Okay so this is the first chapter of a new story I've written. I have the next few chapters written, but I want to know what you guys think first. This is my first Maximum Ride fic, and it's obviously AU. They're human, FOR NOW. Tell me what you think. If I get some positive feedback, I'll update again, with the rest of what I've written. Please, enjoy.

Fallen

Max

"Nick!" I whisper-shout at a dark window. "Niiiiccccckkkkkkk! Come out and play!" I say mockingly in a sing-song voice. Hmm. Most of the time he comes out by now. Nick has been my best friend since I moved to Carona Del Mar, California in the third grade. Now we're sixteen, and he's still the only one that I really open up to. We usually go to the cove right around now, but tonight he isn't answering like the ass he is. "Nick! Don't you dare make me come up there!" I whisper, a warning in my voice. Still no response. "Ugh. You frustrate me." I whisper as a last resort. I wait a good five seconds before sighing and walking over to the side of the house.

At age ten, we had both wanted ways to get in and out of our houses through our rooms. So we had both made pathways from our windows, his from the side of his house and mine from the porch and roof. I back away from the wall, take a deep breath, and run up the wall two steps, catching hold of the elevated concrete ledge jutting out from the wall. I then jump up, grabbing the small amount of tread that goes around the building. It's more for decoration than anything, but it has always served Nick and me well. I start moving around to his window, still dangling from a two inch lip ten feet above the ground. When I get to his window ledge, I hoist myself up and then proceed to knock on his window. He still doesn't answer, but I'm definitely not going to just sit out here the whole night, so I gently try opening his window. It slides with ease, and I let myself in.

I turn to Nick's bed. On normal nights he would be laying diagonally, one arm draped off the bed over his head, mumbling in his sleep while snoring lightly. (I know that kinds stalker-ish, but we both knew each other as well if not better than we knew ourselves. I'm sure he would be able to tell you how I sleep too.) Tonight though, the bed is deserted. The covers are thrown messily over the bed, and the pillows are just tossed on top. I walk over and feel the sheets. They're still warm.

Just then, Nick walks into the room. He's only half dressed with black slim-straight jeans. His icy blue eyes show amusement under the canopy of brown-almost-black hair. Then the familiar smirk comes to his lips and he says, "Jeez Max. I know you're eager to sleep with me, but come on. Sneaking into my room at 2 AM? Isn't that a little below you?"

I roll my eyes but smile, deciding to play along. "I just can't stay away from you! My shining knight, please take me now!" I keep my voice light and playful, and he smiles one of his rare light-up-the-room-better-than-the-sun smiles. I have to admit, my best friend is hot. His tan skin shows clear muscle definition even in the half light the outside street lamp gives us. And his hair is just long enough to make it look feathery without making him look girly. His teeth are as white as any teenager's teeth can be, and you could just melt into his bright eyes.

I'm snapped out of my embarrassing thoughts when he tackles me, knocking both of us onto the bed. He has me pinned down, and I can't move. "Well, if you insist." I look him straight in the eye, and stick my tongue out at him like a five year old. He's hovering just above me, propped up on his elbows. Then, he starts to move his face closer and closer to me. When he gets too close, I put my hands up to stop him. I try to ignore how it feels to be touching his abs like this. We're just friends after all. Sigh. Just friends. Oh well.

I shoot him a playful but warning look and joke, "I meant take me to the beach you pervert. We're supposed to meet James and Ian in like 15 minutes." He laughs and just like that he's gone. I hold back a sigh and stay there, lying on the bed. When I stand, Nick has pulled on a dark grey v-neck and a black and blue hoodie. "Come on, we're not gonna have any time to surf." I say as I start to grab his keys. My ride can't take two surfboards.

"Can we not today? I was hoping we could go to the cove." It's a surprise, but I don't mind. Surfing takes so much energy. I shrug and text James and Ian not to bring their boards.

"So we can take my ride. I finally got it back from my mom yesterday." At this, his eyes light up a little. He loves my ride. We go out the way I came in, and are around the far corner in a couple of minutes. My family definitely isn't rich; I saved my money since I was six to buy the beauty. I had always been obsessed by bikes, so it was no surprise to my mother when I got my motorcycle license. My dark blue BMW motorcycle is sitting in front of the house. A helmet is resting on the seat, and I hand it to Nick. Then I quickly run up to my room (by climbing up the porch rail and onto the roof) and grab the helmet that my mom doesn't know about. If she knew I took Nick with me I would never see my baby again.

When I get back, Nick is checking his phone. I stare at him from the window for a bit. Sighing, I slowly climb out again, careful not to make and noise. Nick looks up when I walk behind him, and then slips his phone back into his pocket. I cock my eyebrows questioningly, but don't say anything. Throwing one leg over the bike, I shove my helmet on. Nick gets on behind me, his shade already flipped down. I rev the engine once, and then we're flying. It's one of the best feelings you can have, to ride a motorcycle. My brown hair starts flying around, one of the blonde strands wriggling in my peripheral vision. I ignore it and get onto the highway. We're at the beach in five minutes, and Nick's smiling again when he gets off. I take the keys with me and slip them into the pocket of my signature leather jacket.

Soon enough, Ian pulls up in his old Camaro; James comes five minutes late in his 2007 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon. We all walk over to the cove, laughing and shoving each other playfully. The four of us comprise a band called Fallen. I came up with the name myself. We're pretty much all best friends, though James is closer to Ian and I'm closer to Nick. Our band actually isn't that bad; we play local gigs almost every week. Ian slams on the drums, James pounds out the bass, Nick's on guitar, and I sing. We're pretty well known around the town, though for different reasons. We're all sixteen and go to CDMHS. And the beach visits happen almost every night.

We sit on the cliff that separates the cove from the normal beach. It's tall enough that you can't see the cove, but short enough that if we fall we won't get too badly injured. James brought Nick's acoustic guitar, which he had borrowed the week before. He hands it over and Nick immediately starts strumming. It's a song that he and I wrote last year. I sing along, not even thinking about it. Ian starts drumming on his leg and James nods his head with the beat. We continue with that until my voice is hoarse and Ian is asleep. I laugh and say that we should probably call it quits. They nod, James waking Ian. After we make sure they get out of the parking lot okay, Nick and I jump down to the actual cove.

The cove isn't secret. In fact, a lot of people go to our cove everyday. But at the hour we go, no one's ever there. So it's our cove. When we first started coming here, Nick took a piece of charcoal and scratched Max and Nick Forever as a joke high up on one of the rocks. It's still there, only now there are little hearts drawn around it from when other people have seen it and thought it was cute. I still laugh every time I see it. The cove is pretty much flooded, but we're able to hop across on some tall rocks to the little wooden stand a little ways out. Then we sit for a while, just staring up at the moon.

Finally, Nick speaks up: "So…I have some news." I look up at him questioningly, but don't say anything. Only really good or really bad news needs an introduction. He takes his time with the next sentence, but finally gets it out. "I have to go on a trip with my dad." I laugh. I was worried at first, but a trip? That's no big deal. Trips are two way. As if reading my mind, he shakes his head slowly, sadly saying, "I don't know if I'll come back, but my dad says that it's not likely." This cuts my laughter short. If? He has to come back. He can't leave. He's my best friend.

It takes me a while to get the word out. "When?"

"Two weeks. I'm allowed to finish the school year." I shake my head. Two weeks? No freaking way.

"Why? Why are you leaving?" I'm starting to get mad. He says he has to go, but life is always a choice.

"I-I just have to okay?" He's sad, and I can tell he doesn't want me to ask why again. Because he's holding something back. And that's not okay. It means something is seriously wrong. We never hold things back.

This only makes me more frustrated, and I almost yell, "Why?"

"Max, don't push this. I just want to go. Maybe I don't want to hang around with you all the freaking time. Maybe I'm tired of you." That also, is not okay. We're best friends. We always hang out. And it's not like I ever stop him from hanging out with the guys; he's just never wanted to. He sees the hurt in my eyes, and looks away. He stops talking, and I realize that he's not going to say anything else. I stand abruptly, willing my tears to go away.

"Where'd this come from anyways? We were having such a great night. Why'd you have to ruin it?" My Nick wouldn't hurt me like this. He wasn't five minutes ago. Then I realize: this isn't Nick anymore. He doesn't respond, and I start to walk away. I get all the way to the other side of the cove before I hear, "Max wait! You're being stupid! We can-" I cut him off sharply.

"I am not stupid. You do not have the right to call me Max. And we are not friends anymore. Go on your trip. Leave. Just don't speak to me. Goodbye Nathaniel." I used his full name as I turned away, knowing that would hurt him more than anything I could ever do to him physically. When I get to the rock that says Nick and Max Forever, I get mad. I pull my sleeve over my hand and rub the charcoal away. Nick and Max ends today.

I get on my bike and speed away, throwing the other helmet in the dirt. He won't have a ride anymore, but I don't care. As far as I'm concerned, Nathaniel Bowers doesn't exist.

When I get home, I quickly scamper up to my room, shutting the door quietly so as not to wake my parents. I then go over to my window, lock it for good measure, and lay down on my bed, crying. He's leaving, and I can't do anything about it.

Nick

Dear Max,

I'm so sorry about the way our talk went. I know I said all the wrong things. I also know that there's no excuse for my words. But I want to try to explain my choices. Lately, my dad has been really pushing for this trip. He wants to show me his work or something. At first I didn't want to go, but then he started pushing me a little more forcefully. The house has become really tense, seeing as I refuse to talk to him and he only talks to me when he has to. I'm being forced to go on the trip. It's not your fault that I'm going. I wasn't allowed to tell you, and I feel terrible about it.

As to what the trip is for, I think I have a clue. When I was little my Dad flew me to some really weird Doctors that gave me a physical. But it wasn't a normal one. They drew blood and had me run on a treadmill with sensors taped to me; they even did a few psychiatric tests on me. They made me lift weights and fight with a guy. It's like they were trying to learn what I was best at in one visit. I think we're going back to the same place now. I think he wants them to use me as a test subject. I'm scared.

When I got back from our fight, my dad told me that my chance of coming back has dropped to something more like 0.00000000000000000000001% and that we're leaving two days, not two weeks from today. The sad part is that he seemed extremely excited about the whole thing. Jackass. If you're reading this, chances are I've left. In case I don't come back, I want to ask you something. Will you go out with me? I know it sounds cheesy, but I always liked you as more than a friend. I just never had the courage to ask you. I guess it doesn't really matter anymore though. Just thought I would ask in my parting letter.

Your Best Friend (no matter what you say), Nick

I sigh as I look over the letter I've just written for the fourth time. I want, need it to be perfect. It's my last words to her, and I need them to say more than they do. I need them to say everything I'll never get to. Finally, it seems good enough. I seal it up and tuck it into my back pocket. It's my last day in CDM, and I'm strangely emotional as I reminisce about all the good times I had here. After all; if it hadn't been for this town I never would have met Max. And I have no clue what I'm going to do without her.

The school day goes by too fast, and soon enough the final bell rings. Max has been avoiding me all day, but I'm determined to catch her now. I rush out the door and run to my car, hoping desperately that she's running late. The fates are nice to me today, because I'm able to pull my Honda Pilot to a stop right in front of her just as she starts to try and pull out. I try not to think about the scowl that overtakes her otherwise beautiful features when she sees me.

"You're blocking me," she says when I roll my window down. Her voice is low with an edge, and I try to keep the fear from my face. I know not to trifle with an angry Max. "What do you want?"

I hold up my hands in defense and say in a neutral voice, "Woah, woah. Cool your jets. I just came to give you this." I reach one hand into my pocket and fish out the letter. Her angry mask does not falter as I hand it to her. "Please don't open it until you get home. I think that will make everything easier. For what it's worth, I'm sorry." I pause. Should I tell her? That might not be the smartest thing to do but I want her to know before I leave. I want to see her reaction. "And," I chicken out at the last second. "I'll miss you." Her mouth opens to say something, and just for a second, the mask is shattered. I see pain, curiosity, sadness, and resignation. She turns away, trying to hide eyes that are starting to water over. That's Max, always trying to hide her real emotions behind anger and strength. She puts on a good front, and she's certainly both strong and angry, but I've always been able to see through the guise.

"It doesn't matter. You're leaving." I nod, knowing that she's right.

"Goodbye," I say, giving her my signature salute before letting her go and driving away. I have no idea what's going to happen. All I know is that my best friend, my first and only love, won't be there. And I'm not ready for whatever it is.

Kind of sad, but hey, most of my stories are. So, just a reminder, please review if you want more, or if you want me to never write again. Either type of feedback is welcome. If you liked it, I'd also encourage you to look at my other story, The Scars That Memories Leave. You don't have to, but I do like feedback. Anyways, see you guys soon