Chapter 1

Max

There were no words to describe how tired I was. Gazzy could come in and rip the world's largest gas bomb and I still wouldn't get up to leave the room, none the less the entire country. I was physically attached to this bed. Part of it, I assumed, was due to my constant downward spiraling depression that I blamed on that one stupid boy who ripped out my heart and left me here to die!

GOD! I couldn't believe that I was still hung up over Fang! I mean, it had been almost a year and I still hadn't heard a word from him since we last met in San Fran. To make it worse, he totally forgot my birthday while I was sitting at home all day fidgeting over what to do for his, which just happened to be the same day. A sixteenth birthday is supposed to be special, or so Ella keeps telling me. Even though she's over a month belated, she still wants to throw me a party. I told her that I would rather cut off my right wing than go to a party, but she just won't listen.

Anyway, after months of waiting, I finally came to the heart-breaking conclusion that Fang was never going to come back. He didn't want me anymore, at least not as much as he wanted that new girl in his own so called "flock". Who did she think she was? I'd known Fang way longer than that little boyfriend-snatcher has! I guess I shouldn't call Fang my boyfriend anymore; that would be a hard habit to break. The letter he sent me after Total's wedding pretty much summed that up. As far as I knew, the next time I would see Fang was twenty years from now. He might as well have said never.

The morning after the wedding - the morning I realized that Fang was gone for good this time - I seriously thought about overdosing on the pain meds my mom sent me, hoping that I would slip into a painless existence. I needed something, anything, to numb the unbearable pain from the gaping hole in chest, but the pills, much to my disappointment, were too big to swallow in masses. I tried cutting myself a few times after that, tried to counter pain with more pain, but it just made things worse since the smell of blood makes me go crazy. It reminds me of Ari. But I kept doing it even though I hated it; at least made me feel something besides heartache. My cutting ended when Nudge found my small collection of sharp edges and threw them into the canyon. Ever since then, she's been locking me in my room for what she says is for my 'own good'. I've only been out a few times since then, but I don't really care. I prefer my bed. I prefer my solitude.

I know that Nudge will come in any minute to tell me to eat something. She's been like clockwork, keeping me on a strict schedule of eating, sleeping, and drinking. She's been so strict that my body has already been re-programing itself to wake up about ten minutes before she comes in. That gives me time to mentally prepare for whatever overly concerned speech she has prepared. I just let her words fly over my head as I constantly stare at the wall in front of me. As long as I don't make eye contact, she'll leave after her speech. It is so tedious and routinely, sympathetically sickening that it makes me want to commit suicide for real. No one understands that I just want to be left alone, everyone except Angel that is.

Angel. Even her name gives me chills now. Ever since she snapped at that party and shot Jeb, I have been cautiously anticipating her next mental break. I feel like I hardly know her anymore. Ever since Fang left, she's been creepily nice to me though, always giving me space and sneaking me treats and taking my side on things. It's such a contrast from the dark side she brought out and I can't reconcile the two. Honestly, I don't know if I can trust anything she does anymore. For all I know, she could be poisoning me.

On the opposite side of that spectrum, there's Dylan who refuses to leave my side at all whenever Nudge lets me out. I swear the two of them act as if I am going to fall apart at any moment, (which I might, but I would never tell anyone that). All they do all day is debate over what I should do, eat, wear, and go as if they were parents debating over a two year old. Once, I tried to escape my room to take a quick fly around the desert, but as I opened the front door, Dylan tackled me and pinned me to the ground. He said that I wasn't allowed to leave until I got "better", whatever "better" means.

If Fang were here, he wouldn't let them get away with this. If Fang were here, he would bust through the door and rescue me. He'd sweep me up into his arms and fly away with me without a single word. We would go someplace far away where we could be together without worrying who was out to kill us. In my mind we would live happily ever after. In my mind...

Dylan

It was almost one o'clock. It was almost time to check on Max.

I was pacing back and forth across the kitchen floor as I waited for Nudge to return from the store. The only reason I didn't go and check on Max myself is that Nudge changed the doorknob to only open to her touch. That means that unless she opened the door, no one was going in and no one was getting out.

The whole doorknob thing changed after Nudge caught Max cutting herself. From what I was allowed to hear, it was pretty horrific. After that, we gave Max the only windowless room, removed all the furniture, and Nudge switched the knobs so Max couldn't leave again.

I really don't know why she would go as far as to hurt herself over this guy. I mean, he broke her heart and she hasn't even seen him in over a year! I was only with Fang for a few days and he didn't seem that great during the time I knew him. What did he have that I didn't? What did she see in him that I lack? From what I knew of him all he did was brood and hide out in the shadows; hardly the type of person suited for someone as strong a leader as Max.

She's only confused, I tell myself when she shuns my advances and offers to help. He was her first real love and he hurt her. Now, hopefully, after all that Nudge and I were doing for her, Max would finally let the past go and embrace her future with me. After all, I was designed to be her perfect fit, her other half, not Fang.

I looked at the clock. Three minutes to go.

I heard a rustling noise in the distance. It was steadily coming closer and closer until it was right on top of the house. I turned around and saw Nudge opening and then closing the front door. She had a few bags in her hands so I grabbed some and put them on the counter. I helped her empty the bags and we spent the next ten minutes filing away boxes of cereal, warm water bottles, and fashion magazines. By then, we were seven minutes late checking on Max and I was getting twitchy. Nudge could tell. She put down her last bag of chips and pointed at the door.

"You know, your entire life doesn't have to revolve around Max's screwed up one."

"I know, but I feel like this is somehow my fault," I say, running a hand through my hair. "I feel like I drove her and Fang apart, and now because of that break up she's the way she is."

"Hey, it's not your fault that Max decided to cut her arms up. It's hers."

"I know..." I repeated even though I didn't really believe the words.

"If it were anyone else, I would just let them screw their lives up, but I can't do that to Max. She practically raised me!" Nudge said, laughing at the end.

"I wish I'd had what you guys have. We weren't really raised in the lab, but at least you guys had your own little family to make the process easier."

"Yeah..." she trailed off, lost in thought. "I'm really grateful for what we have. I don't think I would've made it without Max and the flock."

There was a long period of silence as we stood around and I was getting uncomfortable. I couldn't help myself from staring at the clock every two seconds. It was now fifteen minutes past schedule and it was nearly killing me not to ask Nudge about Max. I was going to go crazy.

"Dylan?"

"Yeah?"

"I think it's time we let Max go."

"What?" I said completely off guard. That was the last thing I expected to hear from Nudge.

"I mean, we've been babying her and locking her up for weeks now and it isn't helping. If anything, it's encouraging her to stay in bed all day and be depressed. If she wants to get over this, she's going to have to do it on her own and through her own means. Shutting her up in that room is not the solution."

I really didn't know how to respond. A week ago, Nudge was all for playing prisoner and now she had completely turned the tables on me. "What changed your mind?"

"I don't know really. I was just thinking about it on the fly back and it just hit me that Max wasn't going to get any better like this! She hates being confined! What she needs is fresh air, a good fly or walk around a busy town, and possibly a Flyboy attack to snap her back into reality."

"Yeah, that does sound a lot more like Max." I thought long and hard about this, "Maybe you're right..."

The more I thought about it, the more Nudge's plan made sense. Fighting Flyboys and navigating crowded places did sound more like a Max thing. If anything, it would let her get some fresh air in her lungs and help her sharpen her people skills by dodging all the sketchy city slickers. This could really work.

"Okay," I agreed, "Let's go get Max."

Nudge beamed and skipped off towards Max's new room with me following shortly behind. As she got to the door, she placed her hand on the knob and closed her eyes to concentrate. A second later, the knob clicked and she twisted it.

As the door opened, we laid our eyes across a familiar sight: Max curled up in a fetal position on her bed. She let the black blankets cover her entire body so all we could see was the top of her greasy blonde hair since she refused to get up and shower. She had her back turned to us and refused to turn around to acknowledge our presence.

Nudge turned on the lights, giving the drab, grey room some color and life. Max groaned and shifted her weight around until she was curled up even tighter. Nudge was unphased by this and proceeded to sit on the foot of the bed.

"Hey Max." she said sweetly, "Time to get up!"

"Ugh..." Max groaned.

"Come on Max! We have a surprise for you!"

Max squirmed around a little until she finally decided to face us and I was shocked at what I saw. She did not look good at all. Her eyes were red and puffy and her hair was a disaster. Her skin looked sallow and yellow from the lack of sun and I could swear she was even thinner than the last time we were here.

"What?" she managed to get out.

"Come on!" Nudge encouraged, "Get up!"

Max did as told but very slowly. She reluctantly sat up and took as long as she could to get on her feet. When she was finally upright, Nudge grabbed her arm and dragged her out the room.

"Whoa!" Max yelled as she stumbled into the hallway.

"Sorry!" Nudge said.

"What are you trying to do? Kill me?" Max asked in a bitter tone.

"No, I am trying to do the exact opposite."

"Huh?" Max scratched her head in confusion.

"We, Dylan and I, have decided to let you go." Nudge explained, "We don't think that locking you up is in your best interest anymore."

"Really?" Max replied sarcastically, "When did you notice this? When my hair started falling out or when my bones became so weak you could snap them with a single touch?"

"Oh, come on Max! Stop being so dramatic!"

"Whatever..."

"Hey, go take a shower!" Nudge said, "Then we can show you your real surprise!"

"Oh...great..." Max grunted as she slouched down the hall to the bathroom. When she shut the door I turned my attention to Nudge. She looked massively relieved.

"Well," she sighed, "I think that went well!"

"Yeah, as well as it could anyway. At least she actually got in the shower."

"Haha! Yeah..."

"I wonder what she'll say to our plans?"

"She'll probably moan and groan and complain until we get her there and then she'll either love it or hate it." Nudge said, "Either way, it'll get her out of the house."

"Yeah, that's all that matters..." even though I said that, I was panicking on the inside. I feared for Max's mental wellbeing.

"Dylan," Nudge said, "It'll be okay. Trust me, it'll be good for her to get out."

"I know, it's just...hard." I admitted.

"I know."

Our conversation was cut short when Max opened the bathroom door. Thick steam poured out from the room clouding the floor in a sticky white fog. Max, however, was sparkling clean. Her hair had a healthy shine to it and her skin seemed to react well to the hot water, turning it a pinkish color. She looked a hundred times better than she did ten minutes ago. Unfortunately, she caught us both looking a glared at us, hugging herself tight.

"What are you guys looking at?"

"Uhhh...nothing..." I stammered.

"It's just that you look like a whole new person! Showers really do work miracles!" Nudge exclaimed.

"Oh haha..." Max snapped.

"Stop being such a downer and get dressed so we can show you your surprise!"

Max rolled her eyes and headed towards her real room, slamming the door behind her.

"Wow." I stated bluntly.

"Yeah." Nudge agreed, wide-eyed.

We stayed in a state of complete shock until Max reemerged from the room dressed in a basic white tee and blue jeans. Again, she glared at our staring.

"Why do you guys keep staring?" Max shouted.

"It's just...we just haven't seen you look like yourself in a long time." Nudge gasped.

"Yeah..." It was all I could manage to say.

"Well whatever..." Max pouted, "So what's this 'surprise'?"

"Oh! Right!" Nudge jumped, "Follow me!"

Nudge grabbed Max's arm and pulled her into the kitchen. Bright sunshine filled the entire room and Max had to shield her eyes.

"Shut the curtains!" Max demanded.

"Embrace the light Max!" Nudge shouted, "Can't you feel all the nutrients absorbing into your skin? Giving you energy?"

"Uhhhuhhh..." Max lied, "Hey, where is everyone?"

I looked around and noticed for the first time that no one else was here. Gazzy wasn't making bombs with Iggy and Angel wasn't prancing about bossing people around.

"I don't know..." I said, "Honestly, I didn't even notice."

"Well, I think Gazzy and Iggy were exploring the far range and Angel said she had an appointment to take care of, whatever that means." Nudge explained.

"With Angel, I never know anymore." Max sighed.

Nudge looked down at her feet, nervously playing with her shoelaces. I looked away and pretended not to hear her. Max didn't like being ignored though. She coughed obnoxiously loud and pretended to clear her throat. Nudge suddenly looked up looking just as happy and upbeat as she did a few seconds ago.

"Okay!" she said loudly, "Let's go!"

"Wait, what about my surprise?" Max asked.

"This is your surprise!" and with that, she grabbed Max's arm and pulled her out the window, spreading open her wings and taking flight. Max was struggling to keep hold of her arms. I followed closely behind.

"Where are you taking me?" Max demanded, "Where are we going!"

"I can't tell you Max! That's part of the surprise!"

Max was still yelling about how much Nudge was going to regret taking her out and that she would never forgive her. Nudge however, wasn't paying much attention to it and neither was I. In fact, I was smiling. This exercise was working so far, bringing back the old, loud Max we all knew and loved, and that was all that mattered to me.