*Author's Note: I don't own Maximum Ride or anything related to it.*
Fang's POV
Max is lucky. I know that sounds like I'm being full of myself but hear me out. Angel told me all along how jealous Max gets of other girls. She told me about what was going on when we were in Virginia and with that girl, Lissa. She also told me about how Max was feeling whenever I was around Brigid.I hated upsetting her, but that wasn't my intention. The part that makes Max lucky in all this is not that she has a strong, handsome, and sought after boyfriend, or whatever term she used to classify our relationship. That's not the part that makes her lucky. What makes her lucky is that we have left Lissa and Brigid behind us, in the past. Her competition is miles and miles away, and if I'm lucky I'll never have to speak to either of them again. What makes me the unlucky one in all this? I feel like my competition stays with us.
The Flock was huddled in a dirty concrete cell. It was better than the dog crates that we normally stayed in, but worse because we knew that the white coats would come take us, one by one to do their experiments. They had already taken Iggy. I wasn't sure how long he had been gone but it had to have been a few hours, at least it felt that way. Sure enough, we heard footsteps coming down the hall and a small light shine in when the door opened. The guard opened the cell, throwing Iggy in and pulling Nudge out. Something wasn't right with Iggy, I could tell. "Ig, are you okay? Talk to me." Max pled. "Max. Where are you? I can't see anything. Whatever they did to me…I'm blind." He replied, choking up. I saw the horror in her eyes as she looked at me, but took Iggy in her arms to comfort him. She would have done it for any of us, but she was doing it for him.
We were back in the house in Colorado. I remembered waking up to the smell of scrambled eggs, sausage and toast. I had slept in for once, so as I made it down the stairs I heard the rest of the Flock scraping their plates. I poured myself a cup of juice. "Here you go, bro." Iggy said, handing me a plate. "Thanks." I replied. He turned to the sink and started doing dishes. Max took her plate up. "Thanks, Ig. You're the best." She smiled, though it was lost on him. Her hand slipped around his waist as she stood beside him. His arm draped over her shoulders, getting soap on her shirt. "No prob." He answered. There was no chemistry there, no reason for suspicion. It was just like family. Still, I wanted that to be me, with her arm around my waist.
It was one of our rare days off. We hadn't seen Erasers for a couple of days now, so we decided to do something fun. The younger kids wanted to go to the zoo. We entered the petting zoo, all of the younger kids excited to see animals freakier than us, or at least smellier. "Ig, I wish you could see the alpaca. He's so cute!" Nudge crooned, petting its furry head. "He may be cute but he smells like shit." I heard Iggy whisper quietly to Max. She chuckled a little. "Come on." She said, walking up to the gate. She picked up his hand placing it on the animals head, helping him pet it. "Kinda cool. He still smells like you though." Iggy smiled. She punched his shoulder, making pay for what he said, but a smile still crossed her face.
I remembered the time on we slept in the subway tunnels. I had just gotten the crap beaten out of me by Ari and Max had kissed me. I was still in pain so I was having some trouble sleeping, fading in and out of consciousness. "What happened today? Did I really hear what I thought I heard?" Iggy asked Max quietly. Knowing her she would try and take watch all night, though it was probably Iggy's turn. "I don't know what you're talking about." She said coolly. I opened my eyes to see her inhale deeply. I was wondering if Iggy would fall for it. "Max, even Nudge went silent for about five minutes and I swear I could have heard a slight sucking noise." Iggy smiled. I saw Max pick up a small rock and aim it at his head. Iggy rolled over to avoid it. How he knew it was coming, I had no idea. I heard him chuckle slightly. "Do you love him?" Iggy asked, referring to me. Despite the fact that I was supposed to be sleeping, my eyes shot open. I had to know. "Of course I do, Iggy." My heart leapt in my chest as I heard her say it. "I love all of you guys." She continued. I closed my eyes, disappointed and hoped to go back to sleep soon. "You know, if he broke your heart I would have to kill him." Iggy told her quietly. "I'm sending you a death glare, Ig." She replied. "I know it's Fang. He wouldn't do that. Sometimes you need someone to stand up for you too, though." Iggy told her. "Iggy, go back to sleep." She told him, irritation in her voice. "Max and Fang, sitting in a tree…" Iggy sang quietly, taking on his normal sense of humor resuming. I don't know what happened after that because I fell asleep but Iggy had a large bruise on his arm the next day.
I remembered the time that Iggy smashed the store window, frustrated over finding his parents. The cops were coming, we could hear the sirens. Max had instructed me to get the younger ones away, in case they didn't make it out in time. I swore to myself, if she got taken away from us, from me, over his stupidity I would have to hurt him, even if he was like family to me. She was the most important thing in my world. I couldn't lose her, especially not because of him. I complied with her orders, just like always and ushered the kids back home. I agonized over it though, for hours. It took some time, even after she got back to ask her what had happened. I was still upset and I needed to regain composure. Luckily, they had made it back without incident. I couldn't help but wonder though, if she would do the same thing for me as she had for him.
I know there's nothing to it. I know if I asked Iggy he would say that she's a sister to him and act like he was grossed out. And if Max ever heard me say any of these things, she would probably beat me senseless. Still, I noticed those kinds of things. It was the little things, the comforting things that for some reason, my mind chose to twist and distort into worry and fear. Fear that I would lose her. I heard her stirring besides me. "What are you doing? Come back to bed. I miss you." She said sleepily. "Okay. I'll be right there." I replied. Her head hit the pillow and she slept, just as easily as she had woken. I looked at the words that I had typed on the screen, recounting all these events that nagged at me when I was in my emo, love sick birdie mood like I was tonight. I highlighted the text and hit delete. I put the laptop back on the night stand next to me and cuddled next to Max in the bed we shared together. Maybe my competition could be a thing of the past too.
*This was my first one shot guys, let me know what you think! *