Disclaimer: I claim to right to the Maximum Ride universe. Thank you so much for all of your support as I struggle to keep this going. Your reviews make me so happy! Please keep doing it. Reviewing that is. And don't think I don't see all of you who apparently have nothing to say.

And so after a long night of spilling my guts and eating half a gallon of ice cream, things were winding down. Most of the flock had gone to bed. They had school in the morning. I laughed right in their faces when they told me, especially when Gazzy reluctantly admitted that they had uniforms. But deep down I was happy for them. They deserved to get out and about with kids their own age. Apparently the educational institution had a more difficult curriculum than regular schools. It was a school for the "gifted," whatever that might be. Good for them. Even Fang and Iggy had attended for a year before graduating early with honors. Imagine that.

I lay in bed, tired but not quite ready to go to sleep, and listened to the rain pattering on the roof. Definitely an advantage to being in the attic. For some reason, rain always made me feel better. It's like it washed me clean without judgment or criticism, like I was just another part of the earth.

The doorknob turned and the latch on my door clicked open. I had been expecting this. I lifted the covers and Fang slid into bed next to me. I curled into his side and he put one arm around my waist.

"I hate this," I admitted with a little sigh. He moved as if he were going to get up. I pulled him back down . "Ha ha, very funny," I said sarcastically.

He turned his head and I could feel his breath puffing through my hair. "Then what do you hate?"

His shoulder felt warm against my cheek through his t-shirt. He smelled clean, like detergent and wind and, crap, there's the Calvin Klein again. My eyes drifted closed. "I…forgot."

"Maybe you'll remember in the morning."

I shrugged sleepily. I was getting way to much sleep lately. But I suppose feeling safe tends to make a girl think she can catch up on the years of sleep she missed while running for her life. I'd say it evens out. Fang shifted beside me, swinging his legs out of bed as he sat up. I grabbed his wrist.

"Will you," I started. "Will you stay with me? Tonight?" I knew he wouldn't make a big deal of it, but I was really nervous. It was weird, asking him to stay, but I felt more like myself when he was around. Even the dark shadows of my subconscious couldn't stand against his presence. He was silent and still for so long that I figured that I had shocked him enough that he was considering whether or not to have me committed. I let go of his wrist and rolled onto my other side away from him, trying not to feel rejected.

The bed lifted as his weight disappeared and the floorboards creaked a touch as he departed.

Okay. I guess I mistook that whole 'Let me take care of you' thing and the kiss that he instigated. Here I was thinking that I had finally broken through and reached him, that I had let him almost all the way. Good thing it hadn't been all-wait. I sat up, already moving to intercept an attack and…

A pillow hit me in the face. It fell away leaving me open mouthed.

Fang slid back into bed and tucked the pillow under his head. With a completely straight face, he said, "What? I can't sleep without this pillow. It's my lucky pillow."

I was torn between relief that he hadn't just abandoned me and an intense desire to punch him in the face. I settled for glaring at him. He smirked at my irritation. "I remember, I hate you," I said and wiggled away from him while pulling the covers up over my head. His chuckle sent a shiver through the bed.

His arm snaked around my waist and drew me close, my back to his chest. "No, you don't . Now go to sleep."

"Excuse me?" He was gonna die for that.

"You're not ready to take the reins back. I'm still acting leader and I'm ordering you to sleep." I felt his lips press lightly to my shoulder. "I'll keep watch." All of my irritation melted away.