A/N- I know, I know. I'm terrible. I won't bore you with excuses and such and will just skip to the chapter. Sorry for the wait!
A quick catch-up: Jeb, Stella and Valencia Martinez (Max's mom) are waging battle over whether or not to relocate the Flock, and Max and Fang just had their "kissing moment", and Ter Borcht is stuck in the middle of it.
:D
The three adults all glared at each other, none of them wanting to back down from their position. The kitchen table had turned into a battleground.
"We can't relocate the Flock!" Valencia Martinez said, starting to get seriously exasperated. "The kids have been through so much already. Can't they just live normally, even if it's just for a little while?"
"Absolutely not," Jeb spat back, finding it increasingly difficult to remain calm. "Look. Someone's after the Flock. We…we don't know much about it. Some of Itex's followers remain, and they want to kill those responsible for their downfall. You already have people coming after you! One false step and they're dead."
"No!" Valencia yelled. "That would never happen!"
Jeb came over to her and grabbed her shoulders. "Val," he said. "You know what Itex is capable of. They won't stop. Ever."
"Don't call me that," she snapped. "And besides. The Flock and I are perfectly capable of handling anything Itex throws at us." She received a withering glower from Ter Borcht, but ignored it.
"Give the flock what they deserve- a good, long life," Jeb said. "Not one where they constantly have to battle for their own house."
Valencia fell silent.
"You know I'm right," Jeb said.
"Would you rather have them happy, or alive?" Stella asked, leaning casually in her chair. She paused for a moment and tightened the bandaging around Ter Borcht's mouth, so he was unable to talk.
"Can't they be both…?" Valencia whispered, more to herself than anyone else. She realized, horribly, that they were right, no matter how much she hated it. Jeb shook his head in response to her question.
"I'm not the one telling them," she said softly.
Today, by far, was the worst day of her life.
It was the best day of my life.
I mean, my hormones were on some sort of high or something. Here I was, flying along with Fang, weaving in and out of the trees at a crazy speed. I mean, after kissing Fang, you can't help but think you're invincible. We were flying along back to the Flock, seeing as they were still under the assumption that Fang and I were competing in a race of speed.
Fang had this unbelievable smirk on his face, as if he was trying his hardest not to smile like a fool.
I am not! he said.
I laughed, and as I did, an unfortunate bug happened to fly into my mouth. I hacked uncontrollably, nearly running into a tree while doing so. Fang let out a massive laugh.
You're the real fool, he smirked.
Checking on my internal GPS, I calculated that we were still about two mile away from where we had originally left the Flock. We should hurry back, I said. They said to be back in two hours.
He nodded, and we sped up considerably. After a few more near-misses with trees and overhanging outcrops of rocks we shot upwards, knowing that the Flock was above. When we broke through the tops of the highest branches, we saw them not too far away.
"Hurry up, Max!" Nudge yelled, wings beating steadily behind her. "Beat Fang!"
It took a full two seconds for me to comprehend what she was saying- I was supposed to be racing Fang, which I had completely forgot about. Fang understood at the exact moment I did.
We blasted forward, but I kept from going all Super-Max on Fang for fairness' sake. (Yes, that's right. Maximum Ride can be fair, thank you very much.)
"So who won?" shouted Iggy, after we had passed them. Fang I screeched to a halt and turned back to the Flock.
"That's a really good question," Gazzy said. "Why weren't you guys racing when you first broke out of the trees?"
What's our excuse? Fang asked. We weren't exactly going to admit we had totally forgotten about it.
"We…we decided to call it a truce, to set a good example" I said. Haha, point for Max being able to think on the spot!
Or not.
You know what's really annoying?
Having a six-year-old omnipotent mind-reader always having the ability to pry into your head.
Angel forgot the past promise of not going into my head, and shouted, with all her might:
"OH MY GOD FANG AND MAX KISSED."
Damn, was all Fang got to say before there was a sudden onslaught of yelling, (from Iggy) screaming, (from Gazzy) gushing, (from Nudge) and hugging (from Angel). They were all flying around, faces like light bulbs.
Nudge was on full-power talking mode. She was practically hysterical, and jumped on my back.
"Woah, Nudge, lay off the sugar," Iggy said. With freaky precision he plucked Angel from me and took her by his side. "Let Max and Fang talk."
The Flock all backed away from us, leaving Fang and I floating mid-air with at least a bit of space to breathe. "So?" Nudge asked, leaning forwards. She looked happier than I had ever seen her, even happier than the time we had won All-You-Can-Eat Buffet tickets. "You…you…"
Without hesitation, so I couldn't read his thoughts, in one swift movement Fang swung me to face him and kissed me.
I could get used to this, I couldn't help but say. I could feel the excitement practically oozing from his body.
We have plenty of time, was all he said. I involuntarily shivered.
Meanwhile, the Flock was cheering on rapidly and cat-calling us. "It's getting hot up here!" Gazzy yelled, his eyes glued to us.
Gradually, Fang's lips were withdrawn from my own. We floated there, with our wings colliding against each other's, and our hands interlocked. There were a moments of silence, and Angel yelled, "So are you going to get married now?"
Fang and I both guffawed, as a serious awkwardness descended upon us. Angel, obviously, had yet to learn the art of what questions you were supposed to ask people.
Iggy, luckily, came to our rescue. "They can't exactly predict the future, Angel."
Nudge sighed wistfully. "But...but…it's just so romantic."
Calling two fourteen-year-olds romantic?
Hardly.
"We should go back now, guys," I said, catching a glance at my watch. "The two hours are up."
Nudge did a twirl. "Today has been, like, the best day of my life. Totally."
Fang grinned. "Let's go."
We sped along; Fang and I had a significant lead on the rest of the Flock. "What are they doing?" I shouted back to him.
Seeing as he was downwind from me, he had to do the mind-speak thing with me so I could hear him. He blushed, which was a very unlike-Fang thing to do. If…if I'm right, he said, I think that they're giving us our "space".
I groaned. "Hurry up!" I yelled to them.
As they caught up, Iggy said, "But don't you guys need room to like, grow your emotions?"
"What are we now, plants?" I asked. Iggy just laughed.
The rest of the trip was spent in a comfortable silence, Fang and I trying hard not to read each other's thoughts, no matter how hard that may be. When the house came into view we all slowed down to a stop and landed with a poof of dust.
Nudge took another moment to tackle me. "Oh, Max, I am so jealous of you!"
I couldn't hold back my surprise. "Jealous?"
Her eyes widened. "No! Not over Fang, but just over what you've achieved! I mean, you've finally gotten together with the one you really like! I...I really want that." The last sentence was directed to just me.
"Oh, Nudge," I whispered, and I got down on my knees. I could sense that Fang was trying to distract the rest of the Flock from this heart-to-heart moment. "You'll find your Prince Charming. Just believe in yourself, okay?"
She sniffed. "Yup. Sure thing, Max."
I wasn't sure if she believed me, but I had to accept it, for the door to the house opened. Mom came out first, crestfallen. My heart sank down.
What was going to happen now?
She slowly walked down the steps. I stood up fully and prepared to take whatever blow was next. Were we really going to move? Again?
Mom was crying by now. The Flock all assembled behind me in a pyramid-shape, with me at the point. She read the look on my face, and nodded.
"Yes," she whispered. "We have to leave."
I was surprised by the lack of emotion I had at her answer; deep within myself I knew that this was eventually going to happen. All good things really do come to an end. I had absolutely loved this place. For the first time, I had had a permanent place to stay. I could do as I please, and not have to worry. But then again, it had all been a delusion, really. When you're a genetic hybrid, some things just don't seem to come easily.
You're self-pitying, Fang said.
I know, I said. Please, leave me to my pessimistic thoughts for a moment.
He sent me a grim smile, knowing that I was only half-kidding.
"Where are we going?" was all Gazzy asked.
Mom took a deep breath. "My sister's. It's in Nevada. We're leaving immediately."
"What?" we all said. This was new. No time to at least hit downtown again?
"We can't even say goodbye to Ella?" Iggy asked.
Mom shook her head. "You won't have to. Ella and I are going with you."
"You're leaving the house? Your job? Your friends?" Fang asked. I could sense his confusion over the link we had.
More tears came. "Yes. Jeb…Stella and I decided that Ella and I would be at risk if we stayed here, because this is the first play They would attack."
"And who is this 'They'?" Nudge asked. "Itex people?"
"Yes, that's exactly right," Jeb said, stepping onto the porch. "Itex's supporters want you all dead. We phoned up Val's sister, she said it was all right wither her."
"She can handle eight people staying with her?" Angel asked.
Mom nodded. "My sister…is different than you'd expect. You guys can pack whatever you need right now. I have to go pick Ella up from school."
My heart lurched for Ella. She was a normal pre-teen who was about to lose all of her friends, just so that I could live.
What a guilt trip.
I stared Jeb down. No way was he going to sleep easily tonight.
The six of us all went to our respective rooms and started to shove things into suitcases that had been pulled out for us. Each of us only had one, and I voiced this question to Fang.
"There isn't enough to take our whole lives with us," he said. "Think about it. Normally we would only have our backpacks."
I saw his logic. We could only take the barest of necessities, and even that was a bonus compared to what we used to have.
I grabbed the nearest pieces of clothing and shoved them inside the suitcase.
Fang sat on his bed, essentially doing nothing. To be truthful, he hadn't even unpacked since they had gotten to Max's Mom's house. He had known from the very beginning that they would have to eventually leave on short notice.
He was keeping an extremely, extremely close reign on his thoughts. He knew that he needed to tell Max…someday.
Someday…
Just as I finished making sure the rest of the Flock had packed appropriate stuff to take, (Angel, for example, had only put in stuffed animals) Mom came back with Ella. Both were crying.
"Start packing up the car," Stella said nonchalantly, as if we were going to a daytrip at the beach.
"What are we doing with him?" I motioned to Ter Borcht, who had been knocked out with a dose of some of Mom's drugs.
"He'll be in the car with Jeb and me," she answered, flicking her nails together. "Ready yet?" It took massive amounts of restraint to keep myself from taking a punch at her.
Ten minutes later, the two cars were packed up to the brim. All of us assembled beside them, waiting for what we need to do. The Flock was eerily silent, with blank faces.
"There are eleven of us," Mom said. "Five in one car, six in the other."
Well. I could see the problem with that. Who would want to spend a drive to another state with Ter Borcht? I could only imagine the torture.
"He's already knocked out, so you don't have to worry about it," Mom said, reading my face.
"So who's going with who?" Fang asked, shielding his eyes against the setting sun.
"We're thinking that Max and Angel should go with Jeb and Stella for more…bonding time."
Oh, come on. They were only putting us with them because Angel and I were easily the ones who hated Jeb the most. That and the fact that everyone else would have complained probably played a key part as well.
"Are you okay with that?" Mom asked.
No, I said to myself. I want to stay here. I want to relax. I want chocolate when I want, as well as hot showers. I want to be safe, and not on the run. I've had years of that.
"Yeah, that's cool," I said.
Behind me, I could hear Fang grinding his teeth in anger towards Jeb and Stella. Calm down, I said. He didn't respond.
"How long is the drive?" I heard Gazzy ask as he got into Mom's minivan.
"A good twelve hours," Stella answered, slamming her side door. We were in Jeb's sleek, professional-looking dark hybrid. "Sleep through it."
Even though the sun was still up, I could already feel sleep drift towards me. Jeb was driving, with the unconscious Ter Borcht in the passenger seat. Angel was in between Stella and me in the back seat.
Jeb revved up the engine, leaving the house behind. We went in front of Mom and started leading the way.
I tried to keep my eyes open, but everything started to drift together as we got onto the highway. Signs, advertisements, billboards all started to become one. Only ten minutes into the drive, Angel fell asleep with her head leaning on my shoulder. I tilted my head onto the window, and joined her in sleep.
Fifteen minutes later I would wake up under very, very different circumstances.
A/N- I'm sorry for the terrible lack of updates. Normally I don't even write from January to June due to everything culminating in those months, but really didn't want to stop writing. I promise on Fang's hotness that I'll update by next Friday.
Reviews would be wicked. :D