I don't own Maximum Ride.

This is like the 6th book didn't happen.

We had settled down, finally, after bringing down Itex. Currently, Fang and I lived in an apartment a few blocks down from Mom. Nudge had decided to pursue further education and was in the University of Arizona studying fashion. Big surprise. Iggy had gotten a job in a restaurant and was working his way up the company ladder, so to speak. He was sous chef. Gazzy and Angel were living with my mom and attending high school. Ella was also in college, studying to be a vet. I was working as an assistant in my mom's veterinary practice. Fang was a webpage designer. Ok. Enough with the catch-up stuff.

Today was a Tuesday, which meant I had to go work. I was still laying in bed. I glanced over at the clock. 5:48. Why was I awake so early? I didn't have to go in until 12:30. Sighing, I decided to go ahead and get up. I quietly got out of the bed I shared with Fang. (Not like that, you perverts.) He was an incredibly light sleeper, so I tiptoed out of our room and down the hall to the kitchen. Since I would most likely burn the apartment complex down if I tried to cook something, I pulled down a bowl and my favorite cereal, Cheerios.

Carrying my bowl into the living room, I turned on the TV and started channel surfing, waiting for Fang to get up. He usually got up at about 6:30 or so. I flipped channels until I found a rerun of NCIS, one of the only TV shows I watched.

Sometime later, I looked over at the clock on the wall and was surprised that it was already 10:20. Fang still wasn't up. He never sleeps in. I began to get worried as I walked down the hall to our room to check on him. I opened the door quietly to see that he was still in bed asleep. Frowning, I walked over and sat on the edge of the bed.

"Fang," I whispered. He didn't move.

"Fang." A little louder. Still no response.

"Fang," I said this at a normal volume and shook his shoulder. He groaned before tiredly opening one eye and looking at me.

"Max?" Another groan. "What time is it?" He started coughing.

"10:30." I frowned again as I noticed his forehead had a light sheen of sweat.

His eye slowly shut again as brushed his hair out of the way and laid my hand on his forehead.

"Fang, you're burning up." I was worried. We almost never got sick. When we did, though, it was usually really bad.

His eye rolled open again to stare at me. This time I noticed that his eyes were bloodshot.

"I think you're sick." Really, Max.

"Really?" he replied sarcastically, bringing on another round of coughing. It was amazing how much we thought alike sometimes.

"Hang on, I'm going to go call Mom." I got up and walked out the door while Fang just rolled his eyes and turned onto his stomach.

Mom should just be getting to her office, so I picked up the phone and dialed her clinic.

"Hello. This is Martinez Veterinary Hospital. How can I help you?" the assistant droned out.

"Is Dr. Martinez there yet?"

"She just walked in."

"I need to talk to her. This is her daughter, Max Ride." There was the general background noise as the call was transferred to Mom's phone.

"Hello?" Mom asked hesitantly.

"Hey, Mom."

"Max! Hey, hon. Why are you calling?" She knew I wouldn't call her unless I needed her. "Is something wrong."

"Hey. I'm calling because Fang is sick."

"Oh, no. Sick with what?" she asked worriedly.

"He's got a fever, he's tired, his eyes are bloodshot, and he's coughing." I listed off the symptoms I had noticed while I was in the room with him.

"Oh, he probably just has the flu, then." She sounded a little relieved. I relaxed a bit at the change in my mom's tone. Huh, I hadn't even realized I was tense. "He'll be over it within the next three or four days, most likely."

"Ok. Would you mind if I missed work today?"

"No, don't worry about it. Take care of Fang. If I can, I'll try to come by today after work."

"K. Thanks, Mom." With that I hung up the phone and went to the bathroom to grab a couple of rags. I wet them and took them back to our room.

When I walked in, Fang was asleep again. He never slept with a shirt on, so I could see the sweat covering his muscular back. His wings were relaxed and barely extended. His hair fell over one eye, and his mouth was slightly open. When I realized I was staring at him, I quickly shook my head and walked over. I laid one of the rags across his back and slowly trailed it down, carefully wiping away the sweat. He sighed lightly in his sleep, and I smiled, knowing he probably wouldn't let me do this if he was awake. When I was done, I looked up at his face and was surprised to see him watching me. His expression, as always, gave away nothing of what he was feeling.

"Mom says you have the flu." I told him quietly. He just nodded. "You hungry?" I asked.

"Not really. Just tired." He answered sleepily.

"Get some more sleep, then."

"Stay wih me," he whispered, already half asleep. I was kind of tired too, so I climbed into the bed, laid down beside him, and then grabbed his hand. He gave mine a slight squeeze, causing me to smile. Then I fell asleep.

When I woke up later, it was dark. As I slowly returned to reality, I realized that I was in Fang's arms. My head was on his chest and my arm was draped across his waist. His arm was around my shoulders, while his other was around my waist. I looked up at his face, and was surprised to see that he was already awake.

"Hey," I murmured groggily. "Feel any better?"

He smirked and nodded.

Even though I didn't want to move, I sat up and felt his forehead. His fever was nearly gone. As I looked at him more closely, I noticed that his eyes weren't bloodshot and he didn't look tired.

"Wow. It looks like you're over it."

He continued to smirk. "Guess so."

I rolled my eyes and stood up. Before I could walk away from the bed, though, he grabbed my hand. I turned and quirked an eyebrow at him, but he just tugged on my hand and gently pulled me back down. His lips brushed against mine lightly. "Thanks." Then he kissed me fully as his hand went around my waist while mine threaded through his hair.

After we finally had to pull away for that unfortunate necessity, air, I leant my head against his. "You're welcome." I whispered.

I'm really not sure about this one. Please review and tell me what you think.