A/N: Now I know you all probably want to kill me in the most torturous way possible because I haven't updated in so long but today I wrote and extra long chapter to try and make up for the long time without updating. I really no on to blame except school and I hope that answer satisfies you because I have pretty much no other excuse. I just had like a total epiphany and was filled with energy to write this chapter today so I got my sister's laptop and I got to work. Anyways I hope you all enjoy this chapter because I sure as heck enjoyed writing it and if I do say so myself it came out pretty good.

Disclaimer: I do not own any Maximum Ride characters.

Chapter 17

I wanted to get up, I wanted to know if Fang was alright, but every time I tried to move my limbs felt like they weighed a ton. I struggled to stay awake, to move but I eventually fell asleep.

………………….

I took a shuddering breath and realized I could move but it hurt to do so. I looked around and noticed I was alone and probably in my mom's room. I moved to get up and gave a pained gasp at the stinging pain in my back. My whole body was sore and my movements were stiff after not using my muscles for I had no idea how long. The clock on the bedside table read 1: 30 a.m. and I wondered how many days I had been out.

"Fang!" I gasped. My heart thudded in my chest and I felt my eyes start to water remembering how he had hurt himself to save me. I hurried off the bed but collapsed in heap on the floor due to the weakness in my body. I started to sob quietly trying to muffle the sounds with my arm, too proud to want anyone hearing me.

"Max, sweetie, are you ok?" I heard my mom say coming into the room and hurrying to my side.

"Sweetie calm down, what happened?" She asked brushing the hair out of my face.

"Where's Fang, how is he, is he okay?" I asked panicking. She looked at me, a look that worried me. She looked at me with a pitying look, a guilty look.

"Mom……" I said as if on my last breath.

"Max, sweetie, there was nothing I could do I-I had to call Jeb." She looked away from me as she said his name.

"You called Jeb?" I yelled.

"Max there was nothing else I could do; he knows you and your anatomy better than I do. I had to call him so Fang wouldn't have any permanent disabilities." She said apologetically.

"Is Fang at least ok?" I asked partly dreading the answer.

"As far as we know he's doing ok but he has been slipping in and out of consciousness a lot." She said quietly.

"Can I go see him?" I asked her.

"You've got that look in your eyes, you love him don't you, sweetie, promise that we'll have a chance to talk later." She said gripping the sides of my arms urgently. I looked down at my hands blushing.

"Mom please, can I just go see him?"

"Yeah just promise ok…….." I nodded and got up slowly, as to not fall again.

"Come on I'll help you." We walked out of the room and I looked into the living room. Everyone was asleep. Gazzy had Angel in his arms, Nudge was lying in Iggy's lap and Ella was curled up in the armchair.

"Come on, we should let them sleep, they haven't been able to the last couple days" She whispered.

When my mom opened the door to Ella's bedroom door the first thing I noticed was Jeb standing against the wall. I hadn't seen him a while but my bitterness was still there. I gave him a scathing look, in my defense, old habits die hard.

"You're up."

"Thanks for stating the obvious!" I was anxious; I wanted to be alone with Fang.

"Max be prudent, he's helping Fang." My mom said next to me.

"That's a first!" I retorted. He sighed and pushed away from the wall.

"Why don't we leave you two alone, come on." He said motioning to my mom. She gave me a worried look and then followed Jeb out the door, closing it behind her.

My anger left the room with Jeb and without my mom I felt a little more alone, more insecure. I slowly walked over to Fang and knelt by his bedside. Looking at him like this, so vulnerable knowing it was my fault brought tears to my eyes. I took his hand in my own and I traced the lines on his palm.

"I'm so sorry Fang." I whispered. "I really wish you were awake, I don't know what to do anymore." I would probably never be able to express it in words, how much I needed him. He always helped me make the decisions and was always there taking care of me. I didn't know how to survive without him, it felt like a huge part of me was gone without him.

I stayed there holding his hand for a while until I started to feel drowsy. I started to stand but when I tried Fang's hand had a grip on mine.

"Stay here." He said. His voice was so light no regular person would've been able to hear him.

"Please Max."

"Ok." My voice cracked and I was pretty sure I was close to tears. I sat down next to him.

"No, you're going to get tired from sitting, lay down." I did so; I moved over him and lay down next to him.

"Mmmm," he sighed contentedly. "Did you get hurt?"

"Not as much as you probably did." He grunted in response. "I'm sorry." I choked up and started to cry. He wrapped an arm around me and tucked me under his chin.

"Don't cry Max." I took a shaky breath and stopped crying after a few moments. I cuddled in the crook of his arm and gently draped an arm over his waist as to not hurt him. My eyes started to feel heavy and I fell asleep as close to Fang as I could not wanting to let him go, ever.

…………………..

"Max, get up." I felt my mom gently shaking my shoulders, trying to wake me. I grunted in response and cuddled closer to Fang.

"Max come on. Jeb needs to check on Fang." At this I opened my eyes and shot up into a sitting position. My body protested at the quick movement and I wrapped my arms around my torso, where the pain was mostly centered.

"What does he want to check, why?" My mom gave me a worried look.

"He just wants to check how he's healing and I think you should let him take a look at you too." She said hesitantly already anticipating a tantrum. I looked over to the door and noticed Jeb was there. I merely shrugged my shoulders, not a very good idea, and slowly got off the bed.

"What do you need a verbal invitation?" I sarcastically said to Jeb motioning to Fang. He walked over to the side of the bed and started take off his old bandages and started putting some new ones after checking Fang for any abnormalities in his healing.

I looked down at my torso and noticed for the first time that I also had dressings around it.

"Why'd you bandage our torsos?" I asked to see who would respond and see who had done them.

"Because knowing you and Fang, you'd have pulled a muscle if I hadn't. They're there to restrain you from moving too much." Jeb answered. He had done it and it surprised me that he had taken the time to do so and not just telling mom to do it.

"Oh." I merely responded. He finished wrapping the bandages around Fang and he looked over at me with a questioning look. He was giving me a choice.

"I-I'd rather mom do it, if she can?" I looked over at my mom and she nodded.

"If that's what you want, then I'm no one to tell you, you can't." He'd been trying to get me to do what he wanted for my entire life and suddenly he was letting me choose. I nodded and my mom took me to her room.

While she was taking off the dressings we didn't talk. I noticed she was thinking hard about something and I wondered if it had anything to do with what she wanted to talk to me about last night.

Finally the silence was getting unsettling and I decided to ask her.

"Mom what are you thinking about?"

"Oh I guess it's just me but I'm just worried about you."

"Why it seems like I'm healing just fine." I said trying to reassure her.

"It's not that it's just that I see you and how much you seem to care about Fang and I don't know what to think about you two."

"But why? There's nothing to worry about mom, seriously."

"I know it's probably me just making a big deal out of nothing but I've noticed what a strong bond you two have." She paused for a moment before she continued. "Max is there anything going on between you two that I should know about as your mother." She asked.

"Mom!" I yelled in embarrassment. "It's nothing like what I think you're getting at." I said putting emphasis on 'you're.'

"I never said anything like that; you're the one who thought it. I gave you no reason to believe that." She said putting an emphasis on the last word.

"It was implied." I pointed out.

"I gave you no reason to believe that unless you two are…….."

"Mom we are not doing anything inappropriate, nothing like what you think we're doing." As much as I wish we would I added in my head.

"Ok, just one more question and promise you won't freak out ok?" I nodded.

"He's not forcing you to do anything is he?" She said cautiously.

"No! He wouldn't do something like that!" She had been right about the freaking out part.

"Why would you even ask something as stupid as that?" I yelled defending Fang.

"I have reason to after what I saw before you took off flying." I remembered and realized why she would think something like that.

"Well he isn't and that's final." I said.

"Well then why were you-." She got cut off by me.

"That's my problem." I said with a note of finality.

"Max I'm your mother and I want to know." She said a little more sternly.

"Oh please I've known you for two years!" I said putting up two fingers. She looked at me with first a look of surprise then anger and then finally dejection. She got up, fixed her clothes and went to the door.

"If I had known about you I swear to you I would've searched for you." She said looking at the door before opening it and walking out.

"Mom no come back, don't leave me!" I yelled before collapsing into a heap on the bed. Alone again were the words that ran through my head. I always managed to push away anyone who cared for me. Breathing was becoming difficult and it felt like my lungs were getting smaller and smaller until I lost consciousness. Last thing I heard was someone calling my name but not loud enough to figure out whose voice it was.

…………………

When I woke up again my throat was dry and I had a pounding headache. I looked around and I saw Jeb and my mom talking in the corner of the room.

"She blames me for not being there." She said and it sounded like she was crying.

"Trust me I've had to deal with her insults and reproaches for years and I know when she means certain things and when she doesn't. Take my word for it when I say that when she found out you were her mom that was probably one of the happiest moments of her life." He said with a chuckle after the previous comment. She laughed a little bit and then sighed.

"Why do you think she lost consciousness?" She asked Jeb.

"I talked to the flock and they said that she and Fang were having problems so I'm guessing she had a nervous breakdown. What I think she needs right now is support from all off of us including me and I'm trying to but I know she's going to test my patience with that smart tongue of hers." He said sounding defeated already. I laughed a little at that. They heard me and turned around to look at me. Jeb looked like he thought I'd lost it and my mom looked worried.

"You sounded funny right there Jeb." I said still laughing although my throat protested.

"Well I'm glad to be the cause of your laughter. I'll go get you some water you sound like an animal being strangled. I glared at him as he walked out of the room.

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to say that. It's just that-."

"It's ok you're dad told me about your outbursts. I'm just not used to it like he is. As long as you don't rub off on Ella. You've had a rough upbringing so I don't blame you for being a little overprotective."

"I am not overprotective!" I said undignified. She laughed.

"Oh I beg to differ you're over protective of the flock, especially Fang, and most of all you protect yourself from being emotionally hurt." She said more seriously. I rolled my eyes playfully although I realized how much truth her statements held.

"Has Fang woken up yet?" I asked hopefully.

"Actually he woke up a couple hours ago but Jeb and I urged him to go back to sleep for a while at least until you woke up."

"I'm going to go see him ok?"

"Wait until your dad gets back with your water, your voice does sound very raspy although I wouldn't venture as far as to say like a strangled animal." She laughed lightly at the last part.

"Don't call him that." I almost whispered.

"He is your dad even though you may not like it that way." She said coming to sit next to me.

"I know but I'm not ready to go around calling him that and I don't want other people referring to him that way either, not yet." She nodded and Jeb came in with a glass and a pitcher of water. He handed both to me and I drank greedily.

"Fang woke up and he's asking for you.' He told me.

"Well then I won't waste any of both of yours time." I said practically running out the door. It felt awkward with both of them there after hearing them talk about me.

Once I was at Fang's door though my high wore off and I hesitantly knocked on the door. I didn't hear anything so I decided to knock again when the door opened and there was Fang standing in nothing but pants and the bandages around his torso.

"Fang!" I said blushing and looking away.

"What?" He asked confused.

"Put on a shirt." I said still unable to look at him.

"Oh my god, you're unbearable sometimes. I have bandages covering practically everything a shirt would. I really don't think I need one." He said.

"I also have bandages but you won't see me walking around shirtless!" I said in high voice finally turning around to look at him. The indent of his abs was visible through the light bandaging and I couldn't help but stare at his pecks which were not covered.

"Stop staring, you're making me blush." He said sarcastically. I ended up blushing at his comment and this only made him smile. One of those rare smiles that I loved and made me feel butterflies in the pit of my stomach.

"Come on, we need to talk." He said a little more seriously, wrapping one of his arms around my shoulders leading me into the room.

"About what?" I asked once we were sitting.

"What's Jeb doing here?" He asked. I sighed. I should have known he was going to ask about him.

"Mom had to call him because she wasn't sure what to do." I said looking down at my fingers which I was wringing.

"Oh" He merely said.

"I missed you." I said turning to look at him. "I was worried that I was going to loose you." I said starting to choke up.

"Me too. Thanks for staying here with me the other night." "After what happened that night I thought you wouldn't want to be near me again."

"It wasn't totally your fault; I've just been really jumpy and paranoid." He pulled me near him and then sat me on his lap wrapping his arms around me.

"My mom thought you were forcing me." I laughed a bit but I felt him stiffen under me.

"What!"

"Don't worry I told her you weren't and that you would never…." I said drifting off at the last part.

"I wouldn't you know that right. I don't want to force you into anything you to don't want to do although you make it really hard, beautiful as you are." He said burying his head in my hair.

"W-what?" He thought I was beautiful, it was almost laughable.

"You are you know." He said holding me closer.

"Why are you telling me this all of a sudden?" I asked feeling doubtful.

"Just the thought of loosing you makes me want to tell you everything while I have you here with me." He said rubbing circles on my bandaged stomach. I felt heat spreading through me at his touch and I squirmed a little to try and relieve it a bit.

"Don't do that." His voice was strained.

"Doing what?" I said confused.

"Squirming around." He said through his teeth.

"Why what's wrong, did I hurt you?" I asked worried.

"No nothing like that." He said. It hit me like a brick wall in the face and I felt my face start to heat up.

"Oh I'm sorry. I'll stop." He breathed deeply a few times and I felt him relax again after a few minutes.

"See what I mean when I tell you you're beautiful, too beautiful for your own good if you ask me." He said and I felt him smile against my back. I was still totally mortified so I just nodded. He took my silence the wrong way and turned me around to look at him.

"I didn't mean to freak you out or anything, I just couldn't really help it." He said worried that I might've been freaked out.

"Don't worry about it, I wasn't." I said grinning at him. "Fang what are we going to do about this, us?" I asked. He took a deep breath………………………….

A/N: Anyways I hope you all enjoyed that as much as I did. I haven't done my homework because I was writing this so I really hope it was worth it. Please, please, please review because well……..they make me feel like I'm doing something right!

P.S.: I will try to update as soon as possible and no later than Spring Break! (yay)