Fang: I'd like to have the honor to be the first to announce... IT'S OVER!

Me: Well, someone's enthusiastic.

Fang: You should be, too. Actually finishing a fic. Not something you've been good at lately.

Me: But here it is. The last chapter... Though I did leave room for a sequel-

Fang: WHAT?! ARE YOU CRAZY! I JUST GOT RID OF THIS FIC! PLUS LOOK AT EVERYTHING ELSE YOU NEED TO WRITE AND SCHOOL AND-

Me: I'm not doing the sequel. At least, not in the near future. Consider this fic over for the time being. Just saying... It's never a bad idea to leave room for a sequel. :)

Fang: ...Oh. Good then.

Me: You done yelling?

Fang: ...Yeah, think so.

Me: Great, then we'll get to the fic.

Iggy's POV

"I don't want you to leave. Not ever."

"I'll write and call all the time." I told Fang, burrowing my face into his hair, trying to breathe in as much of his scent as I could. "You've got my e-mail, Skype, everything."

"Still... I won't be able to touch you..." Fang said, the arms he had wrapped around me squeezing me close. "You're going to be so far away. It seems like I just got you in my life, and now you're going away."

"Not forever." I told him. "You know that. Your parents invited me for Thanksgiving, we're all meeting up to go skiing for winter break, and then, next summer..."

"I'm coming to visit your place." Fang finished.

"With Ms. Mayhill's permission, of course." I said, smiling. "She owns your soul, after all."

"Renting to own." Fang corrected.

"And you can tell Jacy that she's invited, too, of course." I added

"I think she'd just invite herself anyway." Fang said.

"Which reminds me..." I pulled back a bit from Fang, forcing him to relunctantly loosen his grip on me, so I could look him in the eyes. "I have Jacy's contact information, too, and she will be keeping an eye on you, making sure you stay out of trouble."

Fang rolled his eyes. "I don't need a babysitter, Ig."

"Prove it to me." I told him. "She will send me any reports, and I swear, if you make me have to fly up here-"

"What are you going to do?" Fang asked. "Ground me?"

"If I have to." I said. "If I hear that you've so much as downed a shotglass, I will come up here and make you wish you'd never even heard of alcohol."

"In that case, I'm going to go down a bottle of my mom's wine right now." Fang said. "That way you won't even have to bother with leaving."

"Don't even think about it." I told him, trying to sound menacing. "I will tie you to this bed if I have to."

"I don't think I'd mind that." A mischievious smirk stretched across his face. "I might even have some rope under my desk..."

I just rolled my eyes, pulling him closer so I could kiss that smirk off his lips.

"Mommy says you guys need to get downstairs already!"

Our lips broke apart like they'd released an electric shock when we heard Meggy's voice outside Fang's door. We'd learned not to kiss anywhere near that little girl. She tended to start singing songs about her brother and I sitting in trees.

"Your daddy's been honking the car horn for you, Iggy!" Meggy called to us. "Can't you hear him?"

Actually, I couldn't . Sorry, Dad, the sounds of mouth-to-mouth bliss were drowning you out. "Tell everyone we'll be right down." I told her. "Come on." I said to Fang, taking his hand. With my other hand, I reached over and grabbed the last bag I had sitting on the bed. "Let's not piss the parental units off."

Fang grumbled a bit, but let me lead him down the stairs and out the side door, only dragging his feet a little. He knew I was going to have to leave sometime.

Summer was coming to an end and we were both going back to school- On serperate ends of the country. It was something we both knew was coming, but had ignored, just trying to enjoy what little time together we had left.

And now that time was up.

Outside, our parents were talking. Fang's mom and my foster mom, Natalie, had made friends immediately and were chatting it up by Fang's mom's garden. My foster dad, Kendall, was fascinated by Jackie Don's house. Ken had this huge interest in old architecture and obviously, the house and barn were pretty old.

Ken and Nat had 12-year-old twins, a son and a daughter. Their daughter, Rose, had made friends with Megan and they were chatting by the car. Jacy was standing near them, looking on. Rory was in the car, playing with his Nintendo DS or whatever, trying to pretend the rest of us didn't exist. Normal for him.

"About time." Natalie said, spotting us. She had one hand on her hip, giving us that look that she always gave me or the twins when she knew she should be annoyed, but was too amused to tell us off. "Quite a long time just to say your goodbyes." She and Fang's mom both smirked our way.

"I know, aren't they cute?" Jacy called from the car. Megan and Rose grinned. I saw Rory make a gagging face through the window.

"Shut up, Jace." Fang called. He was hanging slightly behind me, not totally comfortable with the attention. I was worried about him. Jacy said she'd look out for him, but I still wished I could be there when he started school. When he started trying to tell his friends.

"You mean the boys have decided to grace us with their presence?" Ken called. "I thought we'd have to spend the night if you guys took any longer."

"I'm sure Fang would be fine with that." Jacy said, grinning our way.

Before Fang could get snippy or fade into the background, I dragged him forward toward the car.

"No need to hang in the background." Nat said, walking over to meet us. "I know we're taking him away from you, but we let you hog him all summer, after all."

"Well, you hogged him for the past two years before..." Fang retaliated.

"Yeah, well you spent your whole life before that being one of the most oblivious people I know, pretending you weren't gay, not realizing how much you liked me, and repressing your personality." I said. "So cut it out." I grinned his way and he just rolled his eyes.

"So, I hate to cut the goodbyes short, but we're going to be driving in the dark as it is." Ken said, walking up to us. "So wrap things up. You'll get to talk on your Bookface or Skip or whatever."

"That's Facebook and Skype, sweetheart." Nat told him.

"Whatever."

I smiled, giving Fang's hand a squeeze as our families bantered back and forth. I was so glad everyone had taken our... Announcement so well. (Well, besides Rory, but he was just miserable to everyone.) My foster parents barely reacted with more than just a, 'Oh, that's nice! I'm happy for you!' kind of attitude. They didn't care who I was into as long as I was happy.

Fang's mom took it about the same way. Actually, when Fang told her he wanted to talk, her first words were, "You're gay, I know." She'd guessed it ages ago so the announcement was no surprise.

Jackie Don, on the other hand, well, I could tell where Fang's obliviousness came from. The news shocked him, causing some awkwardness for a day or two around the house before Fang's mom had a long chat with him one night about it out in the barn. Once the shock wore off, Jackie Don was fine with the situation.

Rose and Meggy took it the best. Meg kept making us pictures with hearts at first, then rainbows when she heard about what they symbolized in this case. The best moment with her was when she told a friend of hers over the phone, 'My brother is brave because he likes boys and isn't afraid to say so.' Though he'd probably deny it now, Fang choked up hearing her say that.

Sooner than I would've liked, I was going around, saying my goodbyes to Fang's family. Jackie Don shook my hand, cheerfully informing me that I was great to have around, that I had been good for his son, but if I broke Fang's heart, he'd drag me down the highway behind his Camero. He was joking. ...I think.

I got hugs from both his mom and Jacy. Meggy gave me yet another picture she'd made, this one with extra glitter. Fang's mom had put it in a large plastic bag to cut down on mess.

Then, it was time for one last goodbye to Fang.

We'd already decided a kiss goodbye in front of our families was a bad idea. Intimacy between us still made Jackie Don a little uncomfortable and I was pretty sure Rory would start making gagging noises. So we settled with a hug. One where I was able to sneek him a subtle kiss on the cheek.

"We'll see each other soon." I told him. "It'll be here before you know it."

"If it's not today, it's not soon enough." He whispered back.

I rolled my eyes. "Don't go all hopeless romantic on me now, baby." I whispered back. "Come on." I said, a bit louder. "You can work on a plan on how to tell the Flock to tell me when we next see each other."

We'd decided that it would only be appropriate for us to come up with some... Creative way to come out to the Flock. So far, our ideas had either not been exciting enough or just not plausible. But we were working on it.

"I'll work on it." Fang said, though he didn't exactly sound enthusiastic.

We finally broke apart. While we had been talking, Ken had put the last of my stuff in the back of the car. I had offered to ship my stuff and fly home, or take a plane home on my own, but Ken and Nat had insisted. They wanted to see me and didn't like the idea of me travelling on my own. For the first time, I looked at everything they'd done for me and everything they were willing to do, and I realized how lucky I was to have them. Not many would take in a kid that wasn't even their own, especially one like me, and take care of that kid the way they've cared for me. I needed to find a way to thank them one of these days.

I turned toward the car just as a thought crossed my mind. "Hold on, I forgot something." I spun on my heels, running off in another direction.

"You forgot something in the barn?!" I heard Jacy call after me, but I didn't answer, intent on this final goodbye.

I slid into the barn, nearly falling into the sawdust, catching the attention of its occupants. One in particular locked his eyes on me, snorting.

There was no fear this time. He and I had long since reached an understanding after the night of the party. I walked up to him, reaching out to stroke his velvety black nose.

"Goodbye, Charon. I'll see you soon, bud." I told the horse. His ears pricked up, listening intently to my voice. "You take care of Fang, alright? Keep him out of trouble. And don't be giving him a hard time, he'll be having enough stress this year."

Maybe I was going crazy, or maybe Fang's horse-whisperer status was rubbing off on me. But I swear, I saw Charon nod.

"He grows on you, doesn't he?" I didn't bother turning around, letting Fang walk up behind me. One hand went to my waist while the other reached up to stroke Charon's nose with me. The horse nickered quietly, enjoying the attention.

"Yeah. He seems intimidating at first, but once you get to know him, he's kind of a softie." I looked over at Fang. "Just like his owner."

Fang smirked. "Don't go telling people things like that. Charon and I have reputations to uphold."

"Your secrets are safe with me." My hand slid off Charon's nose, instead reaching to gently turn Fang's face towards mine for just one more soft kiss.

There was no more sadness in this one. No more goodbyes. This kiss was a promise to him and to myself. I may be leaving for now, but I was coming back. This wasn't an end, but a beginning.

To a brand new life.

A brand new love.

A brand new us.

Me: So, I realize I never once in the fic said which state Iggy was from and gave up trying to pick one. Like, use your imagination. And I had to quickly invent Iggy's family, as I never really said much about them, either.

Let's see... Nat is no way associated with my friend of the same name and... Cool points to anyone who knows where I got the names for the twins from!

So now... How about that ending?

Fang: If it wasn't Iggy... That would've been really sweet.

Me: Coming from you? I'll take that as a compliment.

Fang: Well, how are you feeling?

Me: Good. I'm making time to write other fanfics, plus I feel like this fic's been in progress long enough. I love this fic, I loved writing it, now it's time to say goodbye.

Fang: Well, with that, I guess there's nothing else to do but leave a final...

Me: Let me do it. Thank you, all you readers who stuck with this fic, as long as it dragged on. Thank you for all the awesome reviews I've gotten as well as all of those yet to come. Which reminds me, I must ask...

R&R?