To Learn to Fly


In a young girl's mind, it's the most amazing feeling to be held and kissed by the one she loves. Well, I can tell you right off the bat, that those girls are crazy. And maybe I'm a little bitter because she has him and I don't. But damnit, I had him first!

And while he's out with her on their movie-and-ice-cream-dates or whatever it is that they do, I'm home with the rest of the family. His family.

"Max, are you okay?" Angel asked, her baby blue eyes and bouncy curls giving her the illusion that she was still the six year old Angel I remembered from ten years ago.

Angel was sixteen and had really grown up, despite still having her stuffed angel bear, Celeste, to keep her company in the night.

"I'm fine, Ang. Don't worry about it," I lied, not well, might I add.

"Convincing," Angel laughed, lifting herself up onto the kitchen counter, shoveling a spoonful of Nutella into her mouth.

A smile broke out on my lips as I leaned up against the counter opposite from her, drinking down a Solo cup about half-filled with beer.

"He'll be home soon. You can yell at him then."

Did I not mention that Angel could read minds? Or that our entire family had wings? Probably should've done that, huh? Oh, well, I did now, so.

"Alright, alright, get to bed, Kiddo. Tell the rest I said same goes for them. I'll try not to be too loud when I kill Fang," I winked, taking the spoon and jar of Nutella from Angel and placing them on the counter next to me.

Angel sighed but didn't protest, hopping off the counter and giving me a quick peck on the cheek before trotting down the hall into her bedroom.

After about another hour and a half of sitting on the living room sofa with my feet kicked up on the edge, staring up at the ceiling, I finally heard the 'adorable' goodbyes coming from outside the front door.

I pulled my feet down and sat up, crossing my legs like the lady I wasn't and waited. He was definitely in for a kick to the jewels if all went as I planned.

The front door opened and I could faintly see Fang's 'girlfriend', Ana, retreating back to her car, her long, wavy brown hair whisked up into a ponytail that I couldn't pull off in a million years.

"You're up late," Fang observed, dropping his pack of cigarettes that Ana had no doubt bought him on the coffee table in front of me, grabbing my refilled Solo cup and taking a long sip, his Adam's apple bobbing as he drank.

"You're out late," I shot back, ripping my cup back and downing the rest of it, crunching the cup in my fist and tossing it into the kitchen to be thrown away later.

"Yeah. I really like her, Max. Ana is... She's a lot like you."

And that's when I snapped raising my hand, scarred from many years on the run, and slapped him as hard as I could across his face.

"How dare you," I growled through gritted teeth, standing up so I was of equal—or somewhat equal height—with him.

Fang's hand cupped his cheek and his face contorted angrily.

"What the hell was that about?" Fang asked as if he still hadn't quite registered exactly what happened.

"Don't you ever compare me to her. I'm not anything like your prissy little, can't-take-a-hit girlfriend," I reached down and grabbed his cigarettes and lighter from the coffee table and shoved them at his chest. "Smoke up, Fangy. It's only gonna kill ya."

Fang held my glare as he pulled a cancer stick out of his carton and stuck it into his mouth, lighting up before blowing the smoke into my face in rings.

"Oh, didn't anybody tell you, Max? Jealousy is an ugly shade of green," Fang mumbled, his cigarette breath making me gag.

"You're disgusting."

"And yet you won't get over me."

And that is when my fist collided with his nose, the crunch it made echoing through the room.

Fang was taken aback slightly, but given our slightly buffed-up bird-kidness, he wasn't that phased by it.

"Now, now, Max you're a grown woman—maybe you'd look like it if you listened to Nudge with some of her clothing suggestions—and you should probably be a better role model for the kids. If you hadn't caught it, that means you probably shouldn't be trying to break the bones of another Flock member."

"Don't you dare tell me how I should and shouldn't act. You're not around enough to dictate what I do. You're always out with your precious Ana. I can't even begin to tell you how often I get asked, 'When's Fang gonna be home?' or 'Is Fang coming home tonight?' or 'Doesn't Fang care about anybody but himself and Ana?'. Frankly, I'm getting tired of saving your ass on a daily basis."

Fang's eyes darted around the room, looking anywhere but my face.

"Then don't," Fang grumbled, taking another long drag of his cigarette.

I didn't reply, I just shoved past him and walked into the kitchen, picking up my crumpled up Solo and tossing it in the trash before cleaning up Angel's Nutella spoon.

"Max, what happened? We used to be best friends. We used to sit and talk for hours in your room while the rest of the Flock was asleep. What happened to that?"

"Ana happened."


"Max! Maaaax! Wake up!" Nudge squealed, bouncing on my bed on her knees like some kind of dog.

I groaned and rolled onto my stomach, burying my face in my pillow.

"What?" I snapped, opening one eye, looking at her big, chocolate brown doe eyes.

"Angel wants to know how it went with Fang last night. She knew I could wake you up a lot easier than she could because, well, let's face it, I have a tendency to talk and talk and talk and talk. That and she saw that Fang was sleeping in his room with crusted blood beneath his nose and none of us heard any kind of fight so—" and that's when my hand clapped over her mouth, shutting her the heck up.

"Well, you can tell Angel that unfortunately, I'm now awake and she can come in and ask me herself," I grumbled, sitting up and running my fingers through my hair as I always did when I first woke up.

About five minutes later, Angel showed up in my bedroom with Fang in tow.

"Angel," I said sternly, looking only at her and not at the man with a crooked nose.

Angel gave a weak, nervous laugh before coming over to my bedside and sitting in front of me.

"See, I know you're mad, Max, but I figured since clearly you and Fang need to talk, I thought I could save you the trouble and just bring him here and let you two talk it out. And maybe even an apology or two!" Angel shrieked, adding the apology part at the end.

Yeah, right. Fang would get an apology from me when pigs flew.

Angel was quick to scurry out of my room and slam the door behind her, pushing a chair up under the knob on the outside, effectively locking Fang and I in my room... Yay!

Fang and I stayed silent for what felt like hours, but was actually about six and a half minutes, before he spoke up.

"What do you have against Ana?"

"What do I have against her?" I asked, exaggerating it as much as possible, emphasizing the hurt I was feeling. "Well, let's see. She's taken you from us, Fang. You don't care what happens to any of us anymore, but if Ana were even in the slightest bit of danger, you'd be there to swoop in—figuratively and literally—to save her. You called me jealous last night, and you know what? I am jealous. But not for my sake. For the others'. You'll always be a part of the Flock, but to be quite frank, as of late, you don't deserve your wings."

Fang looked genuinely hurt when I said that, but honestly, I didn't care anymore. He used to be my partner in crime, and now he's a stranger that only sometimes lives in my house.

"Do you know why I'm so protective over Ana?" Fang asked, a rhetorical question. "Because I know the Flock can handle themselves. Especially when led by you, Max. Ana's 100% human and wasn't grafted with genetics that could save her life, you were. I know you guys feel neglected, but I'm just trying to keep her safe. And on top of that, she told me she loves me. I—"

"So did I! I told you I loved you years ago, and you know what? I still do! No matter how much I try to stop, or convince myself that you're only going to continue hurting me, I can't! I'm stuck in this never-ending state of loving someone who does not, and will not love me back! And it kills me, Fang. It just kills me."


Soo, I know it's been almost a year since I've posted ANYTHING, and I'm so so sorry about that. I really am. School got the best of me, and I shouldn't use that as an excuse, but it really is what happened.

I hope you enjoyed this, though, for right now.

Also, should this stay a one-shot, or should it continue? I don't know. Feedback, please!

xoxo,

K.J