"Damn it!" He yelled loudly, as soon as he was sure she was far enough away, slamming his fist down on the dock. He punched it again and again, liking how much better the physical pain felt than the emotional. Not good, exactly, but better. Couldn't anything go right? First Max, then Angel. He had hoped that by inviting her out here, he could explain how sorry he was, how much he missed her.
But he never had been that good with expressing his feelings. There were moments when they came through, when he didn't feel so stupid and could just spit them out, but now wasn't one of those times.
He had invited her over through his blog, when he found out they were in the same area. He said it was so they could "talk about what happened". But that was too awkward. She burst into tears as soon as he mentioned Angel. He switched to small talk, asking how she was, how the flock was doing. She gradually calmed down.
Of course, inevitably, he had to bring their relationship out into the open. Why couldn't he just keep his big mouth shut? All it lead was nowhere. They both knew their mutual love. And they also both knew that it wasn't good for anybody.
He sighed and dipped his hand in the water, washing the blood off. He jumped up into the air and took off into the night sky, heading back to his flock.
He opened the door to the hotel they were staying at. Six curious pairs of eyes looked anxiously up at him. Maya walked over to him from her place on the edge of the bed and gave him a deep hug. He didn't return it.
"How'd it go, Fang?" He shook his head at her question.
"Just… just leave me alone for now, okay guys?" They nodded begrudgingly and allowed him to sit on the other side of the room alone. He closed his eyes and listened to their squabbling for a few moments. He felt a small smile creep up. It was almost like being back with the other flock:
Ratchet and Holden wrestling around on the ground and making a lamp explode when it fell and hit the ground: Gazzy and Iggy.
Star and Kate talking in whispers about trivial things he cared nothing about, like fashion: Nudge and Angel.
Maya sitting there quietly on the bed next to him, pretending to watch the TV while really staring at him, trying to figure out what happened: Well, Max.
Maya is Max. She only has a few slight differences about her. A few slight things that were her and only her. Though the scientists tried all they could, they just couldn't copy Max. Nobody could replace her.
He sighed and got up. "I'm taking a walk," He called back to the flock without so much as glancing at them.
"But you just got here," Maya said crossly.
Saying no word, he opened the door and took off into the night.