Summary: Nudge wants to know what it's like to kiss, so of course somebody has to step forward and teach her that all-important sensation. On the other hand, Max never knew a turn of events could ever awaken such a troubled side of how Iggy sees Max and Fang. (Nuggy, slight Miggy? Mentions of Fax.)

This is set somewhere in the middle of Maximum Ride: School's Out Forever, when the flock are staying with Anne. (:

This is just written because I have to go back to school tomorrow and I don't wanna ;w; Sighhh. I envy you, flock, for not needing to go to school.

"Max?" Max turned around to see Nudge, messing with her hair. She was sucking on a lollipop.

"Yes, Nudge?" she asked. Then, as an afterthought, "Here, let me do that." She picked up the comb Nudge was dragging through her tangled hair and Nudge stood obediently as Max destroyed a knot at the ends of her hair.

"Well, Max… What's kissing like?" Max's face flushed. Why was Nudge asking something like this?

"Um… Nudge, why do you…?"

"Well, I saw you and that boy on the porch when you went on a date and ever since I've just been curious." She frowned. "Don't forget I'm only eleven, Max. I haven't exactly tried out any of these things yet."

Max mentally kicked herself for allowing Sam to get anywhere near her face, and then handed the comb back to Nudge. "Um… I suppose it's… complicated…" She tried to make sure the tone of her voice said it wasn't that she didn't trust Nudge with the truth… just didn't have a very good explanation for it.

"Complicated like what?"

"Um… uh…"

"Complicated like when a chick latches onto your mouth it feels like firecrackers are exploding inside you." Max turned around, beet-red. Iggy was stood in the doorway, running his fingers through his already haywire hair.

"H-How do you know?" Max asked, heart thumping. She wasn't ready to have these kind of talks with the Flock. They were growing up too fast for her to cope with!

"I kissed a girl. Once." He brushed past them and took out a frying pan. Anne had had to take a private phone call so nobody had cooked the eggs yet. As the best cook out of the Flock, he felt it was his duty to get some grub down them before they all passed out from hunger.

"What? When?" Max couldn't help but ask. She felt horrified; how had he snuck that one past her?

"That's a little personal, isn't it?" he remarked, cracking two eggs into the pan. "I mean, I don't remember ever asking you how your kiss with Fang felt." Max blushed.

"I-I was just asking," she stammered, "you know, cause I didn't think while we're practically running for our lives you'd have enough time to suck a girl's face."

"Hmm, so you're curious, huh?" He smirked. "Well, you know, it was that one time when we stopped at the gas station?"

She frowned as she recalled the time they'd stopped to pee at the gas station and Gazzy had thrown up on his shoes. It was a good thing that the gas station store sold those foamy beach shoes otherwise they'd have been up the creek.

"So while I was carrying Gazzy's puke shoes at arm's length you were making out with some chick from the gas station?"

He paused, then nodded.

"Yeah, something like that."

"I can't believe this," Max groaned, slapping her forehead. "Why didn't you say anything?"

"Because unlike you, who seems 100% against the thought of two people getting so close in contact, I really didn't see it as such a big deal." He turned to Nudge. "So, Nudge, what did you want to know about kissing?"

"Just what it's like. I've never kissed anybody, see."

"Ahh. So you're reaching that age, huh," Iggy mused, stroking his chin. "Happens to every child, I guess. Max hasn't realised this yet?" He shot Max a look, although he wasn't sure whether he was staring in the precise direction.

How exactly does a blind Iggy expect to stare me down? Max wondered, eyes narrowing.

"Of course I realised," she said stubbornly, turning around and taking some plates out of the cupboard, "I just didn't realise that you'd be the one to tell Nudge how to kiss." He shrugged.

"Well, at least I lay it out how it is."

"I just want to know how it feels," Nudge sighed, putting her lollipop in the bin half-heartedly. "I just want to kiss somebody, that's all."

"You just want to kiss somebody," Iggy repeated.

"Yeah! Doesn't matter who they are, and it doesn't matter why we kiss. I just want to be able to swagger up to Fang and say, 'Hey, guess what? I've had my first kiss!'"

"So it wouldn't matter who it was?"

"Nope." She sighed. "Argh, I wish I could just get it over with already!" She blinked suddenly as somebody covered her eyes with their hands. "Wah-?"

She was cut off as somebody's lips pressed up against hers. Beside her, Nudge could hear Max take a sharp breath. This was… well, might she say, it was spectacular. Exactly as Iggy had described it; like firecrackers tingling all through her body.

Then, as soon as it started, it ended. The fingers ebbed away and she opened her eyes, feeling her face grow hot. Who had…?

Her eyes widened as Iggy smoothed down her hair and turned around again, returning to the eggs in the frying pan.

"Happy now?" She stared. Had Iggy really just done that?

"Aw, come on!" Max groaned. Nudge whipped round to face her. She was pink in the face and glaring at the ceiling, silently freaking out. "Am I dreaming? Did that really just happen?"

"I… don't know." Nudge stared at her hands for a moment, then turned back to Iggy. He said nothing, but she could tell from how red his ears had gotten that he was embarrassed by the whole ordeal.

Feeling bad, she walked up to him and hugged his waist. Iggy wasn't exactly a "huggy" kind of person so he stood stupidly, silently contemplating whether he should question this random act of affection.

"…Thanks Iggy," Nudge beamed. "Now I know what kissing's like. Sorry I made you feel embarrassed."

She skipped off to fix her hair and he stood stiffly, face even redder than before. Max grinned at him.

"Wow, Iggy. You're quite the Ladies' Man, aren't you?"

"Piss off," he mumbled, "or I won't feed you."

"Does this mean you like Nudge?"

"Is it any of your business?" he snapped, mildly irritated. "If you don't mind, I'd like to drop the subject. I've never asked to be a part of you and Fang's private life."

Max was taken aback; she didn't realise how strongly Iggy felt about her and Fang.

"There… There isn't a private life between me and Fang," Max said at last, stunned. "I promise…"

"Yeah, but that's not the truth, is it, Max?" Iggy growled, clenching his fists. "You and Fang, the leading duo. You've never included me in your little plans of "where the flock is going next", have you? It's you and Fang, all the time! He's your right-hand man, and you've never given me a second thought! Just because I'm blind…!"

"Iggy." Max's tone tightened. "I'm sorry that you can't see. And I'm sorry if you feel left out sometimes. But that doesn't mean that me and Fang are doing anything else besides taking care of you and the flock. So don't say that!"

Iggy held her gaze, waiting to hear her crack under the pressure. When she didn't, several long seconds passed before he turned back to the eggs.

"…Eggs are done," he muttered after a while.

"Ig." Max's elbow brushed against his and his chest tightened. He wasn't very comfortable with physical contact with Max, especially when he was mad at her. It was one of the few things he was extremely reluctant about. "You didn't answer my question from before."

Oh. That.

"What question?" he mumbled distractedly, putting eggs onto a plate.

"You and Nudge?" He stopped, cheeks colouring. His face twisted, and then he painfully gave a small nod.

"…Maybe."

"Max, Iggy!" Nudge rushed into the room, hair in a side ponytail. "I've done my hair like this today! How does it look, huh?"

"Cute," Max commented, giving her a thumbs up. Iggy shrugged.

"Forgot I can't see?" he replied sourly, pushing past her. He stopped and turned back to her, mouthing three special words before leaving the room. Three special words that dawned on her with a new emotion she never thought she'd feel.

Max stared after him in bewilderment and put her arms around Nudge, pulling her close. Nudge felt tears spring to her eyes and blinked them back, trembling as she stared at Iggy's empty plate.

You look beautiful.

I could totally imagine this happening. After all, at the age of eleven, kids begin to wonder about these kind of things… How naïve kids are to love and stuff really triggered the idea of this fic… (poor Iggy…)

In answer to questions that will probably be asked: 1) I don't know why the others didn't show up in this fic. Maybe they all went flying or something. And don't even get me started on why Nudge was awake before, say, Gazzy or Fang. 2) No, Iggy did NOT just suddenly gain his vision again. The whole "You look beautiful" line was just to poke at the fact that Iggy very awkwardly admitted to Max he may have a thing for Nudge, and it was more of him silently thinking something like "if I could see, I bet you'd look beautiful" or "even if I can't see you, you're still beautiful to me"... or something. Idk.

Sorry if I didn't quite capture the esscence of the characters or whatever... this is my first Maximum Ride fanfic and I've never really written for characters like them before. Dang it, I sooo hope I nailed Iggy (as he is my favourite character, tee hee).

Review, dang it! Review!