Max POV

When you get punched in the heart, how long does it take the wound to heal? Because I feel like I have been punched in the heart hundreds of times in a row; I guess I have a longer time for me to heal then.

I sighed and let my wings stretch out, all thirteen feet of them. I haven't cried for a very, very long time, but this night was about to break that record. After Total's wedding, Fang left me and the Flock.

Fang left me a note, and skipped out of the house while everyone was enjoying cake and partying at the wedding. When I got home, I discovered a Fangless-house with nothing but some dumb note. A tear escaped my eye before I could wipe it away. With a deep breath I walked into my bedroom and lightly shut the door behind me. The mirror that hung from the back of my closet door showed that I could have been in a bridal magazine… other than the mascara dripping down my cheeks.

The black bridesmaid's gown wasn't poofy of frilly. Its style was plain Maximum Ride. It fit my curves perfectly with only a solid black color. I removed my dress and high heels and threw them onto my bed. I grabbed a tank top and shorts and threw them on; not bothering to get dressed up.

Let me tell you this, you are lucky I got out of the damn dress. I wanted to break down crying and eat a whole jar of cookie dough while watching The Notebook, but that wasn't what the Flock would have wanted from me. I sat down on my bed and tossed my dirty-blonde hair into a pony tail.

A quiet knock came at the door and Nudge and Angel stepped in. For a moment we all just stared at each other in disbelief. Fang, our friend, our family, was gone. It was obvious that they had been crying too, their eyes were red and puffy and their cheeks were wet. Both of them still remained in their black dresses. As if the gates were opened, both girls ran at me and tackled me into a hug.

Don't cry Max… He will be back… Don't think about it…

All three of us started bawling.

"W-why would he leave?" Angel sniffled. Her big, blue eyes looked up at me for answers I didn't have. "His thoughts were perfectly normal at the wedding. All he thought about was how beautiful you looked tonight." Did I mention Angel is a mind-reading six year old?

I bit my lip and looked at the girls who sat down on both sides of me. No matter how broken I was feeling, my flock was going to come first. "Fang didn't leave randomly. We have to give this some thought. Never in our lives had he ever let us down, maybe this is just… a mission." I said skeptically.

"Twenty years…" Nudge's dark brown eyes stared at the ground then back up at me. "Why such a long time?" She crossed her hands over her lap as another tear streamed down her face.

I was about to answer when there was another knock at the door. Iggy and Gazzy both walked in. Iggy looked as though he just went on a rampage and punched all of the walls in the house. (That would explain the bloody knuckles). But Gazzy just looked crushed.

"Nudge, Gazzy, and Angel," I looked at them with sad eyes, "get out of the wedding dresses and suit. Find something comfortable; we are going to have a Flock Talk in a little while. I just want to talk to Iggy for a moment." All three of them nodded and walked out of the door. If we didn't have amazing hearing, you wouldn't have heard the small click as the door was barely shut by the upset kids.

"What the hell is his problem?" Iggy shouted. He paced around the room. For a blind kid, Iggy was able to walk around without having to worry about hitting something. "He knew the second he stepped foot out of this house he would cause every single one of us pain." Iggy looked right into my eyes, which was creepy because he was blind. "You must be feeling like you're going to die this instant."

I nodded then said, "I want to break down and cry, but how Max-y would that look?" Another tear escaped my eye.

Damn my stupid tear ducts.

Iggy did the unexpected. He pulled me into a bug hug and started crying, "We need to go find him, he is the missing link to The Flock." Iggy whispered in my ear. I nodded again. Iggy and I stayed in that hug for what felt like a millennium. I had only hugged Iggy twice in my life; this is my third.

I think I am going to shoot myself because I keep on crying.

Fang is GONE! Crying will not help the situation at all. Even though the letter said not to, I have to go look for him. I thought.

"Iggy?" I said after we broke the hug. "Do you think…" Biting my lip, I looked down and sighed. Here goes nothing, "Would it be selfish of me to leave you and Dylan in charge so I can go drag Fang's ass back here?" I wiped my cheek and sat down on my bed. Why did he have to leave now? Could he have left when I was… when I was … well there's the problem. I wished Fang would never leave me. But he did.

"Go get 'em, tiger" Iggy smirked and kissed my cheek. Not kiss as in the 'Oooh la la'. The kiss as in 'you are my sister, get hurt and I will go insane'.

I nodded and walked out of my room. Dylan sat on the couch, staring at me. "You are going after that guy. He left Max. He left you and the rest of the Flock. He wanted to go, so let him go." He said this through clenched teeth.

Boy do you want to see daylight tomorrow?

I walked over to him, stood in front of him, smiled, and kicked him in the shin. "Who in the hell gives you the right to say what I should and shouldn't do? Last time I checked I was flock leader and Fang was my right hand man! No one can replace Fang, so we are going to make him explain why the hell he left and make him take his place next to me." My eyes narrowed on him. I was glaring at him so much that I was shocked that he didn't turn into a pile of ash. Getting inches away from Dylan's face, I slapped him. "Stay if you want, but don't come cozying up to me." I walked away in silence. He just sat there in shock.

I walked into Angel and Nudge's room to tuck them in. Angel was in a pink nightgown that had a picture of the whole flock on it. The picture was taken when Fang was here and Dylan wasn't. Trying to be creative, I ironed on the picture to the dress and it came out remarkably well. My heart sank as I saw the picture of Fang.

"Sorry…" Angel muttered and jumped into her stuffed-animal infested bed.

I kissed Angel on her forehead, "Goodnight sweetie." She grabbed my hand and looked up at me pleadingly.

"Is he coming back…?"

I closed my eyes and fought back tears.

Strong for the Flock. Strong for the Flock. Strong for the Flock.

"I am going to go look for him. I won't come back empty handed. I promise." I held out my pinky and she looped hers around it.

I walked over to Nudge's bed, but she was writing in her diary crying. "Max, I will talk to you in the morning. I am venting to my journal." I nodded and walked out of the room, turning out the lights.

Gazzy stood in the doorway of his and Iggy's room, "I want to help you find Fang." He said. His eyes were red and scraped. Almost as if Gazzy was trying to dry his eyes with sandpaper. Ow.

I took a deep breath and walked Gazzy to him bed. I looked down, then up at him, "I have to do this alone, Fang will notice six bird kids flying behind him. I will be able to catch up fast. Don't worry, by the end of the week I will try to have us both back." I kissed his forehead and walked out of the room.

Iggy nodded as I walked past him in the hallway.

In the living room, Dylan sat on the couch staring up at the ceiling. Pshhh. Like I would feel bad for him. Oh great… now I do for making that comment. I took a deep breath, stole a couple hundred dollars out of Jeb's (Our 'guardian') watch, and walked out the front door.

Great. Tonight I was planning on watching a good movie with the Flock; instead I am chasing after Fang, trying to keep him from running away.

I unfurled my giant wings and threw myself off of the porch and into the air. Hello Insanity, my name is Maximum Ride…