"So, what did you guys do today?" Mom asked. We had told her we were making a few changes to the house. We never got around to those. I took a deep breath.
"We, um…" Did I want to tell her? I looked around and Fang gave a slight shake of his head. "Decided not to change anything. We just hung out and talked all day," I lied. She smiled and nodded.
"Oh okay. Max, we're all really glad to have you back," she said happily. I smiled and looked up. Everyone was nodding. Angel started giggling.
Fang's thinking some more than others! She told me mentally. I smiled even bigger. Then I thought of Fang's song.
"I'm glad to be home," I answered honestly. Fang was staring at me.
"Fang, we're all curious," Iggy said, grinning mischievously. "What were you and Max listening to?" I gaped at them. Fang turned bright red, and looked down. I thought.
"Uh…it was…" I had nothing. Fang was still really embarrassed. I put my hand on his knee under the table, and he turned his head to look at me. He put his hand on mine, and he took a deep breath.
"Something Fnick wrote," he finally managed to mutter. I grinned, and everyone smiled.
"I love it!" Angel squealed. Fang turned even more red. Iggy grinned.
"You got talent," he complimented, hitting his fist against Fang's. Nudge and Ella put on aw faces.
"We all were wondering…what's it called?" Ella asked.
"Yeah. We all know who it's for," Nudge said excitedly. He sighed.
"I don't know." I smiled, and looked at everyone.
"I didn't know who it was for at first," I admitted. They stared at me.
"It isn't obvious?" Gazzy asked, with a mouthful of his supper. I rolled my eyes.
"It wasn't then."
I could still hear it playing in my head. I would never forget it. Ever. He had an amazing voice. There was no doubt about it. It was…perfect. I looked at him, and he was looking around. That was one of the moments in my life I didn't want to forget.
"When did you write it?" I asked, very curious. He looked at me and grinned.
"When I had some inspiration," he said, grinning. "Seventeen days ago," he muttered under his breath. I stared at him. Oh my God! I didn't know Fang could be so perverted! I am going to kill him!
"Why are you going to kill him?" Angel asked curiously. I looked up at her and shot her a shut the heck up look. She nodded, and then Fang looked at me. He thought for a second, and then nodded. He knew.
"That's not what I was talking about," he whispered in my ear. "I was talking about how you told me you loved me too." Okay. He just saved his ass. "That never even crossed my mind." I looked at him.
"Good," I
whispered. He smirked.
"But it is now." I rolled my eyes,
and I stood up.
"I'm tired," I lied. "I'm going to bed." The Flock nodded, and Ella. They knew where I was going. Not to sleep, that's for sure.
"Max, your father is coming tomorrow," Mom announced. "To visit." I froze. I bet he knew all about Micah.
"I don't care. I'm not talking to that traitor," I muttered. She didn't hear me. Everyone else did. Fang grinned, and Iggy nodded.
"Fun," Fang said, loud enough for everyone to hear, but not very loud. You could tell he was being sarcastic. He stood up, and he started to walk into his room.
"Come here," I whispered, pointing in my room. He nodded, and walked in.
"What?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. I shrugged.
"Nothing. Were you going to look at your papers?" He nodded again. "You could bring them in here, if you want." I looked up at him, and he grinned.
"I'll be right back." I smiled, and he quickly ran and got his box. He slowly came back in.
"Hurry up," I whined. He went even slower. I yanked him in and shut the door. He frowned when I turned around.
"What was that for?" I rolled my eyes.
"My grandma could have moved faster!" I exclaimed. He grinned. Someone knocked on my door.
"Max, I almost forgot," Mom said from outside. I opened it. She looked at Fang, and then me. "We're having a family reunion this weekend. What is he doing in here?" Oh shit. I forgot we said we were going to bed…well, I did.
"Uh…he was saying good night. He has to ask me something." She nodded, but I don't think she believed me.
"Okay. But Saturday. Don't forget." I nodded. I probably would have to tell everyone I wasn't married. I had never met any of my family…except Mom, Jeb, Ella, and Ari. Fun.
"I won't." I shut the door. Fang was watching me.
"Well, I'll make sure to go out of town Saturday," he teased. I shook my head and sat on my bed.
"I don't think so mister," I said matter-of-factly. "You are coming too. You aren't going anywhere." He frowned and sat beside me. He put his box beside mine.
"At least it's summer. Otherwise, we would die. We'd end up failing, because instead of studying, we'd be reading all of this." I nodded, and he pulled me into his lap. He rested his chin gently on my shoulder. He pulled out some of his papers, and I pulled out mine. The first one was about my parents. That was useless.
Fang was studying his page thoroughly. I pulled the journal out of my box. Most of it was stuff about my development. Until the day Fang was born.
Tuesday, May 17, 1994
Dear journal,
Once again, Experiment One is improving. Today, Experiment Two was born. It's like him and One have a weird connection. When she saw him, she got quiet. He kept looking at her. We would lay him one way where he couldn't see her, and we'd come back in, and they would both be staring at each other.
He has so far been just as successful. Janssen said we need to make another, but wait. Two is very quiet. One was too, but he doesn't make a single sound.
Sincerely,
Micah
I tapped Fang on the shoulder, grinning. He looked down at me, and then the entry. He read the entry and kissed the top of my head.
"I guess some things never change," he whispered. I nodded, and I kept flipping through. It talked about when we learned to walk, when Iggy came along, when we got our wings, Nudge, and then teaching me, Fang, and Ig to fly. It was kind of cool reading back on all of this. Seeing a scientist's point of view.
That didn't change my opinion on the matter at all. I still thought these people were whack jobs that needed to be put in an insane asylum. I took out another piece of paper, and it had information about me I never knew.
I was supposed to expire nine years ago. They even had a plan to 'retire' me if I lived to be twelve. They would do it peacefully. Thank God Jeb got me out. They would have done the same to everyone else.
Fang sighed and put all the papers he had out back in his box. I blinked a few times, and did the same thing. He kissed my neck softly, and then moved me out of his lap.
"You know, your birthday was fourteen days ago," I informed him. He looked at me and smiled.
"Really?" I nodded.
"It's not too late to celebrate," I whispered. He shrugged.
"Nah. That's okay." I rolled my eyes.
"You don't want to celebrate your seventeenth birthday?" I teased. He shrugged.
"Not really that big a deal. We never did when we were growing up, why start now?" I shrugged.
"It'd be fun." He rolled his eyes, and he stood up. He put his hands on my cheeks, and he kissed me gently.
"No. Now good night." He walked out.
I found out Iggy was born on Tuesday, July 19, 1994, Nudge was born on Monday, November 24, 1997, Gazzy was born on Sunday, October 15, 2000, and Angel was born on Saturday, February 23, 2002. Wow. I had to remember to tell them that.
All this information we had been searching for since we went to New York, now three years ago, was found in my attic.
I laid my head on my pillow, and I drifted off to sleep.
"Max," Fang whispered later that night, or early the next morning, I don't know. I groaned and looked at him.
"What the hell do you want?" I hissed. He grinned and sat down beside me.
"Do you want to go flying?" I stared at him.
"You have got to be kidding me," I muttered. He shook his head.
"No." I sighed, and I reluctantly stood up. Why was I so willing to go anywhere with this boy? I was in love.
"So lover boy, where are we going?" he grinned and grabbed my hand.
"You'll see." I rolled my eyes and followed him.
I'm not sure how much later, but we later arrived at a cave…familiar. We landed inside, and I looked around. I had definitely been here before. Fang looked at me and grinned.
"Do you remember where we are?" I shook my head, and he smiled. "This is where I first kissed you." My eyes opened wide, and I looked around.
"I remember now. You woke me up to show me this, why?" He sighed and sat down.
"I had some things on my mind, and I couldn't sleep." I sat beside him.
"Oh okay." He took a deep breath.
"I think everyone should meet their parents," he said quickly. I gaped at him.
"You said so yourself that no one was leaving—"
"I know. But shouldn't they at least get the chance to meet them?" I frowned.
"But what if they want them to stay?" I questioned. He took a deep breath.
"They can't make them, and we can't make them stay here. As much as we would love to, their parents' information is in that box. Once they read it, they will want to meet them." I shook my head.
"Still…what if…they decide to stay with their parents?" Tears filled my eyes. "I can't loose them!" He hugged me. I cried on his shoulder for a few minutes. I looked up at him, and he was smiling.
"It'll be okay," he said soothingly. "If they decide that, then, we can't stop them. Max, eventually people have to move on and let go. Maybe, we should too. It's going to be the hardest thing we've ever done, but whatever happens will be for the best." I hugged him again. "But there's only one thing for sure…I am not going anywhere. I mean, sure, it'd be nice to meet them, but I'm not living with them." I kissed his cheek.
I looked out at the sky. The sun was rising, and it was beautiful. I tugged on his arm.
"I want to show you something," I whispered. I stood up, and he did the same. I flew him to the place where I went to and just cried those three years ago.
"This is where I cried," I whispered. "Because of you. I was so confused. I loved it when you kissed me, but all my emotions were jumbled up and messed up and totally out of whack. I just…didn't know what to do." He tilted my head up to look at him.
"What if I did now?" he whispered, inching his face closer with every word. I smiled. His breath smelled like peppermint…mouth watering.
"I would probably do this," I whispered back, before kissing him softly. I pulled back quickly and took off. I looked back at him, and he was grinning. He was watching me. He took off, and he grabbed me around my waist.
"Well, in return, I would do this," he said before shooting straight towards the ground. He wouldn't let me go.
"Fang, what are you doing?" I shrieked. He grinned, and when we were about one hundred feet from the ground, he let me go. I shot back upwards.
"I'm going to kick your ass," I warned before flying towards the house. He chuckled and flew after me.
"Try," he taunted. I rolled my eyes, and kept flying. Before I knew it, he grabbed my hand. We flew towards the ground, and when we got close, he slowed us down. We landed, and he pushed me against a tree. He put his arms beside me, propping himself on the tree, and he kissed my neck. "Kick my ass." I wrapped my arms around his waist, and I took a deep breath. He never quit kissing my neck. I finally knew what to do. I pushed him off of me, and I pinned him against another tree.
"How about I do this instead?" I asked, before kissing him on the lips. He tilted his head, and pulled me closer. His hands slid up onto my back. I knotted my fingers in his hair. I pulled back a little later, gasping for air. He was breathing heavy too. He grinned.
"I like that better."