Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride. If I did, well...
That night, we stayed at a hotel. Actually, we stayed there for several nights. I didn't want to risk moving Max too much, but the danger of us being found again made me edgy. The desk clerk had looked at us funny at first, but with Angel's help, we got a few rooms with no more questions. Angel and Nudge stayed in one room, Iggy and the Gasman in another, and I stayed with Max. There was no way I was about to leave her alone for more than one minute.
Every night before I went to sleep on the cot we had asked for since there was only one bed, I would lay down beside Max, and we would talk until she fell asleep with her head on my shoulder. Then all I would do was slide out from underneath her and go to my cot.
Max was getting better each day, and she was able to walk by her second day of recovery. Not that I would let her walk five steps without me there by her side, though. She absolutely hated it, but I'm not letting her do anything. Now that I think about it, it doesn't sound all that great. Oh well, that's me for ya.
One night, while we were lying in her bed (ew− not in that sort of way), she asked me about the day she fell. Of course, I had to get in my questions too.
"Did you have another brain attack?" I asked. "Is that why you fell?"
Max closed her eyes and slowly nodded. "Sort of," she mumbled slowly.
I blankly began rubbing her shoulder, and she nestled her head on my shoulder. This I was more than happy with. When Max was happy, usually I was, too. For a while, we just laid there mindlessly watching the television, tuning out the words, and just enjoying each other's company. I shifted the slightest bit to make both of us more comfortable, and she winced in pain.
"Are you alright? Do I need to get you anything?" I said, worrying that she was still hurting.
"You worry about me too much, Fang," she sighed. "And no, I'm fine. I don't need anything." I looked at her, not completely convinced. She gave me a little smile. "Honestly," she reassured me, "I'm fine."
Well, if she said she was okay. . . .
"Are you positive? I mean, I can go get you something if you need it," I told her anyway. "No, wait, I can have Iggy or Nudge go to get you something. I'm not leaving you alone any time soon."
Max rolled her eyes, but I could see the laughter inside of her. "Fang," she whined. "I'm okay, alright? I'll be giving a hundred and ten percent by tomorrow."
Her reassurance made me settle down and lessen my worries. "If you say you're alright, then I'm good, too."
She sighed, "I guess you would be." I grinned warmly at her, causing what I thought was a flush grow across her cheeks. Max turned her head away from me before I could be sure of or even joke about it.
"Why don't you get some rest?" I suggested, gently running my fingers through the tips of her hair.
"On one condition," she said, stifling a yawn. "Stay with me until I fall asleep."
I softened my gaze, filled with a warm emotion that she couldn't see in me. "Of course," I whispered, kissing her forehead. Max looked surprised by me kissing her, but she didn't say anything. Instead, she closed her eyes and rubbed her head against my shoulder to find a more comfortable position. Then, with Max right there beside me and the lull of the TV in the background, my eyelids became heavy, and I allowed myself to sleep just long enough so I would be content. Just a few minutes, that's all I needed. . . .
Sometime later, I awoke to the sound of an angel's voice. "Fang, are you awake?" she whispered ever so softly.
My eyes were still closed, but I could picture her, this angel of my mind, in person. I could just imagine her flawless white wings, stained with flecks of brown and black on the outside.
"Fang," she said, her voice muffled by that dreamy feeling I had. "Wake up, please? I need to ask you something." Several minutes passed, but it felt like hours, before I could respond. This dream was just too perfect.
When I did open my eyes, I saw the only thing that was better than seeing an angel: Max. She was still next to me, right where she was before I had fallen asleep. (How long had I been out?) Her arm was holding up her weight so that she was leaning over me. I just wanted to reach out and touch her, to feel the softness of her skin and to see her smile.
"Hmm? What? What time is it?" I mumbled, still half asleep.
"Hey, sleepy, it's about midnight," Max said softly. I looked up at her and blinked groggily. She tried to hide the smile on her face, but I saw it in her eyes.
"What do you need?" I asked as I sat up a little more. I shook my head to clear my cloudy thoughts.
"I've been thinking a lot recently," she whispered, absentmindedly drawing circles with her finger on the sheets in between us. "Well, mainly while you were sleeping, which I might add, you were supposed to wait until I feel asleep."
I grinned coyly at her. "Yeah, I'm real sorry 'bout doing that, Max." She sighed and pushed my head against the backboard jokingly. "So," I began more conversationally than before, "what do you need to ask me?"
Right away, I saw a shyness come about Max. She never got this nervous unless it was something she didn't want to talk about. Knowing this, I had a pretty good idea what her question was about. I've been waiting for this talk for a while.
"When I fell," she said almost in a whisper, "I kind of heard you talking a little."
My heart beat a little faster. Yes, she was going in the direction I wanted her to, but what if something went wrong? What if I messed it up? No, I'm sure that she feels the same way. I mean, look at all of the signs! Those were signs back when they happened, right? Oh, jeez.
Max apprehensively blew some hair out of her face. "I was wondering, if . . . if you knew what you were saying," she fidgeted. "'Cause you know that I've said some things that I don't mean, right?"
"I meant every little thing I said, all of it," I said without much of a hesitation.
She bit her lip. "Uh-huh."
"Is that a bad thing?" I asked, trying to ignore the anxiety I was starting to feel.
"N− no, it isn't," she said softly.
The seconds ticked by and turned into minutes, all in silence. How long would this last? This silence would kill me before any Flyboy or Eraser would, and that's saying a heck of a lot. It would be midnight of the next week before either of us said anything. I couldn't wait that long! Jeez, it was already midnight dark o'clock. If I had to wait even until the morning, I'd probably go insane from the nerves.
"Max, please, for the sake of both of us," I said, enjoying even the smallest reference to us together, "please tell me what you really want before its morning."
"Technically," she mumbled wearily, "it's already morning. It's after midnight."
I rolled my eyes. No freakin' duh. "I get it. Just tell me, will you? I'm not going to bite, or at least I won't too hard."
She sighed, not really finding it that amusing. See, me, Fang, biting too hard, get it? Oh, forget you.
"Do you love the flock?" she asked. I nodded. "All of the flock?" I nodded again. "Every one of us, even Total?"
"Yes, Max," I said, growing tired of her avoiding this. "I love everyone in the flock." She nodded her head, not completely satisfied, but content. "But," I went on carefully, "there is someone who I love more than anyone else in the flock."
If Max was tense before, boy was she a bow drawn tight now. "Want to guess who it is?" I asked her, and I allowed myself to brush some of her hair out of her face.
"I think I have a pretty good idea," she murmured anxiously, giving a dry laugh.
A soft smile came to my face. "You know, they do say laughter is the best medicine," I told her. She looked over to me for a quick second. "I can think of something that's even better than that."
Without looking back up at me, she asked, "What?"
I gently touched her cheek and turned her head toward me. Her beautiful brown eyes were wide with caution and the slightest hint of fear. "This," I said as I drew her closer to me. There was nothing more that I wanted than to just whisk Max away and show her how much I loved her right then and there, but I went slowly with her, tenderly kissing her soft lips. She responded like I thought she would, hesitant, but going along with it.
After a sensible amount of time worth of kissing her, I pulled away, though I was reluctant. She stared up at me with utter disbelief and surprise. "Feeling any better?" I asked her.
"Somewhat," she replied vaguely.
I rolled my eyes and slid down so that I was lying down again. "I guess I'll get more out of you in the morning," I sighed.
Max nodded wearily, yet I still found her pressing her body against my side. "It's past midnight," she said quietly. "Maybe later this morning," she added softly.
"Midnight, morning, whatever," I mumbled, but who cared if it was dawn or dusk? I had Max, and that was all that really mattered. I was going to keep her safe, stay with her, for as long as I could. That's what I would do. Take care of her, keep her safe, and be there for her, but most importantly, I would love her. Until the midnight morning of the rest of our lives came to an end I would adore her, and even after that, she would be my angel in heaven.
Aaaannnd...that's it! The final chapter! Midnight Morning is officially over with! Awww, it's so sad. I really loved this one. It was a bit hard to write toward the end, and I know that chapters came slower, but here it is: The final chapter. Wow.
This chapter is uber long! I mean, my gosh! It's, like, four pages long on my computer and about 200 words shy from being 2,000 words long! This is, by far, the longest chapter I've ever written. In honor of finishing my very first Maximum Ride fan fiction, I would like to...Actually, I don't know what I want to do, so...I'll reply to some of my reviews! No offense to those I didn't choose...I hate long ntoes at the end...ugh. I'm such a hypocrite.
MaximumFangness: Ice cream? Ice cream makes everything better! But -gasp- I got you to cry! Ack! Hasn't happened in this fic until you! (Or at least I think so...) Anyway, yay! I got an emotional response! Ha ha!
x.Skybreaker.x: Soap opera-y? LOL! I'm lucky it has a plot. Seriously, with every other story I'm working on and then some, I'm surprised their plots haven't crossed at all! Pft. I'm so unorganized when it comes to writing, but I write what I want when I feel like it, so there we go. Happy author equals happy readers.
Okay...I'm getting tired of this... So.Many.Great.Reviews.Can't.Choose.GAH! Okay, so to all of you that did review, thank you. For everyone who said something positive about the story, thanks a lot! For everyone who said something positive about my writing style, muchos gracias! And for the few who gave me a critique, thanks! (I'm not all that great at thank you speaches...xD)
So, that's it...Midnight Morning is officially...complete. Thank you, everyone for reviewing, the 55 people who reviewed before this chapter and a thanks to anyone who will be reviewing in the future.
- Saz
BTW...I own the 4th Max Ride book. If you want to hear me ramble about it, message me! AHHH! The Max-ness! The Fang-ness! The Fax-ness! -duct tapes mouth shut before she gives away the plot-