Thank you guys times ten for the awesome reviews on the last chapter :)

So yeah, I feel weird cause this is the last chapter. Like seriously weird. I won't be able to spend time brainstorming for this anymore. . .until January. By the way I dunno when in January I'm gonna post the sequel so like expect the worst cause I'm a major procrastinator. . . knowing me, I'll hold off until like January 31. -_- But I'll try not to do that. Oh and most likely it's gonna be called From Where You Are. As in, the Lifehouse song? Never heard it? Yes? No? Okay. I was just listening to it the other day and thought of the sequel and I just suddenly said out loud 'yep, that's what I'm gonna call it' and it was just so random. But yes, that's gonna be the title. It's in no way a songfic though. It's just an idea that popped into my head.

I'm listening to We Found Love right now :D Which means that like I'm in a really upbeat mood. Like so optimistic. HELLYEAH.

Oh my God guys I auditioned for a flute solo the other day and we find out who gets it on Monday. I'm so scared that I'll get it and squeak onstage, and so scared I won't get it and I'll be bitterly disappointed.

I mustache you a question, but I'll shave it for later.

Oh and make sure to read the bottom AN if you're interested in the sequel.

A few questions for you to ponder:
When they first invented the clock, how did they know what time to set it to?
What do you call a male ladybug?
If you take an Oriental person and spin him around several times, does that make him disoriented?
Why doesn't glue stick to the inside of the bottle?
If you choke a Smurf, what color does it turn?

Disclaimer: I don't Maximum Ride.

"Max? What're you thankful for?"

I looked up from my plate and tried to force myself to chew slower. What? I'm a gymnast. Do you know how many calories I need to have to keep up with how much I burn? "I'm thankful for anything that's yummy and warm and chocolate." I smirked and slowly took a sip of root beer.

My mom glared at me. "Anything else?"

I easily caught the 'say something deep and emotional' gist of her words. I just didn't really want to. "Uh, I'm thankful for friends and family and not being homeless," I said cheerfully. My mom sighed. I know I totally could've phrased that better, but hey, that's me.

"Nudge?"

"Well, I'm thankful for Marc Jacobs, because I really like his new line of shoes. And I'm thankful for rainbow sprinkles because they taste good and make your ice cream look good. And I'm really thankful for all this food cause it's so yummy and some people don't have food. And I'm really thankful that the whole tacky glitter is fading out, but it's supposed to be big for winter." She looked disgusted. "And I'm thankful for Guess wallets, and cashmere scarves and hats. And the new funding that's being donated to the arts and sports departments so we can get better tumbling mats that aren't all ripped up for when we have to practice inside for winter cheerleading. And-"

"That's good, Nudge, thanks," Kate said smoothly. "Ella?"

Ella looked up. "I'm thankful that my hair is finally longer. And for food and a big house and moving here and finding so many new friends." She looked back down again, under the table, and my guess was that she was texting.

"Are you thankful for your cell phone, too?" I prompted.

Ella crinkled her slim eyebrows at me. "Uh, sure. Why?"

"Because you've been texting under the table for like the past half hour and you didn't mention it. So I was just wondering." Her eyes widened in the way that told me she was about to deny it, so I went on. "Oh, don't try to lie. You're so bad at hiding it. I've been texting during class forever so I can text without looking. But you, you're so obvious about it."

"Ella Martinez!" Mom looked shocked. "You will hand over your cell phone this instant!" She looked supremely embarassed.

"Don't worry." Kate patted Mom's hand. "Nudge does the same thing. I wouldn't be surprised if they were texting each other from across the table." She raised her eyebrows at her daughter, and Nudge looked alarmed.

"I'm not texting!" Nudge exclaimed, holding her hands up. "My phone is over there!" She pointed to the Coach wristlet on the counter. Her phone was on top of it.

"Okay, okay, calm down, love," Kate chuckled. Nudge was instantly calmer. She soaked her turkey in gravy and quickly dug in.

Kate laughed and turned to Fang. "What're you thankful for?"

"Food. A house. Family. Education. Friends." There was a slight emphasis on the last word as he stared straight at me. I gave him a soft smile and looked down before out mothers could start pestering us with a million questions. I could just see it know; 'What was that little look about?' 'Fang, why is your body tilted toward Max's at a seventy-two point nine angle?' I could see them doing that.

Then Mom and Kate started chatting it up about all that adult crap, while Fang's dad remained calmly quiet, eating at a measured pace and looking content and happy. Not like the lonely loser at the party, like the guy that's sitting alone because he wants some time to himself to think.

And then there was Nudge and Ella, chattering endlessly to each other. I picked out the words 'cheap,' 'glitter,' 'Sephora,' and 'mall' an awful lot. That's never a good sign. They were planning some kind of mall date, I was sure of it.

Fang and I just murmured to each other through the whole meal. Just passing thoughts, plans to see each other after he moved, times we'd call each other in between classes, that kind of thing.

And then I heard the moving truck pull up outside.

Freaking fantastic.

That truck was huge. The worker guys got right to work after Kate went across the street to let them in. Fang's dad stayed with them, mostly, as they transfered their furniture and boxes into the truck. I sat on the couch that was positioned in front of the bay window, my chin resting on my folded hands. I felt like one of those dogs that have the constantly folded up and depressed-looking faces.

I felt someone sit down on the couch and then someone's hands were combing lightly through my hair. I'd smoothed it out really nice before, and for once it wasn't all tangled. Fang's hands lightly patted my hair back into place against the back of my neck and I huffed out a big breath.

"I'm already depressed," I mumbled. Gosh, can we say negativity? I swear, I didn't used to be this negative over stuff like this.

"Don't be," Fang said. His voice was surprisingly gentle. I still didn't look up. I was staring sullenly at the beefy moving guys and were pushing rolling carts loaded with boxes into the truck.

"Too late," I mumbled halfheartedly, aimlessly twirling my hair around my index finger.

He was quiet for a second. "I keep wishing I could think of some way to force my mom to let me stay. To say 'Okay, that's great, you found a new house, but I want to stay here.' And I'm just coming up blank. There's no way in hell my mom's gonna leave and move like an hour away without me."

My interest sparked a little. "How far?" I asked. My voice still sounded kinda bland and lifeless.

"An hour, more or less." He gathered my hair up and swept it over my shoulder. It tickled, but I didn't feel like laughing. I twisted around again and watched as the movers shouted to one another and waved clipboards with stacks of paper clipped onto them.

"That's far," I said. My response was somewhat delayed.

"Yeah. We'll see each other. I swear to it, Max."

I barely nodded. "I know."

I heard him sigh. "Don't be like that, okay? Please stop being all depressed and doomy-gloomy."

"What's the point?" I mumbled. I'm optimistic, I know.

I heard a tiny silence and glanced up at him. He was just looking at me and I felt the intense need to hide my face, but resisted. "For me?" he said, like he was testing the words. I groaned and sat up straight. He totally knew that was the one thing I wouldn't be able to say no to. I threaded my fingers through his and stood.

"Dessert?" he asked.

My smile returned with a vengeance. "Oh, yeah. Dessert."

"Don't do it!" I shrieked at the top of my lungs. "I'm gonna puke on you!"

My mom had invited the rest of our friends over after dessert, with their parents. So now, of course, our patio was packed with half-drunk parents giggling and eating Tostitos while us kids ran around the lawn hollering at the top of our lungs.

Fang had me under the arms, and Iggy was holding my feet. They were swinging me back and forth like I was a bag of flour, and were about to test my ability to land perfectly on the tumbling mat that was set up on the lawn. My parents used to do the same thing to me when I was like, four. Everyone else stood to the side, laughing and letting them do it. I was really starting to feel queasy.

"Count of three?" Iggy asked with a grin.

"Sure," Fang agreed.

"Wait!" I yelled shrilly. I glanced up at Fang. "Don't do it." Then I remembered what he'd used against me earlier. "For me?"

Fang groaned, defeated, and told Iggy to let my feet go. Once he did, I planted my feet on the ground, and with Fang's help, stood myself upright.

"You're a demon," Fang said.

"Thanks."

"Now what?" Nudge asked gloomily, sitting down on the mat.

"Max should give us an after-dinner show," Gazzy suggested, sitting around the edge of the mat. "You know, acrobat stuff."

My eyes widened. "No."

"Please!" Everyone yelled at slightly different times.

"No," I repeated.

Carolyn and Nudge busted out the Bambi eyes, while Fang yelled, "For me?" like a million times. Gazzy and Iggy just kept yelling please over and over again, and J.J. and Tess were both giving me a thumbs-up. I groaned.

"Why?" I yelled at the top of my lungs.

Carolyn shrugged. "It's fun."

"I'm wearing jeans," I pointed out.

"Just do something," Nudge pouted.

I finally just shook my head. "No. I'm tired." I moved to the side of the mat and sat down on Fang's lap. He was surprised for a second, and then his arms slowly came up around my waist. No one said anything about it. They didn't even have to ask. It was pretty obvious Fang and I had made it semi-official. If by official you mean we didn't cringe away from contact in front of other people and finally acknowledged each other as 'boyfriend' and 'girlfriend' in our heads, then yeah, it was official.

I love how everything in my life falls into place just in time for it to fall apart. Ironic, isn't it?

Hi. Really sorry for all the scene changes, but I'm kinda jumpy and.. frantic right know and it's coming through in my writing. Last scene change. Promise.

Remeber, read the bottom AN if you're interested in the sequel. Not kidding. READREADREADREADREAD. Seriously, don't miss out on it.

I sat cross-legged on the floor in front of the door. The big red door was open, but I was staring through the screen door, at the house across the street. My fingers were wrapped around a mug of hot chocolate as if it would kill me to let go.

The moving van had cleared away from the front of the house really late last night. According to Fang's mom, they were going to park the truck in front of their new house and go home for the night. They'd stay in a hotel until morning, then go and help the movers unpack the truck and settle down in their new home.

I'd cried countless times after Fang left last night. Before he'd left, when we were alone in the kitchen, he'd kissed me for a really long time. It made me feel really warm and nice inside, but really freaking crappy once his mom started hollering for him that it was time to go. He hadn't let go of me, instead grabbing hold of my hand and dragging me into the foyer with him, where everyone was exchanging tearful good-byes and promises to call each other and stay in touch.

When his mom had gathered her things and and gotten her jacket on, Fang had given me such a tight hug that I found it difficult to breathe. I had held on to him for as long as I could before his mom gently reminded him it was time to go. Then we both reluctantly pulled away and kissed my forehead before leaving with his family.

My hands wandered up to my collarbone, where the necklace Fang had given me rested in the hollow of my throat. I fingered it gently. It was the best reminder of Fang, ever. It was the perfect gift. The best thing he could've possibly given me.

The heavens seemed to decide they were sad at the same time I did, because the sky opened up and poured rain all over everything just as the first tear slipped down my cheek.

Life's cruel.

Oh my God, that's the end of my first story. It feels so weird. Being story-less. Holy crap. I'm gonna have to post my next story ASAP for fear of falling into a pointless abyss. If I spelled that right.

So yeah you guys are all so amazing for reviewing every chapter :) I've never been a really good person with endings, so I'm not gonna go into overdramatic speeches here. I'm just saying, it's really awesome how much you guys supported me and encouraged me. So, THANK YOU :)

*FOR PEOPLE INTERESTED IN THE SEQUEL* Alright, so I decided that when I write the sequel, I'd be willing to PM anyone that's interested and let them know I posted it. So honestly, if you want me to PM you when the sequel's up, I WILL do it, regardless of how long it takes. But YOU MUST TELL ME. Tell me in a review or a PM if you want to. It's not gonna be anything big, just a 'hey, heads up, the sequel is posted.'

And I've finally decided on a title for the sequel and rewritten the first two chapters already (I mentioned this in the top AN). It'll be called From Where You Are. I kinda stole that from Lifehouse; that's the title of one of their songs and I was just humming it the other day and went with it as the title. So, yeah. If you wanna listen to the song you can. But please know that it is NOT a songfic in anyway. :)

Well, goodbye til January!

-A pretty dang depressed dancerxforlifex3