Hi guys!

As you may have already seen from the summary, this twoshot is an entry for the Fourth Prompt called 'A Parallel Partnership'.

Some things you need to know:

Written by: americanbread (link to her badassery is on my profile, under my favorites!)

This twoshot is an AH, AU story.

Aaand… neither americanbread nor I own Maximum Ride.

Reviews are very much appreciated and we hope you enjoy this story!

Chapter One: The Stranger with a Cellphone

(Fang's POV)

From: Mom

Hi sweetie! Your flight lands at six, right? Anyway, I'll be picking you up at Logan in a few hours. Love you!

It's basically the same format every year. A little greeting, double-checking of flight details, a reminder, and the usual "love you" moms always send. I could already imagine her doing her usual routine after I'd send a confirmation reply: spend the whole day making a nice, all-American meal and then drive to the airport early to secure a good spot, right after reminding my dad to reheat the meal before we arrived.

The message details said it was sent at almost two in the morning, eight hours behind the actual time here in London, which reminded me to change the time zones on my phone. I rubbed my eyes and tried to fight the sudden realization of future jetlag as I checked the rest of my inbox.

From: Andrew Waters

According to Ryan, the report's due by January 5. Do you think you can come back after New Year, or should we do this over the internet? I attached a copy of his notes, just in case you want to draft early.

I mentally shook myself and stared back at the screen, but it stayed the same: another assignment I had to do over the holidays and something else I also had to start on once I got to Boston. And if I wasn't mistaken, Andrew was hinting to me to get a head start for the group. I would've been furious, but these days I'm pretty much all about the hard work.

From: Cambridge Future Leaders Society

Please be reminded that the mock status report is to be submitted on or before the 31st of December, either on hard copy (mailed or handed personally) or soft copy (by e-mail); anyone who submits late or goes below the minimum of 3,000 words will be penalized. If you have trouble writing the report, you can ask one of the senior officers for a copy of the guide…

Yet another deadline I had to meet. College never gave me enough rest anyway, even during weekends or holidays. But hopefully, I'll live through this. I hope my parents have enough coffee, since I might need to be wired during my whole stay.

From: Cambridge Interact Organization

Volunteers for the book drive and teaching project may contact us through our Facebook group, and an e-mail with details will be forwarded. For international students who wish to participate, you are required to arrive before January 2…

As much as I wanted to sign up for that project, I wasn't sure if I could comeback before January 2 or if I had enough time by that date. But then, I hadn't had enough time to join any of their previous projects, and I was willing to bet I would be busy by the time school started again. The chances of me getting kicked out on account of failing to join at least one activity was anything but slim.

From: London Rotary Club - Cambridge Branch

The London Rotary Club is currently looking for volunteers- chairmen, secretariats, or simply organizers- for the upcoming Model United Nations Assembly. A document with all the information is attached to guide you on which committee you wish to volunteer. For those who wish to be a chairman or a member of the secretariat, application forms are also included. Please submit them on or before December 29…

I made a mental note to check my calendar if I still had time for that, and to check if they had the same "eviction" policies with the Cambridge Interact Org. And as an afterthought, I added another reminder to ask myself and search my brain on why I had decided to join more clubs than I wanted to handle.

From: Melanie Williams

Thank you :) So when exactly can you start tutoring me? Do you think we could start once you get back?

This was the only message I was able to give an immediate reply to. I knew Melanie was slipping on a subject or two, but unless I would be able to finish all the current projects on my plate, there was a chance I couldn't start tutoring her before classes were back in session.

I checked out the rest of my messages. They all had pretty much the same topic: work that was needed to be done and anything else that had deadlines. My mom had always joked that I was a busy man, maybe even busier than her or dad. The both of them always asked if I needed to blow off some steam, or maybe if I wanted a little help to get rid of even a tiny bit of stress. A couple of times they even tried to convince me to go to some club and "party hard", just to relax. But I like stress. Or at least I'm used to it.

Once I checked in and got rid of the rest of my luggage, I wandered around and looked for shops in the hopes of finding something I could get for my family, since Heathrow was my last chance at getting something decent without letting my mom know that I was either too busy or too lazy. I found a tiny store that had many stuffed animals on display, and was walking through a narrow aisle when a little kid ran straight for collision with my legs.

"You okay?" I asked as I helped the kid up. He looked about five or six, still with a few gaps in his teeth.

"I'm okay. Sorry mister," he said, and ran the rest of the way to a couple of kids who were playing, probably his siblings. I remembered my own siblings, Angel and "The Gasman" and wished I could waste at least a whole day with them. Even if they were getting even more mature every time I visited, none of us was willing to admit that we were too old to play or do whatever childish stuff we did whenever the three of us had a mini reunion.

Angel, though the youngest, was probably the most mature for her age. She had allegedly "seen and heard a lot", but no one was questioning her on that yet. You could tell that the Gasman was obviously the silly one just by his name, and given the fact that he would rather show than tell people why he garnered that nickname. Both of them were blond and completely angelic and innocent looking, which at first glance makes it hard to believe the three of us are siblings, but would be cleared with further observation.

I made my purchases and then headed out of the store, this time in pursuit of something for my parents. My phone beeped, signaling a message the same time I collided with someone else. Someone who wasn't a little kid.

In what seemed like slow motion I watched a girl about my age land on the floor with a thud as I also suffered my own fall, the stuffed animal I bought breaking it.

"Fantastic," she said as I got up, "Yeah, thanks assho-"

I looked down to see her holding my phone, and I realized that I picked up her passport. I opened it in search of a name, but couldn't help leafing through the rest of the pages. And damn, those were a lot of stamps.

"I'm sorry. Are you hurt… Max?" I asked, helping her up. Her name was actually Maxine, but seeing her boyish style, it was safer to go for Max in order to not further piss her off.

"Yeah, thanks," she replied, and I couldn't help but smile back at her as I handed her back her passport.

I watched her walk away, the walk turning to a jog, and the jog turning to a run. She was obviously late for something, probably her next big adventure. In my head, I could still see all the stamps from all the places she'd visited, the pages far from enough to fill in the escapade that was her life. All the stamps in my passport were usually between the UK and America, as compared to hers where no two were the same.

It really made me think; made me think that maybe it was time I actually kicked back and not care about everything. Not just take a day off, probably more than that. Sure, being with my family was enough to clear my mind of nerve-wracking deadlines and projects, but when was the last time I actually had one whole day to myself?

I could imagine it now. Once I got back home to Boston – heck, I could start while I was waiting for my flight – I could make a list on what I wanted to do and where I wanted to go. A year should do it; after graduating's the perfect time. No, fuck it, I should totally take the year off after this one.

A smile made its way to my face; who knew that I would be capable of actually letting my hair down, albeit I don't really have enough hair to literally let down? Mom might faint at the thought of her dean's-listed son skipping a year to tour a bunch of places where the said son could literally get lost in translation, and it was most likely that dad would call me to the study to have a "man-to-man" talk where he'd try to convince me to change the time slot.

But no.

I would bring out my inner rebel and I've-always-been-a-good-son excuse, and spend the year doing nothing but sending them wish-you-were-here postcards and driving them crazy with my inability to stay fixed in one place. I will do this.

Once I reached the gate, I sat down and took out a pen and a notepad. I planned on spending the next couple of hours getting lost in my own world, listing down a bunch of stupid things I always wanted to do for the sake of being stupid. I planned on writing down all the places I knew, even if they weren't exactly on my top ten list of destinations.

I wanted to get lost and be spontaneous and impulsive and really, really happy and scream at the top of my lungs and not give a damn about something. Wanted to be selfish and live for myself for once. I wanted to do whatever I wanted, something that didn't have to revolve around a deadline, or my grades, or my future. In a way, I just wanted to be free.

Adrenaline coursed through me, like it was forcing me to head to another gate and board any other flight to get started on my adventure immediately. And I was going to start, right after I hung out with my siblings and told my parents that I was planning to go on a very extensive road trip, and that there was no stopping me.

And in that moment as I continued to scrawl out my itinerary, I just knew that next year was going to be awesome.