Disclaimer: After this chapter I'm not going to do anymore disclaimers, I'm sick of writing them, so here goes for the last time, I do not own Maximum Ride!

This chappy is dedicated to Vampirewings6, who gave me the idea, anyone else who wants to give me ideas, go right ahead! This chappy is the beach scene in book number one!

Fangs POV

The rest of the flock were sound asleep. I looked around at all there faces. Angel and Nudge were curled up together, their hands just touching. Gazzy kept tossing and turning fitfully in his dream. Iggy had his face buried down into the sand, and I started to wonder how he was actually breathing.

When I turned to besides me, I saw Max, lay by my side, a characteristic frown on her face, hands clenched, her knuckles white with being so tight. Her eyes were screwed up tightly and her lips pressed together, so it looked just like a line. I felt a pang inside me that she was in pain, and that I couldn't do anything to help her. With that, I lay back down in the sand infuriated, and closed my eyes, trying to rest.

I think I must have dozed off, because next thing I heard was that awful Ari's voice saying 'Look who's come to the seaside!' My eyes shot open to see him standing over Max, his foot against her throat so he was holding her down as she struggled. She carried on struggling so he laughed. "I like 'em feisty" he replied and stroked his hideous claw down the side of her cheek. That was about as much as I could handle.

I leapt to my feet and in one fluid moment I yelled "Get off her!" and jumped him, so we went flying away from Max and I held him against the floor.

Ari threw me off him and stood up facing me, before coming and attacking me. He was throwing his claws everywhere, scratching against my cheek and cutting me open. I glared viciously at him before throwing a punch at his stomach making him lose wind with a long 'Oof!'

I knew I was outmatched, but managed to throw a hit at Ari's collarbone. He yelped and stepped back in pain. He bared his teeth at me for a moment, before stepping forwards and quickly bashing the side of my head in. It hurt like hell! My eyes closed momentarily and I fell onto the soft sand, holding my head in pain.

Ari bent down and picked up my head with my hair, before bashing me back down onto a rock. Pain exploded through my head, and I thought of Max suddenly. If her brain attacks were anything like this I had to be more sympathetic in the future.

I felt as if I could no longer move, and that I was drifting into unconsciousness, when I heard Max screaming for Ari to stop. I couldn't handle her screaming, she sounded so upset and frightened. I fought against my heavy eyelids and won when they slid open slightly. I saw that Ari was still looming over me, so my fist tightened around some sand and threw it up in his eyes. He yelled and then brought his elbow down heavily on my head, and the entire world went black.

"We could carry him, you and me..." I heard Iggy saying, as I felt his hands brush lighter than a moths wings over my skin.

"Where to?" I could hear Max's voice tight, and it sounded as if she was really worried. "We can't exactly get him to a hospital."

"No hospitals" I muttered quietly and Max gasped in surprise.

"Fang! How bad are you?" she said, and I managed to open my eyes a slit to see her and Iggy leaning over me worriedly.

"Pretty bad" I said, and stretched my body, trying to shift my weight.

"Don't move!" Max ordered and I stilled. I felt something in my mouth and groaned, before putting my hand to my mouth and spitting into it. My tooth came out and I threw it onto the ground in annoyance.

"Feel like crap" I groaned. I saw a smirk on Max's face and frowned slightly.



"You look like a kitty" she said, and moved her fingers along her face in whisker motions, showing me where Ari had scratched my open. Great, now I look stupid as well as injured! I glared at Max and a weird look came over her face.

"Fang, just live, like and be okay!" she said in a whisper, and leant over and kissed me. Then she leaned back and he face was bright red, and we stared at each other in shock. The others just glanced between us like at a tennis match when your trying to follow the ball across the net, and your head ends up bopping along so fast you look like a broken nodding dog toy you put in the back of cars.

But I couldn't think straight. Max had just kissed me. We never kiss. At the moment, Max looked so embarrassed that I thought I'd try and pretend it didn't happen.

Later on that day, we were sleeping in a subway tunnel, and I couldn't stop thinking about that kiss. I mean, what was that all about? Max had just had another brain explosion, and this jerk had come up to us with his laptop, telling us to stop screwing with it. So now not only could Max talk to this mysterious voice in her head, but also controlled people's computers. That a definite eleven out of ten on the weirdo alert scale.

Later on when we were just trying to relax, I noticed Max was still awake. I looked over at her and she looked back, her face slightly flushing again. I knew she was still thinking about the kiss. I was too. It felt so weird for her to kiss me. I've loved her ever since we escaped with Jeb around three, nearly four years ago now. I've never been sure of how to talk to her, how I could ever say to her how much I loved her, but then she just goes and kisses me.

I think she may feel the same too, but she hides it under that hard as stone attitude. I practically know that she loves me, the way she lets me and only me see her when she's down. I've always been there for her, like she's always here for me.

I moved closer towards her and she looked at me and smiled slightly. I gave a lopsided grin and her face heated again. She tilted her head down so her hair cascaded across her face, hiding it from me. I felt that pang once again, and I knew if I didn't say anything now, nothing could happen.

I quickly reached up and pushed her hair back behind her ear. Her eyes stayed down on the ground and she bit her lip. I leant closer so my head rested against the side of her face, and my lips reached her ear.

"I love you" I whispered softly and nuzzled her neck. I looked up slightly and saw a grin on her face. She turned to me and put her arms around my neck.

"I love you too" she said, and I leant towards her a kissed her.