-A COUPLE HOURS AFTER-

Here I am, waiting at McDonalds, totally on cloud nine. After Fang realized who he was talking to he said, "Don't talk to anyone else, just meet us at McDonalds in three hours." I had nodded and ran off, hiding my face from the other people sitting at the table. I am just about to check the clock above the trashcans again when I hear his voice.

"Ok guys, we didn't just come here to eat. I have a suprise for you."

I then hear, "Man, i am HUNGRY! Can we get this over with?" I can't tell if that was Iggy or Gazzy.

Fang doesn't respond, so I take a deep breath, and stand up. They don't see me coming, since I was sitting behind them, so when I shout "YO, SUPRISE!" they all (except fang) jump ten feet in the air.

They all whip around to face me. Dead silence, then, "MAX!"

I smile as they all come rushing at me, enveloping me in a huge hug. Fang just stands there smirking.

I am bombarded with questions. "Where were you?" "What happened?" "Why did you leave?" and statements like "We thought you were dead!" and "YEAH BUDDY!" I just laugh and say "Hold on! let me get a good look at you guys!"

They all detangle themselves from me and stand up straight. My eyes land on Nudge first; she is so beautiful! She has long curly brown hair to her shoulders. She has on a pale pink knit sweater and jean shorts with black tights. Next is Angel. She has grown up a lot! Her blonde hair is now straight and in a braid down her back. She has big nerdy glasses and is dressed as a hipster. Gazzy stands tall beside her. He has grown into a man! His short blonde buzz cut, teeshirt and jeans combo makes him look older than he really is. Iggy is, wow. He has to be 6' 5'' at least! He has long strawberry blonde hair, and a little bit of a beard. He is wearing an untucked button-up shirt and khakis. He stares straight at me with a mischievious grin, wait, he is staring at me... "IGGY! you can see!" I exclaim loudly while tackling him in a hug. He laughs and nods at me, "Yup, I got my sight back two years ago."

Finally, I get a good look at Fang. He has grown a lot. His face shows no baby fat, and his hair is down to his eyes. He still wears all black, but more sophisticated with a black button-down. He stands there looking at the floor, clearly uncomfortable with everyone looking at us. I slowly walk up to him and lift his chin with my hand. He looks up into my eyes and I see everything he doesn't say, he has missed me. I break our gaze a turn to face the rest of the flock.

"Ok, so I guess you want me to explain?" I ask. They respond by screaming "YES!"

We all sit down at a booth, and I tell them my story. I explained, "Ari came to me one night while I was on my watch. He had proposed a trade. If I came back to The School willingly, they would in turn leave you guys alone. I wanted to give you guys a normal life, you deserved it. I had agreed and a week later I was taken in the night."

At that point, everyone had tears in there eyes.

I kept going, "They did the usual tests and stuff for the four years, but then they changed it up a little bit."

Iggy spoke up, "What do you mean?"

I replied, "You will see, eventually, but lets just forget that for a second. What have you guys been doing all these years?"

We talked for the next two hours. I found out that they had been living with my mom, Dr. Martinez, since we saved the world. They go to school in the next town over, Gazzy has a girlfriend named Karthen. Nudge has a boyfriend named Derek, Iggy and my sister Ella are together, and Angel has a boyfriend (I thought she was too young) named James. Fang didn't say anything the whole time.

We were leaving, and I was saying goodbye when Fang stopped me. "What do you mean, you are staying with us now, right?"

That took me by suprise! I replied, "Only if you want me to stay."

They all chimed in yes, so I agreed to come home and see my mom. I walked out the door and turned toward the daycare center. Gazzy ran up and said, "Home is this way, Max." Oh! I didn't tell them about Leena! I turned to the flock and say, "Can I stop and get something first?" They all shrug and follow me.

They seemed a little shocked when I opened the daycare center door and leed them in. The lady at the counter recognized me and ran to collect Leena. She was sleeping as she was handed to me. I payed the lady and left, the flock following silently. Once outside, I turn and whisper "lead the way."