DISCLAIMER: I, sadly, do NOT own Maximum Ride...but I have read the series 65 times. *you stare at her* *her eyes narrow* Shut up.

I woke to the smell of eggs. Mm...Iggy's cooking...I thought as I pulled off the covers and plopped onto the floor by surprise.

"Ugh..." I moaned. I pulled my self up.

I, Maximum Ride, was 18, along with Iggy and Fang (my boyfriend, you could say). Nudge was 15, Gazzy 12, and Angel, my baby, was 10. We were flying mutant bird kids, not on the run.

I walked through the hallway, then down the stairs. Halfway down, I saw the light from the breakfast room shining on the stairway from many yards away. As I walked in, Gazzy ran by me and I toppled over. "Sorry!" He said, "I just am starving, that's all."

I crossed my arms. "I bet."

I sat down, picking my eggs with a fork. I looked around the room. Nudge, Gazzy, Iggy, and Angel were sitting in their usual spots- but where was Fang?

I dropped my fork. It clattered onto my plate and caused some of the eggs to splat on Nudge's face. "Sorry," I said as she picked the eggs out of her hair. "I just realized Fang wasn't here. I'll go get him." I stood up and the metal chair skid along the tile.

I went up to Fang's room, the second-to-last-door. Mine was the last. I think my mom set it up that way. She LOVES us as a couple. Too bad isn't here to see us! (Note the sarcasm.)

Well, his door was black, the door knob a dark platinum color. I touched the knob. Cold, very cold. Nobody has tried to wake him up yet. I turned it, and pushed the door open with small CREEAAKKK. I stepped in, expecting him to be there, holding the handle, like all those awkward positions we always seem to be in, but he wasn't there. I browsed the immense room, searching for movement, but saw he wasn't there, at all, not on his bed, laying on his side, where he should be-slash-usually is. Nothing, the room was empty.

I pressed my ear against his bathroom door. Not a sound came out, only a trickle of a leaking faucet. I opened the door anyways. The sink was surrounded by his toothbrush, floss, and all those other grooming necessities. The shower curtain was drawn, Fang wasn't here.

I sneezed. What if he left, this wouldn't be the first time, I thought, but thinking that he would leave me was so repulsive I immediately shook the thought of it out of my mind.

I walk out of the bathroom. I looked once more around his room, then turned to the door. Before I left I saw on his black pillow a white piece of paper. I quickly snatched it up and opened it.

I sat down onto the bed as my eyes skimmed the page.

Max, (I bet you went looking for me, you always do) I'm leaving. Your heart is free. I don't want to leave, but I was given no choice. I have to. Please, understand. It pains me, to leave the flock, to leave you. Let the others know. I don't care if you hate me now. I need time alone. Don't follow.

I love you,

-Fang

"No," I whispered. "My heart isn't free, it's not even mine." I break into sobs and crumple the paper. The last thing I say isn't audible for even me to hear, a thought. It's yours. It's never free.

I wail, and I heard the pound of 4 pairs of feet running up the stairs.

"Max!" Angel called. "Max!"

Gazzy says something about checking Fang's room, where I am on the floor, writhing in, not pain, but an overwhelming sadness.

"Max!" he says with happiness. But then he sees my expression, and calls the remaining flock in.

The next minutes were a blur. Iggy and Nudge pulled me up off the floor, questioning why I was crying. I simply showed them the slip of paper, and they understood. Iggy, didn't see it, but it was white. He couldn't read it, but Nudge whispered the lines in his ears, skipping the love stuff. He nodded and sighed, stretching out.

Angel, who was sitting on the floor, grasped my leg and hugged it. 'It's okay, he loved you enough to leave you. Ya know, to save you?'

Thanks, Angel. I growled.

'Honestly.'

I re-read the letter. The heart-being-free-thingy was really bugging me. My heart isn't free, I think again, It's his.

But does HE know that? The Voice finally said something in 4 or 3 years.

But I didn't answer because I wasn't there. I was now a member of the living dead.