Disclaimer: Books are JP's. Not mine. Nada. Zip. Zero. Zilch.

This is just another one of my tissue-worthy oneshots. Enjoy! (And review if you will)

Max POV

It was raining. Except, you see, here in freaking Massa-two-shits; when it rains… it pours. Which was exactly what it was doing now. We'd managed to collect enough woods and twigs to get a fire going in the cave (courtesy of Iggy) and yet it was still freezing.

I sighed, rolling my neck. The fire was beginning to die down some. Since I finally got Fang to shut his oh-so-lovely trap about first watch, it was my job to get it going again. I kicked at it some, tossed a few more branches onto it, and watched it flare up once again. Total shifted slightly closer to the flame.

I moved back o the edge of the cave and sat back down, legs crossed, hands holding my head up. I hadn't realized that I was slowly moving closer to the edge of the cliff face until I was fully soaked, my hair dripping into my face, and my feet were dangling over the edge.

Thunder cackled somewhere in the far distance, and I ignored the crack of lightning that whipped around me.

"Max?" I quiet, curious voice asked. I must have jumped a mile. How is it that thunder seems to be so little to me, but I hear Fang's voice and my heart does a little tap dance? "Max, what're you doing?"

I turned slowly, taking my time. Fang was still underneath the shelter of the cave, his eyes dark and worried. "My watch," I replied simply. I didn't know what was wrong with me. I didn't know why I was acting so weird. "Go back to sleep," I added, trying to convince him I was alright.

I turned back to the storm and my head dropped. I looked down the sheer face of the cliff and felt my heart jump again. The sharp, jagged rocks suddenly seemed very friendly. The lightning and the thunder seemed to be hugging me.

I was doing this all wrong. I couldn't take it anymore.

Very slowly, I felt myself lean forward. I was just losing balance when I felt hands clasping each of my shoulders, yanking me harshly backwards. "What the hell are you thinking Max?" Fang's voice was like a whip, laced with venom.

"I can't do it anymore Fang," I whispered, righting myself as though he hadn't seen me just consider suicide. "I'm… I've been doing this all wrong. I… I can't be a leader."

Maximum! Start thing rationally—before you do something rash!

I ignored Jeb just this once and turned to Fang, tears welling in my eyes. "What do you mean?" Fang asked, holding my arms tighter, as though he could keep me cemented here forever.

…the hell? I didn't even know what I was talking about. I sighed leaning into Fang, as the both of us continued to get even more soaked.

"Max, don't do this," he muttered, hugging me fiercely. Whoa! Fang: hugging?! "Please, I'm begging you. Don't do this to me."

To him? …in the hell? "Fang…" I began.

"No," he whisper-yelled. "Listen to me." Okay. Like I really have a choice here, smart-one. Uh-oh. Was I getting Iggy's sarcasm? "You've been leader of this Flock for years. You've held us through rough times, you laughed with us when right and… and we need you. I need you." I was about to say something, but he laid his cool finger over my freezing lips. "I wasn't even able to lead three of us for a week. It was a good thing you sent me that email… or else who knows where we'd be right now?" Dead. "You've been able to lead us for at least eleven years, dare I say more. So don't give up. Not now.

Not when we need you most. Not when I need you most."

I swallowed and the tears just came pouring out. It was a good thing my face was already drenched, but Fang could, of course, hear the sobs.

"Don't give up on me Max. Please, don't give up now. Not when you've gone so far and still have so far to go."

I couldn't talk. I couldn't breathe. The only thing that I could fully acknowledge was Fang

Fang.

Fang.

"I…I love you, Fang," I whimpered.

What happened? Where did I go wrong? How had I gotten so far deep that I screwed up this much? Enough to go as far as suicide? "I'm so sorry. I… wasn't thinking straight."

And when had Fang become so… parenting?

"Shh…shh… It's okay now Max. Let's put it behind us. No blood, no foul. You're alive, we're alive…. And we're fine. We're safe. And you didn't fail us."

So he didn't. I knew it all along, I guess. I shouldn't have just blurted it out like that.

"And I love you."

His lips were pressed against mine, and I felt a strange flash of tingling déjà vu before kissing him back. My lips were moving in a foreign way, and my tongue tasted foreign tastes—but I loved every minute of it.

Fang and I kissed with the strength of thirst-deprived lovers. I didn't want to let go of him, I didn't want to leave him…I needed him.

When oxygen soon became a necessity, we pulled away. Through the pouring rain, flashes of lightning and flickering light of the fire, I could see he faint flush on Fang's cheeks.

"C'mon Max. Let's get under the cave. Or we're definitely gonna catch pneumonia or something."

Fang helped me up into a standing position. He smiled at me and I must have tripped, because all of a sudden, I was falling, falling, falling…

Backward, forwards, upside down—into the bottom of the cliff.

"NO!" I heard Fang roar. "MAX!"

My wings! I… I couldn't unfurl them! I'd been sitting in the rain too long! They were too…heavy!

I love you, I whispered to Fang in my mind. I shut my eyes, waiting for the back breaking, bone shattering pain. For the horror, the hurt, the tears… but none of it came. Only the steady pound of rain and thunder and…. Warmth? I opened my eyes to see…Fang? Oh, damn. I must have dies already. Because I was in heaven. But…

"Max? OhmiGod. Max don't you ever do that to me again!? I… I can't lose you!" Fang's eyes were practically flaming. He brought me back to the face of the cliff and the whole Flock was standing there, confused, hurt, scared. They saw me, put two and two together and suddenly almost everyone was crying.

"I…I slipped, you guys," I tried explaining to them over and over again. I was crushed between pairs of arms, entangled between lags and couldn't move. Fang stood off to the side, arms crossed, looking sadly down at the ground. I managed to get out of the tangled web of people and walked over to him.

"Fang?" I whispered gently. He looked up to me and I saw now why he wouldn't look at the rest of them.

His eyes were rimmed with red, tears threatening to spill. Horror and dread washed over me. I couldn't stand it. What had I been thinking? Leaving them? "Oh, Fang…" I murmured, biting my lower lip. "Oh… Ohmigosh… I'm so—" I didn't get to finish my sentence, though. Fang had yanked me into a bone-crushing hug, his face buried deep in my neck. I felt warmth trickling down my neck and realized that the dam had broke.

Little by little, as they realized what had happened, the Flock pulled together for one large hug around us.

I knew that tomorrow morning would be totally awkward, but as the day would wear on, things would go back to normal. But… for now—we were closer, tighter somehow. And it wasn't just for the fact that I was standing in the middle of five other people. But from now on, we'd be a bit different, more together.

Only—because….

I slipped.

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