SUMMARY: Ever wonder what was really going on inside the head of our painstakingly quiet, irresistibly sexy, intriguingly mysterious favorite teenage bird boy? What wheels were really turning in Fang's head when the flock stayed at Anne's? What was he thinking when he realized his best friend had been replaced by a clone? When did his feelings for his best friend begin to change? This is Maximum Ride School's Out Forever from Fang's point of view. Oh boy. It's about to get interesting.

Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride. That honor goes to the almighty JP… Though I wouldn't mind owning Fang for an hour or two ;)

I've never even tried to explain to someone what it's like to soar thousands of feet in the air. It would be pointless. You could never truly understand unless you had done it yourself. And no, I'm not talking about being in an airplane. It's not the same. I'm talking about truly soaring, with only the wings grafted into your back to carry you. Words would never do it justice, but I will say this. If you think you've experienced the best things that life has to offer, if you think you're an adrenaline junkie who has seen it all, you're dead wrong buddy. Nothing, absolutely nothing, could compare to flying. It's one of the only things that makes everything we experienced when we were younger, the utter hell that we went through (which is something else that I could never explain), a tad bit worthwhile.

I looked around at the people that I call my family, even though we share no blood whatsoever ( besides Angel and Gazzy but you already knew that). We were going strong despite hours of flight. It was easy to forget at times like this that Angel was only six, the Gasman only eight. They were just troupers. Then again, what choice did they have? We, bird kids, well let's just say there was never any time to be a kid. We grew up hard, and we grew up quick.

"Oh my gosh!" Gazzy pointed off into the distance, but I didn't bother to follow his line of sight. I knew this drill all too well. "A UFO!"

I glanced over in time to see Max's face take on a look of exaggerated patience. She was trying, but even leaders had their limits.

"That was funny the first fifty times, Gazzy," She said. "It's getting old."

Gazzy laughed, not bothered at all that nobody found the joke funny anymore. He clearly did, and that was all that mattered to him.

Distantly, I could hear conversation between Nudge and Max but I wasn't paying much attention to the words being exchanged. I fell back slightly so that I could examine Max, not in a stalkerish way obviously, more like in a my-best-friend-just-killed-her-possibly-half-broth er-and-I'm-a-little-bit-worried kind of way.

She was holding Total in her arms, but that wasn't what was throwing her flying off. I knew better.

Without thinking, I increased my coasting speed so that I was flying beside her. "You okay?" I asked shortly.

She didn't say anything at first, but I stared with silent persistence. She gave a slight huff, and then, "In what way? Can you be more specific?"

I knew she had a lot of issues, had a lot going on inside that genetically enhanced mind of hers, but I also knew that she knew exactly what I was talking about. I saw no reason to avoid stating the obvious, especially not with her, not with Max. "Killing Ari," I said in a steady voice.

I could practically see her walls come up around her, could see her face do a complete shutdown. To anyone else, she looked completely blank. But me, I knew her way too well. I could see the wheels turning in her head, and I felt a twinge. See, the thing was, I left Max and the flock down in the subway tunnels, under her own orders, yes , and for good reason, yes, but part of me couldn't help feel a tad bit guilty. Maybe if I was there, things wouldn't have gotten so serious. I frowned, thinking back to the beach when Ari had gotten the better of me, when Max had, well I hadn't really done much thinking about that.

"It was you or him," I said finally, seeing the battle waging on inside her head. "I'm glad you picked you." And I was. In fact, I was glad Ari was dead, and I didn't care if that made me a horrible person. Ari's presence put the only people on this messed up planet that meant something to me in danger. Max had done what I couldn't. Max had done what needed to be done, even if she didn't know it yet.

We coasted in silence for a while, and I took the time to think about all the things that had happened to us recently. Like say, getting attacked numerous times by erasers in a city way too big for them to track us so easily, or rescuing the youngest member of our flock from the gates of Hell, or, in my case, getting kissed by my best friend. Admittedly, the kiss was probably heat of the moment. Ari almost killed me, Max was overcome with relief that I was alive, blah, blah, blah. To be honest, I hadn't really thought that much about it, not because it wasn't important, but because it was too bogus, too out of left field for me to even comprehend, and that's saying something. I'll put it this way. My life has been a load of ups and downs, which means that my family is the only thing I have ever regarded as a constant. Max kissing me could throw everything off. Next thing you know, instead of worrying about what the whitecoats have in store for me, I'm worrying about what Max has up her sleeve. It was just… whatever. Out of sight, out of mind.

"Do you want me to take him?" Angel asked Max, nodding her head toward the tiny black dog in her arms. It was Angel's dog, after all. She should have to carry it a little bit.

"No that's okay," Max answered. I glanced at her, watched her face lighten a shade and had only a second to brace myself. "I know. Fang will take him," She chirped, already moving so that she was hovering over me. She lifted Total out of her arms and managed to lower him down into mine. "Here. Have a dog." A smug look creeped over her face, and I kind of wanted to smack it right off.

I gritted my teeth as Total happily licked my cheek, mentally cursing the day I had agreed to let Angel keep him.

We flew in content silence after that, Max leading the way, and I was glad that we could just be, for once, be alive, be together, be safe. It was a nice change, but I wasn't stupid enough to think it could ever last.

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