Summary: "It was slow and passionate, and everything that a not-actually-first-kiss should be. His arms came around my back, lower than my wings, pulling me even closer to him, and my own arms went around his neck, pulling his head down as he kissed me back." Alternate ending to both the Maximum Ride series and the third book because I don't think that the fourth and fifth were up to par.

Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride or any of its contents, although I wish I did.

And You Know The Rest…

When I saw them at last, on a barrier island off the coast of North Carolina, I almost couldn't speak. Nudge, Total, Angel, and I coasted to a landing on the beach, feeling the sand squeak under our shoes.

There was a line of gnarled oaks at the top edge of the beach, and I looked through them, then checked my watch.

"You're late."

Fang stepped out of the shadows, eating an apple. He was dressed in black, as usual, and his face looked like a lumpy plum pie. But his eyes shone as he came toward me, and I was running to him over the sand, my wings out in back of me.

We smashed together awkwardly, with Fang standing stiffly for a moment, but then his arms came around me and he hugged me back. I held him tight, trying to swallow the lump of cotton in my throat, my head on his shoulder, my eyes squeezed shut.

"Don't ever leave me again," I said in a tiny voice.

"I won't," He promised into my hair, sounding most un-Fang-like. "I won't. Not ever."

And I moved my head from the place that it had been buried in his chest, and looked at his face: the dark, shining eyes, the olive skin, the nose, and the distinct chin.

And suddenly it all made sense.

Fang.

Just Fang, nothing less, nothing more. And that was all I needed. He was it for me, I would never, in a million years, find someone better.

And I loved him.

So I did the thing that seemed to make the most sense (for once in my life). I looked into his eyes, and I kissed him.

It was slow and passionate, and everything that a not-actually-first-kiss should be. His arms came around my back, lower than my wings, pulling me even closer to him, and my own arms went around his neck, pulling his head down as he kissed me back.

From somewhere in front of me, I heard Iggy and Gazzy whispering.

"Are they-?"

"Uh-huh."

"Oh."

"Yup."

We pulled back, breathing heavily.

"Does this mean you're done leaving?"

"I'm not gonna run away anymore."

I pulled away to greet Iggy and The Gasman.

"Well, what now?" Gazzy asked as I tried to smooth his sticking-up hair.

I let out a deep breath and looked at my flock.

"I need to go to Arizona." I said.

And you know the rest…

A/N: So that's my alternate ending to the Maximum Ride series. Of course, they still go see Dr. Martinez and Ella, but I didn't feel like writing that, besides, it wouldn't be that much different. I wrote this because, in my mind, by defeating Itex, the flock saved the world, and so the series ends. This means that JP just needed to wrap up the whole Max/Fang thing. Also, I love writing Fax, its so much fun . I hope you liked the story/simple little less than two page one-shot that I wrote in fifteen minutes, R&R and you will get cookies-hpluvr7.

P.S. The italicized stuff is is from chapter 130 of Saving the World and Other Extreme Sports.