugged. "Yeah, exactly that, and then you, well, I know when you're around." And with that, he pushed himself on top of me, grinning. "Because I cannot resist you."

There was a knock on Iggy's door as we started to pull our clothes on. I flattened my hair, looking in the mirror, waited for Iggy to finish struggling with his buttons, and then opened the door. It was John.

"Can…Could I talk to you two for a minute?" John asked, shifting his weight between his feet.

"Sure," I said, letting him in.

He sat on the computer chair and I took a seat next to Iggy, back on the bed. Iggy's hand found the back of my hair, making me wish we could just usher John out and roll back into bed again.

"Look, I know it's probably obvious that I'm a bit…"

"Uncomfortable," Iggy interrupted.

"Well, yes," John nodded. "And I talked to Max. So I just wanted to say I'm sorry that we got off on the wrong foot, and if we could start over again, so Max will be happy, I'd appreciate that."

"Alright," Iggy agreed before I could speak.

"And Fang?"

I raised an eyebrow.

"Whatever went on between you and Max before, I don't care."

I nodded and he stood, closing the door as he left.

Love is Blind – Chapter 22

By MyNameIsCAL

And now, the long awaited next chapter! Ok, not really, but I feel like it's been ages since I've posted anything. Btw, if you read the previous chapter when I first updated it, I accidentally reposted chapter 20 instead of chapter 21. So if you didn't notice that, you should probably go back and make sure you read chapter 21. Okay, enough of my blabber and on with the story! Here's a longer chapter for my absence.

The weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas flew by too fast for my liking. Going into college, none of us had really known what we wanted to do. But now Ella was going to be off working on a degree so she could be a vet like Mom and Max was off for humanities. As for Iggy, I have no idea what inspired him, but he was talking about psychology. Most likely where he went, I would follow. He needed help anyway and I didn't think I could balance two things at once.

We were packing to go to Mom's house now. Winter Break would last until the end of January, which meant we had three weeks to kill after going home for Christmas and New Year's. Max would be off to meet John's family and wouldn't be back until New Year's, or later. Over the past few weeks, John seemed to have warmed to us better. He'd come over for dinner on Friday nights now. It suddenly felt normal to have him around.

"Hey, guys, I got stuff for you before I take Max," John said, trudging down the hall.

"You really shouldn't have gotten us anything," Iggy said as we followed him to the sitting area.

Three boxes sat on the coffee table. I took a seat and Iggy promptly sat next to me, making sure he could sit as close to me without being on top of me. He grinned and I rolled my eyes, waiting for John to explain himself.

"Alright, so Max and I got you all presents," John began as Ella took a seat next to Iggy.

"Damn, we didn't get him anything," Iggy said under his breath.

"Right, anyway, I'm not much of a present wrapper," John laughed. He pointed to each of the boxes telling us which was for whom. I took my box. It was thin and long. Iggy ripped his open, almost triumphantly.

And then he looked at me. "So, care to tell me what this is exactly?"

I stared at the box. It was a knife set. One he wanted. "Ig, it's that knife set you wanted. The one I told you about when we went to the store with Max a couple of weeks ago."

He grinned at John. "I'm going to have to cook for all of us after break is over."

John smiled back.

"Just promise you won't hurt yourself with them," Max said. "Or anyone else."

Iggy's grin turned into a mischievous smile. "Of course not."

Ella opened her box next. It was clothes. And I would never ever understand why clothes were so appealing to her, but they seemed to make her extremely happy. My guess was that Max had helped pick them out too. I honestly hated receiving gifts. To me, gifts were best received and opened in private. I had no choice now though.

Slowly, I pulled the tape off the box and pulled open the cover. Inside was Styrofoam. After getting that out, I pulled out another box that was thinner. Maybe I was deliberately making this slow and look difficult for me to do, even though it really wasn't, but what came out of the box, I had to admit, made me have to suppress my awe.

Inside was an electric guitar, one that was expensive and no longer being produced. I never had the heart to ask Mom to get it for me and since the few job experiences I had always ended up with me intimidating some little kid left me with little money that I could call my own, I never had enough to get it.

"Where did you find this?" I asked.

"Well, I know a guy who collects and sells guitars," John said. "It wasn't hard to find, not for me at least."

I stared at it.

"I don't think I've ever seen Fang in shock," Max commented.

"You'll have to play something for us sometime," John stated, another smile growing at his lips.

It was hard to believe John had ever had ill will towards us.

It was good to be home. The others were actually excited to see us even though Max wasn't around. I dragged our bags down the hall, stopping to look at the new pictures Mom had put up. John had made the wall with Max, along with my picture with Iggy lifting me, and a group shot of all of us, Gazzy and Angel together, and then as a traditional photo, a picture of just the flock. We all looked different, but then if you thought about it, not a lot had changed.

"Max is with John?" Nudge asked as I walked out of my room.

"Yeah," I answered.

"I can't believe she's going to miss Christmas with us."

"She said she'd call," I told Nudge.

Nudge let out a sigh. "Iggy's in the kitchen if you're looking for him, by the way."

I entered the kitchen. Mom and Iggy were talking, sitting at the table, coffee mugs in front of them. Taking a seat next to Iggy, he took my hand under the table.

"So how is John and Max?" she asked us.

"He just bought Fang the most amazing Christmas gift ever," Iggy sniggered. "That electric guitar he's always wanted, well John and Max went out and got it for him."

Mom raised an eyebrow. "Oh really?"

I nodded.

"That was nice of him," she replied.

"He seems to like us better now that he's met you and the rest of the flock," I added.

"Well, that's good," Mom smiled. "And how are you two doing?"

Iggy opened his mouth, ready to make a joke, but the phone rang. It was probably Max, and I was glad that Iggy didn't have the chance to make one of his snide remarks.

Christmas was Christmas as always. Iggy and Mom cooked us a whole feast on Christmas Eve. We opened presents after that. My least favorite part of Christmas. Like I said before, I didn't like getting presents and opening them in front of the giver. I didn't mind giving presents or buying them, which is the part people usually don't like. I guess I was just the opposite of everyone else.

Ever since we settled down at Mom's house, for Christmas, Angel wrote everyone letters admitting to what she knew about us because she could read our minds. Usually, she didn't have much to say to me. Most of my thoughts weren't about anything important, or they were about Max. But this year, it was longer than usual.

So, Fang,

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

And well, I guess I have more to say this year, although I never really know what to say to you.

There's no doubt in the world that you love Iggy (and I'm happy for you guys)

I know you still care about Max, but you shouldn't worry about her too much. I'm glad things worked out the way they did.

When Iggy and you got together, I was the first to know, but you probably figured that out already.

I know you still doubt John and that you even dislike him and I'll admit, I'm not crazy about him either, but I think we should give him a chance.

Well, I guess that's it. It's like two more than last year, isn't it? So good luck with the rest of college. I know summer is a long way, but it's too empty here without Iggy, Ella, and you, so make sure you come back for a while, and Max too. Make sure you don't let her run off with John until after she sees us!

Okay, well, I don't intend to ramble like Nudge.

Love, Angel

I pocketed the letter. As long as Angel had been writing these, I kept them all together. So far, she hasn't ever mentioned that in her letters and I wondered why. Maybe next year.

But like every Christmas, I usually got the same things as presents. Music, black shirts, and guitar picks. Iggy got his assortment of cooking objects, such as books. Mom got him a blender too. I think Iggy was more excited about the grill than Mom, but Gazzy still looked embarrassed, apologizing to Mom and that he promised that he wouldn't explode things near the house or in it.

At the end of the night, I realized Iggy and I never gave gifts to each other. Or in other words, I had forgotten to buy something for Iggy. I followed him to his room and closed the door behind us. He set down his pile of gifts on the desk and I lay down on his bed.

"Well, you've been quiet today," Iggy remarked, climbing into bed next to me.

I closed my eyes. "I didn't get you anything."

"Well, I didn't get you anything either," he replied. "Not that I needed anything. And I'm certain that you didn't want another black shirt."

I felt myself smile. "No, I guess not."

His arms settled around me, chin on my shoulder as he whispered into my ear. "So I guess you're staying here tonight?"

"Mmm, yes, I think so."

Even in the dark I could see a grin stretch across his face. He kissed me on the cheek.

I pulled him down, kissing him on the lips. "Goodnight, Ig."

"Goodnight, Fang."

Alright! Here's a chapter. I feel very behind on updates after going away. My plane got delayed too. Next chapter will be Christmas. Then I think I'll fast forward a little to the future maybe, just so things move along, but I need to find flow in all of that too!

Thanks for reading! The next chapter will be up after the weekend probably.

Love is Blind – Chapter 23

By MyNameIsCAL

New Year's Eve for us, like Christmas, was always about being together. Ella said Mom used to have parties with her coworkers since most of them didn't have kids and weren't married, but as the years went on, we came along, and I think it's safe to say that we can be a handful.

Today I was in the kitchen, cooking with Iggy this time. He insisted I helped since at the apartment, it was always Ella doing the cooking and here, Mom always had her own things to cook too. But she left Iggy to do the cooking for New Year's. Now that I thought about it, I could probably make toast, an egg, and a bowl of cereal.

"Well, you can't possibly be as awful as Max is at cooking." Iggy gave me a toothy grin. "Besides, one of these days, I'm gonna get tired of cooking."

"I don't think I'd ever cook anything better than you though," I said, pulling out the ingredients for him.

He laughed. "I think you could."

"No, you'd just lie to make me feel better."

He sounded upset now. "Alright, I probably would."

After a moment, he opened the drawer and pulled out this huge knife, pointing it at me. "You're gonna cut the onions and I'm going to laugh when you start crying."

I rolled my eyes, taking the knife and finding the chopping board. It wasn't long before Gazzy came in, talking to Nudge about something.

"What do you care?" Nudge remarked, sounding annoyed. "You're too young to have a girlfriend."

"And your boyfriend is too old for you," Gazzy countered.

"He's only a year older!"

I wiped my eyes on my sleeve and turned to them. "What're you arguing about?"

Nudge looked up at me. "Are you crying, Fang?"

"No," I growled. "I'm cutting onions!"

Iggy laughed like he said he would. Gazzy joined in, but Nudge looked like she was going to start ranting. After a moment of looking at us, she turned on her heal and left the kitchen.

"Exactly what were you two arguing about?" Iggy asked, pulling out a piece of bread.

"When Nudge goes out with her boyfriend, there's no one to drive me out to go places," Gazzy said. "Since you're not around, I get stuck at home a lot. And I'd fly, but Mom says I need adult supervision."

"Well, we'll drive you somewhere," Iggy offered. "We've got a month to kill before we go back to college."

"You're lucky," Gazzy sighed. "We have to go back already in three days."

He trudged out of the kitchen. Iggy shoved a piece of bread in my mouth.

"It'll stop you from crying," he sniggered.

It was late now and the ball had dropped over an hour ago. The others had gone off to bed, but I sat with Iggy in the TV room. He was drunk. The fact that Mom offered us drinks was beyond me. Apparently Ella's uncle had brewed some beer by himself and sent us a case. I'm pretty sure Iggy drank one too many.

"Iggy it's late and I'm tired," I told him.

He pulled me down onto the couch and rolled on top of me.

"I wish we were at our place" he breathed into my ear heavily, his hand tangled in my hair. As he started to kiss my neck, my cell phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Fang, are you still up?" It was Max.

"Yeah," I grumbled. "Iggy just learned how much alcohol is too much."

"Hey Max!" Iggy exclaimed, his words slurring together. "Fang wouldn't even touch any. I bet he's a lot more fun when he's not sober!"

"Shut up!" I elbowed Iggy.

"Well, I'll be home in a half hour," Max told me. "I meant to come home for New Year's, but John insisted I stay."

"Okay, well, I'll see you soon," I muttered as Iggy started to undo my belt.

"Thanks, Fang." She hung up.

Iggy grabbed my phone and shut it, throwing it across the room. He had lost interest in trying to get my pants of suddenly and now he rested back against me, his chin resting on my chest as he looked down at me.

"You know what I think?" he asked.

"What, Iggy?" I replied.

"I think Max is still in love with you."

I frowned, resting my hand on his back, the feathers of his wings brushing up against my fingertips.

"It's true," he went on, his words jumbled together. "She loves you. The way she lingers after hugging you, the way she says goodbye."

"Iggy, that's enough," I hissed, ready to push him off.

He laughed, his hand finding my hair once more. "You still love her too, deep down inside."

I wanted to hurt him now.

"But," he added quickly. "I know you love me more."

"Then what's your point?"

He let out a breath, an over exaggerated look of deep thought on his face. "If something happened to me, would you go back to Max?"

"No."

He laughed again. "Well you should because she's much better for you than I am. She'd end up taking care of you instead of you having to take care of her like you do for me."

"Why are you talking about this, Ig?"

"I don't know," he replied. "You know, I might accidentally walk in front of a bus or get hit by an airplane."

"I wouldn't let that happen to you," I grunted, pushing him off.

"I'm being serious!" But he broke out into hysterical laughter.

"Shut up, Iggy, you're drunk."

"Now tell me something, Fang," Iggy pressed on. "What would I do if something happened to you?"

I sat up, wondering if he would even remember any of this conversation in the morning. "Well, you'd have Ella. And Max wouldn't let you go get youself illed.

"Of course," Iggy nodded, his laughter dying away. "Fang?"

"Yes, Iggy?" I wanted to pick up the couch pillows off the floor and throw them at him.

I felt his hand over mine. "I love you."

"I love you too, Ig."

The doorbell rang. He began to laugh again and I left him in his drunken stupor, making my way to the door and buckling my belt.

"Sorry I'm so late." Max burst in as soon as I opened the door, her arms finding their way around me. I hugged her back and as Iggy pointed out, it probably lasted longer than most people's liking.

"Fang!" Iggy called from the other room. "Tell Max to come here!"

"Don't," I whispered.

"I heard that!"

Max gave me an amused look and headed towards Iggy, despite what I had said. After letting out a deep breath, I followed.

"Catch!" Iggy threw something at me and I stuck my hand out in response. Opening my hand, he had thrown Max's Christmas present at me.

"Well, give it to her," Iggy said, getting up from the couch.

I held out the box to Max as she turned to me. "It's from Iggy and me. Well, I guess Ella helped pick it out too."

She pulled off the wrapping paper, revealing the box now. Slowly, she opened it. Since prom, I had never seen Max look more happy.

"Oh, it's beautiful."

Iggy had one of those stupid grins on his face now. "Turn it over."

Max pulled the necklace out and read the engravement. "Oh, you really shouldn't have."

"It was free," Iggy admitted, laughing.

She elbowed him lightly and then gave him a brief hug.

"You're welcome," Iggy smiled. "Well, goodnight you two, I think I'll go pass out now."

He wobbled away and I heard the door to his room shut. Max stood there, still admiring the necklace, and it was hard not to think about what Iggy had said earlier, even if he was drunk.

Love is Blind – Chapter 24

By MyNameIsCAL

I sat on the couch with Max, the TV on mute as things for New Year's Eve were starting to wrap up. It seemed pointless to sleep, especially because New Year's Day was also usually spent sleeping. Mom could never get up after staying up late. Iggy would probably be hungover in the morning anyway.

"How were John's parents?" I asked, changing the channels.

Max was on the opposite end of the couch, snuggled in a blanket. "I think I like his dad better. His mom is too, I don't know, against a lot of things. And she thinks I must be some sort of angel or something."

"Against?"

She let out a sigh. "Oh, you know, gay people and abortion. Stuff like that. I swear she spent all of one dinner ranting about it. She said something to the affect that disease was good because it would wipe out all the people who have done wrong in this world."

I frowned.

"She's probably be afraid of you if she met you," Max began to laugh. "You, wearing all your black, with your wings. She'll probably freak out and say you're some kinda angel of death. But John's father was nice. He didn't say much, just sort of sat there and smiled."

I closed my eyes, leaning on the armrest.

"John hasn't told her much about me, although I think it's better that way for now. He says his mom could find a thousand things wrong with me, so it was best not to let our first meeting start out that way," she continued.

I nodded in response, trying not to let myself drift. It was good to hear Max talk about John.

"I missed having Christmas with you though," she added. "They took me to church, can you believe it? John's mom definitely disapproved that I didn't know anything about it. How was Christmas anyway?"

"I'm sure Angel has a letter waiting for you," I yawned. "We hid in a church once, remember?"

"Yes, I do, and that's the only thing I really remember. It was peaceful, although on Christmas Eve, it was packed."

She continued to ramble on some more. I was only half listening, my thoughts drifting to Iggy and then to what about he said. When Max stopped talking, I realized I should probably say something.

"So what did John get you for Christmas?" I questioned.

"A plane ticket to anywhere in the US for the summer," Max answered. "He's got a friend that works with the airlines and he got a pair of free ticket vouches. John suggest Hawaii or Florida, but I was thinking somewhere I hadn't been yet."

"Like where?"

She shrugged. "I don't know, I'm sure John will think of something later."

"Of course," I murmured, drifting off, Max's voice seeming to fade into the distance.

The others resumed school a few days later, leaving Max, Iggy, Ella, and I to do whatever we wanted. Well, not really, but almost. Today we were heading out to lunch. Mom was supposed to come, but something came up at her office, a dog came in with a broken leg or something.

The four of us crammed into a corner booth at the local diner, ordering burgers and fries. There were a lot of families here with young children, an elderly couple all the way on the other side. A waiter came over, asking us what we wanted to drink. Then I realized who she was. Jen, that girl who had been annoying me before the end of the year last year.

"Well, nice to see you, Fang," Jen smiled, pulling out her pen slowly.

I frowned and ignored her.

"Don't be so rude," Jen said. "I'll be right back with your drinks."

She walked away and I felt Iggy rest his leg against mine under the table.

"Calm down, Fang," he told me. "You get so worked up about everything."

I heard Max chuckle. Even Ella looked amused. Before I could say anything, Jen was back.

"So how are things with Max and you?" Jen asked, lingering just a little too long as she bent down to place my drink on the table.

I answered her with the truth. It wasn't like she had asked if we were still going out. "Things are good."

"Really?"

"Don't you have other tables to serve?" Iggy grumbled.

Jen turned on her heel, walking away.

"This is why people should stay in school," Iggy joked. "Hey, can I have some of your milkshake?"

I pushed it towards him. "I don't think I want it anymore."

"Oh, Max, you must tell us about staying at John's place and his family," Ella suddenly burst out. "I've been dying to know."

Max began to speak. I had heard this all the other night before falling asleep. In fact, I think Max had tired herself out by telling me everything. I felt like she was skipping parts.

Iggy laughed. "You know, Max. You should let Max go scare her into liking you better."

Max rolled her eyes. "Oh, I wish."

Speaking of the other night, when I asked Iggy if he remembered anything he said, but he just gave me a sly smile, telling me everything was fuzzy after he tried to undo my pants. Iggy was such a goofball. Sometimes I felt like he was the opposite of me. What do they say again? Oh, opposites attract. Maybe that was true.

Jen came over with our food a few minutes later. She had been listening in on our conversation. "Who's John?

"My cousin," Max lied quickly.

"Can I get you anything else?" she cooed, not thinking anything else of it.

"No," Iggy shook his head, sipping what was supposed to be my milkshake.

My milkshake.

Jen gave him a funny look, but being blind, Iggy was oblivious to it.

"Actually, I'll have another milkshake," he said after Jen didn't say anything.

"Isn't that…"

Iggy was catching on to what was happening now. "Fang's drink? Yes, I took it."

She picked up the empty glass and disappeared.

"Iggy, you're an idiot," I growled.

"Well maybe if she realized what's really going on between us, then she'll leave you alone," he said.

Well, it made sense. I wasn't afraid to tell people. In college, everyone accepted Iggy and me. Even Phineas and Gabe were well liked. Then I realized it was Max who had lied to Jen, not me. I sighed and started to eat my food.

"What's wrong now?" I felt Iggy's hand on my back. "You know, we should have just stayed home."

His hand rested on top of my belt, his face inches from mine.

"I have your milkshake," Jen said.

And Iggy took that as a chance to lean forward and kiss me. Max spit out her soda, laughing hysterically. I gave into Iggy, resting my hand on his leg.

"Whoa! Hey!" Jen seemed freaked out now. "I…I…"

And she left the milkshake on the table. I started to pull away, but Iggy held onto me for another second before releasing me. He gave me a grin and I had to smile.

"You see," Iggy said, sounding like he had just achieved the impossible. "I told you that would get rid of her."

Ah, don't you just love Iggy? Well, I'll be on a plane tomorrow, finally heading home! Isn't that exciting? Okay, not for you, but for me. I'm thinking of writing a new Figgy fic in the future, something different from this, so look out for that in the next couple of weeks.

New chapter will be up during the week! Thanks for reading! And if you have the chance, check out the poll on my profile. I gotta figure out what stories are gonna be put up next. So vote for the ideas that sound the most interesting to you! Some choices I have chapters written out for already, so they'll be out anyhow. Feel free to message me if you wanna elaborate on your choices or have a question! Thanks!

Love is Blind – Chapter 25

By MyNameIsCAL

A week before classes started again, Iggy and I headed back to our place. Ella and Max would be here in a couple of days, but Iggy insisted we have time together, just the two of us. We did take the time to see Phineas and Gabe today for coffee. They seemed to be enjoying their break together, visiting each other's family. It seemed nice that their family had accepted them with ease.

After that, Iggy and I headed to the grocery store to stock the apartment with food again. I pushed the cart, Iggy's arm locked with mine as we weaved through the crowded aisles.

"I'm gonna make us dinner tonight," he told me. "Just you and me and some candlelight."

The woman next to us gave us a confused look, pushing pass us.

I smiled. "Well, that sounds nice."

And as promised, Iggy got to work cooking after we got back to the apartment. I was going to help, but he insisted on doing it all himself, so I took a seat on the couch and turned on the TV. We didn't get much to watch on TV. I ended up on the news channel as they talked about politics. And then that's when some interesting news came on.

"It has been confirmed that the killings on the west coast in California are indeed connected," the news reporter said in his husky voice. "A note has been left at the FBI's office from the serial killer, along with his signature at ever crime scene. Now with the note to confirm, the FBI believes that the murderer is targeting homosexual men. All victims had boyfriends or were trying to get married."

The screen switched to another reporter, outside some house surrounded by cop cars and yellow tape. "The community is divided here in this suburban town. Living just outside the Los Angeles area, there are people on both sides of this. Most feel that this is an outrage, the gay community reaching out to the families that have been hurt by this tragedy. Others say it is a sign that homosexuality is wrong. On many of these crime scenes, police had to escort people away who were trying to go and protest against homosexuality. I interviewed a neighbor of one of the families whose son was killed last night…"

"I just think it's wrong that these people come around here shouting nasty things," the neighbor said. "They just need their peace and whether people think that a man loves another man is their own opinion. There are other ways to raise awareness about things, but coming to a place where someone has just been murdered with the killer still out on the loose is wrong. The police have a job to do and they don't need the distraction…"

I turned down the volume on the TV. Did stuff like this always happen? Or was I just noticing it now? According to the reporter, there had been five murders, all of them within the past month and all of them in California. It didn't worry me, but it was hard to think that we were right next to California. Actually, it scared me a little, and when my phone rang, I almost jumped off the couch.

"Hello?" I answered.

"You sound like you just saw a ghost or something." Max was laughing on the other end. "I just wanted to make sure you made it to the apartment."

"Yeah, last night we did," I told her. "Saw Phineas and Gabe for coffee this afternoon. Iggy is cooking right now."

"Oh, ok, I'll let you go then," Max said. "I promised Angel I'd take her out anyway. I'll see you in a few days, okay?"

"Yup, see ya, Max."

I waited for a few seconds, waiting for her to hang up first, but I got the feeling she would rather wait for me.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

Iggy pulled a blindfold around my eyes. He had already turned off the lights, the only source of light coming from the candle between us on the kitchen table.

"You know, you oughta try going around without being able to see for a day," he said into my ear.

Hearing him take a seat across from me, I felt around for my fork and knife. He had made a nice juicy steak for us to share, my favorite thing to eat. It smelled good and I felt around the plate with my fork, finding it after getting stuck in the mashed potatoes.

"I wish I could see you," Iggy laughed, but even behind his laugh there was some truth.

"I don't know how you do this every day," I commented, finally cutting a piece of meat.

"Well, you haven't been sightless your entire life."

"Are you going to make me do the dishes like this?"

I could almost picture him grinning. "Maybe."

Dinner carried on. There wasn't really anything different about it, besides the fact that I couldn't see anything. Iggy was enjoying it as I struggled, but I knew that even behind his amusement that he really wanted me to understand what it was like. He never talked about not being able to see. There were only a few rare occasions that I could remember him getting upset, and that was back when we were still on the run when he disagreed with Max. It wasn't easy for him, but he made it look like it was.

After dinner, he led me to the couch and we sat, the TV on quietly.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," he said.

"How do you live like this?"

I felt his hand slip into mine. "Well, I have you, Fang."

"But before all this."

He let out a sigh. "I don't know, really. We never really had time to think about much when we were on the run. And back then it was do or die. When we finally got to settle down at Mom's place, I thought about not being able to see. But I decided that if I ever got my sight back, I'd just think that seeing everything would be more disappointing than exciting and I wouldn't be able to live with that. But sometimes, I do wish I could see. It's hard not to want what you don't have."

"Does it bother you that I can see?"

"No, you've been able to see your whole life. Why should it bother me?"

"I don't know."

"You can take the blindfold off now," he said, hand moving to the back of my head.

I shook my head. "No, leave it on."

And I leaned forward and kissed him.

Love is Blind – Chapter 26

By MyNameIsCAL

I woke up the next morning in Iggy's bed. He was awake already, sitting up, fingers twisting my hair around. I rested my head on his leg, interrupting him for just a second before his fingers found my hair again.

"Thank you for last night," he said quietly.

"You're welcome," I responded.

We stayed there for a while like that. Usually mornings like this, Iggy would be ready to crack a few jokes, pull me back under the covers, or drag me out of bed half dressed to annoy Ella and Max. Yet today he seemed more composed.

"When you think about the future," he spoke suddenly, "what do you think about?"

I looked up at him. "I think about you."

He gave me a smile, but not one of amusement, one of appreciation. "Then I'm glad I'm not the only one, Fang."

Max and Ella arrived the other day. We sat around the TV, Iggy's homemade pizza in the middle of all of us. The news was on again and Max was shaking her head at it.

"I can't believe someone is out there killing people just because they're gay," Max remarked.

"Phineas says this isn't the first time something like that has happened," I told her. "But most of the killers get caught though."

Iggy changed the channel, tired of the news.

"So, how was having the apartment alone?" Max sniggered.

"It was nice, actually," Iggy said with a smile.

"Of course," Ella rolled her eyes.

Iggy was going to make a joke now, I could tell by the way his smile turned into a grin. "Yes, we enjoyed our time walking around half naked without having to deal with your annoyance. In fact, we only dressed when I heard you come down the hallway."

Ella looked disgusted.

"You know, he's kidding, right?" I remarked, letting out a laugh. "I mean, c'mon, we did all the grocery shopping."

"Sure, Fang," Max replied. "Well, okay, you did."

"I should make you cook your own food," Iggy said with overdramatic annoyance.

"Right, then we'd burn the house down," Max stated. "Well, at last I would."

"That might be fun if we didn't have to deal with all the apartments around us," Iggy laughed.

The night grew late as we sat, watching old movies from when we first started high school. Max had found her way into the empty seat next to me, a container of Mom's cookies on her lap. Iggy had fallen asleep, slouched against me now, and Ella had left to her room almost an hour ago.

"We were never able to sit through this movie," Max shook her head, a smile on her face. "We saw it with some people we barely knew and snuck off, remember that?"

"Yeah, I remember," I nodded. "We ended up back at home, finding Iggy and Ella in the backyard making out."

I found myself laughing now. Max was laughing too, but I wondered if she was laughing because I was or if she was just laughing to hide her true feelings about it. Still, it was hard not to look back and smile. There were a lot of good times I had with her and I didn't regret them.

"You know, we never told them we saw them," I said as our laughter died away. "I guess it doesn't matter anymore."

"No, I guess not."

There was silence and then Max hesitated before standing. "Goodnight, Fang."

"Goodnight, Max."

And recently, it seemed like every time Max left me, there was something she wasn't saying to me.

I sat in the middle of campus on a bench, Phineas lying on the ground throwing a tennis ball up in the air. It was a rare moment as our counterparts had disappeared to get lunch for us. Gabe was mad at Phineas for joking about some exam he had failed. Iggy was off, trying to cheer Gabe up as they waited in line to get lunch for all of us.

"Gabe is stubborn," Phineas sighed, catching the tennis ball. "I swear if it weren't for me, all he would do is study, study, study."

I shrugged, not really sure what to say to Phineas. Whenever Phineas was around, he did most of the talking anyway. Like Nudge, only Phineas was a guy.

"You never say much, do you?" Phineas laughed. "That must drive Iggy insane. Now Iggy knows how to have fun! You two balance each other. Gabe and I, sometimes, I have to laugh about how the two of us ended up together, you know? I swear he hates my guts sometimes."

"I'm sure he'll get over failing his test," I offered.

"Mhm, I'm sure he will." But it didn't seem to bother Phineas that much that Gabe was mad at him. He continued to ask me another question. "So, tell me, how is Max's boyfriend? Iggy tells me you're very protective of Max."

"Does he?" I frowned. "John seems like he likes us better now. I don't know what made him decide to accept us. Max claims it was just what he was taught when he was a child, that now that he's away from his parents he's decided to make his own decision."

"Ah, of course." Phineas sat up, bouncing the ball off the ground now. "Well, anyway, I know summer's a bit far away, but I've got a place in California by the beach. You should come out there with Iggy and we can have a party. Well, actually, you should make him cook for us."

"I'm sure he'd love that," I told Phineas. "I guess I haven't thought about summer."

"Well, I know how freshman year of college goes," Phineas laughed. "I didn't think about summer either. So you know, I figured I'd give you an option, or think ahead for you. Actually, it was Gabe's idea. He'd never ask you himself though, but I think he likes that we've finally made friend with people that aren't as obnoxious as I am."

"Oh, I see." Phineas was always good at insulting himself in Gabe's favor. He did it often, but only when Gabe wasn't listening. If Gabe knew that, I'm pretty sure he wouldn't ever get as mad at Phineas as he did.

Eventually, Iggy and Gabe came back with our food. We sat and ate, watching people walk by us. There was a sense of peace, sitting there, knowing that we were halfway through our first year of college, some kind of feeling of accomplishment, but more importantly, a feeling of relief.

Alright, just a filler there really. I think I'm going to jump to summer in the next chapter and skip around there before getting to their second year of college. We'll figure out what's going to happen between John and Max, some more development in Fang and Iggy's relationship. I think I'd like to have us at the end of college soon, though. There's quite a few things I have planned for after that, things you'll like and things you won't like, but you know, I'll find a way to give a somewhat satisfying ending eventually.

Thanks for reading! Next chapter, I'm thinking, over the weekend right now. So look out for that. Check out the poll on my profile page if you got the chance and I've started a website on Tumblr just for my fanfictions, so check that out too if you're bored. There's not much yet, but I'll start adding more stuff over the weekend.

Anyway, thanks again!

Love is Blind – Chapter 27

By MyNameIsCAL

Summer. It felt good to not have to spend late nights writing papers and early mornings wondering why you were still awake. As Iggy and I packed to head off to California, Max and Ella were preparing to head home to spend some time with the family.

"John and I are leaving to Chicago the day you get back," Max informed me. "We'll spend a week out there and then I'll be back."

I zipped up my bag. "Oh, Chicago? That sounds nice."

"Yup," Max nodded, sounding distracted. "So it'll be a while before I see you again."

"Well, I'm sure there'll be plenty of time to catch up in August," I assured her.

She gave me a small smile. "Yeah, August, always for the flock and Mom."

I watched her leave my room before I left, going to Iggy's. He had a bunch of stuff strewn across his bed, waiting to be packed into his bag. I started to fold his clothes.

"You know, today, a year ago, we graduated high school," Iggy stated.

I thought for a moment. "I guess we've gone a long way."

He grinned, but I'd always remember that the night of graduation had ended in Max's tears. Maybe that was why Max seemed so distracted today. I pushed the feeling of guilt away. A year had passed. Eventually, we'd look back and see past it.

I finished packing Iggy's bag a few minutes later. We would be setting off soon to go to Phineas and Gabe's beach house. Flying would be easier and Max needed to take the car home anyway. I'm sure Gazzy would beg Max to bring him out somewhere.

We said our goodbyes to Ella and Max. Of course Max wouldn't let me go without a hug and Iggy waited patiently as she told me to call Mom's house when we got there. When we finally got out of the apartment, I unfurled my wings, taking off first, Iggy following closely behind.

Phineas greeted us at the door, in flip flops and swim shorts.

"Ah! So now the party begins!" he said, leading us down the hallway. "Drop your stuff off in your room upstairs, second door to the right."

I took Iggy's bag and went up the stairs. He waited for me and we made our way down the hall, Iggy holding onto my arm.

"So you do know we're making you cook, right?" Phineas asked with a chuckle.

"Ah, yes, I think Fang might have mentioned it," Iggy nodded, laughing.

Gabe seemed more relaxed than the last time we saw him, which had been before our finals. From here, through the huge glass windows, you could see the beach and the waves rushing up to the shore. The entire house screamed Phineas' personality. It was extravagant, maybe even flamboyant as Phineas could be sometimes when he was trying to bug Gabe.

"You know, you should let him get used to his surroundings first," Gabe said. "How would you like if you couldn't see and we threw you somewhere and told you to cook?"

But Phineas just laughed. "Ah, I'm sure Iggy will be fine. I was thinking we'd head to the beach first anyway. I've got the cooler packed."

"Alright, then, let's go!" Iggy agreed.

Gabe opened the back door and we walked down the stairs to the sand. It seemed so long since I had seen the ocean. Well, only last summer, but it was nice to have a warm breeze, the smell of salt filling the air. Iggy started to fall behind and I reached for his hand, leading him towards the water.

The water was cold to the touch, and we stood there in it, ankle deep. Phineas had already pulled Gabe in and the two of them seemed to be getting along today, both of them laughing now. Iggy started to move forward and I followed. We were suddenly waist deep and I pulled him back.

"Since when do you worry about me?" Iggy asked, turning to face me.

I shrugged, letting go. "I don't know. I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry," he said. And then he splashed water in my face. It stung my eyes and I stumbled back, falling into the water. When I came up, he was laughing at me.

I tackled him and we rolled around under water, finally finding ourselves back on the sand.

"When we're done with college," Iggy took in a deep breath as we settled on our backs, "we have to get a house out here."

"Why here?"

Iggy took my hand. "Close your eyes, Fang. Listen and take everything in with a deep breath."

And I did. Things were different, but I felt myself relax, the sound of the water and seagulls. I could hear Phineas and Gabe still splashing in the waves, laughing. The wind carried the voices from further down the beach towards us. I breathed out, all that noise in the background gone now, just my breathing and Iggy's, the smell of the ocean and the sound of the waves.

"It's something, isn't it?" Iggy asked, bringing me back. "You people that can see miss everything."

Ok, I've been real busy this past week. I posted a new story called Meant to Be, so check that out if you get the chance. It takes places after FANG. Check out my new poll to vote on what new story I'll post next too. And lastly, I started a website that you can get the insight to my fanfictions on tumblr, so check that out on my profile and follow!

Thanks for reading! New chapter will be up during the week sometime. I'll get some action in too.

Love is Blind – Chapter 28

By MyNameIsCAL

Time flew until later that night. Between flying and being at the beach, exhaustion started to set in. Tomorrow Iggy was supposed to cook. Phineas was excited about that, but I think Gabe was a little embarrassed that they had asked him to.

Iggy lay on the bed in the dark, speaking as soon as I came in. "You never called Max when we got here. Your phone just buzzed a few minutes ago."

I let out a sigh and turned on the lights, digging through my bag. Sure enough, there were two missed calls from Max. One earlier and another one about a half hour ago. I moved to the window and dialed Max's number instead of Mom's house phone. By now, everyone was probably asleep except her.

"Hey, Fang," she answered right away.

I leaned against the wall, pressing my forehead to the glass. "I'm sorry I forgot."

She laughed a little bit. "No, I figured that's what happened. The others were disappointed that you weren't coming home right away. I already took Gazzy out to the mall."

"Nudge is still not driving him places?" I shook my head. "That's expected."

"I know," Max agreed. "So how's it going over there?"

"We spent the day at the beach. It was nice, actually. Iggy is cooking tomorrow for all of us."

"Oh, that sounds nice," she replied.

There was silence for a while, neither of us saying anything. Finally, Max began to end our phone call. "Well, it's getting late and I'm sure you want to get to bed."

"Yeah," I managed to respond. "I haven't flown out this far in a while."

"Good work out for the wings," she said, and I could almost see her smiling. "Well, goodnight, Fang."

"Night, Max."

I waited a few more seconds and then hung up, knowing she wouldn't first. Throwing my phone into my bag, I crawled onto the bed and settled myself on top of Iggy, my chin resting on his chest. I felt his arm rest on my back, long fingers stroking my feathers.

"How're things at home?" he questioned.

"Same as always," I told him. "Max says they miss us."

"I think she means she misses you."

I let out a sigh.

Iggy changed the subject. "Phineas was talking to me about asking Gabe to marry him."

"Oh yeah?"

"They've got two more years left in college. Phineas says he wants to get married right after they graduate," Iggy told me. "He actually sounded quite nervous telling me."

"Nervous? Is he afraid Gabe will say no or something?"

"Actually, he is, which surprises me."

"Gabe's not gonna say no."

"That's what I told him," Iggy chuckled.

We went on for a while, discussing Phineas and Gabe, but it was hard not to let that lead me to think about Iggy and me. While Iggy and my relationship wasn't as long as Phineas and Gabe's, it was hard not to feel that we had things set out for us already. I mean, when people at college asked me what I wanted to do after college, what kind of job I wanted, my mind jumped to Iggy first before I could fumble out some made up answer. The truth was, after this, we didn't have much of a plan.

Every now and then, Iggy or I would mention something to the other, a hint towards the future, a little bit of insight into how we felt. It would seem too early to talk about marriage, but I definitely thought about it, and I knew Iggy did too.

My thoughts drifted as Iggy talked tiredly, the conversation moving towards the room. I answered him, my mind somewhere else. Finally, he pulled me down into a long kiss.

"Goodnight, Fang."

I kissed him back before rolling onto my side of the bed. "Goodnight, Ig."

We rose late the next day, waking up at noon and slowly strolling into town hand in hand, following Phineas and Gabe. Time was to our leisure, so we took our time picking out things at the grocery store, describing the scenery as we walked through the small beach town. People here were friendly. They all seemed to know Phineas and Gave. Perhaps this was the first time I had ever seen the two of them hold hands in public. There was something comfortable about this place, even Gabe seemed less tense.

Around three, we finished our food shopping and headed back to the house, bags in hand. Iggy got to work right away, Gabe helping instead of me because he insisted that it was already bad enough Iggy was cooking. I found myself in the sitting room, watching TV with Phineas, listening to him talk quietly about Gabe. Sometimes I forgot they were older than us by a year.

"I think you worry too much," I told Phineas as he started to ask me whether his plans with Gabe sounded good or not.

"You're probably right," he sighed.

It was almost dinner time now. The aroma of food filled the air and we headed back to the kitchen, the table set and food waiting there. Iggy was sitting already, Gabe getting drinks from the fridge. I took a seat next to Iggy and after Gabe sat, we began to eat. The food, as always, was the best ever.

A few hours later, still full from dinner and feeling tired, the four of us sat around the TV, a marathon of comic movies was playing. Right now, I think the second X-Men movie was on.

"This popcorn needs more salt," Phineas suddenly said. "Anyone else want anything from the kitchen?"

"A soda, if that's not too much trouble," Iggy replied.

"No problem!" Phineas jumped off the couch, disturbing Gabe who had fallen asleep.

I stared at the screen, watching Magneto escape from wherever they were holding him because the security guard had too much iron in his blood, or something like that. My mind started to wander, wondering whether that could happen in reality. Before I could ask Iggy what he thought, there was a crash of glass breaking from the kitchen. Gabe was now wide away, running towards the kitchen. Iggy and I followed after him, hearing Phineas scream.

I'm sorry for the late update. Things have been getting busy. I'll leave you with a little suspense for now. Expect the next chapter sometime during the week.

Love is Blind – Chapter 29

By MyNameIsCAL

"Phineas!"

I pushed past Gabe and into the kitchen. A man dressed in all black and a ski mask was hunched over Phineas, scraping a knife across Phineas' chest. My instincts kicked in and I charged towards the man. He stood, his eyes meeting mine just for a moment, but not long enough for me to remember much about them. All I saw was fear in them. Then he took off, running through the broken window. I wanted to go after him, but Gabe was freaking out and Phineas was starting to cough up blood.

"Call 911," I said, kneeling down.

Besides the cut across his chest, he had a deep stab wound. I grabbed a towel off the counter, putting pressure onto it.

"Phineas," I said, trying to sound calm. "I need you to look at Gabe and focus on nothing but him. You will not close your eyes, you will not pass out. You're going to be okay."

Gabe took Phineas' hand. "Phineas…"

Phineas nodded, trying to take in deep breaths.

"An ambulance is on its way," Iggy announced. "And the cops are going to put out a search, but the guy could be anywhere now. How bad is it?"

I looked up at Iggy, wishing he could read my expression.

"Gabe…" Phineas coughed. "Gabe…I…I love you. Tell my parents…tell…"

"Phineas, don't talk," Gabe said, squeezing Phineas' hand. "You're going to be fine, okay?"

"I…I love you, Gabe."

Gabe looked like he might start crying. "I love you too, Phineas."

He started to close his eyes.

"Phineas, no!" Gabe pleaded. "What am I going to do without you? We still have two more years of college. And it won't be long before we can get married legally in California. You…you can't give up on me."

In the distance, I could hear the wailing of an ambulance. Iggy went to open the front door and a minute later, the paramedics were in here with a stretcher. One of them took the towel from me, continuing to put pressure on Phineas' wound. We crammed into the back of the ambulance, speeding towards the hospital.

"Gabe…" Phineas' eyes suddenly rolled back.

"No…No!"

"Awww shit, we're losing him," the paramedic growled. "Sir, can you put pressure on the wound again, please?"

We quickly transferred and they got the paddles out. Phineas was in shock from the blood loss. Gabe watched in horror as they ripped Phineas' shirt off, charging the paddles. After three tries, there was a pulse again. The paramedic strapped an oxygen mask over Phineas' face. Just as we reached the hospital, Phineas gave Gabe's hand a small squeeze before the paramedics rushed him out.

The police were waiting for us, full of questions to ask us. Gabe paced the waiting room, answering, but sounding distracted. The cop finally turned to me, taking down notes of what I could recall.

"You said that when you came in he was cutting across Phineas' chest?" the cop asked me.

I nodded. "Yeah. I guess he had already stabbed him before that."

"Mr. Forrester, can I ask you something else?"

Gabe stopped pacing and turned to face us. "Please do."

"Uhm…well, are you gay, Sir?"

Gabe waved his hand in the air. "Yes, I'm gay!"

"You think it's that serial killer?" Iggy asked.

The cop nodded. "Possibly. We'll need to talk to Phineas when he's ready. The FBI wants to get involved with our investigation of the serial killer. They might contact you, but if you have any problems, call the station."

Gabe nodded and the cop stood, leaving us in the waiting room.

An hour went by before someone from the hospital came to talk to us.

"He's going to be okay," the doctor said. "He'll have to take it easy until everything heals, but he got lucky." The doctor motioned to me. "If you hadn't put pressure on the wound, he might be dead now. You saved his life."

I shook my head. "Can we see him?"

"Are any of you family?" the doctor asked.

Gabe let out an exasperated sigh. "No, we're just friends. Well, Phineas is my boyfriend."

The doctor hesitated. "C'mon, I'll let you see him."

We made our way down the hall and the doctor left us in the room. Phineas was unconscious still. Gabe took a seat on one side of the bed, taking Phineas' hand. This had to be the first time I had ever seen Gabe look worried and upset. I sat next to Iggy on the couch, his hand slipping into mine.

"Phineas!"

I looked up to see Phineas' eyes opening. He looked around and then up at Gabe.

"Gabriel Forrester, why do you look like you're going to cry?" Phineas asked, a small smile growing on his face.

Gabe buried his face into the bed sheets.

"Shhh, Gabe," Phineas smoothed out Gabe's hair. "I'm sorry I scared you like that."

"You stupid idiot! You almost died!" Gabe sobbed.

Phineas looked like that had actually hurt him. Usually Gabe's insults were taken with amusement, but of course this was under a different situation.

"I'm…I'm just glad you're okay," Gabe said, lifting his head.

Phineas looked relieved.

Wiping his eyes, Gabe pointed to me. "I think Fang saved your life."

"Well, thank you. You have my deepest gratitude," Phineas smiled. "I'll pay you back eventually. You've still got a few more days here."

"Nah, don't worry about it," I told him.

It was late and the sun was almost rising now, but Iggy and I were awake, lying in bed. Gabe had brought us home and we talked to the cops again. They were examining the kitchen downstairs, but found nothing after searching it for an hour when we tiredly waited. Eventually they left and I helped Gabe tape up the window and clean the glass. He left us after showering, heading back to the hospital.

"The news is going to be all over this," I muttered.

Iggy let out a breath. "Maybe we should stick around longer to help them out."

"And I should probably call Max when we wake up," I added, agreeing with him.

"She'll end up calling you first," Iggy laughed and I rolled my eyes, turning off the light.

Phineas is going to be okay. Yay! Both Phineas and Gene are my favorite OC that I've created. I don't know why, but they just are.

Anyway, I'll put a new chapter up after the weekend. Thanks for reading!

Love is Blind – Chapter 30

By MyNameIsCAL

I can't believe I'm at Chapter 30. When I first wrote this, I thought people would be hesitant about it because the only Figgy fics I've ever read were comical or parodies. So thank you to all of my loyal fans and all of those who have read or reviewed. It means a lot that people read my stuff.

Anyway, here's the next chapter. Please enjoy.

The media was at the edge of the lawn when we woke up the next morning. I looked out the window, pushing the blinds apart just enough so I could peek out.

"I don't think Gabe is home," I said. "I'm sure they're at the hospital too."

Iggy let out a sigh. "You should call Max."

I dug through my bag, finding my cell phone. A couple hours ago, Max had called. It was almost noon now.

"Fang?" Max answered right away. "Are you all okay?"

"Yeah, we're fine," I assured her. "Phineas is in the hospital. He got stabbed in the chest, but the doctor says he should be okay. They think it's the serial killer."

"How bad was the stab wound?" Max asked. "The media is saying chest wound."

"Well, yeah I guess it was, but more towards his shoulder, like the guy had other plans before Gabe, Iggy, and I entered the kitchen."

Max let out a sigh.

"So we're thinking of staying here a few more days, just to see if Gabe needs help," I said after a while. "I won't see you until after your trip with John."

"Oh, of course, I'll tell Mom," Max responded.

"Well, all the reporters are outside now," I told her. "I better go now."

"Alright, bye, Fang."

"Bye, Max."

I hung up, sitting down on the edge of the bed.

Iggy and I got some food together and escaped out the back door, taking off further down the beach so we wouldn't make a scene with our wings. It felt good to fly, even if only for a short while.

"Hey," Gabe gave us a smile small as we walked towards him down the hallway. "Phineas is in there with his parents. They flew in last night."

"Oh? That was nice of them," Iggy commented.

Gabe shrugged. "Phineas will never tell you to your face, but his family has loads of money. His parents have a private jet and his father used to be a pilot. In fact they paid for me to go to that boarding school with Phineas. We had been such good friends that they couldn't let him be distracted by feeling lost because he wouldn't be seeing me every day. Although I think they might feel a little differently now that we're together. I mean, they're happy for us, but I think his dad is disappointed he won't have a grandson."

"What about your parents?" Iggy asked.

For once, Gabe was laughing. "They're just happy I got this far in life."

"Well, we brought some food for you," I said, holding up a container.

"Oh, you shouldn't have. There's food here."

"It tastes bad," Iggy remarked.

We all laughed and then the door opened, a man who must have been Phineas' father sticking his head out. "You can come in now, Gabe."

Gabe motioned us to follow him in. I watched him move to Phineas' bedside, taking a sit at the edge of the bed. Phineas looked tired, slipping his hand into Gabe's weakly, but still in good spirits.

"Mom and Dad," Phineas said, motioning to us with his head since he couldn't lift his other arm. "This is Fang and Iggy. They're friends of mine from college."

Phineas' dad shook our hands. Iggy, somehow, was always on target when shaking people's hands.

"It's nice to meet you," Phineas' mom said quietly.

The father cleared his throat. "I'm glad you're okay, Phineas. I have business to attend to, so we really must get going."

"Of course," Phineas nodded, like it was something his father said to him every day.

They left without another word.

"My parents are quite depressing," Phineas said as soon as the door closed. "I think I like your parents better, Gabe."

For a moment, Phineas looked serious about what he had said, and then he started to laugh and we laughed along with him for a while.

The stab wound had been an upward one instead of a downward one, which was strange. Why stab up when stabbing down ward would have probably killed Phineas? The police and the doctors didn't understand either.

They had Phineas' left arm in a sling now to stop him from moving it. The muscle had been damaged there by the attempted murderer's sharp thrust. And as much pain as Phineas was in, he still kept a smile on his face. If Gabe had gotten hurt, things would be a lot different.

"They say we can take you home tomorrow," Gabe told Phineas one morning. "But you'll have to remain in bed."

Phineas sighed. "Well, it's better than being here. You know, Fang, you and Iggy should go home."

"Nah, we'll stick around to help you out," I insisted.

"Does that mean Iggy will cook again?" he grinned.

"Absolutely," Iggy replied.

Gabe rolled his eyes.

Well, the next chapter will be them helping out Phineas, then we'll see them at home. Most likely after that I'll fast forward to the school year again. Thanks for reading!

Love is Blind – Chapter 31

By MyNameIsCAL

Phineas remained in good spirits for the next week, which wasn't surprising. I think Gabe was more stressed out than he was about the whole injury. Well, I think Gabe was actually a little frustrated with Phineas, but then again, he always was.

"You have to take your medication," Gabe frowned, taking a seat on the opposite side of the bed from Phineas.

Phineas rolled his eyes, scooping up the last bit of pie that Iggy had made with his fork. "You know that stuff doesn't work. Doctors just want to get you away from them so they don't have to be responsible for you. They only care if you're stuck between life and death, uncertain of which way you're going to fall."

Gabe sighed, setting the bottle of prescription pills on the bedside table. "Well when you're in pain, don't complain to me."

"I wasn't planning to," Phineas smiled. "Do you think you could get me another glass of water?"

Gabe stormed out of the room. I was trying to get the TV set up so Phineas could watch it. Iggy was in the kitchen, preparing for dinner.

"C'mere, Fang."

I turned to face Phineas and he pointed to the chair next to the bed. After securing the TV on top of the dresser, I took a seat, wondering what he wanted.

"I want to show you something." He reached over, opening his drawer. "I got this for Gabe a while ago, but now, well, I've been thinking."

Phineas held a little black box. He opened it, revealing a silver ring, studded with what looked like some kind of black gems.

"I didn't really think he'd be a diamond kinda guy," Phineas said with an amused smile. "I'd show it to Iggy, but you know…anyway, you think he'll like it?"

I nodded. "You're still worried about this?"

He shrugged. "Yeah, I know, he'd say yes no matter what I do to annoy the hell out of him."

Phineas returned the ring to his drawer and pointed at the TV. I got back to work just as Gabe got back with a glass of water.

"Iggy says Max just called your cell, but he answered and that she wanted to let you know that she and John made it to Chicago," Gabe informed me.

"Oh, alright, thanks," I said, plugging in the TV.

"Does it work now?"

I pressed the power button and the image of the local weather report came up.

"Yup," I answered.

"Eh, change the channel," Phineas said. "They're going to start talking about us again because the killer hasn't made a move so they've got nothing better to discuss."

Gabe changed it to some old movie, settling next to Phineas on the bed again. As I left the room, I saw him slip his hand into Phineas'.

"You get the TV working?" Iggy asked as I entered the kitchen.

"Well, all you have to do is plug the stuff in. It's not that hard," I told him.

"Care to cut the onions for me?" Iggy smirked.

I took the knife off the counter and began, hearing Iggy snigger as he sat down.

We departed from Phineas and Gabe's place. As soon as the doctor cleared Phineas for traveling, they would be heading out to visit Gabe's parents.

But being home again was nice. Mom was relieved to see us, even the flock seemed riled up by our encounter with California's serial killer. We spent our first hour back telling them what really happened. Then they begged Iggy to cook.

"Alright, alright," Iggy grumbled. "I'll cook."

He trudged off to the kitchen, Gazzy tagging along with Nudge to help him.

"Max is coming back tomorrow," Angel said to me. "She was really worried about you."

"I know," I responded.

Angel shrugged. "I probably know too much for my own good."

She left me, heading for the kitchen, and I followed after a few more seconds.

It was late now and I lay in my bed, alone because Iggy and I would stay in our rooms, for Mom's sanity and to not let the minds of the younger ones wander. Through the wall I could hear Iggy snoring. He was tired from flying and cooking.

But I stared at the ceiling, never finding sleep easily without Iggy to coax me into it. After a while, I got out of bed and went to the hallway, closing my door behind me. It way past midnight already, and I had been listening to Iggy snore for what seemed like hours. Quietly, I opened his door and then closed it, crawling into his bed.

"Mmm, what are you doing here?" Iggy said, his arm coming around me.

"I can't sleep."

He laughed, tiredly. "So you came here?"

"Well, yeah, I did."

Within minutes, he was back to snoring, and when I closed my eyes, I finally found sleep.

"AWWW LOOK AT THEM!"

I sat up straight, startling Iggy. Nudge and Gazzy were standing in the doorway of Iggy's room, laughing at us. I frowned at them and they ran off, still giggling.

"Don't worry about them," Iggy said softly, smoothing out my hair. "C'mon, I'll make breakfast."

He pulled me out of bed and into a kiss before leading me down the hallway, leaving me a little dazed as I wasn't awake enough to process everything.

Entering the kitchen, I saw Max sitting at the table with Mom. She was wearing the necklace Iggy and I had gotten her, twirling it around her finger.

"Morning," I managed to say, Iggy pulling out a chair for me even thought it should have probably been the other way around.

She got up, hugging me before I could make it to the chair.

Iggy headed towards the coffee maker, the beginnings of a frown on his face.

"How's Phineas?" she asked, pulling away.

"Well, he's definitely annoying the crap out of Gabe," I told her. "But you know, he'd smile through anything."

"I'm glad you were all okay," she went on. "The news didn't really say much."

"Well, we tried to keep the reporters away from us," I told her.

We sat down, Iggy already busy with cooking.

"So how was Chicago?" I asked.

"Oh, it was great," Max said.

And we listened to her tell us about Chicago. Iggy placed a cup of coffee in front of me, giving me the jolt I needed to be awake. As Max's voice seemed to fade away into all the noise, I looked around the kitchen, thinking about how nice it really was to be home.

We'll fast forward to September to get things moving again in the next chapter. Thanks for reading!

Love is Blind – Chapter 32

By MyNameIsCAL

The rest of the summer went pretty well. Although the news reported two more killings in California and Phineas and Gabe had decided to get away from the west coast, spending the rest of their time with Gabe's family and going to New York. They even sent us a postcard. In a few days, we would be seeing them again. Back to college, back to late nights and fooling around, walking around the apartment half dressed, making Ella and Max mad. It was fun and all, but the past month and a half being with the flock again, I found out I really did miss having them around.

And then there were those nights I spent, just Iggy and I. There was too much going on around the campus and our apartment since it was in the city, but around home, there were a couple of nice quiet spots which Iggy and I had discovered, just to lie there and listen to the warm breeze, maybe talk for a while. And tonight was our last night to do that, before we were whisked away into the stress of college, off to the apartment. I felt like we had grown closer than ever, Iggy had become that one sure thing I could see in my life, now and in the future.

"We'll find a place somewhere like this," Iggy whispered, his hand resting against my cheek. "Even if we've gotta fly a little farther."

I looked up at him. "I'm gonna miss this."

"We'll still have each other," he reminded me, his eyes almost twinkling even though the only light came from the stars and moon.

I pulled him down into a long slow kiss, his fingers working their way through my hair. We broke apart sometime later, breathless.

"Fang, I love you," Iggy whispered into my ear.

"I love you too, Ig."

"Hey, hey! Turn that up!"

Max leaned over, turning the volume dial. Ella sat opposite of Max, driving.

"Breaking news! Today in Los Angeles, the murderer has struck again. Investigators say he is angry that he failed to kill the man he attacked in a small beach town. The stabbings have become more brutal, but no details have been released so far. The victim was a middle aged man who lived with his partner. The partner came home and discovered him dead, the serial killer's signature clearly marked…"

"That's awful," Max said, turning it down. "I can't stand to listen about it anymore."

Iggy shook his head, looking troubled. "To even think how close we had been to getting killed."

I knotted my hand in his and he rested against me.

"Describe what we're passing," he said quietly. "Please."

I looked out the window, and then up at the clouds.

Iggy had fallen asleep a long time ago, his paper typed up and printed. My paper, well, it was a blank page. Literature. Sure, I read a good book every now and then, but I wouldn't even be taking a stupid English course if Iggy and I had just taken it in high school. He had offered to help me with mine, but I had told him to sleep. Now I felt stupid for not letting him stay up with me.

It was one in the morning now, and I had been staring at the blinking cursor for the past two hours. Finally, I needed to get away from it. I got up, opening the window and jumping out, spreading my wings. Before I hit the ground, I swooped over the cars in the parking lot and landed on the roof, staring out in the distance where cars still went by on the freeway.

"Are you still trying to write that stupid paper?"

I turned, startled to see Max sitting there.

"Yeah…" I mumbled, taking in a breath.

"Why don't you ever bring Iggy up here? You know, I sat on the roof for hours each night at home, and not once did I ever see you with him."

I took a seat next to Max. "I spent years sneaking away to the roof with you, Max. I didn't think it would seem right."

She let out a breath. "I'm sorry…I was just wondering."

"It's alright," I told her. "I haven't seen John lately. How's he been?"

"His Mom is sick. The doctors say it's cancer or something." Max shook her head. "He supposed to fly in next week, to try to work something out with the university."

"That's…that's terrible."

"Yeah, it's eating him up because she's in denial." Max sighed. "He was hoping he could stay here a few nights before he flies out again."

"Well, I'm not gonna say no to the poor guy," I remarked. "I can sleep on the couch."

"Actually, I was gonna offer you and Iggy the bedroom that we've been using to hold our crap we've been too lazy to put in its proper place or bring back to Mom's."

"You know that's like telling Iggy and me that we're allowed to walk around without clothes every morning."

She rolled her eyes. "I know you guys can control yourselves."

"Of course," I smirked, and then wiped the expression off my face. "I'm sorry, I know this is supposed to be serious. And thank you, Max."

"You're welcome," she gave me a small smile. "By the way, your essay, you can use mine from last year."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, the professor never collected it and pulled a test on us instead. C'mon, I'll get it for you."

I followed Max down the stairs and she gave me her essay. After slipping it into my folder, I climbed into Iggy's bed. He grumbled something, grabbing my arm and pulling it around him.

"Goodnight, Ig" I whispered, kissing his forehead.

Love is Blind – Chapter 33

By MyNameIsCAL

Iggy and I moved our stuff quickly. John would be here tonight and Iggy had to cook, which left me sorting through the boxes.

"Do you need help, Fang?"

I turned to see Max in the doorway.

"If you really want to," I said, folding the rest of Iggy's clothes.

She sat down on the opposite side of the bed and started to open a box.

"Wait, don't open that one." But my warning came too late. Inside that box were old photographs, letters, and clothes I didn't have the heart to wear anymore because they had been the ones that Max liked the most, even though they didn't seem any different than the ones I had.

"Max…"

But she closed the box and pushed it aside. "Guess there are some things you just can't get rid of."

I shook my head.

"Hey, well, I've got my box of things too," she said quietly. "Can I help with this box?"

Max pointed to another one and I nodded. We worked in silence, empty boxes piling up near the doorway of the room.

"Oh, shit, I gotta go pick John up!" Max jumped off the bed. "I'll be back soon!"

I watched her fumble over the boxes before she pushed them aside and ran out of the apartment. After putting the empty away, I headed to the kitchen.

"Did you finish or give up?" Iggy inquired.

"Max helped me. Everything's unpacked."

Iggy grinned before going back to cutting up onions. I took a seat a good distance away, remembering the last time he needed to cut onions.

When John walked in the door, you could tell a lot had changed. He looked exhausted, to put it simply.

"Hey, Fang," he said through a strained smile.

"Hi, John."

He nodded and followed Max down the hall to what was now my old room, and the two returned momentarily for Iggy to start cooking dinner. Max sat next to me, John on her other side. We let him choose a channel to watch on the TV while Iggy finished up. Ella just came in the door, rushing to go help Iggy.

"How's your Mom?" I heard Max ask John.

He let out a sigh. "The same, really. My dad won't fight her and, well, we can't force her to get help if she doesn't want to."

John slipped his arm around Max. "But let's not talk about my mom right now. I've had quite enough. She hasn't been nice to me or my father either."

"It's only going to be harder if you don't talk about it," she whispered.

I stood, not wanting to intrude on their conversation, but John picked up on it.

"It's alright, Fang, you don't have to go," he said quietly.

So I sat back down, listening quietly, my eyes on the TV.

"The doctor told my mom she has a chance if she's treated now. Or at least some more time before it totally claims her," John began to tell Max. "Once I'm done with my stuff here, I'm going to go home and my father and I are going to try our best to get her treated."

"How so?" Max leaned against him.

"Well, Max. My mother wants nothing more than for me to start a family. She's always wanted grandchildren, especially because she always wanted a daughter." John let out a breath. "Maybe it'll make her rethink things."

I got what he was implying, his future with Max, and I tried not to think about it.

The days passed quickly and John was gone already, but his situation with his mother had brought Max and him closer together. It was hard not to feel bad for John. Max was now waiting up, hoping for John to call that he and his father had some kind of success. When the phone rang, Max practically sprang up to it.

"Hello?"

I couldn't make out the words.

"Oh, John, that's great," she said, looking relieved.

There were more jumbled words I couldn't make out.

"Of course. Well, there's always room for you here, so when you get back, don't worry about getting a place."

And then more I couldn't hear.

"I love you too, John."

Max hung up.

"So she agreed?" I questioned.

Max nodded. "It seems she did some thinking when John was away. I don't know, I think that woman is crazy, but don't tell John I said that."

"Of course not," I smirked.

She rolled her eyes. "Well, goodnight, Fang."

I nodded and watched her walk away.

John was in and out over the next couple of months. His mother seemed to be doing better, but he didn't speak of it much. I think Max kept him happy though, and of course, it had to be seen as a good thing.

We started to see Phineas and Gabe around again, having dinner with them every now and then. Phineas still seemed to be having trouble lifting his arm, but as always, it seemed to bother Gabe more than it did to Phineas.

"You know I'm quite capable of cutting my own steak," Phineas told Gabe at dinner one night. "Fang cuts Iggy's food because he's afraid Iggy will chop off his own finger, but I on the other hand don't need to be mothered by you."

Gabe scowled.

"Don't give me that look, Gabe. I know you care." And Phineas took the knife from Gabe, now cutting Gabe's steak. "See, how would you feel if I did this all the time?"

Defeated, Gabe took his knife back and began to eat quietly.

But the fall soon turned to winter, and I felt like time seemed to be going faster than I could remember. And while grades and assignments should have been on my mind, I found my thoughts drifting towards Iggy. It had been a while since we had time to ourselves, and even I was starting to think it was time to get away for a while, even if only for a few hours. Or maybe perhaps it was time to ask Phineas and Gabe for some advice.

I'm sensing a Figgy moment in the next chapter, then we'll fast forward again. This chapter was really just to give the story some direction towards some new things. I don't want to rush it, but I'm also trying to get to other stuff that requires time move a little faster in the story.

I know this chapter seems slow, and the next one may be a little slow too, but it's just a little transition to ease things when the drama and all that starts up.

Thanks for reading! New chapter soon!

Love is Blind – Chapter 34

By MyNameIsCAL

Phineas and Gabe suggested a restaurant just a few minutes from our apartment to take Iggy to dinner. They told me nothing was as good as Iggy's cooking, but that this place came pretty damn close, and I was going to take their word for it because there was no way I could ever cook up some extravagant meal for Iggy like he did for me.

"Where are we going?" Iggy asked, taking my hand as we made our way down the street.

"A place Phineas and Gabe told me about," I answered.

"I could have cooked for us," Iggy told me.

I shook my head. "C'mon, Ig. I can't make you cook all the time."

He squeezed my hand. "You don't have to try and impress me, Fang. I think we're far beyond that."

I let a smile slip.

"Although I have to say it is nice to get out of the apartment and away from school," he added.

When we reached the restaurant, they seated us in a corner by the front windows. Cars zoomed by and the city traffic would be starting soon, people would start to fill the restaurant, but I had made the reservation weeks ago, so I leaned back in my chair and opened the menu, reading it to Iggy.

"I say we get some calamari," Iggy said, leaning against the table. "You know, I think that steak sounds good."

I ordered our food and we started to eat the bread they set out for us.

"So Phineas told me he was going ask Gabe soon," Iggy said.

"Is he really?"

Iggy nodded. "He wants to borrow us over Christmas break so Gabe won't suspect anything."

I looked out the window and then at Iggy, chewing on his bread almost thoughtfully. There was a jewelry shop across the street, and I started to think about Iggy and me, and that hopefully one day I'd find myself in a place like that with Iggy to pick out wedding rings.

"What are you looking at?" Iggy asked quietly, his leg resting against mine under the table.

"There's a jewelry shop across the street," I admitted.

"And what's that got you thinking about?"

I let out a breath and then took one in. "Us."

He gave me a smile.

Dinner almost went by too fast as we got caught up talking. By the time we had gotten to dessert, the last of the people coming into to eat were now leaving, Iggy and I almost the last ones here. I paid for the check and we made our way back to the apartment, giving the jewelry store one last glance.

Our pace seemed to slow as we got closer to home. We stopped on the edge of campus, hearing live music coming from down in the amphitheater.

"Fang…" Iggy brought me back from my thoughts.

"Yes, Iggy?" We started to push forward again, still moving slower than before.

"After college, Fang, will you marry me?" He sounded unsure of himself, like I might say no or give him an answer besides the obvious yes.

"Of course, Iggy." I gave him a reassuring smile, even though I knew he couldn't see it.

He shrugged and we now came to a stop outside the door of the apartment. Without another word, he put his arms around me slowly and drew me into a kiss.

I woke up the next morning, Iggy awake, his fingers entangled in my hair, ruffling it when I was finally awake.

"Good morning," he whispered.

"Morning." I sat up, giving him a quick kiss.

He gave me his usual morning grin. "It's a Saturday morning. I think it's about time we save Max from ruining the coffee."

I let him lead me out of the room and down the hall, but instead of finding Max in the kitchen trying to get the coffee maker to work, she sat in front of the TV, eyes fixated on the screen.

"The serial killer struck again," she muttered, turning the volume down. "Not far from where John was staying the night. You know, that's only a couple hours away from here."

"Where is John now?" I asked, trying to rack my brains to remember.

"He's heading here today," Max answered. "Just called me this morning to say he started to drive again. Plane tickets are too expensive this time of year because of Thanksgiving approaching."

Iggy let go of my hand, moving to the kitchen. His day didn't get into full swing without coffee, no matter what was going on. I took a seat next to Max and he brought a couple of mugs over a few minutes later.

"Well, John isn't gay, so what are you so worried about?" I asked Max quietly.

She shrugged, almost leaning against me before putting her weight against the arm of the couch. "I don't know, it just doesn't seem fair."

"Well, nothing's fair," Iggy commented. "And we turned out okay."

Max let out a sigh.

I handed Max her mug. "Stop worrying."

We shared dinner with John as usual when he came. Things suddenly seemed to be going better over on his end, and he was back to making jokes with Iggy. But I still got this off feeling from him, like he wasn't telling us how he really felt, or maybe that there was something still going on with his mom that he wasn't ready to share. It wasn't my place to say anything though, and I knew Max would figure it out by herself.

Thanksgiving was approaching and it seemed like John wouldn't be joining us this year. Instead, Max would be leaving us, and in a way, that disappointed me for some reason, although I would never admit that out loud. I didn't talk to Max as much either as she grew more concerned about John.

But things seemed alright. Iggy kept me from worrying with his wit and humor. Oh, and his cooking, of course. He was just that kind of guy that you couldn't help but smile when you were around him, and that's why I loved him.

I don't think I'll really go into much detail of Thanksgiving. I'll more likely skip to Winter Break for them. You'll most likely be meeting John's parents then and seeing a little bit with Phineas and Gabe. Of course I'll put some Figgy moments in there too! Thanks for reading and keep an eye out for the next update!

Love is Blind – Chapter 35

By MyNameIsCAL

Thanksgiving went past us pretty quickly. It seemed like a blur. The flock was happy to see us, disappointed that Max wasn't around. She called promising she would be back for Christmas, which was greeted by excitement from the rest of the flock.

It wasn't long before we found ourselves back at the apartment. Iggy and I had flown back, leaving Ella to spend a little more time with the flock, but also giving us the apartment to ourselves for the night.

"So what do you want for Christmas?" Iggy questioned.

I sat on the couch, messing around with the guitar John and Max had gifted to me last year.

"Nothing really," I insisted.

"There must be something you want." Iggy pressed on.

"What's to want when I've got you?" I told him, putting the guitar down. "That's quite enough for me."

He gave me a grin.

Iggy and I sat up late the night before we were leaving to Mom's house, writing Christmas cards. We had managed to pick out some gifts, at least for the flock, but we didn't have gifts for each other, and Max had asked me not to get her anything, but Iggy said he'd make some cookies with Mom, and I knew it didn't take much to please her.

"Alright, the last one is for Max," I said, rubbing my eyes.

Iggy yawned, lying back on the bed, his head falling against me. "Well, you write it then, and I'll think of something to put at the end."

I sighed and began. Finally Iggy grew impatient and made up something witty, and I wrote it down, really too tired to think.

"Then sign it 'love Fang and Iggy'," Iggy yawned.

I did, signing my name, and Iggy sloppily signed his, overlapping mine a little. After putting the cards into envelopes and sticking them in the box we had filled with gifts, Iggy grabbed me and pulled me into bed.

"It's late, Ig," I muttered, still letting his hand find my hair.

"I know," he whispered back. "Goodnight, Fang."

We packed up the car and I got in the driver's seat, Max and Ella in the back.

"I thought John was coming," Iggy said.

"No, his father and mother are coming to Arizona actually to see a doctor. They're staying around the college, so I'll see him after Christmas," Max explained.

Iggy shrugged and I started the car.

"I can't wait to go home," Ella started to talk. "Sometimes I miss it."

"Yeah, me too," Max agreed.

But we hit traffic on the way there and I was tired from last night. Iggy was leaning against the door, his head rested against a jacket he had balled up. Just for a moment, I closed my eyes.

"Fang!" I felt a hand on my shoulder, jerking the car to the left and then swerving back to the right.

"Sorry," I grunted, steadying the car.

Max sighed, her hand dropping from my shoulder. "Maybe you should let me drive."

I pulled the car over and Max stepped out, opening the door for me as I shuffled into the backseat, bags separating Ella and me. Rubbing my eyes, I looked out the window. We still had a good hour to go until we even reached the town Mom lived in.

When I opened my eyes, we were pulling into the driveway at Mom's house. There were some decorations outside, ones I guessed that the others had put up themselves. We grabbed our stuff and headed to the door that had now burst open, Angel the first one out of the door, Gazzy and Nudge a little farther behind her.

"We got pizza for dinner," Nudge said, taking Iggy's bag from him. "Nothing special, but you know, we figured we wouldn't make you cook tonight."

"Well, I could eat a whole pie." Iggy took my hand. Then he motioned to me. "This one here almost got us killed on the highway."

I let out a sigh.

"Maybe you should get Fang some caffeine first," Iggy went on, and I resisted the urge to growl at him.

"There's soda in the fridge," Nudge said.

I rolled my eyes.

All the cooking wore Iggy out by the time Christmas was over. It was late, and I probably should have been asleep already, but sleeping was never easy. Iggy had his head rested against my chest, already deep in slumber.

My letter from Angel sat on the bedside table, yet to be opened. The exchanging of gifts had become less of a tradition and more of a quick thing. Letting out a sigh, I reached over and grabbed the letter, opening it slowly.

Dear Fang,

I'll admit, it's been a long year since last Christmas, and you haven't been around as often, so writing this is really a last minute thing.

But this year is the year that I'll admit that I know you've been keeping my letters. Actually, everyone does. But you're the only one that's ever wondered about me knowing.

You've been preoccupied though, and it's because of the one thing, the one person, that's in plain sight to you all the time. If you're thinking Iggy right now, then you'd be right.

In my opinion, and maybe you don't know it, but unconsciously, you're thinking about Iggy constantly, and you're worrying about your future, and you're worrying about how we'll all take everything. But in my opinion, and I know you want to, when the time is right, I really think you should marry Iggy.

This might be the longest letter I ever write you.

Merry Christmas!

-Angel

I felt myself smile a little after that.

Love is Blind – Chapter 36

By MyNameIsCAL

As most things went, New Year's came as fast as Thanksgiving and Christmas had went by. The past week had been a lot of cooking and eating leftovers. But Iggy enjoyed it, and well, everyone enjoyed his cooking. Now that Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel were back to school, it left us to our own time again. Max was headed to go see John for a day and Iggy and I were headed to visit Phineas and Gabe for the weekend. Well, actually, we were here so Iggy could cook a nice dinner. Phineas was planning to propose tonight, and he had asked for our help.

"Well, hello." Phineas greeted us at the door.

This was their apartment, half an hour away from campus. For a place for two people, it was big, but Phineas had probably gotten for him and Gabe, like most of the things they shared.

"Here, let me take your bag," Phineas insisted, holding out his hand.

"No, I'll take it." Gabe came rushing down from the end of the hall. "You're going to hurt yourself."

Phineas rolled his eyes, now stretching his arm.

"The doctor told him not to lift anything or to put strain on his shoulder," Gabe said, taking my bag. "But Phineas doesn't like to listen."

"Ah," Iggy replied. "Well, really, don't hurt yourself, Phineas."

He dropped his arm to his side. "Yeah, yeah."

"It upsets him," Gabe whispered.

"It does not!"

The end of the short entrance hall led out to this huge sitting room. Phineas went over and drew the curtains back, giving a view of Arizona I had never seen while on solid ground, the city with its red rocks on the horizon.

"Make yourselves at home," Phineas smiled. "I'll get you something to drink."

I settled onto the couch, Iggy taking a seat next to me.

"He's upset," Gabe shook his head, a little amused. "It's got him, I don't know, worried for some reason."

But I knew Phineas was worried for other reasons too. We had met with him briefly the other day for coffee and even though he knew that Gabe would never say no, it made him get up and start pacing.

"This is an apartment?" Iggy questioned. "It feels…big."

"The biggest in this building before the penthouse," Gabe answered. "You know Phineas. I told him a small one would be fine, but he insists that we have the best."

Phineas came back with glass bottled soda. Cream soda, he told us. We sat, discussing our Chistmases and New Years and sipping soda.

"So we spent Christmas with my parents," Gabe began. "And New Year's with Phineas' parents."

"Oh, I enjoyed Christmas a lot better," Phineas remarked. "I wish my parents were like yours."

Gabe shook his head. "Phineas, your parents are different from mine. I like your parents."

In response, Phineas half snorted. "No you don't. C'mon, Phineas, the whole time we spent at my parent's place, hand in hand, my dad only came out of his office for the countdown. My mom didn't even say ten words to you. And your parents, they talk to me."

Gabe rested his hand on Phineas' shoulder. "Phineas, why do you care so much about what your parents think and what my parents think?"

"I don't know." Phineas drained the rest of his soda. "C'mon, Ig. Shall we start dinner?"

Iggy gave my hand a squeeze and I watched him disappear into the kitchen with Phineas after hitting his shoulder into the wall.

"See, doesn't he seem worried?" Gabe turned on the TV. "I'm hoping he'll relax now that we don't have to deal with family."

"I'm sure Iggy's cooking will smooth things out." I finished my soda. "Excuse me, I need to go to the bathroom."

I made my way down the hall, yawning. It had been a long night last night for Iggy and me.

"So what's the plan?" That was Iggy's voice, and I stopped to listen.

"Before dinner, I think that's when I'm going to ask him."

"Sounds like a plan," Iggy said, and I could picture him grinning. "Don't be so nervous."

"I'm not nervous about asking him anymore." Phineas' voice quavered. "I asked his parents for my permission to ask him, you know, I thought I'd try to be somewhat formal about it. And they were more than happy to say yes. But my parents…"

"No…" I said under my breath, talking to myself.

"My father said no," Phineas' lowered his tone. "He told me, absolutely not, Phineas. We thought you'd grow out of this phase, Phineas. My father said that the part of his business he promised me, it's not mine anymore. Not until I got rid of Gabe."

"I'm sorry…" Iggy got cut off.

"It doesn't matter. It's not going to stop me. I was never going to let them stop me."

The table was set, food elegantly in the center of the table. I took a seat next to Iggy as we waited for Gabe to come back from the bathroom.

"Oh, wow, I didn't know you were going to cook up a whole fancy meal for us," Gabe said, entering the kitchen.

Phineas stood, hand already digging into his pocket.

"Alright, Gabriel, I'm not going to lie to you. There's a reason for all this, the nice dinner, me insisting we see your parents for Christmas. And I've known you for all my life almost, and I've never been so sure about anything about my life until now. I asked your parents, and they said yes, so now, I'm going to ask you." Phineas got down onto one knee. "Gabriel Forrester, will you marry me?"

Revealing the ring, Phineas opened the box.

"I'd be a fool to say no, Phineas." Gabriel smiled. "Yes, I'll marry you, Phineas."

Phineas let out a sigh of relief, slipping the ring onto Gabe's finger.

"Come here, you." Gabe pulled Phineas off the floor and pulled him into a kiss.

Iggy began to clap, and with our own smiles growing, I clapped along with him.

Some development with Phineas and Gabe. Might make Fang and Iggy think about themselves. Thanks for reading! New chapter soon.

Love is Blind – Chapter 37

By MyNameIsCAL

"You want us to have dinner with you, John, and his parents?" I stared at Max. "You're joking, right?"

Max frowned. "John asked me to ask you and Iggy. He wants to prove a point to his mom."

"And what's that?" Even Iggy didn't like the idea.

"That gay people aren't bad people." Max let out a sigh. "You don't have to if you want to. Besides, John's parents want to meet you anyway after hearing about you."

"Alright, Max." I knew she only meant well. "What time."

"Tonight at six. It's about a half hour away. We'll meet them there. Dress nicely." Max seemed relieved. "Thank you."

"Of course," Iggy responded.

It didn't take long for dinner to arrive. I was trying to put on my tie when Iggy wrapped his arms around me from behind.

"I bet you look really nice in a suit," Iggy murmured, kissing my neck, one of his hands resting on top of my belt buckle.

I closed my eyes, relaxing against him. "Mmm not as good as you do."

Iggy pulled me back to the bed. He rolled on top of me and I pulled him down into a kiss. I felt the waistband of my pants go loose and I realized he had undone my belt.

"Hey! You two! We gotta go!"

Iggy rolled off of me and I saw Max standing in the doorway.

"Sorry, Max," Iggy smirked. "Got carried away."

She rolled her eyes, leaving us alone again. I buckled my belt and finished my tie, taking Iggy's hand and leading him out the door.

John looked a lot like his father. They seemed like pleasant people, and we shook hands.

"This is Fang." John began to introduce us. "And Iggy. They're Max's friends that, uhm, were with her. They're in college with us too."

"It's nice to meet you," John's father smiled.

I held my hand out to John's mom and she shook it weakly.

"Uhm, Iggy is blind, if you remember," John added quickly.

I pulled out a chair, taking Iggy by the arm and guiding him into it.

"Thanks," Ig muttered.

The waiter handed us menus and I began to read it to Iggy quietly.

"What are you gonna get?" he asked quietly. "You know I hate this food. Overpriced food with fancy décor to make it seem…well, fancy."

"Alright, alright, you can cook when we get home, Ig. Just pick something, and we can share it, alright?"

"Ok, thank you."

"Steak?"

He let out a sigh. "Sure."

Perhaps that was the one thing that bothered me about Iggy. He couldn't stand to eat anything that wasn't his own cooking unless it was food that was either expensive or he couldn't make.

"Order me a soup or something though," Iggy added, hand slipping into mine. "I'm thinking of making a pizza when we get home."

"Of course."

The waiter came back and took orders for our drinks. None of us had eaten here before, so they were discussing the food.

"What are you going to get?" Max asked me.

"Uhm, well, Iggy and I are gonna split something." I needed a reason. We never shared food. In fact, between Max, Iggy, and me, we could probably eat seven entrees. "Iggy's stomach is bothering him."

I knew Max knew that I was lying, and she knew exactly why because she could hear us, but she nodded like it was nothing and things went smoothly for a while.

The news was on over in the bar area of the restaurant, a breaking headline across the screen in an alarming red. The serial killer had struck again. The conversation was stopped and we were all watching it, each of us with a different reason for doing so.

"Did you hear about the other killings?" John's mother asked. "It may be an international manhunt to find him, but whoever it is ought to be rewarded! The scum of the earth needs to be rid of!"

I took in a breath, resisting the urge to say anything.

"And that one that survived? He was spared for some reason. Maybe there's still a chance for him to realize what wrong he's committing," she went on. "Homosexuals! They're corrupting all of us!"

Under the table, I clenched my hand into a fist, my other hand in Iggy's tightening its grip. Max rested her hand on top of my wrist, a warning to keep my cool. The last thing we needed to do was make a scene.

"Something wrong with you?" The question was directed at me, and before I could give her an answer full of rage, Iggy cut in.

"Death isn't something Fang is, well, comfortable with. We've seen a lot, well they have, after everything we've been through. Certain things are more, I suppose more scarring, than others."

John's mother seemed to buy that. "Ah, sorry."

Iggy nodded, and then insisted that he had to go to the bathroom. Still fuming, I let go of his hand and stood, leading him to the bathroom by the arm.

There was only a single bathroom for each gender, and still, Iggy dragged me into the men's room with him, locking the door and pushing me up against it, crushing his lips against mine. I felt myself give in and relax, my arms falling around him, and then pulling him closer. He had his fingers running through my hair and I closed my eyes, taking the moment in.

"Relax," Iggy said into my ear, breathing heavily as he pulled away. "Don't let anything they say get to you. Just think about this, that I've got a lovely pizza to make when we get home for us, and then we can roll back into bed and pick up right where we let off."

He kissed me again and then gave me a smile.

I inhaled and exhaled. "Alright, Iggy."

After I fixed my hair, we exited the restroom and headed back to the table, our pace slower than we had left.

"Smells like the appetizers are at the table," Iggy said, his grip on my arm sliding to my hand. "Cheap seafood, I can tell already."

Iggy and I were holding hands now, fingers interlocked. It was something normal to us, something that we never had to think about. And that was when John's mother appeared in front of us.

"Why are you holding his hand?" she gawked.

"Well, he's blind, and public places make him uncomfortable. I don't want him running into tables," I responded quickly.

She frowned, and walked pass us. Iggy dropped my hand and I led him by the arm again, no longer feeling relaxed anymore.

The end of dinner went awkwardly. I had never been happier in my life to head home. John bid us farewell, telling Max he'd call her tomorrow. We took off, spreading our wings, leaving John and his parents in awe.

Love is Blind – Chapter 38

By MyNameIsCAL

The long awaited update (from your favorite fanfic author jkjk)!

Iggy made pizza as he said he would, topping it off with cheese and pepperoni before he stuck it in the oven. His annoyance from dinner earlier seemed to be slipping away as he whistled, brewing coffee for all of us.

Max sat at the kitchen table, no doubt waiting for John to call. Her cell phone sat in front of her, and she checked it every now and then, like she might have missed the beep indicating the message even though we had hearing beyond what normal humans could perceive. My exhaustion had me staring at it too, wondering what John had told his parents, or if he had chickened out.

Then the doorbell rang. Max jumped out of her seat, looking startled.

"I'll get it,' I said, moving to the door.

John was at the door to my surprise.

"John."

"Fang, is Max…"

I motioned him in and he followed me to the kitchen, taking a seat next to Max. She looked anxious, like he might bring bad news.

"Well, I told them about Iggy and Fang, you know, to try to convince them. Well, my mom," said John. "And she didn't take it very well. In fact, I got kicked out of where we were staying. She said she was going to disown me, like that means anything…"

Max rested her hand on John's shoulder, letting out a breath.

"You'd think my mom would have a different view on life now that she's been diagnosed and she's doing well with treatment." John shook his head. "I don't know what I was thinking. I really thought I could change her mind. I'm sorry, guys."

Iggy shrugged, setting a mug of coffee in front of John.

"Where are you going to stay now?" Max questioned.

"I was wondering if I could stay at your apartment," he admitted.

"We have an extra room here," I offered.

John was adamant on declining, but Max took his hand, insisting that there was no point in being alone at the apartment, especially if he was just going to hang around here until Winter Break ended. He finally agreed, relaxing into this chair, and sipping the coffee.

"Are you making pizza?" he asked, trying to direct our attention elsewhere.

"Yeah,' I told him. "Iggy mad it. He wasn't too find of dinner."

John laughed.

"You're welcome to a slice," Iggy said, taking a deep breath, the smell of pizza filling the kitchen.

It soon attracted the rest of the flock, and Iggy settled on putting another pie in the oven. They were surprised to see John, but greeted him warmly. He still seemed slightly distracted, and when Iggy and I were washing the dishes, Max was still trying to comfort him.

"You know, Iggy and Fang are the nicest guys I've ever met. My mom's an idiot," John grumbled.

John's presence only fueled Iggy's need to impress people with his cooking. Mom was always generous though, buying whatever he needed. She even let us invite over Phineas and Gabe as the house was empty of the younger flock members were off to parties and other numerous activities.

"You guys are getting married? That's great!" Ella congratulated the two. I had almost forgotten she saw them more than we did, sharing a class together.

Gabe gave her a smile. "Ah, yes, Iggy and Fang were there when Phineas proposed."

Phineas responded with a sheepish grin, pulling out a seat for Gabe at the kitchen table.

"How's your shoulder?" asked Iggy, pulling out drinks from the fridge.

He sighed now. "It's alright. Gabe still won't let me lift things."

"The doctor said!" Gabe say, insisting. "Besides, you said it still hurts."

Phineas was keen on changing the subject. "So how have things been, Fang?"

I blinked, thrown off guard be his question. "It's been good."

"And you, John. It's nice to see you." Phineas offered John his hand.

John shook it halfheartedly. I knew he still felt troubled by his mother. "Well, I've been here for a while. It's good to see you too."

Iggy was busy cooking, and I busied myself with assisting him. Max and Phineas were keeping up the conversation, John brooding and Gabe falling back into his quiet self.

We finally sat down to dinner an hour later, Gabe doing his best to compliment the food before Phineas could outshine him with flattering Iggy. Things seemed to be going well until John's phone rang. He excused himself from the table, muttering that it was one of his parents calling. I could hear him from the hallway, and Max stood.

"No, Mom. I'm in the middle of dinner at Max's place…Yes, of course they're here…They live here…Mom…Mom! No! You cannot come here!"

It sounded like she had hung up on him. Before Max could get up and make it to the hallway, there was a loud banging on the door accompanied by doorbell ringing. I rushed to the hall and watched John tear open the door.

"Keep Max away," John warned, and I grabbed her by the arm before she could make it any farther.

"What are you doing here, Mom? And why isn't Dad with you?" John was trying to keep his tone low.

She pushed her way in, heading directly at Max and me.

"YOU'VE DAMNED MY SON!" She pointed at Max, shakily. "HE CAN STILL BE SAVED! YOU CAN TOO!"

And that was when she spotted Phineas and Gabe in the kitchen. Ella sat there, looking bewildered, staring as Iggy stood looking confused. It took me a while to notice that John's mother was making a beeline for one of Iggy's sharp knives. Before I could get to her, she had thrown herself on Phineas.

"YOU DON'T DESERVE TO BE ALIVE!" She plunged down and Phineas grabbed her by the wrist, fighting for control of the knife.

"Mom, you're going to hurt yourself!" John edged closer to them. "Please, Mom. Don't do this."

Gabe watched helplessly, his eyes glued to the knife. Phineas' bad arm was shaking now, and when John's mother put her full weight into it, he cried out in pain, the knife speeding downward. I dove forward, the knife lodging into my arm, but at least Phineas was safe.

"LET GO OF ME!" she wailed, and I did, staggering backwards.

John grabbed her by the arm now, holding her back from the others. Iggy was now aware of the smell of blood, and I tried not to sound in pain as Max's instincts kicked in, examining my wound quickly, but carefully.

"Don't touch me!" John's mom shrieked at him.

Phineas was clutching his shoulder, Gabe now at his side.

I grunted as Max pulled the knife out of my arm, hurrying to put pressure onto the wound.

As his mother screamed at us, John flowed with apologies, saying he had to bring he rback to his father and sort things out.

"I'll be back…Or, I'll call you, Max!" John struggled to through the doorway. "I'm…I'm really sorry! I…"

"It's okay, John, just go," Max sighed, and he was gone.

"When Mom comes home, she can stitch this," Max muttered. "Are you alright, Phineas?"

He nodded. "Just…I think I pulled a muscle."

Gabe's look of concern grew.

Iggy approached me, having decided it was me who was bleeding, and still he asked me, "Are you bleeding?"

"Yeah, John's mother sort of stabbed me."

He frowned, and I took his hand.

"You need to sit, Fang." Max forced me into a chair. "Ella, can you call Mom?"

She blinked a few times. "I…I can stitch it too."

"Please do," I said.

We managed to get through eating dinner, although I felt my appetite was gone now. My arm ached, and while I knew it would be quick to heal, it didn't make up for how it hurt like hell at the moment. Iggy seemed worried, and probably only because we hadn't really told him much about my injury except for the fact that I had been stabbed. Ella had to stitch on both sides of my arm.

"Can you cut this for me?" Phineas was rubbing his shoulder.

The night dragged on slowly, and Phineas and Gabe departed rather early due to Phineas' shoulder pain. Whether they were headed home or to the doctor was something I could only guess. Although I knew Gabe was more worried than Phineas was.

"Are you okay, Fang?" Iggy asked me later as he snuck into my room.

I moved over to make room for him. Part of me was disappointed that dinner hadn't worked out the way I wanted it too. Even though I didn't talk a lot, and even though I wasn't the best in social situations, I always enjoyed the company of Phineas and Gabe. To share a few laughs and make John feel like he belonged had been another goal of mine, one that I wondered if Max had realized.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just tired."

Iggy settled under the blankets. "I overheard John and Max in the hallway. He got his mother to calm down, and he was looking to apologize to you again."

I said nothing, closing my eyes.

"Phineas and Gabe called me. Gabe is convinced Phineas dislocated his shoulder. They're over at the ER, but Phineas will be okay. He told me to tell you not to worry."

"I probably owe them an apology," I grumbled.

Iggy knew that I was now bordering on exhaustion, that it wouldn't take much for me to get angry, so he said nothing, settling against me, kissing me softly on the cheek.

"Goodnight, Fang," he whispered.

"Night, Ig."

Sorry for the late update! I'll be working on a lot of chapters over Thanksgiving Break, so then I'll have more to run on. It'll be December before you know it, and then I'll have more time to do some writing. I'm gonna update whatever I have the best ideas for first. So sorry if you're waiting on a story that I haven't updated in a while.

Anyway, thanks for reading! I'll update ASAP!

Love is Blind – Chapter 39

By MyNameIsCAL

The end of the school year was almost here. We had completed our final exams, and now the question arose about what to do with our summer. Phineas and Gabe wouldn't be returning to California, and were heading out to visit Gabe's parents, saying that they might take a trip to New York.

"Gabe's mom wants to talk about wedding plans," Phineas had told me. "She's all excited."

Gabe had just rolled his eyes.

John was still trying to reconcile with his Mom, and she said that she was getting more paranoid about things, that he needed to try and go help his dad out, which meant Max would be heading back to Mom's with us for the beginning part of the summer. John's distress seemed to be wearing off on her, and I hoped she'd find a way to relax when he was gone.

Our bags were packed and our final grades were in. Max had begged John to go out to dinner with her in hopes that he would get to loosen up for a while, leaving Iggy and me alone in the apartment because Ella was out with her new boyfriend. Iggy had wanted to cook, but instead we ended up ordering a pizza because my cooking skills were lacking.

"Your hair is too short," he complained, still trying to twist it around his finger.

"It'll grow back before you know it," I muttered, pushing him onto his back onto the couch.

He gave me a smile and I leaned down to kiss him before resting my head against his chest.

"We should get married at the beach," he said.

I closed my eyes, feeling for his hand. "Wherever you want, Ig."

"Nothing big, you know? But it can't be boring."

"How will you ever find good enough food for us to eat?"

"I'll make it myself if I have to!" He laughed.

"You know, we should have a barbeque. Cook it ourselves," I suggested, wondering if he'd just laugh again.

"Now that's a good idea," Iggy grinned. "But you know what we gotta do. We gotta stick to some kind of tradition. I want tuxedos."

"Mmm," I murmured. "You in a tux. That sounds nice."

"We should stay someplace by a beach for our honeymoon too," Iggy went on. "I mean, the idea of just laying on the beach for hours, listening to the waves. I wish we weren't stuck in this stupid land-locked state. We oughta invest in a beach house, you know? And…uhm, Fang?"

His abrupt stop startled me. "Yeah, Ig, what's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, no…" He trailed off. "Fang, it's just, will you marry me?"

I squeezed his hand. "I would never say no to you, Iggy. I thought you knew that."

"I…I know." He put his arms around me, his fingers finding their way between my feathers.

"I think you worry more than I do sometimes," I whispered.

We had hit traffic on the way to Mom's house, which had made the drive double the amount of time it should have took. Iggy had spent the whole ride restless, feeling stressed because he felt trapped in the car. It had tired him out too because as soon as we got to the house, he cooked, we ate, and he went off to bed.

It was almost midnight now, but sleep hadn't found me yet. I wandered to the sitting room to find Max on the couch watching the news. Silently, I took a seat next to her.

"The killer struck again," she told me. "That's been once every month since Christmas. Makes me wonder whether the FBI really cares about catching the guy."

"They didn't care much about human experimentation either," I grumbled in response. "I wish I had gotten a better look at the guy."

Max shook her head. "We can't save the world. He could have killed you too."

"I know." It was time to change the subject. "Have you heard from John?"

"He's been texting me," Max said. "I just said goodnight to him. He finally got to his parents' house today. He didn't tell me much though."

She sounded troubled, and I wondered if there was more she just wasn't telling me. We sat in silence for a while, staring at the TV. I wanted to say something more, or at least fill the unease in the quietness.

And then, as if she sensed my discomfort, Max said, "Things aren't looking good again for his mother. She's refusing medication. John tells me she's just falling apart, and maybe it would just be a relief to see her go."

I glanced at Max, and I realized she looked teary eyed now. Max wasn't the kind to get upset easily, but then again, how long had John and his mother been bothering her? For months now.

"There's nothing you can do, Max." I wanted to console her, but it didn't seem right, so I dropped my hand back into my lap. "John is doing all he can to help, but you know, some things aren't meant to be."

Max shook her head and then slouched against me, sobbing. "I don't know I'm crying, Fang. Sometimes I think she deserves what's happening to her because of all the grief she's caused John. But even that seems wrong and I'm just so tired of watching all these things…bad things happen to people like that stupid serial killer and all those soldiers dying in the middle east…"

Hesitantly, I rested my arms around her. "I know it's hard, Max."

"It's not fair," Max whimpered. "And it's not supposed to be. But why did we get to survive all the odds against us?"

"I…I don't know, Max."

"Can…can we get some air?"

"Of course."

I led the way to the roof, and we took off briefly, landing softly so we wouldn't wake the others. She sat down next to me, wiping her eyes.

"Do you ever miss coming up here?" questioned Max.

"Sometimes," I admitted.

She gave me a small smile.

We sat in silence for a while, and then, as if we had somehow decided together, we got up and parted ways. Max to her room and me to my own.

And yet there was something unsettling about that whole exchange.

Love is Blind – Chapter 40

By MyNameIsCAL

The news came abruptly during dinner one night. Max packed her bags and left right away. John's mother had died, and while the details were fuzzy, we knew that John was a mess by the way Max talked whenever she called. I didn't know what to say to her, but it didn't seem to matter because she'd call, talk a whole lot, I'd say a few things, and then she would have to go.

"You worry about Max too much." Iggy came from behind me, arms slipping under mine. I closed my eyes as he nuzzled my neck. "She can take care of herself."

I inhaled deeply. "I know, Ig."

He kissed my neck. I felt myself melt against him.

"Seriously, Fang, it's summer. Loosen up."

"Hey, Blindos, the door is open!" Nudge interrupted.

Iggy straightened up, turning a little to face her. "No one asked you to watch."

And then he turned back to me, craning his neck, and I felt him smile against my neck again, arms drawing me close.

"Fang, I love you."

"I love you too."

His hands dropped to my belt.

"Ig, I'm not in the mood."

He dropped his hands, sighing. "Then what are you in the mood for, Fang?"

I took his hand and led him to the bed. He lay down next to me and I took his arm, pulling it around me. "I just wanna lay here, with you."

Iggy pulled the blankets over us before settling his arm back around me. I closed my eyes, trying not to think how many terrible things were going on in the world. It wasn't long before I heard Iggy's snoring. Someone walked by the room, turning off the lights and closing the door. By their footsteps, I think it was Ella. Guess I learned something from Iggy after all.

Max finally came home. Summer was halfway gone now.

"So how's John?"

She shrugged. "He's alright. I think he just wants school to start now. He's tired though. His father is moving into a retirement community though in California, so that's a relief to him."

I leaned back in my chair. It was late and we were sitting outside sipping ice cold soda. Iggy had cooked up a storm earlier, tired now from being outside all day in the heat using the grill. He would probably frown upon me being out here with Max, but she seemed like she wanted someone to talk to.

"So how have things been here?" she questioned.

"They've been the same as always."

There was a look of amusement on her face. "You know, I never ask you about Iggy."

"Well, you're always talking about John and besides, you live with him," I said.

Max shrugged. "I don't know, I just wish you'd tell me more."

I racked my brain. What possibly could be interesting that I could tell Max?

"I think Iggy and I are gonna get married after college." The words. They sort of just came out by themselves.

"That's great, Fang." She gave me a smile. That was a relief.

"I guess we were talking about Phineas and Gabe and it just sort of came up in conversation a while ago." I let out a breath. "Iggy wants to go live somewhere quiet. I think the crowds and hustle and bustle even around here makes him a little nervous."

"Well, for a guy who spent his whole childhood running blind and aimlessly, I guess things still leave you on edge."

"Yeah." I felt myself smiling. "Poor Iggy."

"I think he'd smack you for that."

I smirked. "He'd forgive me soon enough."

Max drained the last of her soda. "I think I'm gonna head to bed now, Fang. Goodnight."

"Night, Max."

School started up again. I was growing tired of the work and we had only just started. Phineas and Gabe were in their last year now and it was hard to picture next year without them. But they had a date set for the wedding and the two of had been chosen to be a best man for each of them.

"It'll be two weeks after graduation," Gabe told us, a hint of excitement in his voice for once. "Something small at my parents' place. I mean, we don't have that many people to invite."

Phineas seemed upset though, which was something that we rarely saw. "My parents aren't coming."

Gabe pulled his arm around Phineas, squeezing his shoulder lightly. I wondered if it was still hurting him. "It's alright, Phineas."

But Phineas pushed the conversation forward. "Max and Ella are invited. We're not really sending out invitations. It's not going to be anything extravagant. Excuse me, I'm just gonna get some more coffee."

Gabe let out a sigh. "He's really upset actually. I've never seen him upset like this."

Iggy shook his head.

"My parents are footing the cost for everything," Gabe went on. "Phineas has paid for a lot of things for me anyway, but the plan was always to do something simple, I'm just afraid he won't enjoy it because his father is such an asshole."

Phineas returned and the conversation moved on to how our summers had gone. It was hard not to feel that this year was going to be a long and hard one to get through.

Thanks for reading and apologies for the slow update. I'll update as soon as I can!

Love is Blind – Chapter 41

By MyNameIsCAL

John returned to school two weeks after it had officially started. He was staying with us, looking drained of energy, but I thought he was happy to be back though, letting himself relax around Max, even humoring Iggy's jokes.

But it was finally the weekend. Max was off working on a paper that was to be submitted online by midnight, leaving Iggy and me the sitting room to do our own projects. I was working on my essay, which I still had another week and a half to do. Lately, I've just felt stressed out about everything.

"C'mon, Fang, it's not due 'til Wednesday." Iggy rested his chin on my shoulder. "You gotta relax, man."

I stared at the blank screen, trying to form an opening in my head, but it was hard to do when you had Iggy sitting next to you, breathing onto your neck. He had one hand running his fingers through my hair, the other hand undoing the top button of my shirt. I closed my eyes, breathing in as he kissed my neck.

"Relax," he murmured.

I let him push me sideway, and then he press himself against me.

"Alright, Ig," I muttered, burying my fingers between his feathers.

My shirt was almost unbuttoned now, no doubt my hair was going in fifty different directions. I closed my eyes, feeling for his belt, and I undid it. His long, cold fingers traced my stomach.

"Hey, guys, turn on the TV."

I bolted up, and then had to grab Iggy to stop him from falling off the couch. John had just come into the apartment.

"Erm, sorry," I managed to say.

"The news, turn it on," he shook his head. "Is Max in her room?"

I nodded and he left us without another word.

"C'mere, you." I pulled Iggy back down into a kiss. "We'll finish this later."

He gave me a grin.

"Hey, you two, move over."

I looked up to see Max standing over us.

"Oh, hey, Max." Iggy got off of me, fumbling to buckle his belt. I sat up, Iggy wrapping his arms around me as I did. I glanced at Max and she smirked, reaching for the remote and turning the news on.

"What's the headline say?" Iggy rested his chin on my shoulder.

I closed my eyes. "It's the serial killer again."

Iggy let out a sigh, taking my hand.

My phone started to ring. Iggy reached forward, snatching it up off the table. I took it from him. It was Phineas, but when I answered, Gabe was the one who greeted me.

"Hey, Gabe," I managed to say.

"I just was wondering if you saw the news."

"I've got it turned on right now."

"Alright. It's just, unsettling, the murder being in Arizona."

I looked down at Iggy's hand in mine. "Yeah, I know."

"Well, I just wanted to see if you saw, and uhm, well, you know, don't tell Phineas, but this scares the crap out of me," he admitted. "Well, I'll see you around. Phineas was saying we should go grab coffee sometime soon."

"Of course. Iggy would like that too."

"Alright, thanks, Fang."

I hung up.

"Oh, Gabriel. Phineas is going to have a hard time keeping him from getting stressed out." Iggy shook his head.

We sat watching the news until John returned, now showered and dressed in new clothes. The sense of shock dissipated and I finally buttoned my shirt up.

"I was listening to the news on the radio," he told us quietly.

Iggy nodded, releasing me now. "I'll start dinner."

It was no secret that Phineas and Gabe had been targeted by the serial killer in California. Campus security had heightened over the past few days. Even police presence around the area had people all worked up about the first attack out of California. People were angry the FBI didn't have any leads. They suggested that it could be a copycat, but there wasn't any evidence, so it felt like they were just trying to give us false hope.

There were few openly dating gay couples on campus too, and at the peak of the media hysteria over the recent attack in Arizona, people started to avoid Phineas, Gabe, Iggy, and me. At least Iggy couldn't see people's avoidance. I tried not to think too much about it.

"People will forget," Max assured me.

"Yeah, that's likely." Iggy scoffed. "I mean, there's a killer on the loose, Max. I still get jumpy when I forget Fang and I share a bed. Evil scientists may not be chasing us anymore, but I still get scared sometimes."

I rolled my eyes, but Max seemed amused.

"Well, Max did almost punch me once," John commented, peeking over the newspaper.

She elbowed him.

I turned my attention to the TV. "So Phineas and Gabe are coming over for dinner, seeing as they're scaring people, we figured it be better if Iggy just cooked. You and John are welcomed to stay. Ella said she'd be coming home."

"We'll stick around," Max nodded. "We haven't all had dinner together in a while. I haven't seen Phineas and Gabe either since…"

"Since my mom attacked Phineas," John finished, a frown forming.

"Well, we can go out if you don't want to see them," Max offered softly.

"Well, I mean, as long as Phineas doesn't mind," he answered.

"Hey, man, it wasn't your fault." Iggy spoke up. "It'll be fine."

He gave Iggy a small smile.

I'm putting this at the end of the chapters I update over the next few days just as a statement now that I've finished reading the newest Max Ride book, Angel.

My honest opinion is that it was good. It lived up to my realistic expectations, although I find myself a little frustrated because it's not exactly what I wanted. But there's still one more book, you must remember when you're reading it. The ending needs to be good, or we'll be left with a feeling that all this was wasted.

Just a suggestion, don't go into reading Angel with a hatred for any of the characters. Take a deep breath and let them speak for themselves, and you'll realize that things may be complicated, but Patterson is definitely setting up an ending that could be good (as I'm hoping), or it could be a disaster, but let's not ponder that because no matter what happens, I'll still be sitting here writing fanfics until people stop reading and reviewing them.

My inbox is opened for opinions once you've read Angel. I'd like to know how you felt about it.

And thanks for reading, as always. I'll be sure to update soon

}MyNameIsCAL{

Love is Blind – Chapter 42

By MyNameIsCAL

This is like the let's move things along chapter. So it may seemed a little rushed, but as nice as fillers are, I know eventually you'll get tired of them, and honestly, I know this story could us a little action and a little push.

It wasn't long before the apartment was bustling. Iggy was cooking in the kitchen, John making casual conversation with him. Phineas and Gabe squeezed onto the big armchair, Gabe looking a little reluctant as Phineas pulled an arm around him. But I watched as Gabe slowly slipped his hand into Phineas'. Max sat on the opposite side of the couch from me, carrying on small talk as she flipped through the channels. She was trying to avoid the news, and every time a reporter showed up on screen, Gabe seemed to be a little on edge.

"So, how're your classes going?" I prompted.

Phineas let out a breath. "Quite frankly, I'm ready for college to be over."

"Easy for you to say," Gabe muttered. "You've got all the money in the world."

I watched as Gabe pushed Phineas off of him, saying that he was thirsty. Phineas let out a sigh.

"I've upset him," Phineas shook his head. "You know, he wants to be his own person and I guess I just always had different dreams for the two of us."

I opened my mouth to say something, but Phineas held his hand up and shook his head. That was the end of our conversation because Ella came rushing through the door, rambling out hellos to everyone. Then she slipped into the kitchen, rushing to help Iggy and Gabe.

The night went slowly. Phineas kept up the conversation at dinner as always. Gabe kept quiet, and I wondered if it was because he was just being himself or if he was still upset about earlier. Well, he had probably been upset about it for a while, and I wished there was more I could do for him.

"The food's great, Ig," John commented.

"Thanks." Of course, Iggy always thought there was something missing.

It was growing late after we finished. Ella had baked a cake, and it tasted wonderful. She admitted it was one of Mom's recipes, but Iggy insisted that it didn't matter. Gabe seemed anxious to go though, so we bid them farewell.

"Maybe you should see them off," Iggy muttered after I closed the door behind them. "You know, on the roof, and make sure they're alright."

I nodded, going out the window, as strange as it sounds, and making my way to the roof. Gabe was already at the car, Phineas lagging a little behind.

"Gabriel!" Phineas rarely raised his voice. "Gabriel Forrestor, don't you ignore me now!"

He grabbed Gabe by the wrist.

"I just want to go home, alright?" Gabe shook him off.

"Is it because of what I said earlier? I'm sorry, I really am, Gabe. You know I want nothing more than for you to be happy." Phineas dropped his hand to his side. "If this isn't what you want, Gabriel, then at least tell me now and not when we're ten years into our marriage, trying to trudge through even though the flame was out from the beginning."

I realized I was holding my breath.

"Gabriel…" It was clear Phineas was waiting for a response. "Maybe…"

Gabe took in a deep breath and then pulled Phineas towards him. I could barely make out his words now, but he never said a lot, and yet there was still emotion behind them. "I'm sorry, Phineas."

Phineas wrapped his arms around Gabe. "I don't want to lose you."

"I don't want to lose you either." Gabe rested his head against Phineas.

They got in the car a minute later, and I watched them disappear into the distance. But it was a relief to see they were okay now.

The serial killer hopped between Arizona and California over the next few months. Thanksgiving and Christmas, at least for us, went without much incident. John joined us for both, taking only a few days to visit his father. We were on our last days of Winter Break now. Saying goodbye to the flock was as hard as it always was, but they were growing up, and I suddenly felt older than I was.

"Since when do you let stuff like that get to you?" Iggy frowned.

"I don't know, just…" I trailed off. Had all the years of not being on the run and not fighting finally got to me?

"Hey, Fang, don't tell me you're going to start worrying about this too. Alright, I wouldn't care if you went crazy and refused to go out. I'd still love you, so stop now before you get ahead of yourself." He took my hand, pulling me into bed.

I half expected him to push himself on top of me, but instead, he wrapped his arms around me, settling his chin on my shoulder. "Fang, are you even listening to me?"

"Yeah, of course I am." I reached over and turned off the light.

The end of the school year was suddenly here, and I felt a weight lifted from my shoulders with the idea of summer approaching. Gabriel and Phineas' wedding would be a few weeks. When they went on their honeymoon to tour Europe, they were leaving Iggy and me their beach house to use. It was good to see that all was in order between the two of them. Gabe had happily finished with the grades he wanted, and I got the feeling whatever future plans they had were finally smoothed out.

Phineas had paid for our tuxedos, despite our protesting. Max and Ella were both going too, but John declined, saying that he was going to spend a week with his father before he returned to spend some time with Max. I don't think Gabe wanted John to come anyway, but he was just trying to be nice to Max.

"Do you think Phineas' parents will come?" Iggy asked me.

I shrugged. Phineas hadn't seemed too hopeful about that.

"You know, he was talking about giving us the keys to his beach house when he's on his honeymoon with Gabe." Iggy changed the subject, sensing my discomfort of the subject.

"Really?"

He gave me a grin. "C'mon, it's our next chance to go to the beach."

I had to smile. "Alright, Ig."

Phineas and Gabe's wedding will be next, with some interesting events to follow. I'll move into some other stuff. I keep saying I've got plans for this story, and I know it seems I've gotten lost, and well, it's because I have. This story is probably going to be more drawn out than I like, but hey, it's a fanfiction, so you know, guess I'll just run with whatever's on my mind. Thanks for sticking with the story up to this point.

I'll be updating soon!

Love is Blind – Chapter 43

By MyNameIsCAL

"I bet you look wonderful." Iggy gave me one of his infamous grins, pushing me up against the dressing room wall.

"Not as wonderful as you do." I pulled him down into a kiss.

When we broke apart, his grin had widened, if that was even possible.

I slipped my hand into his. "C'mon, Phineas is waiting for us."

He stood, waiting to see us outside. After all, he had paid for them, so he only deserved to see if they looked alright. I personally hated dressing up, but Phineas gave us a smile as we came out.

"Well the two of you look great," he complimented.

"Alright, if they fit to your liking, you can go change and we'll hang them for you to take home," the lady who worked at the store told us.

I swear Iggy's grin grew wider as we headed back to the changing room.

I stood with Gabe in his room. There were old posters in here, superheroes and long gone bands. He was staring out the window, Max and Ella already seated.

"Phineas is hoping his parents will come around and show up," Gabe stated. "You know, he's been waiting for this for his whole life."

I kept my silence, only nodding in response.

"He always said that I was always there for him, that I made up for their lack of support." He let out a sigh. "I just wish for once they would be there for something. It hurts me as much as it hurts him."

"But I'm sure he'll just be happy to be with you," I told him.

He turned to face me. "I know."

We made our way down the stairs, meeting Gabe's mother who adjusted his bowtie, telling him how lovely he looked. Then we finally made our way outside. Gabe stood by the altar, shifting his weight, hands shoved in his pockets.

Iggy joined us a few minutes later, flashing me a grin as he went by. He almost knocked over a few chairs, but Max and Ella managed to catch them before they all fell and knocked more chairs over.

Gabe's parents took their seats, and now there were only two empty ones, for Phineas' parents. Max caught my eye, giving me a smile, and then the music started. Phineas stepped out of the house, donning a white tuxedo.

"I…I can't believe his parents would do this to him." Gabe sucked in a breath.

But Phineas was gracious. He was the kind of guy that could light up a room without anyone in it. The officiate was quick to start as Phineas reached us. There were things that ran along the lines of clichés I remembered from books and movies. And before I knew it, they were exchanging vows.

Gabe took Phineas' hand. "Phineas, I've never been good with words. Not the way you are. And it took me a while to figure this all out, but I'm really glad we've made it this far, that even when I'm being stubborn, you're still there for me. I know I don't say this enough, Phineas, but I love you, with all my heart, forever and ever, so yes, I do."

Phineas looked like he might start crying. "Gabriel, I'm just so glad you didn't run from me, that I hadn't scared you away with my heart out on my sleeve. And I've…I've never wanted anything more than to be here with you, to make you my best friend forever. I love you too, and of course, I do."

They exchanged their rings accompanied by our clapping, and then Phineas pulled Gabe off his feet and into a kiss. Iggy let out a whistle, producing a laugh from everyone. For once, Gabe had a smile across his face.

Dinner came next, thanks to Iggy and Gabe's mother. We sat outside around a long table, laughing, exchanging stories. Gabe's parents were nice, and it made me wonder if I had ever known my own parents if they would treat me like them or like Phineas' parents.

"Gabe, you really must bring your friends here to cook more often," Gabe's fathered laughed. "This, by far, is the best steak I've ever had."

Iggy gave us a huge grin. As long as it wasn't me, complimenting Iggy on his cooking was one of the things that made him get all happy. For me, he'd always just brush it off and say I was just trying to be nice.

After the food was gone, and our plates scraped clean, Phineas put on some music. I helped him set up the speakers earlier, the backyard now illuminated with strings of lights. He pulled Gabe out of his seat, and we watched them move around the makeshift dance floor smiling at each other.

We joined them after the song ended, along with Gabe's parents. Iggy was joking, telling me to let him lead, and I rolled my eyes, resting my head against his shoulder. He kissed the top of my head, chuckling, "I'm sorry if I step on your feet."

A few songs went by as we shuffled awkwardly around. I had my eyes closed, wondering what it'd be like to try to dance without being able to see.

"Hey, Fang." Iggy said quietly. "Would you mind if I danced with Ella? You know, I feel bad."

I lifted my head, glancing at Ella and Max, watching us looking amused.

"Of course," I nodded.

He gave me a smile, leaning down to kiss me, before walking off towards them. I felt dazed for a moment, trying not to smile to myself, but sometimes with Iggy, that was impossible.

I made my way to Max slowly, telling myself I should probably ask her to dance now.

"So, uhm, you wanna dance?" I asked her.

She laughed. "That would be lovely."

She took my hand, and we swayed around, but that grew tiring after a while, and so Max put her arms around my neck, resting her head against my chest. I watched Iggy and Ella, laughing as they stepped on each other's toes. Phineas flashed me a smile after catching my eye.

"Fang?"

"Yes, Max?"

"Do you ever miss this?"

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know."

My eyes met hers. "Sometimes, Max."

She gave me a small smile.

Love is Blind – Chapter 44

By MyNameIsCAL

I sat awake in my hotel room, clothes strung across the floor, Iggy in bed next to me with the blankets draped over him. He still seemed to have a smile on his face even though he was sleeping. Quietly, I got out of bed and hung up our clothes. They were expensive tuxedos after all. I smiled to myself, remembering how Iggy and I had come in, undressing each other.

Knock, knock.

Sighing, I made my way to the door. It was Max.

"Hey, what's up?"

"I can't sleep." She frowned. "Do I even want to know why you've got only boxers on?"

I gave her a grin. "Probably not."

She rolled her eyes. "I was wondering if you would come to the roof with me."

"Alright." I grabbed my pants out of the closet and pulled them on, along with Iggy's shirt, and then we made our way down the hall and up the staircase.

There wasn't much of a view up here, and we sat with our feet hanging off the edge. Phineas had booked us the hotel so we wouldn't have to drive home after a long night. It wasn't far from Gabe's house, and I swear if I tried hard enough, I could make out the outline of his neighborhood.

"Do you think Phineas' parents will get over themselves?" Max questioned.

I shrugged. "I'm sure they will."

She nodded in response.

"I guess Iggy and I have been lucky," I said after a while. "You all took it very well. And to think, you could have just disowned the two of us."

"We would never do that," Max shook her head. "Not after everything we've been through together. That would be…ridiculous."

"I—I know."

She rested her hand on top of mine. "We should probably go back now."

I took in a breath, resisting the urge to shake her off. "Yeah, we should."

And then she leaned in and kissed me.

"What the hell are you doing?" I pushed her away.

"I…I…"

My instinct was to run, and so I did, straight back to my room without looking back.

Iggy was still in bed, undisturbed. I climbed in, pulling his arm around me. He let out a grunt, lacing his fingers through my own.

"You're too nice, Fang," he murmured. "She worrying about, John?"

"Yeah." It was a lie, but I'm sure it was what she had been up thinking about.

Iggy breathed out in my and ear and I shivered.

"If I wasn't so tired, I'd say we should do it again," he whispered, undoing the buttons of my shirt.

I turned to face him, and then forced myself on top of him. He gave me a grin, and I pulled the blankets over us, thoughts of Max fading away.

The serial killer appeared dormant as the summer began. Phineas and Gabe were off to tour Europe for their honeymoon. They emailed us pictures every day, and I wondered if Gabe was relieved to be a whole continent and some countries away from the man that tried to kill Phineas. But it was nice to see the stress absent from Gabe's face. Iggy, uninterested by the pictures, said we had to go to Italy one day to eat all the good Italian food.

Right now, we were packing up the car, ready to head out to California. Phineas had lent me the keys to his beach house since he and Gabe were going to be away for a good chunk of the summer. John and Max were coming with us, but Ella had declined saying she was going to give Mom a hand at the office.

"Are you sure you're alright with John coming?" The question surprised me. Max and I had said little to each other since the incident on the roof. It was getting to the point that even Iggy grew suspicious, but he trusted me enough not to press on about it, saying that it wasn't any of his business.

"Yeah, I mean, he definitely needs a vacation," I managed to answer. Besides, it wasn't my decision to make. It had been Iggy's idea to ask everyone else to come.

She nodded, heading back inside to grab the last of our bags.

I drove first, Iggy riding shotgun. Using the rearview mirror, I could see John with a tired smile on his face, talking into Max's ear, making her smile. Part of me was glad Iggy couldn't see me watching them.

"Are we driving straight there or are we stopping?" Iggy questioned.

"I'd rather not stop." I turned my attention back to the road. "You want to plug your iPod in or something?"

It was going to be a long day. We made a few stops to stretch our legs, and wings. Iggy made sandwiches before we left and we spread a blanket out at one of the picnic areas to eat them.

"Why is it that I can't make sandwiches like you?" I elbowed Iggy.

But he shook his head. "We were running out of mayo so I had to conserve. I figured we'd just buy a new jar when we get back home."

I let out a sigh. It was only because I said something about his cooking that he had to find something wrong with it. Sometimes, I think he thought I just tried to say nice things for no reason.

"They're great, Iggy. Stop worrying." Max punched him lightly.

John took the wheel next, Max in the passenger seat. Iggy had his hand in my hair, asking me to describe the scenery. It was something I was used to now. When you couldn't see, touch, smell, hearing, and imagination was all you had left to figure out the world.

"Hey, Iggy, can I ask you something?" John interrupted.

"Sure."

"Were you always blind?" John lowered the radio. "I don't know. Just wondering, I mean, it must be hard."

Iggy shrugged. "A long time ago, before I probably could remember anything. But you know, I guess you could say I'm used to it."

John looked unsure of how to respond.

Iggy now gave me a sheepish grin. "Besides, you people that can see miss everything."

Love is Blind – Chapter 45

By MyNameIsCAL

Midnight approached, leaving the driving between Max and me. Iggy had tried to stay awake with us, but without my close company, he now had his arms wrapped around a pillow, his snores filling the car. John had passed out a long time ago. The driving had drained him, and Max looked worried every time she looked at him. I kept myself from asking though, and in fact, this was the first time Max and I were really talking since the incident on the hotel roof.

"So, you excited for the beach?" Max laughed.

I leaned my head against the window. "I think Iggy is more excited than I am, but Phineas has a great place up there. You'll like it."

"I haven't been to the beach in a long time," Max replied. "Hey, I'm hungry."

"Well, there's a rest stop in a few miles." I started to read the signs. "We can stop and stretch too."

"Alrighty, sounds like a plan."

We pulled into a parking lot a few minutes later. I locked Iggy and John in the car. The people inside looked bored, but they didn't look all that happy to have something to do either.

"Let's eat outside," I muttered.

We took a seat on the curb behind the car, the food between us. An unintentional barrier between us, and yet somehow it made me feel better.

"Look, Fang, I just wanted to say I was sorry about before." She stared at her burger. "It was stupid of me."

There was more she wanted to say though, I could tell. I thought back to that night when Iggy had been drunk. He had been right. Max still loved me. She was still in love with me. And sure, I loved her as my best friend, and like a sister, but maybe the question was whether or not I still had feelings deep down inside.

"It's alright, Max. Don't worry about it anymore." I started to eat some of my fries. "It never happened."

She let out a sigh, and we ate in silence. In fact, we spoke not another word to each other until we reached the beach house.

Iggy had cooked an amazing dinner, and the large amount of food made me drowsy. Things were starting to blur, but he insisted we go out on the beach, and I let him drag me out there with a couple of blankets. Despite being the sightless one, he lay one out and then pulled me down next to him, covering us from the breeze coming off the ocean. I looked up, the stars sparkling brighter than they did in the city, but just as familiar as it was in the desert away from the rest of the world. Then I closed my eyes, taking in a deep breath, listening to Iggy's breathing.

"Finally, some peace," he murmured in my ear.

I could only nod in response.

He rested his hand on my stomach, sliding it downwards slowly.

I shivered. "Ig, we're on the beach."

Still, he pushed himself on top of me. "Loosen up, Fang. No one's going to interrupt us here."

In a swift movement, he undid my pants, fingers at the waistband of my boxers. I started to unbutton his shirt.

His hand came around my wrist. "C'mon, Fang, not so fast."

Iggy leaned down to miss me, hands running through my hair, slowly, almost deliberately. I took in a deep breath, closing my eyes again. He was right. Seeing wasn't everything. Sight made us blind to a lot of things, messing with the rest of our senses.

"Fang…." He breathed out, his mouth making its way to my neck. "Your shirt."

Buttons were not Iggy's favorite thing in the world. I undid my shirt, his breathing becoming more ragged. It would have been so easy just to rip everything off, but I realized every time we found ourselves at this point, it was always rushed, always worrying about this and that.

"I love you, Fang," he whispered, hands coming around my wrists.

I pulled him down, edging him on. "I love you too, Ig."

"Your hair is a mess."

"Isn't it always?" I remarked, rubbing my eyes as I slid into one of the kitchen chairs.

Max gave me an amused look.

"Where's John?" I leaned against the table, trying to stretch my back.

"He went to do the grocery shopping. Should be back soon." Max poured me a cup of coffee. "Long night?"

I resisted the urge to smile.

"So…" Max changed the subject. "This is where Phineas got attacked?"

I pointed at the window. "Right through there. Broke all the glass. It was a mess. Phineas almost died on the way there."

Max sat down next to me, sipping her own coffee. "I can't even imagine."

"I don't think I've been scared like that since before we stopped running from scientists." I shook my head.

Iggy staggered into the kitchen, trying to avoid running into the doorway. His shirt was buttoned crookedly, and I had to laugh.

"What?" He rested his arms around me from behind.

"Nothing," I insisted

He craned his neck, bending down more to kiss me. Max rolled her eyes, moving to pour another cup of coffee for him. I wondered if this bothered her, but I let the thought slip my mind as Iggy took Max's seat next to me.

"Oh, hey, Max." Iggy finally acknowledged her with a smirk on his face.

"Morning, Ig." She put the mug down in front of him.

Love is Blind – Chapter 46

By MyNameIsCAL

I sat with Iggy at the table on the back patio. He had used the grill to make us dinner, and now Max and John were on the beach watching the sunset. I watched them, sitting in the sand, smiling and laughing with each other.

"I may be blind, Fang." Iggy put his arm around me. "But I'm not naïve. You and Max, well, it's making me, uneasy."

I let out a breath, resting against him. "I'm sorry."

He rested his chin on my head. "I'm not going to get mad at you, but you need to tell me. I need to know."

"Remember the night after Phineas and Gabe's wedding?" I asked.

"Yeah," he gave me a small smile. "But then you went with Max to the roof, didn't you."

"Well, yeah." I closed my eyes. "She—She kissed me."

There was no use in trying to say I didn't kiss her back, that I pushed her away as soon as she did it. I was waiting for Iggy to frown, waiting for him to sound disappointed. In fact, he went on, changing the subject.

"I've never told you this, or well, anyone else except for Angel I guess since she's pretty good at figuring things out." He rested his other arm around me. "If you and I hadn't worked out, if I hadn't found the guts and we hadn't found ourselves together that night, I wouldn't have gone to college. I would have stayed at home, sulking to myself. I don't think you know how happy you make me, how incredible it is to wake up every day knowing that I've got you, that I'm a little less lost than yesterday."

"Why are you telling me this, Ig?"

"Because I love you, Fang. So I'd be a fool to let something like that shake things. I wouldn't be anywhere without you." He gave me a squeeze. "I want you to know that I'll always be here for you. But you also need to know that I need you, Fang. I need you because without you, I'll just be…so lost."

I wove my fingers through his. "You're too good to me, Iggy."

He kissed my neck. "I'm going to shower. I'll see you in bed."

I wanted him to hold onto me for just a little longer, and as he drew away, he hesitated, before wrapping his arms around me again.

"I'll race you to the shower, Fang," he murmured.

I smiled, and we wrestled our way up the stairs and into the bathroom.

Things seemed to be back in order. Iggy and I had just gotten home tonight. Max and John had dropped us off, venturing off to visit his father for a week. After dinner, Iggy and I crashed on the couch, Angel joining us to watch a movie, but he fell asleep halfway through.

"Do you think Max will marry John?" Angel suddenly asked.

I raised an eyebrow. "Well, I've never really thought about it."

Angel laughed. "I wouldn't have asked then."

I gave her a small smile. "John wants to, at least I think, ask her. You know, Phineas and Gabe's wedding got everyone all excited."

"Well, I've figured that much."

I cringed at the thought of her reading my mind, and all those thoughts Iggy and I had about each other.

"It's alright, Fang. I block those ones out." Angel laughed. "Well, it's getting late. I'm gonna go to sleep. I'll see you in the morning."

"Night, Angel."

She nodded, handing me the TV remote before trudging down the hall.

"Iggy…" I nudged him. "C'mon, let's go to bed."

He grumbled, pulling me down next to him on the couch. "Just sleep here."

I let out an exasperated sigh.

"Please," he muttered, settling his arm around me.

"Alright, Ig."

Summer ended too quickly. We had spent the last month with the flock, except for the one weekend we spent over at Phineas and Gabe's new place in San Francisco. I realized I was going to miss them this year at school. They said we were welcomed to visit whenever we wanted and Iggy promised he would come cook for them every now and then.

But as always, the last week of the summer Iggy and I had the apartment to ourselves. We were heading out to dinner now, and he stopped me at the corner of the street.

"Is that jewelry store still here?" He asked me.

"Yup," I answered. "Why?"

He took my hand, looking deep in thought for just a moment. "Let's pick out rings."

"What?"

"Wedding rings, Fang." He squeezed my hand. "C'mon, and we'll do something over winter break."

"Ok…"

"There's never ever been anything conventional about us, Fang." He sensed my uncertainty. "I've always been the blindo, and you're Mr. Rock. And besides, Fang, what's the point in waiting?"

I squeezed his hand back. "Alright, Ig."

He gave me a smile and I pulled him into a kiss.

"What was that for?" He grinned.

I was smiling now, leading him across the street.

The manager was surprised to have us, but it seemed like he would do anything to make a sale to just about anybody. I looked at all the rings, but a certain one caught my eye.

"What about that one, shaped like flames?" I pointed.

The manager pulled the tray out. "This one comes in your usual silver and gold, but we've also got black and lighter blue. Sort of pale, I suppose."

I thought about what Iggy had said about being unconventional. "Ig, what do you think of black and blue?"

"I think it sounds perfect, Fang."

The manager measured our ring sizes, and we made our way to dinner. He said that we could pick them up in a week, and I pulled Iggy into a hug as soon as we got outside.

"What's wrong, Fang?"

"Nothing!" I smiled, breathing in. "Let's skip dinner."

He raised an eyebrow. "Well, I guess that would be alright."

And then he laughed, kissing me before we headed back the way we came.

Well, turns out I did have the next chapter written. Sorry for keeping you waiting for so long.

Thanks for reading! I'll work on the next one shortly. Should be up next week.

Love is Blind – Chapter 47

By MyNameIsCAL

"Oh, hey, I didn't know you'd be coming back tonight."

Max looked up at me, ignoring that I had wandered into the kitchen without anything but boxers on. You can ask Iggy where the rest of my clothes were.

She shrugged. "I just go here. John went to get a pizza."

I took a seat next to her. Avoiding her eyes, I said, "Iggy and I went to pick out wedding rings today."

"Oh…" I couldn't tell if she was tired or if she was faking her excitement. "That's great, Fang."

It was my turn to be modest "We were thinking of doing something during winter break."

"You know, John' been talking about getting married." She was avoiding my gaze now.

I'd be a fool to say she didn't sound hesitant about the idea. "Well, how do you feel about it?"

She let out a sigh. "Honestly, Fang, I don't know anymore. You and Iggy and Ella all have plan. Iggy has you, you have Iggy, and Ella is going to vet school once she's finished with college. I just feel like I'm not ready for what John wants."

"He's not going to force you into anything you don't want," I told her.

"I know. But I'm not going to lie anymore. I relaly thought I was just going to marry you after college." Her eyes were glued to the floor. "And then you pulled the rug out from under my feet."

"I'm sorry, Max…"

"But I'm really happy for you," she insisted. "I guess I'm just feeling a bit lost when you've all got big plans."

"You'll find something." I finally got her to meet my eyes. "I mean, after all, you are the great and magnificent Maximum Ride."

That conjured a smile out of her, and I felt relieved.

After getting a glass of water, I went back to my room. John had just come back, and I could hear him and Max talking as I got into bed.

"I smell pizza," he whispered.

"John and Max are eating some," I told him.

"Good, then they'll be distracted." And suddenly, my boxers were gone too.

When I woke in the morning, Max was sitting on the couch watching the news. It was almost noon, but neither Iggy nor John was awake. I sat next to her, waiting for her to say something about putting pants on, but she didn't.

"Morning," I said gruffly.

She said nothing.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"Nothing." She stood.

I reached for her, trying to grab her wrist, but instead I grasped her hand. "Max, talk to me."

She tried to pull her hand away, but I held on.

"I'm just being selfish."

"Then let's talk about it."

She stopped fighting me. "You're my best friend, Fang. I can tell you everything. I can talk to you about everything. Everything except you."

I dropped her hand. "I'm sorry, Max, but—"

That was when she started to breakdown. I did the only thing I could think of doing, pulling her up against me, letting her bury her face into my chest.

"Max," I whispered. "I know you're upset. You think it doesn't hurt me to break your heart, but it does. But I don't want our friendship to fall apart. And I don't want to screw things up with Iggy either. I'll be here when you need me, I promise. You can beat me up when you need to, but you know that I love Iggy. And if I lose him, I'll never be able to forgive myself. I want you to be happy too, Max. But this is that one thing I can't do anything about. I'm sorry."

And before I even knew what was happening, she pulled me down into a kiss, her fingers running through my hair. When it finally clicked in my mind that I needed to push her away, John was standing in the hallway, staring at us.

I looked at him, and then at Max who was staring at the floor.

"I…"

He shook his head and I walked passed him to go to my room. I spent the rest of the afternoon in there with Iggy trying to forget what happened.

I lay awake, Iggy sleeping practically on top of me, head against my chest. Max and John were in the kitchen, talking like we were really asleep.

"It-It was my fault, John, I swear," Max insisted. "I'm sorry. I don't know what got into me."

It sounded like John was trying to hold back his anger. "Look, Max. How do I know this hasn't been going on all along?"

"I promise it hasn't."

John let out a sigh. "Maybe we should get our own place."

Only I could sense Max's small hesitation. "It's our last year in college. We should save our money."

"I trust you. I want you to trust me too. So tell me now if your heart isn't in this because I've got a life to live too. I've got to plan my own future."

There was that hesitation again. "I love you, John. But I'm not ready for what you want to do."

"Then that's all you had to say." John sounded relieved, although I knew Max was still lying. "I don't want you to feel rushed, okay? You just pull me back when I get too far ahead."

Once more, hesitation. "Thank you, John."

I closed my eyes, smoothing out Iggy's feathers, waiting for sleep to claim me instead of my thoughts.

I know it's been a while since I updated, but here's a new chapter. I'm working on some new stories too, so I'll have updates and probably a new story posted over the next two weeks. Thanks, as always, for reading!

Love is Blind – Chapter 48

By MyNameIsCAL

It was probably almost midnight. Everyone except John was home. In fact, we were pretty much waiting up for him with Max because he would probably need to be fed and we were all hungry anyways. Our homework spread across the table, textbooks and laptops with tangled cords.

Under our papers somewhere, a phone started vibrating. We shuffled things around, but it was Iggy who found it.

"I think it's yours," Iggy said.

He handed it to me. It was Phineas.

"Hello?" I answered.

His voice came across shaky. "F-Fang?"

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"Gabriel and I were…We were walking home and we got jumped." He sucked in a breath. "Gabriel's…He's in surgery right now. He got stabbed in the chest and-and in the leg and…They need to put me into surgery to fix my shoulder. If you could come…"

"Where are you? I'll be there as soon as I can."

He gave me the address.

"Th-Thanks, Fang." He hesitated.

"Okay, Phineas. You hang in there. Everything's gonna be okay."

He said nothing in response and hung up. Things were a lot worse than he was going to tell us.

We hopped on to the next plane to San Francisco. It was a small, bumpy plane ride, but our discomfort was the least of our worries. We only brought a backpack each, so there was no baggage claim to go to. After exiting the airport, we took off into the air. Traffic wasn't something we had time to deal with.

When we got there, the nurse directed us upstairs. We found Phineas standing in front of a glass wall, dressed in hospital gowns and arm in a sling. He had his other hand around the bar that had IV drip on wheels.

"They say he'll recover." Phineas pressed his forehead against the glass. "He almost didn't make it through surgery."

"What happened?" Iggy asked quietly.

"We were walking home from dinner. And we got jumped from an alleyway right nearby our apartment. The guy got me first, and dislocated my shoulder. He had a knife. He stabbed Gabriel in the chest, but luckily nowhere that will leave significant damage. But if that wasn't worse enough, he picked up this bar from the sidewalk and started beating Gabriel with it. His leg is shattered. I don't even remember what the doctor told me. But they have to keep him sedated for now, or the pain will kill him."

"I'm…I'm really sorry, Phineas…" was all I managed to say.

He shook his head. "His parents are coming tonight. Look, you don't have to stay if you want. I just…I couldn't bear to be here alone. I didn't know who else to call."

"We're not going anywhere," Iggy assured him.

Phineas gave us a quavering smile and we stood there in silence for a while until a nurse came and ushered Phineas back to his room.

Phineas was low in spirits as Gabriel's condition didn't seem to show any improvement. He got discharged today, and with a little convincing from Gabriel's parents, we got him to take us back to his apartment so he could shower, change, and Iggy could cook for him. I knew it would be impossible to get him to stay, but at least he'd get some air and be away from the hospital.

Phineas sat next to me, staring at his plate as I cut his food from him. He had showered and shaved, but his eyes were red and his face looked tired. After I finished, he muttered a thank you and began to eat slowly.

We must have been halfway through eating when there was a knock on the door. Phineas rose and trudged to the door. "Who is it?"

"Phineas, we need to talk!"

He pulled the door open and his father barged in.

"You are going to come with us right now!" His father grabbed him by the shoulders. "Have you any idea what you being involved with that gay serial killer is doing to my company?"

"I don't give a damn about your company!" Phineas pushed his father back. "If you're so against this, then you should have come to my wedding so you could have had your say! And I wouldn't have let you change my mind anyways!"

"George!" Phineas' mom burst through the doorway. "George, leave him alone! He's been through enough."

"I can't believe you sympathize with him!" his dad snarled. "I am saving you, Phineas!"

"Then I'd rather be poor and dead than have to call you my father!"

Something inside of Phineas' father snapped. He lunged forward, pulling Phineas by the sling towards the doorway. Phineas let out a cry of pain. It was time to intervene.

I grabbed his father's arm. "You're going to hurt him!"

"I'm saving him!"

Phineas let out another wail as his father yanked his bad arm.

"STOP IT!"

The silence after that seemed deafening. Phineas' dad let go of him and he sat on the floor, clutching his arm.

"George, you can go home by yourself!" Phineas' mom shrieked. "And if you lay one more finger on him, if you threaten him in any way, you can expect divorce papers on your desk tomorrow!"

I kneeled down next to Phineas. He was holding his arm, tears dripping down his cheeks.

"Call an ambulance," he managed to say.

And then he leaned against me, sobbing. His mother pulled out her cell phone and called 911.

"It's going to be okay." I settled an arm around him.

He nodded into me.

Iggy had fallen asleep against me in the waiting room. Phineas need extensive surgery on his shoulder after what his father had done to him. I wished it was all a nightmare. Phineas and Gabriel didn't deserve any of this. Not after what they had already been through.

Gabriel's parents had sat with us for a little while, but left to get some sleep. They said the doctor said things were looking up, that maybe they would have Gabriel off the respirator soon. Phineas would be relieved to hear that after he got out of surgery, and I promised that I would let them know when Phineas was out of surgery.

Phineas' mother was standing the corner farthest from me. She was on her phone with her lawyer.

"Yes, I know the company will be destroyed by it, but I don't care." She sounded exasperated. "You're not going to talk me out of this, I promise you! You make sure he gets those papers."

Maybe Phineas would have some renewed hope too from that.

Love is Blind – Chapter 49

By MyNameIsCAL

Exhausted. I don't even think you could understand how tired Iggy and I were. For the past two weeks we had been sleeping on couches. We were trying to distract Phineas from working himself up until they final discharged him again.

On the bright side, Gabriel had finally been moved out of the ICU. In a few days, they would have him conscious and off the respirator. That put Phineas at ease for a little bit, but you could tell that he couldn't bear to be stuck in bed.

Iggy and I were taking turns with Phineas' mom to keep him company. She told us to call her Maggie actually. Thanksgiving Break was coming up soon, so at least even though right now Iggy and I were barely treading water in all of our work we had to finish, we'd have enough time to still finish it.

"I can't believe she did that for me," Phineas said to me. "She always prided herself on the fact that it was because of her that my father had the company. She owns half of it and their divorce means that my father and she are going to have to figure out what's going to happen to it. But I was the reason they got married. The company was the reason they stayed together."

My gaze was out the window as he talked to me. I could see the parking lot. It was raining and there was a man with a little girl that must have been his daughter. She was gripping onto his hand, and he was looking down at her. Then he picked her up as they crossed the street. She hugged onto his neck, closing her eyes.

"Sometimes I wonder if it was just better I didn't know my parents at all," I said quietly.

"At least your parents didn't try to sell you to the media," Iggy chortled.

"Well, we all turned out alright, didn't we?" Phineas laughed.

It was two days later that Phineas was finally released. Gabriel was off the respirator so Iggy and I finally got to head back home. Well, to our apartment anyways.

Max picked us up at the airport with John and Ella. They took us to dinner and then we headed back. I realized Iggy and I had barely been alone since we had left.

"We're going to have a shitload of stuff to work on tomorrow," Iggy muttered as he pulled me into bed.

I snuggled against him. "Don't remind me."

We managed to get most of ours essays and homework done the next day. Everyone was out of the apartment getting ready to go back to Mom's for Thanksgiving. As of now, we were waiting to hear from Phineas. Depending on what was going on, we were going to go stay with him. Mom already said she could handle the cooking.

"…and so Thoreau believes-" I glanced over at Iggy. "Iggy?"

He had fallen asleep listening to me read the book we had to finish for our class after Thanksgiving break. I put the book down and threw a blanket over him.

The door opened and Max came in with Ella.

"Where's John?" I asked.

"He's going to visit his dad." Max shook her head. "I forgot to tell you. He's meeting us at Mom's."

"Ah." I closed my laptop. "We're still waiting to hear from Phineas."

Ella shook her head. "Twice. I can't believe it. It must be someone who knows them."

"Phineas and Gabe are the only ones who have gotten away. Twice now too," I reminded them. "It's gotten to the point where they have police hanging around the hospital and Phineas' place."

My phone rang and I answered it right away.

"Phineas?"

"Yes, Fang. You haven't been waiting for me have you?" He sounded like he was frowning. "Anyways…"

"How's Gabriel?"

"They won't let me see him for long."

"We'll come, Phineas."

"Please." He sniffled. "…He went into shock. They had to put him back on the respirator…"

"Iggy and I are going to get on the next flight." I shut my eyes. "Gabriel is going to be okay."

Phineas said nothing though and the line went dead.

Gabriel's father, Mr. Forrester, picked us up from the airport. He told us Phineas was at the hospital and that we needed to convince him to go home.

"He hasn't slept," Mr. Forrester went on. "He's refusing his medication. Not that he needs it. But I think all his worrying and pain from his shoulder is bending him out of shape. Gabriel is going to be okay. He won't give up."

"Exactly what happened? Phineas never really said," Iggy questioned.

"He was having trouble breathing and then went into shock." Mr. Forrester pulled into the parking lot. "I think what Phineas really needed to hear was Gabe tell him that he's going to be okay."

"We'll talk to him," Iggy assured Mr. Forrester.

Phineas looked awful. Mr. Forrester hadn't over exaggerated about the state Phineas was in. He came over and hugged both of us. When Iggy told him everything was going to be okay, he started to sob into Iggy's shoulder.

Iggy wrapped his arms around Phineas. "Hey, don't cry. Gabriel is going to put up one hell of a fight to get better, so you gotta be strong for him. He's going to be okay, I promise. You just need some sleep, Phineas. C'mon, we'll take you home for a few hours. Then we'll come back."

Phineas nodded into Iggy's shoulder.

It took a few minutes for Phineas to collect himself, but when he did, he managed to give us a small smile and we headed to his apartment.

Love is Blind – Chapter 50

By MyNameIsCAL

In the next week and a half, the serial killer murdered five more people. We would have tried to forget about the news except for the fact that soon after the news broke about the first of the five murders, FBI agents had confronted us saying that we weren't to leave the hospital without a FBI escort.

They sat us down and showed us a list of names. It had been dropped at the crime scene and contained my name, Iggy's name, and Phineas and Gabriel's name. There were other names too. Names of people who had been killed already.

"We suspect that you're his primary targets," the FBI agent had told us.

The serial killer was after Phineas and Gabriel. They were after us too because we had been there when he first attacked. Phineas would have died if it weren't for Iggy and I being with them. Other than that list, there were no leads and no other evidence. Since there were no other names on the list and four other people killed, the list only gave us one conclusion: we were wanted dead. The other murders were just out of anger.

We passed the time with school work. They had sequestered us in Gabriel's room. Phineas usually sat by the bed, talking quietly to Gabriel, or laying on the extra hospital bed. It was hard to watch him sometimes. The doctor said by the end of the week, Gabriel would be stable enough to take off the respirator again.

As for Iggy and me, we spent most of our time trying to get our essays and readings done for our exams before our winter break. Although it didn't seem like we would be getting out any time soon, especially with all of those five murders within fifteen miles of us. Once Gabriel was stable enough to move, they were probably going to move us somewhere else. The only reason we were still in the hospital was because Phineas refused to leave.

It was around dinner time when there was a knock on the door. I looked up, expecting to see an agent carrying in food, but instead, it was Max.

"Max?" I rose up from the couch.

She wrapped her arms around me.

"How'd you get in here?" Phineas turned his attention away from Gabe. "They told us no visitors without arrangements."

"I know an agent," Max laughed, pulling away from me.

"It's nice to see other people," Phineas gave her a small smile. "Kind of feel trapped in hear, you know?"

The door opened again and Agent Jennings, the guy who was in charge of our protection, came in with our dinner. We sat around one of the small tables they had wheeled in here and we began to eat.

"So what brings you here?" Iggy questioned through a mouthful of burger.

"It's funny actually. Do you remember Agent Stokes?"

Iggy nodded.

"He called me up asking about your situation and I told him I didn't know. Then he said he needed a favor."

"A favor?" I raised an eyebrow.

"They need a safe place to put you two once Gabriel gets out of here. And so Mom's house it's gonna be. You'll get to spend Christmas at home at least."

"That's a relief." Iggy grinned.

"What about Phineas?" I asked.

Max didn't know.

"Don't worry about me!" Phineas clapped me over the shoulder. "Gabe should come around soon. We'll be alright."

It felt good to be home. I mean, to be here at Mom's house with the entire flock.

"You smell like hospital," Gazzy said, scrunching his noise. "Don't make me rip one to mask the smell."

Iggy elbowed him. "Don't you dare."

Angel sniggered, but then agreed. "You two reek."

"Alright, alright, we'll go shower," I muttered.

Iggy and I settled into our room first. I realized this had been the first time we had been alone with each other since what seemed like eons.

Without any warning, he pushed me onto the bed and pinned me down.

"I've been waiting so long to do this," he grinned as he ran his fingers through my hair. "Too bad we're not in the apartment."

Still, he pressed himself against me and kissed me hard. I ran my hands down his back and along his wings.

"One…of us…better…go shower…" I said to him between kisses.

He laughed, letting me go. "Right, they'll get suspicious."

I rolled my eyes as he left me to go shower.

You know, I didn't really think it was possible, but it was stuff like this that just made me love him more.

It was Christmas Eve, but before I could go and forget the mess Iggy and I were in, I had to call Phineas. I dialed Agent Jennings and he handed the phone to Phineas.

"Merry Christmas, Fang!" Phineas answered cheerfully. "You tell Iggy that too! I take it you settled in well."

"Yes," I assured him. "How's Gabriel?"

It was a relief to hear he kept the same happy tone. "He's off the respirator now. I'd let you talk to him but he's sleeping."

"And how are you?"

"Me? Are you kidding? I'm great. Well, my shoulder's still bothering me, but you know. I'll manage." He let out a laugh. "Fang, thanks for thinking of us, but you shouldn't worry about us. Get back to Iggy and your family. I've troubled you enough."

"Merry Christmas, Phineas."

He chuckled. "I'll see you in the new year!"

I hung up and went out to the kitchen.

Oh, yeah, tonight was the big night. Iggy and I were going to tell everyone we were going to get married. He said we needed to lighten things up.

I ran into Max in the hallway. We almost knocked a few picture frames down trying to avoid walking into each other.

"Hey, I thought John was coming tonight."

Max shrugged. "He wanted to go spend it with his Dad. He's coming for New Year's."

I wondered how things were between her and John, but Angel exited her room right between us holding a stack of envelopes, so I continued towards the kitchen after her.

Don't be so worried about everything. Angel glanced at me and then smiled. Don't worry, everyone's going to be excited for you and Ig tonight.

"Thanks, Angel."

She answered aloud. "You're welcome."

Halfway through dinner, Iggy tapped the side of his glass with a spoon and cleared his throat. I felt myself blush as he put an arm around me.

"So we have an announcement!" Iggy exclaimed. "This man and I went and picked out some wedding rings for ourselves. We're getting married and if you don't all come to the wedding, I will personally plant bombs in your food and make them explode in your face."

I grinned at his stupid joke, but everyone was.

"Fang, don't you have something to ask?" Iggy prompted.

My eyes surveyed the table and then met Max's eyes. "Max, I know this sounds stupid, but you know me as well as Iggy does, so I'd like you to be my best man. Er, woman."

She gave me a smile. "I'd be honored to."

"And Gazzy," Iggy stared at him with a dark expression, and then a grin spread across his face. "You'll be mine. And you're in charge of pyrotechnics!"

Gazzy gave Iggy a high five.

"No bombs," I told Gazzy.

"Maybe I'll plant one in the cake," he smirked.

Nudge elbowed him in the side and he suppressed his laughs.

Mom was teary eyed. "Why do you all have to grow up so fast? I remember…I remember when you were all still trying to save the world."

Laughter filled the table and Mom blew her nose, laughing along with us after. It was surreal to look back at everything. Never in a million years would I have dreamed of being here with Iggy like this. But I wouldn't have changed a thing.

Later that night I was in the kitchen alone getting a glass of water for Iggy when Max stepped in. She was holding her cell phone, probably waiting to hear from John or something.

"You don't have to do this," she said. "Phineas or Gabe can be your best man."

I turned to her. "I want you to. I'm not doing it because I'm trying to make you feel better, Max."

She managed a half smile. "Thank you."

Putting this at the end of all my updates. Sorry if you've read this already:

I just finished Nevermore. I thought it was a brilliant ending for the series, but I won't go into much detail now. If anyone wants to share thoughts, feel free to message me.

But yeah, the series is over. It's a lot of emotions, but most of them good and some of them bittersweet. I feel that there's still a lot more to be said in the fanfiction universe about this series, so as long as people are still reading, I'll still be writing. New ideas are spinning already.

Until my next update! Thanks for reading! More on the serial killer in the next chapter!

Love is Blind – Chapter 51

By MyNameIsCAL

The eve of New Year's Eve was a quiet one. Mom was working late at the vet's office, Angel was out volunteering somewhere, and Nudge was out with her friends. Ella and Iggy had gone to pick up some pizza for dinner, so I was with Max, waiting for the FBI agent to finish searching John and his stuff before they let him in. Everyone in and out had to be checked.

"I should have told him he couldn't come," Max murmured as she returned from looking out the front door.

"Well, he came so he wants to see you," I told her.

She shrugged.

"What's up with you?" I frowned. "Ever since Christmas ended you've been, I don't know, distracted."

"I've been thinking of breaking things off with John," she answered. "But I don't know how. And I don't want to ruin New Year's."

"Why the change of heart?"

"It just doesn't feel right anymore."

"Well, I'm here for you, Max."

She gave me a half smile and went to the door. John was coming in now. I rose from the table and went to my room, hoping Ella and Iggy would come back soon.

It was dark in my room when a crash of glass woke me. I turned, expecting to see Iggy stirring, but instead his side of the bed was empty.

I bolted out of the bedroom and found Max's door wide open, light streaming into the house.

"Max?"

A muffled sound came from in the room. When I entered, I found her tied on the bed with duct tape on her mouth. Her clothes were ripped and she had a blank eye.

"Max!" I ran to her and began to untie her. She shook, resisting me.

There was another loud crash. It sounded like it was coming from the kitchen. I reached for the piece of tape and tore it off Max's mouth.

"He's going after Iggy!" she blurted out. "I'm fine! Go!"

It took a while for my legs to work. I turned and ran to the kitchen. Ella was on the floor unconscious. There was pizza everywhere, but no sign of Iggy.

"Iggy!" I shouted.

The lights flickered on and John entered. He had Iggy in a chokehold, a knife pressed to his throat. Iggy's short was torn, the mark of that serial killer carved into his chest.

"John…" I held up my hands. "We can talk…"

"I'm done talking to you! I'm done playing nice!" he spat. "This is the end! I had you all fooled!"

I opened my mouth, but John pushed Iggy forward and stabbed him in the back. He didn't even scream as he crumpled to the floor.

"NO!"

John bent forward and pulled the knife out of Iggy's back. "He's dead now, Fang. You know how long I've been waiting for this? To finally get you? After you let Gabriel and Phineas get away? "

I let him hit me and pin me to the floor.

"At first I thought it was my duty to go after the scum of the Earth like you!" He raised the knife. "And then I met Max. I loved her, I really did. I thought that then I was supposed to save her, but I realized I never could because she still loved you. And then I realized it was you I had to get rid of!"

"Then why did you go after others?" I growled.

He plunged the knife into my arm, right below the wrist. "Because you're the first step, Fang! And after I'm through with you, I'm going to find your friends. And once I've proven myself, I'm going to start an army."

John produced another knife. He must have put it through his belt or something.

"I'm going to make an example of you, Fang." John waved the knife in my face. "People will be afraid of you!"

He plunged the knife into my other arm. I suppressed a scream. I would not give him that satisfaction.

"The FBI will know it's you! You think you can get away with this just because you're doing it in the name of God?" I stared at him.

John ignored me. He was getting another knife out of the wooden block.

"I feel sorry for people like you, John. I wish things could end better."

"No they wouldn't have!" he sneered. "I knew Max wanted to break things off. I tried so hard to do everything for her. It was useless!"

"Then kill me!" I roared. "Kill me so you can sleep tonight!"

"I will!"

He kneeled down next to me and raised the knife over his head.

I would never forget the look in his eyes as he plunged the knife downwards. He was smiling too. I had never seen John this happy before. It was a look I had seen many times before back when we were fighting to save the world. It was the look those erasers got, or those scientists had, when they finally got their hands on us. Although usually I had a way out.

I was preparing myself mentally to tear myself away and for whatever pain came from the two knives in my arms ripping through my skin. Then there was a loud bang and John fell backwards, the knife clambered to the floor.

Sirens wailed in the distance. I lifted my head to glance at Iggy. He was face down on the floor and unmoving, a pool of blood around him.

I closed my eyes and let my head fall heavily back on the floor.

Love is Blind – Chapter 52

By MyNameISCAL

I stared at the bandages on my wrists. They had stitched me and medicated me with some pain killers. I had just finished answering the FBI's questions. Now all I could do was wait. No one would speak a word to me about Iggy's condition. He was alive though, and that was all that mattered.

The door burst open and Max rushed in. She threw her arms around me and I awkwardly rested my arms around her since I was unable to bend my wrists.

"Fang... I'm so sorry."

I rested my chin on the top of her head. "It's not your fault, Max."

She squeezed me closer.

"How's Ella?" I managed to ask. Iggy would have wanted to know that.

"She's in another room. A concussion, but she's going to be ok. We can go see her." Max let go of me. "And they finished questioning all of us."

"Did they say anything about Iggy?"

"I…I overheard a doctor talking to one of the agents." She sat on the couch. "John partially severed Iggy's spine. They don't know how things will go after surgery if he'll be able to, you know, walk or…" Max trailed off.

I sat down next to her. "He'll be ok."

She let out a laugh. "I thought I was going to have to tell you that."

I stared back down at my bandages. "Yeah, me too."

We ventured out into the hallway. It was quiet except for the FBI agents at both ends. I realized we didn't know what happened to John, but I didn't want to ask Max. She still looked like she wanted to cry.

Ella was awake. I took a seat next to her on the bed. She looked at me, waiting for me to say something.

"I don't know." My voice came out weak. "He's in surgery."

"H-How bad is it?" Her lip trembled.

My silence answered her question.

She reached out and squeezed my hand. "He's going to pull through. I…I know he will."

I tried to give her a smile, but it came out twisted so I only let out another breath.

We must have sat in silence for at least an hour. Then Max got up and started pacing. I wanted to ask if she was ok and tell her it wasn't her fault, but the words wouldn't come out of my mouth and I didn't think she really wanted to hear them right now.

It wasn't until the sun was peeking through the curtains that an agent stepped in with a doctor. I stood and Max sat and Ella finally stopped wringing her hands.

The doctor stuck out his hand to me. "You must be Fang. I'm Dr. Sharp."

I shook his hand gingerly.

"Iggy pulled through. We stabilized the area where his spine was damaged." He adjusted his glasses and let out a breath. "I cannot say what kind of recovery he will have. Right now, he's probably going to be paralyzed from the waist down. But with his ability to heal, it's possible that he'll recover fully."

I swallowed. "When can I see him?"

"I can let you see him. He's unconscious right now though." Dr. Sharp took his glasses off. "He's really lucky. Most people wouldn't survive that kind of injury."

"Thank you."

He nodded. "He's just down the hall."

I left Max and Ella and followed the doctor to Iggy's room. He looked fine except for the IV and wires hooked up to him. I sat heavily in the seat next to the bed and took Iggy's hand.

"Hey," I murmured. "We're going to be okay. We'll get through this. I just…I need you to be okay, Iggy. I need you."

Iggy's injury took a lot of energy out of him. He was in a lot of pain. More than he would admit to me. Yet he was still smiling and trying to crack jokes. In fact he wasn't even worried that he might not be able to walk. He just had this mentality that he was going to.

"I've gotta walk down the aisle for you," he said with a grin. "I didn't come this far to get pushed!"

I just lost it after that. I promised myself I wouldn't cry, but I couldn't help it anymore.

"Fang…" He let out a breath and squeezed my shoulder. "Don't cry."

"You almost died, Iggy," I bawled. "And you're not even angry or upset."

"You think I'm not upset?" He brushed the hair out of my face. "Fang, if I could get my hands on John, I'd make him sorry he ever tried to mess with us. But there's no point in harvesting our anger. Besides, what have I got to be upset about when I have you? I know you'll take care of me, no matter how this turns out."

Then he pulled me down towards him and crushed his lips against mine. When he finally let go of me, the tears had stopped flowing.

He gave me a smile.

I almost started to cry again, but he squeezed my hand.

"Will you stay until I fall asleep?" he asked me.

"Of course." I tried to smile back.

His eyes fluttered closed and I sat there, even long after he had fallen asleep, holding his hand.

While Iggy's condition was improving and there were signs of recovery, he still needed to stay at the hospital. Things were looking promising, and I finally felt like I had room to breathe again. Just the other day he was wiggling his toes again. Iggy insisted I go home to get some rest. I had showered and taken a short nap, but I was anxious to go back to the hospital already. Slowly, I moved around the house, packing things to bring to the hospital. Maybe some music would be good for Iggy. He had his CD player, but he hadn't listened to it since I was always there when he was awake. I found speakers in my room and grabbed a couple of his jazz albums.

Max hadn't been around too much. She and Ella visited Iggy once a week. Ella told me that it was probably best I give her some space for now, but I knew eventually I would have to talk to her. She was probably blaming herself, and I knew I would have to assure her that it wasn't her fault at all.

I ended up going back to the hospital after lying in bed for another hour. Iggy was sleeping, so I quietly set up the speakers I had brought and hooked it up to Iggy's CD player.

There was a knock on the door and I almost jumped, pulling the speakers and everything off the table. I caught it all in a fumble and hurried to the door. When I opened it, Phineas stood in front of me. He pulled me into a hug and I managed to wrap my arms around him.

"Jeez, Phineas, what're you doing here?" I asked when he finally let go of me.

"I'm so glad you two are ok," he said. "Well, you came all that way for me when Gabriel was in the hospital. It was the least I could do. Gabriel is out of the hospital, by the way. I didn't want to leave him, but he insisted I go. His parents are staying with him right now."

I stepped out into the hallway and closed the door. "I've been meaning to call you guys. It's been a little crazy here though. Iggy should be awake in a little bit. You can see him when he is."

"Well, why don't we grab some coffee then?" Phineas suggested. "It's on me."

When we got back, Iggy was waking up. He wiggled his toes and then gave me a smile. "I'm alright, Fang. No need to ask."

I closed my mouth and sat down next to him.

"Phineas! It's so good to see you!"

"Well, it's certainly wonderful to see you too." Phineas took a seat on the other side of the bed. "Gabriel sends his regards. Hey, you know what? I brought my laptop. If you're up for it, we could video call him."

"That sounds like a great idea," Iggy grinned.

Phineas set his laptop up on the table that went over the bed. Gabriel answered right away. He looked tired, but he seemed happy to see us.

"Looks like you and I are bed buddies," Gabriel laughed.

"How're you feeling?" Phineas question.

"Alright. It's just about time for me to take my pain medication. I'll be alright." Gabriel pulled himself into a straighter sitting position and winced. "And how are you two holding up?"

"Fang's more worried than I am," Iggy told him. "I'll be out of here before we know it."

"Well, we owe you dinner," Gabriel went on. "When you and I can get out of bed, we should celebrate."

"I'm gonna hold you to that," Iggy said.

After Phineas and Gabriel exchanged a few more words, we said goodbye. A nurse came in to check a few things with Iggy, so Phineas and I went to grab some food to bring back so we could eat with Iggy. We put on one of Iggy's jazz CDs and talked about everything except the events that unfolded over the past months. In fact, I think we pretty much forgot about them.

Everything seemed ok again. At least for now.