Disclaimer: I, PG, do not, I repeat, DO NOT own Maximum Ride and all of its glory. Darn.
"Close the window, draw the curtains,
You ain't the only one here hurtin'.
No one's right, no one's wrong,
Lately there's a whole lot of leavin' goin' on."
--Bon Jovi
Chapter 3— Max P.O.V.
I sat on the roof, my arms wrapped around my legs. I was just staring off into space; I couldn't bring myself to think about anything at the moment.
I heard someone walk out the back door and onto the lawn. It was way past midnight, I thought everyone was asleep.
A tall, lean shadow walked across the grass, then turned around to face me, spreading out his wings slowly. I gritted my teeth. I really didn't want to talk to him.
He took off into the air, flying in large arcs above my head. I could barely make out his outline except when he flew in front of the moon. I didn't know what he was doing, was he expecting me to join him?
Fang landed a few minutes later and stood over me. I slowly turned my head to face him.
His face was blank, like usual, but he seemed pretty calm. I waited for him to say something and when he didn't, I looked away.
Fang sat down cross-legged, next to me and lay back on his palms, titling his head towards the sky. I looked around the back yard, taking in every leaf on every tree, watching how the wind blew the grass in different directions.
"What's up?" Fang asked, breaking the silence.
I shrugged, not wanting to lie and say nothing, and not wanting to explain the truth.
He sat up straighter, "You okay?"
"I'm fine," My voice was quiet, unemotional.
"Why you up so late?" It would kill him to speak properly, wouldn't it?
"Same reason you are, I assume."
"Not in the mood to talk?"
I sighed, "Not really."
He smirked at me, "Too bad, we're gonna talk anyway."
"I'm fine, really."
"Who said we were going to talk about you?" His voice was slightly mocking.
Oh. We were going to talk about that.
I waited for him to start as I played with my untied shoelaces.
"My mom was eighteen."
I looked up at him, "Huh?"
He looked me straight in the eye then looked down at his hands, "She was eighteen when she had me."
"Oh," I started then paused, "It said that?"
"No, it said her birth date," he explained, still not looking at me.
"What about your dad?"
"He lives somewhere in New York. My mom and her husband, my step-dad, live in New Jersey."
He was already referring to them as his parents. He was becoming attached. It was like bringing home an unwanted pet. I knew he was going to leave, I just knew it.
"Anything else?" I asked, knowing there would be more.
"My sister is actually my step-sister. She's our age. And my brother is really my half-brother. He's four. Stephanie and Michael."
I nodded not knowing what to say.
He looked up at me. "I'm not leaving you, you know."
I bit my lip. I knew he was going to no matter what he said. Those were just words. I don't think he knew he was leaving yet.
"You don't believe me," he said plainly.
I sighed, "No, I don't."
"Look, Max, I promised I was never going to leave you. I plan on keeping that promise." He seemed to mean it but I knew better.
"You say that right now, before you meet them, before you see into their life, their home. Whatever. You say that before you know anything."
"I know enough. And I know that I'm not going to leave you, or the Flock," he said firmly.
"The Flock's leaving me." My voice wavered.
"Says who?" He was beginning to sound a lot like Mom.
"I can tell, Fang," I said softly.
"What, can you read minds now? How do you know for sure, Max?" He sounded sure of himself that he was right.
"I can just tell. They want to go. They want to go live with their families." I hated the way I was sounding. Weak, miserable, confused.
Fang shook his head. "Not Iggy. Iggy hates his parents. And the Flock would never want to leave you."
"It doesn't matter. The government will make them."
He rolled his eyes, "Since when do they have any power over us?"
I didn't have an answer for him.
"Look, this is one of those many times where I just happen to know a whole lot more than you do, thus making me right. Forget it, Max. They're just excited right now. It'll wear down. They'll definitely want to meet them, yeah, but they won't leave, I promise."
"You know, all these promises are going to come back and bite you in the ass."
He almost smiled.
"And we'll see who is right when the time to say goodbye comes," I said.
"Yeah, it'll still be me, 'cause the only people we'll be saying bye to are our families," Fang said.
"We'll see."
"How many times do I have to tell you that I'm always right?"
"About a million," I said smiling.
He sighed as dramatically as Fang could sigh, "Only about a half a million left to go."
We quieted down after that for a little while, until Fang broke the silence again.
"You have no reason to be scared, you know. No one's leaving you," he whispered.
"Who said I'm scared?"
"It's written all over your face."
I tightened my jaw.
"I told you, no one's going to leave," he said convincingly.
Not yet they're not, I thought.
Fang stood up, brushing off his pants, "Come on, it's late. Let's go back inside."
He held out his hand for me to take. I stood up with out taking it. The look of hurt that flashed across his face made my heart pump faster as he put his hands in his pants pockets.
We walked back in the house, all the while me thinking how wrong he is, and how he didn't even know it yet.