Quick note: Just to give you some perspective, I wrote this before the Max and Fang were a thing. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride.

….

Wildflowers

I inhaled a breath, and the smell of wildflowers filled my head. I tried not to think of how wonderful life would be if all I had to worry about was the wildflowers. I tried not to think at all.

Soft feet padded up to where my head lay on the grassy ground. "Max?" whispered Angel, who was hardly four feet tall. The way the morning light illuminated her smiling face made my heart squeeze. Her wavy blond hair was now pass her shoulders and framed her pixie-like face with a certain delicacy. I remembered why we called her Angel.

"Yes Angel?" I said sitting up and pulling my knees to my chest. I felt an involuntary smile cross my face. She had a white flower in her hair.

"I really like it here." She said sweetly with a huge smile on her face. "I picked you a bouquet!"

I laughed a little as she beamed at me, revealing an assortment of reds, blues, purples, oranges, and whites. She was only six years old. This is the kind of activity six-year-olds should be doing.

"Thanks Ange, I love it!" I said taking it from her, my heart swelling. Sure, there wasn't much to do with a bouquet, but it's one of the nicest things someone has done for me in a while.

"Why don't you make Nudge a bouquet too?" I suggested light-heartedly. "I bet she would just love it."

Angel nodded and raced off into the meadow where the rest of the flock was playing around. Iggy and Gazzy were playing king of the rock, and Nudge was twirling around with a couple red flowers in her hair, bringing out the lovely deep mocha color of her skin. Fang was being Fang somewhere else. I guess the flowery meadow wasn't cool enough for him. He's more of a deep forest kind of guy.

I sighed and lay back down in the cool grass. I needed days like these once in a while, and heaven knows I don't get enough of them.

I don't know how long I was there, a breeze gently playing with my hair, before I heard footsteps coming from my other side. It's funny to think I know my flock so well that I have their footsteps memorized, but I do, so I wasn't surprised at all to see Fang closing in on me.

"Feeling better?" he asked me as he sat down beside me, his dark eyes wandering toward the horizon.

I cracked a smile as I sat up, because naturally he had noticed how uptight I had been the last couple of days without me telling him. While he, Iggy, and I are all fourteen, Fang and I were still the oldest of the bunch. I might be the strong, durable leader, but I needed Fang to lean on sometimes.

"Yeah. You know me, indestructible Max."

When I said nothing else, he went on. "So, what now?"

What now. That was a loaded question. Sure: one bad guy down, but we had nowhere to go. Even in a place as peaceful and surreal as here, relaxing wasn't all that relaxing anymore. We were just a homeless flock, halfway between wanting to forget everything hide from it all, while halfway still trying to be difference amidst so many uncertainties.

"I don't know," I admitted.

As I said it, I laid my head on Fang's shoulder and closed my eyes. The great thing about Fang is that I can say stuff like that to him, and it's okay. If anything, it was a burden off my shoulders, a burden I could share. I felt his hand slip around my waist holding me next to him, and his head rest on my own.

I was almost never this close to him, after all usually we were with the kids or getting attacked. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, breathing the fresh dewy scent of the meadow, and finally feeling completely relaxed.

I didn't know what it meant, but it sure felt good.

…

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