MPOV

"I'm tired Max," Nudge whined.

Wait for it… I thought to myself. This wasn't the first time that Nudge had complained of being tired since we had left the San Francisco airport, it was the fiftieth. Okay, maybe that's a bit of an exaggeration, but she had been doing this a lot. "But you know, I don't want to rest until we are out of California. I mean, I know that we, or rather, Iggy and Gazzy, blew up the School a couple months ago, but I still don't like the idea of being in the same state as it was in. Don't you know how I f--"

"Nudge!" Iggy turned his face so his blind eyes were directly on Nudge's face, "My ears are bleeding! Shut up!" I could feel that I was about to have to summon my leadership skills and actually say something, which I so far haven't. Very un-Max-like, I know, but whining kids will be whining kids… or something like that.

Beside me, Fang rolled his eyes and turned his head back in time to hear Angel say, "I'm tired too. Can we stop, Max, puh-leese?" he turned back to me and gave me a half smile.

"I guess. There's a park below, we can find a tree and call it a nigh—" I was cut off. "NOOO! MAXX! I don't wanna sleep in another tree; I wanna stay at a hotel!!" Angel cried. She saw my face go hard and turned her cute face to Fang, "Fang…" she gave him the Bambi eyes and asked him if we could stay in a hotel." I saw him hesitate and knew I had just been out-voted.

"I don't see why not," he said slowly and I made a mental note to knock him upside the head. What good was a boyfriend when he couldn't stay strong when a seven year old little girl asked him if he could take them to a hotel? He would never break if he was being tortured by a bunch of mad scientists that were crazy enough to, say, inject human embryos with avian DNA, but Angel made him break. Kind of makes me thankful she wasn't against us.

Fang saw me staring at him in disbelief and shrugged his shoulders, "It's not like Flyboys are even around to hurt us." He stared at me with his black and gold-flecked eyes for so long that I couldn't say no. I sighed dramatically. The Flock took that as a yes. I heard Iggy and Gazzy high-five and Nudge squealed. Angel gave Fang a hug, which he remained impartial to, and then turned to me, "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!!!"

"Don't thank me," I grumbled, "thank Fang. He was the one who said yes, wasn't he."

"Oh my gawd!! Do you think we could go shopping and get swimming suits and we could go to the pool and Angel could use her mind abilities to make sure no one saw our wings and---"

"No." I told her. Gazzy zoomed up and looked at me, "I agree with Nudge. We never do anything fun. We should go get some swimsuits and hang out at the pool. Then Iggy, Nudge, Angel and I would leave you and Fang alone and you two could do whatever you two do." Angel shot him a look that told me she had said something about us dating. I blew out through my nose. Clearly, my Flock was forgetting who the leader was today. But I was hungry and despite the fact that I found this whole think to be so unreasonable and very unsafe, I wanted to make them happy. The past few weeks, ever since we got back from Hawaii actually, have been draining. Lots of m-geek attacks and Gazzy had been shot in the leg. Right now I really wanted to make it up to him. I should've been there to protect him but instead I was worrying about Iggy and Fang, who had gotten pretty darn beaten up themselves.

"Fine."

FPOV

About a half an hour after Max miraculously agreed to taking the Flock shopping, we were standing in the lobby of a huge water park resort on the border of California and Nevada. Max was smiling and doing an amazing job at faking that she was okay with this, but I never missed any of the if-you-leave-me-alone-with-these-guys looks she shot at me. Angel saw them too, but being Angel, she didn't care. Total was at Iggy's side, playing the role of a seeing-eye dog and Angel and Gazzy were talking about how cool this water park was supposed to be.

"Um, hi. We'd like to rent a room for the night," Max said to the college age boy behind the counter, who looked up and checked her out head to toe and everything in between. I decided I didn't like him.

"Don't you have a parent?" he looked hopeful. Max, Angel and I shuttered. Max gave him the death glare that I had earned many times before and he shut right up. "Just give us a room." a little angelic voice came from next to me. "The biggest room you have available." Angel continued. Max looked at her like she had gone insane. The guy behind the counter went to it, and gave us three pass keys to room 702. Apparently, there were only two suites on that floor and they both had four beds and three couches. We'd be living like well, kings in comparison to the way we've lived the past six months.

Max turned and gave me one of the keys and Iggy the other. Nudge, Gazzy and Angel wanted to know why they didn't get a swipe key. "Because I said so." Was the only answer Max gave them.

NPOV

Oh. My. Wings. The shopping mall in this town was like, huge. I could spend hours in here and never be tired. There was so many of the most amazing shops. American Eagle, Aeropostle, Abercrombie and Finch, Hollister, Lord and Taylor, and Victoria Secret! (A/N: I still don't like that store. I have some things from there, but I still find it awkward being in there.) Max said that she wouldn't go into Victoria Secret with me, that I didn't have any need for it. I still could've helped her find something for herself, but no. There was a store dedicated totally to swimming suits of all kinds called Life is the Bubblez. Which was the only store Max would go into in the whole mall! How could she be a girl and not like the mall!!

The swimsuit store was huge on the inside with half the store dedicated to bikinis and one-pieces, the other half had boys swim trunks and Speedos. Then there were things like water hats (Angel said they were called caps) and water glasses (which Gazzy said were called goggles). The guys went with Fang to look for their stuff, we went with Max, who looked like she was about to explode.

Angel and I were so happy, shopping is so much fun. Angel found a pink and purple tank-kini (A/N: is that how it's spelt? For anyone who doesn't know, this is a bikini but the top is more like a tank-top than a bikini top.) within a matter of seconds and gave Max a pleading look. She sighed and took the tank-kini from her. Max's hand went for a black one piece, but I took it from her, "Max, you're hot! You should wear a bikini!!"

"Hell no." she scoffed. Angel and I frowned. "Max…" Angel said in her mind-control voice. Max shot her a glare that she usually avoids giving Angel and Gazzy, but caved.

She refused to look for a bikini, though, so I found one for her. After ten minutes of so many cute bikini's that I could describe (but Max told me that it would annoy you), I chose a brown bikini. The top was just plain brown, but the bottom had blue belt around it. Angel smiled at me, Fang's going to gawk at her if she wears that.

It took me twelve more minutes to find myself a bikini. It was pink with purple and white poka dots. Fang, Gazzy and Iggy had came and given Max their stuff about six minutes into me looking for her bikini, then they went back to the room.

Now we were checking out and Max grabbed us all a cover up. I swear if she wore it the whole time I would be so mad. Angel would have to compel her.

MPOV

"I can't believe you guys are making me wear this." I sounded so close to whining that I was in shock. Angel, Gazzy, Fang and Iggy had already went downstairs, while I was stuck up here with Nudge who spent ten minutes describing how cool the bathtub was in this suite. The freaking bathtub.

She immerged from the bedroom she would be sharing with Angel and beamed at me. "Because you're hot!!" she told me. I slipped on the cover-up.

"I look like such a…" okay, so I didn't know what I looked like. But Nudge did. "A girl? Max, you are a girl." I rolled my eyes. "Let's go."

We took the elevator down to the pool. Have I ever told you how much I hate confined spaces? Well, after spending the first ten years of life in a cage, you would too. So you can imagine how jumpy I was by the time those doors opened at the bottom. I practically flew out of the elevator and into the pool area.

Fang looked over and didn't laugh at me, like I had been so sure he would. He waved me over as Nudge ran over to join Angel and Gazzy as they went down the hill. Iggy heard me coming and slipped into the water, leaving me alone with a topless Fang. Okay, he wasn't a swimsuit model, but he did have six pack and he was so good looking.

Forget I said that.

I felt an overwhelming desire to take off my cover up, which I automatically decided was Angel. But as much as I tried, I couldn't fight it. Fang didn't seem effected as I sat down next to him, thank God.

I couldn't help but notice the scar on his side from where Ari had almost killed him. I reached out and touched it. "I don't even remember it's there anymore." He says to me. I gave him a sympathetic look, "I remember. I should've realized you were hurt before then. And he was my brother. I should've protected you from him.

"You worry too much. You don't have to be my mom, Max. I just want you to be Max. My best friend, the only one I trust as much as myself, my girlfriend." I smiled and leaned against him.

"I try. But sometimes girlfriend Max get's very protective of you." Okay, did I really just say that? Oh, God.

Under my head I felt Fang stiffen. "What's wrong?" I said, feeling myself stiffen as well. He nodded at a lifeguard that was talking to Nudge.

Not possible. I thought to myself as Fang and I both stood up slowly. He turned and gave me a sick smile and a wave before he gestured Nudge out of the diving well. I felt red hot adrenaline pump into my veins.

Nothing is impossible Max. the Voice told me. I could've sworn it sounded annoyed.

I'd know that face anywhere. Even without the scar over the right eye.