The Long Way Home
deludedfreak
Chapter Eight: To Forgive and Forget
Disclaimer: You know I don't own Maximum Ride. You SHOULD know that I do own the plot, Jeanine/Cree, and various other things I drop in now and then.
"The things that I've loved the things that I've lost
The things I've held sacred that I've dropped
I won't lie no more you can bet
I don't want to learn what I'll need to forget
Bend and shape me
I love the way you are
Slow and sweetly
Like never before
Calm and sleeping
We won't stir up the past
So descretely
We won't look back"
-- Audioslave, "Doesn't Remind Me"
I'm lurking about the library again when I run into Sam. He looks surprised to see me again, but it quickly turns into hurt. Just when he is turning away, I grab a hold of his sleeve. I don't need to hide it anymore.
"Sam."
He looks at me questioningly.
"I'm sorry for kinda blowing you off earlier. That was extremely rude of me- And- Can I ask you- Who was that girl that you mistook me for? What did she mean to you?"
His face was uncertain, his eyes shifting uneasily as they passed over me every now and then. "I…"
"I'm sorry. If you don't want to-"
"She was my first girlfriend. Back when I was 14, and… And… she left suddenly. It was weird though. I didn't know what was happening: one minute she was there, racing down the halls of our old school, and the next she was gone."
Yeah, that definitely sounds like me. "Oh… Okay. I- Thanks, Sam." I find myself smiling at him. I haven't done that unconsciously in a long while.
Turning away, I wave over my shoulder, leaving the library.
Someone's waiting by my door. As I get closer, I'm surprised to see who it is.
"Hey Fang. Could you move so I can open the door?"
He doesn't say anything, instead shifting to stand to the side. I unlock the door and go inside. Holding the door open, I quirk an eyebrow at Fang. "You want to come in?"
"Monique told me to pick you up."
"Uh… For what?"
"Carly and Louis are going home today."
"Oh… Forgot. Wait just one moment."
I close the door, not expecting him to feel offended. Dropping the bag of books on my table, I take off my jacket, grabbing my sweatshirt.
Changing my shoes, I open the door, keys in hand. "Alright, let's go."
The car he has is old, like mine. But it's clean too, which is definitely not like mine. I sit in the passenger seat, fiddling with the sleeve of my sweater.
"How'd Nudge know where my dorm was?" I ask him once we're on the road. He doesn't answer.
Ah. The silent treatment.
We get to LAX in no time and Fang parks in one of those parking lots that are ten thousand miles away from the terminal. More walking!
"Hey Fang-"
"My name's Andrew."
I pull back, confused. "Alright… Andrew. Where's everyone going to be?"
He shrugs, and I don't say anymore. I am obviously not going to get any answers from him.
We find the others pretty easy, Nudge and her brothers all crowded together. I say hi to them, wondering vaguely if they even remember me. Devon, the oldest, who is twenty- I think-, gives me a hug. Apparently he does.
"It's good to see you again."
He wasn't at Nudge's party, but he was here to say good-bye to Gazzy and Angel. Kind of confusing, but I'm not about to ask.
"Hey, Dev, don't hog her!" Omar is saying, pulling at his older brother's shirt. Nudge stands off to the side, giggling. I wonder why the flock isn't standing in his place, when I remember.
Oh yeah…
Once Omar has given me the longest bear hug you could ever imagine, I stand back and look around. Angel and the Gasman- excuse me, Carly and Louis- pick up their bags.
I'm looking at them, wondering if I should attempt to make amends somehow and tell them good-bye when Angel smiles at me. "Thanks for coming to say bye, Max."
Her voice is odd and detached, polite and quiet, as if she's talking to a complete stranger. That's… weird.
She continues on, and I wonder if she had read my mind then. "You really didn't have to though. We hardly know you, so it's not like you had an obligation to come."
I freeze, time seems to slow down completely, and I stand there, my eyes wide and my stomach about to drop out of my butt. I try to say something, but nothing comes out. Finally I manage a weak, "Its okay," before Nudge comes up behind me, tucking her arm into the crook of my elbow. "Everybody, me and Max are going to go to the bathroom."
She whisks me away before I can say anything.
We stand beside an empty coffee stand, waiting for someone to say something.
"Well, that was definitely unexpected," I choke out, a hand on my stomach for support.
Nudge looks away from me, then looks back and puts a hand on my arm. "Angel and Gazzy… Lost their memory a while ago. It was a car accident, and they both survived and got amnesia. The other people in the car died, because they were sitting in the front seats. But, they still forgot everything, and the flock had to get together to help them get better, and have them remember. We brought pictures and everything."
I breathe slowly, tears pricking at the back of my eyes. "How come…"
"Fang." She answers me readily. "Fang. We told them that we were all the same, that we all were friends, the flock, had wings, grew up together, but we left you out of it. Because Fang told us to. He was the leader, so…" Her voice trails off. "Iggy and I went along with it because we thought it couldn't hurt- we'd never see you again, Fang told us."
This is low, even for Fang. "How long ago? How long ago did this happen?"
Nudge's gaze averts to her shoes. "About half a year after you left. So, whatever you did to Fang was still fresh in his mind. He was feeling… Spiteful, I suppose you could say."
I look away, biting my lip. My eyes sting, but I don't want to cry. Not now. Later.
"Max, I'm sorry. I'm sorry we did that to you- We weren't thinking… It was crazy, what happened, and I guess we were in so much of a shock that anything sounded like a good idea."
I rub my eyes, exhaling slowly. "Nudge, don't make me ride back with Fang today, alright? I'll just… I'll just take the bus home or something, okay? I don't know if I can stand being in the same car as him…"
She nods quickly. "You can go home right now, if you want."
I smile bitterly. "I will."
I'm on the bus and on my way home without so much as a good-bye to anybody. I lean my head against the dirty bus window, watching as the rain comes down, heightening my depression. How could he do that? Why go so far as to ensure that two of my best friends would forget me?
"Fang…" I whisper, my fingers curling tighter into the fabric of my sweater.
Bending my head down to my lap, I begin to cry.
There's a knock at my door at seven in the evening. I pray that it isn't Jeanine.
It's Fang. Which is much, much, much, much worse than Jeanine could ever be. My eye twitches when I see him, and I almost slam the door in his face.
Instead, I grit my teeth and stop myself from asking rudely, "What the hell do you want?"
He's the one to initiate the conversation- A first for him.
"Nudge told you. Right?"
I raised an eyebrow at him. "Yeah. Why do you think I ran off like that?"
The moment the words leave my lips I wince. I ran off- again. I hadn't been thinking about it at the time, but I did do it. I ran away from Fang, because I was scared. Again. Why couldn't I just face him?
He seems to notice my obvious remorse.
"Look, you want to come in? It's pouring outside."
He's soaked from head to toe, something I'd just noticed. A flicker in his eyes shows me how much he doesn't want to come in, but that's just discomfort, I realize, not hatred.
Fang comes inside, taking off his waterlogged shoes and jacket.
"I don't have anything to eat. So, tell me when you get hungry, so I can order take-out or something like that, 'kay?" I tell him. I might as well be decent, instead of returning the favor. Treat unto others as you would have them treat unto you, or some bullshit like that.
He stays silent, standing in front of the closed door. I sit down at the table, looking away from him.
"Max, look-"
"Fang, don't. I don't want to hear how sorry you are, and if you aren't sorry, any stupid things you're going to say that is probably going to leave me guiltier than before. What's done is done, and while I can't say that I forgive you, I understand that you were angry and not thinking clearly." I paused, letting that sink in. "Unless you weren't going to say anything about Gazzy and Angel."
He stares at the ground. "I'm sorry anyway."
"Fine. Look, I don't care if you're hungry or not, I'm ordering Chinese," I get up, grabbing the phone.
My anger dissipates into the thin air between us when he smiles at me. Things are cool again.
I guess that's what being best friends is about. In a few simple words, all can be forgiven. I'd almost forgot.
A/N: IMPORTANT. PLEASE READ OR YOU MIGHT GET CONFUSED ABOUT DELUDEDFREAK'S WACKO PLOT. So, the part in the last chapter in Fang's POV, where Angel asks him about if he still likes Max, don't think that it's because she remembers. She doesn't. Gazzy and Angel were told about Max, that she used to know Fang and Iggy and Nudge a long time ago. Um… I remembered it at the last minute, and if I had put it in the story, it would have broken the flow.
Scary bold letters are over. I wasn't planning to put the last part with Fang in it yet, but it just came out. So they're friends again. Except Max is still a bit angry at what he did. And some things will still be a little iffy with them, so no romantic stuffs.
I'm too lazy right now to write anymore in the AN. Yeps.
The new title is The Long Way Home because it was a tie, and I decided I like this title better. Because it fits the whole premise of this story- How Max is trying to go back to the way things used to be, how she is struggling to keep those she loves close to her and all that other crap.
I'm so tired. -falls asleep at the keyboard-
PLEASE REVIEW!!! I NEED ENCOURAGEMENT SOOO BADLY RIGHT NOW.
