Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride and I don't make any money from it, all characters belongs to the wonderful James Patterson.

First Love

Angel was flying away, leaving another apartment behind on the hunt for another job that could keep her alive. Lying about her age had not been the smartest plan, but she did what she had to get money for as long as it lasted.

The seventeen year old girl landed on a beach in California as the day was turning into night. Sometimes she wished she didn't have her wings, but at least they got her fast from place to place.

As she sat down her mind went to her old flock, wondering what they were doing this very moment as he hadn't had much contact with them since the final battle. They all had managed to stay alive, but barely, everything else had been a mess, but that was about nine years back. She at some of the places she had been through over the years was sure she had seen one or another of the flock members, but she never stopped to look.

After all she had had more than enough to find places to live or something to put food on the table. She had stayed with a family for a short period of time from she was nine to eleven as they had felt bad for the beautiful blue eyed girl in the gutter. Angel's talent of controlling minds might have had something to do with it.

She felt sad about leaving them behind, but as she grew older se needed more space in every way and that lead to a lot of arguments and in the end she had to go. From there she had taken any stupid job she could find, the latest at a pet store where the owner 'son happened to fall in love with her and it lead to trouble. Mostly because she didn't let him have her like he wanted.

The young girl leaned the head in her hands, glad she still had a great amount of money to survive on for now. Looking out over the beautiful ocean she pictured the rest of the flock and how they would have reacted if they were there. A smiled went over her face.

Her long, blonde hair was now in a ponytail that was hanging loosely down her back. It wasn't as curly as it had been when she was younger, but the ends still were. She was wearing a pair of worn out jeans, with holes on the knees and a black top with a tiger printed on it. It wasn't very feminine, but it was thigh so you could clearly see her breasts, which was well developed considering her age.

She sighed as she slowly raised and walked up towards the busy street, seeing the nightlife, the whores that wanted to get customers and everything else the nightlife had to offer. She found an ATM and withdraws some cash before walking over to a hotdog stand to buy one.

When she was done eating she went over to a nightclub called, "The Pearl." She looked at the bouncer, knowing she was too young to enter she had to go by her looks or her mind. Batting her lashes innocently saying, "How much to get in."

"For you, nothing," he said, letting her in. She smiled thinking that had been too easy. Controlling someone's mind sometimes was. In fact sometimes it bored her to do, maybe it was because she had done it too much over the years. She sat down on a stool by the bar, ordering a soda. Funnily enough even if Angel could have used her fake ID to buy something with alcohol she never did. Maybe it was because she liked to have control or maybe it was because she was in fact under aged and felt it was wrong. No matter the cause she stuck to sodas or non-alcohol drinks when she went out. She mostly liked crowded places like this because it was easier to blend in, that and the fact the loud music drowned her thoughts.

She sighed taking a sip from the cold Sprite when she heard someone say, "You look a little lost, Angel."

"That line is so old," the young woman said, as she had turned it a dozen times before, mostly it was due to her white wings and her angelic looks.

She heard sigh as someone dropped down to a stool next to her saying, "When I was young we heard stories about this flock of children with wings that were fighting evil. There was a war, but never learned what happened to them afterwards. You are one of them aren't you?"

Angel turned to look at the chair next to her, a young woman like her with hair red as fire, her eyes seems to be sparkling as green emeralds, and she seemed to be about her age, although she could be older, that thing was always hard to tell. Angel just nodded at her without saying anything.

"What happened to you after the big war?" she asked.

"I survived and moved on," Angel said in a dry tone, not a topic she liked to discuss with strangers. After all she did not know her and the sound in this place was too loud so she couldn't read her mind either. She knew nothing about her intentions.

The other woman seemed to feel her insecurity as she extended her hand yelling, "Bay Ainthe Parker, but everyone calls me Bay."

"Angel," said Angel and carefully shook her hand.

"New in town?" she asked.

"Yeah came just now," Angel answered.

"Where do you live?" asked the other woman.

"Nowhere yet, I'll find somewhere I suppose, I usually do," said Angel, honestly.

"You are more than welcome to stay with me, I got a couch to spare," said Nadine with a smile.

"I suppose I could…" Angel said, seeming insecure about the thought of staying with someone she didn't really know.

"Cool, you wanna dance, angel girl?" asked Bay Ainthe, nodding towards the crowded floor.

Angel nodded, looking a little shy; no one except drunken guys had ever asked her to dance before. She very seldom accepted as they had a tendency to grab on her as they pleased. Bay Ainthe held out her hand with a sweet smile towards the newcomer. Slowly she took it and let her lead out on the crowded floor, taking the lead among the other dancers.

The clock was close to four in the morning when the two women were stumbling into Bay's apartment. She turned on the light and let the keys slip down on the dresser in the hallway. Angel took of her black leather boots and followed her inside. She sank down on the couch with a sigh of relief, saying, "I'm totally exhausted."

"I know me too, but it was fun," said Bay with a giggle, sinking down next to her on the couch.

"It really was," Angel's blue eyes, meet Bay's emerald green. Angel caught herself looking deep within them and then back away, blushing.

"I better let you sleep, bathroom is that way, and kitchen over there," said Bay as she got up and walked towards the bedroom. It was hot so Angel knew she wouldn't need a cover. She instead grabbed a pillow and settled on the couch, falling asleep at once.

It was later that night that bay went to the bathroom, Angel were on her back, hands folded over her chest, a gentle smile gracing her lips. Bay smiled as she whispered, "Sweet dreams, my Angel."

Angel of course didn't answer; she just lay there completely still, looking like an Angel that had fallen from the sky. Dreaming peacefully about something Bay did not know of. She carefully stroked her cheek before getting back to bed, happy Angel was finally with her.

No one knew, not even Bay's closest friends that ever since she had seen things about Angel in the newspaper and on TV when she was younger she had taken a liking to her. Being four years older than the young woman she had first felt sorry for her, wishing she could take care of her and save her from the ones harming her when she was young.

That however was just a childish dream she soon realized as she had no way of finding her or getting in touch with her. That she walked into the bar she and her friends used to stay at about a month before was just a funny coincidence.

She had been even more taken when she saw how the young girl had grown to become. She simply couldn't take her eyes of her. Everything about her, even her toughness was so graceful. She had never see anything like it. She had helped Angel get a job in a store, luckily she had no trouble reaching the higher shelves and she seemed to like it there.

Bay herself worked in one of the bars along the main street, in fact one of the compete-tors to "The pearl, and she of course let Angel get in for free. When she stayed to closing Angel sometimes fell asleep on the counter if she stayed that long. Sometimes she went home before her, it pended on when her shift started.

It was a late night and Bay were having the night of that the two was watching some movies at home. Angel seemed to be used to the idea of staying there and they had no trouble being around each other. The movie seemed to go to a romantic soon and their eyes meet, looking onto each other. Bay didn't even think further before leaning in for a kiss.

Angel in surprise backed away saying, "What are you doing?"

"Kissing you," said Bay, stating the obvious. Angel froze as she for the first time since they meet read her mind finding what she thought to be true actually was that. Bay Ainthe was in love with her and not little either. She in fact wanted to sleep with her.

Angel got up in a hurry, taking a few steps away from the couch, trying to process the situation and what to do with it. She of course had made out with once or twice before, but she had never slept with anyone, she had not been ready.

But now…she needed to think, so she bust Bay's window upon, spread her wings and let herself fly into the cold night. To be in otherwise hot California that was very unusual, then again it had rained all day so the air was much cooler and fresher that night. Angel flew around until she landed on a high rooftop where she settled.

Bay loved her. In a way she had known all along, by the way she acted and the gentle and kindness she expressed towards her. It was something about the way the other woman seemed to care about her; something young Angel had not experience from other than her siblings. She missed them a lot. Not only that but she had grown custom to the way young Bay was treating her. She had even defended her a couple of times and she couldn't say she minded it either. As a matter of fact she liked in. Could it be that she herself after a so short period of time had come to love Bay as well.

She startled when she heard Bay in her thoughts say, "Angel, please come back to me, I didn't mean to upset you."

How…how did she do that? Angel didn't know, but she had to have a way if she could communicate at this length. Maybe that was a sign that they truly belonged together. She slowly started to fly back until she landed in the room where the other girl was standing, asking, "How did you do that, how did you manage to send me that thought?"

"Not sure really, I just know that since the first time I heard of you I wanted to help you, over the years I forgot about as I didn't hear more of you and your flock. Then I saw you in that nightclub, I knew it was you, it had to be. By one look I knew I loved you, I don't know how I knew, I just knew, please tell me you feel the same, Angel," Bay Ainthe said, looking at Angel with insecure eyes, nervously biting on her lower lip.

Angel looked at her with a frown; she had wanted to be with her that long or at least gotten to know her. She wasn't sure how to act as frankly she had never been in love before, she still somehow knew she was. The boys she had fooled around with before was more object of her desires. This was something else, her heart was now beating so hard and fast that it was drowning everything else. Slowly she reaching to let a hand rest on Bay's cheek whispering, "I…I do, but please take it slow."

"I'll take it as slow as you want, Angel of mine," said Bay as happy tears started to stream from her eyes.

Angel carefully hugged her with a smile, leaning her head against her shoulder, feeling her arms wrap around her. For the first time in all these years she felt something she hadn't felt in a while, safe, and she knew one more thing she was home. Her heart told her and now she was going to listen, knowing she never wanted to leave her side ever again.

"Never let me go," Angel whispered in a very soft tone.

"I never will," Bay whispered, kissing the top of her blonde hair, meaning every word.

Thank you for reading, feedback is always most welcome :o)