Thank you to my inspiration, My Chemical Romance's 'I'm not okay (I promise)'. And I thank my four closest friends, without them, I would be in a small padded cell next to Max. I love you guys (you know who you are.)
Enjoy.
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"Can I have a moment alone?" I asked Angel and Nudge. They nodded and released me, and then I went back to Dr. Martinez's room, and stifled my screams with a pillow.
I lay on the bed for awhile, trying to swim through the rip tide of agony that was pulling me under. As the torrent of pain began to subside, I heard the door open.
I pulled myself into a sitting position and attempted to put on a façade of humanness. If Angel of Nudge or someone came in, I had to be strong, for them.
It was Fang. As he closed the door behind him, my pretenses began to slip and he saw my struggle to regain control. He came to me and wrapped his arms around me, silently holding me together.
I hate being weak! I loathe it! But Fang's arms were comforting, supporting. Maximum Ride was still iced over, frozen in pain, but his arms were defrosting her, bringing her closer to the surface. He was what I needed. We both knew I would never be quite the same again, but I knew that my flock, my family would still accept me as I was without stopping to think about it. They would take me, broken and defiled. I looked up at Fang, and he returned my gaze.
"I'm not dreaming" I murmured.
"I'm glad you finally came to that solution" he said, mindlessly playing with a lock of my hair.
"You look so different" I said suddenly.
"Two years will do that to a person."
"I feel like I don't know you" I admitted.
"I'm still the same Fang from two years ago, on the inside." I nodded.
"You look different too."
"I wouldn't know" I responded "I haven't seen a mirror in two years."
"Seriously? Wow." Then he pulled me off the bed and dragged me down the hall to the bathroom, where there was a full-length mirror. He shut the door and came to stand beside me, waiting for my response.
My hair had grown a lot; it was now mid back and wavy. It was light brown, with streaks of blond intertwined. My eyes were a brown chocolate color and my skin was ivory from not being in the sun for two years. I had lost all my baby fat and my face had a certain sharpness to it. Now that I was sixteen my body had become more defined. My hips were wider, though my abdomen was still very thin and lightly covered with muscles. I had full breasts, though not enough to get in the way during a fight. I was taller now, maybe 5'8 or 5'9, though Fang was still taller.
But my face, around the eyes especially, you could see the damage. I didn't look quite human, and that hurt me, a lot.
I turned away from the mirror; I couldn't take it any longer. Fang silently grabbed my hand and led me back out.