A/N: Okay, chapter eight. Mostly a bridge chapter, but it's a sweet bridge chapter. Lots of sentimental mumbo-jumbo. In other words, pure fluff. Oh well. I like fluff. It's like… caramel coated cotton candy. Whoa! Look at the alliteration in that one! Anyway… it may take me a while to update after this chapter. Why, the curious reader asks. Because I shall be at camp with no forms of advanced technology at my disposal. Weep. Speaking of readers, Dentistry has gottenover 1000 hits! That's pretty good, considering it's only been up for like, less than a month. Thanx! And a special thanx to my reviewers/voters. Oh! THIS CHAPTER IS YOUR LAST CHANCE TO VOTE! SO VOTE! AGAIN!
Disclaimer: Ah! I think I forgot this last time! SORRY! I do not own Maximum Ride! There.
Chapter Eight:
What?
Fang didn't love me! I mean, sheesh, the guy barely shows emotion at all. And that time, way back, at the beach when I'd… let's say accidentally kissed him, he'd acted all mortified and shocked. And let's not forget the red-haired wonder, Lissa! Fang couldn't love me. Angel must've read his mind wrong or, hey! Maybe she was just saying that to make me feel better. Or maybe she didn't mean it that way. Whatever it was, Fang didn't love me.
"Max, love isn't all just hugs and kisses and holding hands. Think about the other time at the beach," the Voice interrupted me mid-rant.
"I'd rather not," I mumbled to myself. That was definitely not my finest hour.
"Max…"
Okay, okay. When the Voice had driven me to a point of insanity and I'd started ripping my arm open with a broken shell to get the chip out, (OUCH!) Fang had been… angry… and really, really scared. And when I'd started crying he… just like all the other times…
"You alright?"
"What's wrong?"
"Anne's never going to take your place, Max."
"You'll be okay. I promise."
"Max…"
"Max?"
"Max!"
"You almost gave me a heart attack. When I saw you and all that blood…"
"I'm sorry."
"Don't do it again."
"I won't."
Oh my God.
"You see, Maximum? You said it yourself last night. Fang's always been there. Iggy's not the blind one, you are."
Well, what difference does it make? I thought angrily. He's still leaving! Him liking me doesn't change anything! If it ever had, then maybe I'd have notice before now! I'm still losing Fang.
"That may be, but Max you can still stop it."
"How?" I screamed.
"How what?" Fang said, flying up beside me.
"Just… nothing," I muttered, shaking my head.
"Is it the Voice?"
I nodded. My eyes were still salty with tears, so I wiped them away on my sleeve.
"Are you okay?" Fang asked, worry written all over his face, which was a miraculous breakthrough for him. All because of me. Man, am I blind. He probably thought I was going to go cut myself up again. Which I wasn't.
"I'm fine."
"Are you sure you're okay?" he pressed.
"I'm fine!" I shouted. His concern was just making me feel worse. How could I not have noticed?
Fang didn't say anything.
Then I realized that I'd yelled at him. "…Sorry…"
Fang nodded, wind whipping through his hair, a blank look on his face. He was retreating back into himself, becoming silent Fang, annoying-one-word-answers Fang, face-like-a-rock Fang. God. How horrible am I to make him miserable when he just saw his mother for the first time in his entire life? Some friend I am. I tried again. "I'm sorry. I'm just… really frustrated. I'm sorry I screamed at you, but I really don't want to talk about, okay? And I'm not going to go all cutter again. I promised, remember? Thanks for worrying about me, though."
Fang nodded again, but he wasn't so tense, so I knew he wasn't going to shut himself up.
He flew in silence for a bit. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence, just… a mutual agreement that we didn't need to talk. Yeah. Like that. But I don't really like silences of any kind, so I decided to try to start a new conversation.
"Well…" I began. Fang looked over at me with a slight smirk. He knew I couldn't stay quiet for too long. I'm no Nudge, but not talking bothers me. "What do you think?"
He didn't need to ask what I meant. "She really does look like me…" he said, adjusting his flight meticulously to avoid the upturned eyes of a pedestrian below.
"Do you think she's your mom?"
Fang took a long time to reply. He never liked to get his hopes up. Fang hated getting hurt like that. "…Yeah…" he answered eventually. He thought for a while and then suddenly started chuckling.
"What?"
"Just think. My name would be Fang Raines."
I smiled. "It is kind of catchy. Sounds like a comic book superhero name." I spotted our cave and started landing. "Of course, Fang isn't your real name."
"What makes you say that?" Fang grinned. I laughed as my feet touched ground and I folded my wings. He landed beside me. Somehow, Fang always managed to make me feel better.
"But…" Fang's grin faded into a serious expression. He looked back at the rest of the flock, just a little behind us. "What should I do?"
I didn't need to ask what he meant.
"Fang, it's your life. I can't decide for you." I wish I could. "Do you want to go meet her?"
"Yeah! But-" he stopped as Iggy and Nudge landed behind us.
"Fang, this is so awesome!" Nudge squealed again, giving Fang another hug. Fang did his usual unmovable statue hug reaction, and she quickly let him go. "When are you going to go see her?"
Fang didn't answer, just looked at me.
Nudge frowned. "You are going to go see her, aren't you?"
"I want to, yeah," Fang sighed. "But it's just… you know, the wings…"
"Don't worry, my folks loved my wings," Iggy said sarcastically, voice so bitter it made me wince.
"Iggy…" I began tersely, but then Angel and Gasman landed. I really did not want to have a fight in front of the younger kids.
I sighed heavily, shaking my head, and sent Iggy a dagger glance that was completely pointless. Sometimes I so wished he wasn't blind.
Knowing my frustration, Fang smiled at me. Usually, when Fang actually smiled, it made my day brighter. But now, it just pained me, like a dull toothache in the back of my mouth.
What am I going to do without Fang?
A/N again: Cool little fact here: As I write this, I actually HAVE a toothache. It hurts like CRAP! This story has a weird title, I know. DENTISTRY. Truth is, I couldn't think of a title, except for that one. But hey, it makes sense. The story IS about Max having "Fang" "removed" from her life. Huh, huh, you get it? Whatever. I hope no one got confused by all the italicized stuff in this chapter. The italicized stuff with no quotations, is Max thinking. The stuff with quotations is the Voice. And that really spaced out italicized section was a three-second flashback. Yes, all those quotes can be found in either the first or second book. THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE TO VOTE ON FANG'S NAME! The winning name shall be announced next chapter! VOTE TWICE, VOTE TEN TIMES I DON'T CARE! JUST VOTE! HUNTER OR NICK?
