DISCLAIMER

DISCLAIMER!! I don't own Maximum Ride or it's fabulous characters!! It all is the work of the AMAZING James Patterson!!

Chapter Two: Suits

Fang POV

Gazzy was holding back a laugh I could tell. And I didn't blame him, if I saw him or Iggy in a suit, I'd laugh too. That was all still to come though, they hadn't gotten dressed yet.

"Fang, you look like a penguin!" Gazzy couldn't hold it back any longer and started cackling in his little maniac way. I thought about reaching over and pulling his jacket over his face, but I didn't.

"I think you look great!" Iggy exclaimed with enthusiasm.

I rolled my eyes.

A few months back I had come up to my senses and got over my scared feeling in my gut and asked Max to marry me. Okay, we'd known each other our whole lives. Kissed a few times, hugged a lot, and I thought about her almost all the time. It made me uneasy when we were apart. Like, I had a sure fire feeling that something would happen to one of us and the other wouldn't be there to help. Call me paranoid, I just did.

The night was almost spilled though, what with Angel's mind reading and Nudge's blubber-mouth. I'd been trying not to think about it around her much, but really? Can you blame me for fretting over it a little?

When she first picked up on it about a year ago, I'd made up my mind that after we had the School taken out and "the world saved," I'd do it. It was just a matter then of getting over my gut-wrenching nervous feeling. Since then, Angel hasn't let me forget about it, helping in any way that she can think of.

My mind was cut off memory lane when Jeb walked in.

I know what you're probably thinking: Oh my God! It's Jeb! Run for it!

But no, this time I couldn't run. I was about to do the biggest thing in my entire life, and there was no way I was running from this.

"You look nervous, Fang." Jeb commented as he came over to straighten up my tie, I'd never been too good at those things.

I looked over at him and raised my eyebrows. No duh I'm nervous! What do you expect?

Like Max, he seemed to know right away what I meant. He laughed and patted my shoulder.

"Don't worry, you're going to be just fine."

Yeah, that's what you say. And how many other times did you say that and we believed you?

I took a deep breath. Okay, focus, this isn't saving the world, this is having the opportunity to stay with Max forever. I nodded.

"Gazzy, Iggy, don't you think you should start to get dressed?" Jeb asked.

The Gasman and Iggy laughed.

"Fine, fine, if you insist." Iggy replied, and they went into the other room to find their tuxes.

After a few moments and more deep breaths, I heard Iggy mutter, "What the hell? How do you even put this thing on?" and laughed despite myself.

With a parting word, Jeb left the room and I was sitting in Dr. Martinez's guest room alone. I looked into the mirror on the dresser and stared for a few moments.

Back to Memory Lane, it seemed. My palms started to get sweaty as my mind fully figured all the things that were about to happen. I was about to head out to Dr. Martinez's back porch, then onto her lawn, where a small wedding was being assembled.

Different images from my reminiscence were flashing through my head. Some as late back as when Jeb lived with us and I remember watching with awe as I saw Max take off, flinging her graceful, powerful wings out into the sun and gliding across the plains. Then, when we had our "first kiss" on the beach, after Ari had kicked my butt. New York City, the cabin in Colorado, the subway, her Voice, Itex, Gozen, Antarctica, Hawaii, all the places that the flock, Max and I had been to together. How many fights and near-death experiences we were in together. We belonged together, this I was sure.

"Fang! Help me please!!" I heard Gazzy holler.

Sticking my head into the large guest bathroom, I saw Gazzy's necktie in about five different knots.

"I asked Iggy, but he wouldn't help!"

"That's cause I'm trying to figure mine out too!"

I rolled my eyes and went over to straighten Gazzy's necktie as best I could, seeing how he and I were almost at the same level of expertise in this field.

"Okay, we'll be outside! Hurry up!" Gazzy said as he ran out the door.

"Fang, you'll be okay. Don't worry, Max is just as nervous as you are." Angel's sweet voice filled my thoughts.

"'Kay, thanks." I said out loud. I heard her giggle.

The black tux I had on was almost as comfortable as a bed of nails. None of us liked to be confined, or in small areas, and this was about as close as that got.

I looked down and noticed my palms sweating and shaking a little. This was really happening. And I was more afraid now than any other time in my life.

"Fang, it's time, Hun." Dr. Martinez knocked on the door. "Max is almost ready herself." I opened the door and she came in.

"You look fabulous, Fang." She appraised me as she came in to talk some more.

"I feel like I'm trapped in a heater."

"It's okay, dear." She brushed what I assumed to be lint or something off my shoulder. "There are plenty of shade trees outside anyways. Are you ready? I'll tell you that I am probably the happiest person in the world right now, well, aside from Max."

"Yeah, and me."

Dr. Martinez smiled and patted my cheek. She mouthed the words "Thank You," and walked out the door.

I took a swig of water and spit, then with one last deep and shaky breath, along with a full-body jitter, I walked out of the bedroom, down the hall, out on the porch, down the aisle that I knew Max would be down soon, and up to stand at the podium next to the Gasman, Iggy, Dr. Martinez, Nudge, Ella, and the pastor from Dr. Martinez's church who agreed to perform the ceremony. Iggy patted me on the back, and I took a deep breath.

"Fang." I heard the Gasman whisper in a huff like he'd run out of breath.

I turned my attention to the base of the porch, where Jeb and Max were beginning to walk down the aisle. Her face was as flushed as ever, her hair was beautiful, and she herself was the most gorgeous thing I'd ever seen.