*James Patterson owns my soul. And Maximum Ride.*
When we went to eat breakfast the Flock-sickness kicked in. It couldn't really be home sickness since we had no home, except the occasional stay with my mom. We were on the run most of the time though. I loaded up with sausage, bacon, eggs, grits, and a muffin. Orange cranberry, Nudge's favorite. I mixed my eggs and my grits together, just like Angel does. "I miss them." I mumbled, sadly. It was weird, not having to check that Gazzy wasn't blowing something up. I saw two pretty teenage girls across the lobby and thought about Iggy. He would be playing the blind card as an excuse to talk to them…at least before Ella came along. I even missed Total. He and Akila were on their "honeymoon". I didn't want to know how, where or when that was happening. I just missed hearing his jokes. I pulled myself out of my funk. "So, we're heading to Atlanta, huh?" I asked, trying to cheer up. Fang nodded. "The…plane leaves Wednesday and it's Sunday now. I guess we can take our time getting over there, huh?" I clarified. "It's up to you. We can either book it over there and spend some time in Atlanta or we can make some stops along the way. Nashville maybe?" He asked with a grin, knowing exactly what I would say. "So, you're telling me we have a lot of ground to cover today?" I asked. Visiting the Grand Ole Opry was not high on my list of things to do. He shrugged. "It's your trip, just thought I'd let you know your options." He said with an unholy smirk covering his face. "I should probably eat faster." I muttered, wolfing down more of my food wanting to get on the road immediately.
We went back to our room and packed the things that we had taken out and got ready to go. I felt a slight pain of sadness. The last time we were doing this the Flock had been with us. "We can call them tonight if you want to." He said noticing my expression. I felt like I was going soft. I wanted to cry. He must have seen it on my face because he walked over to me and took me in his arms. It was just like so many other times that I'd been close to him like this. I was hyper alert, but kind of dazed at the same time. I made the mistake of looking in his eyes. He may not talk a lot but his eyes were like books I could read in an instant. It was how we communicated best, I guess. As I stared I felt myself wrapping my arms around his neck and inching towards him. It was kind of like being on Valium. You knew you were doing something that you wouldn't normally do, but you couldn't seem to care enough to stop. His arms were around my waist, clenching me to him. I felt my mouth reach his. It was like the first real kiss that we had shared, in the cave. Normally it was just something quick and light but not this time. It went on until neither of us could breathe. By the time both of us had come to our senses we were both laying on our sides on the bed. Knock it off perverts, nothing happened we just got a little…carried away. Fang was stroking my hair and I was looking in his eyes again. No other guy would have known what I was just thinking…or what to say or do to make me feel better. Just Fang. Maximum Ride usually tried to be strong, on guard, and invincible…but Fang had a way of breaking all that down.
"You okay?" He asked steadily. I nodded with a slight grin on my face. "Sorry about that." He mumbled, his face slightly pink. I grabbed his hand as he tried to pull himself up. "What are you sorry for?" I asked, completely baffled. "I'm just waiting for you to run away again…" He said quietly. That stung a little. I was done running. "I'm still right here." I reminded him, a little annoyance dripping through. "I just don't want to scare you off…or go too fast…" He trailed off. So that's what this was about…He did know me well though. If I was freaked out I probably would bolt instead of telling him. "I'm working on it. That was good though." I said reassuringly. Fang looked at me like I was nuts. "Good?" He asked in disbelief. He pulled me to him and kissed me again. I sighed when we broke apart. "You're right, that wasn't good. Amazing." I corrected myself, straightening up.