Disclaimer: I don't own Maximum Ride. There. I said it.
Chapter 4—Max P.O.V.
The next morning, we all were sitting at the kitchen table eating a large breakfast of omelets, toast, and those small mini breakfast sausages. I sat between Angel and Iggy, feeling exhausted from my lack of sleep the night before. I was trying to jump into one of the too many conversations going on, but I didn't have the energy.
Angel, Gazzy, and Nudge were making up scenarios about their families. There was a pretty large range, differing from Nudge's parents living in a mansion with two Porches- one black, one blue- an indoor swimming pool, and full-length tennis courts. Angel and the Gasman's parents were living separately, their mom owning a bakery and their dad being the mayor. I didn't want to remind them that one, or both, of their parents had sold them.
I kept thinking back to the talk I had with Jeb early this morning, before anybody had woken up. He had found me curled up in the armchair in the dark living room, staring off into space.
"Max?" he asked, sounding worn out and tired, "Are you ok?"
No Jeb, I thought. I'm just awake at five o' clock in the morning because I felt like it.
Instead, I shrugged, but he probably didn't see.
"Are you worried about their parents? Is that why you're awake?" he asked. He was going for a responsible, caring father but was pretty much achieving annoying.
"Couldn't sleep." I had just hoped he would go back to whatever he was up for. Instead he walked over to the couch and sat down, reaching out his hand to place on my arm. I pulled away.
"I was hoping what we could do is call their families first, let them know who we are before we go check them out in person." So he wanted to talk business. That was fine with me.
"Ok," I said.
"We won't share too much information, of course. Just enough though."
I nodded, not wanting to talk. Jeb decided to change the subject.
"Do you want anything? I was going to make some coffee," he asked, starting to get up. I shook my head.
"Ok. Just let me know if you change your mind," he winked at me before walking into the kitchen.
"Max," Ella said, snapping me out of my flashback and bringing back to the present.
"Yeah?" I asked.
She pointed to Fang, "Doesn't Fang look like Batman?"
Uh, what?
I paused for a moment before responding, looking at Fang who seemed to be deciding if this was funny or annoying.
"Um… not really," I said warily.
"What?" she said, sounding outraged at the same time Iggy said, "I told you so."
"Well, he looks more like Batman than Darth Vader," Ella said to Iggy. I was completely lost in this conversation.
"Yeah, OK. Whatever you say," Iggy said, waving his hand in Ella's general direction.
"He needs a cape to look like Darth Vader, Iggy," Ella said in a voice clearly questioning why he didn't know this.
"Oh, sorry. I guess I must've missed that the last time I watched Star Wars."
"Yeah, so how can you even tell what he looks like then, Iggy?" Ella asked.
He shrugged. "Last time I saw him against anything white."
I decided it was time to step in. "What the heck are you guys talking about?" I asked noticing for the first time that the rest of the Flock had left.
"Well, Iggy thinks that Fang looks more like Darth Vader when he obviously looks more like Batman," Ella explained.
"And you got on to this subject…how?" I asked still confused.
"Ella asked Fang why he wears black all the time," Ig said.
"And you two just decided he looked like Darth Vader and Batman."
They both paused, thinking for the right words.
"Well, yeah," Ella said.
"Whatever." It was probably best not to get into it.
I got up from the table, picking up my plate and piling my silverware on top, "You know," I said, walking over to the sink, "If you grew a beard, Fang, they might start calling you Chewbacca."
I turned around to see Fang's reaction and he gave me a say-anything-else-and-you're-so-dead look and I smiled.
Jeb had called us into the living room to discuss the "situation." I stood next to Fang, who had his arms crossed.
"Sometime, either today or tomorrow, Max and I are going to make some phone calls to your parents before actually planning a good time to meet them," Jeb started.
"Are we going to talk to them?" Nudge asked.
"Probably not," I said, hating the look of disappointment that crossed over her face. "You know, for safety reasons."
"But it's only over the phone," she pointed out.
"I know Nudge, but you never know what could happen."
She quieted down, and Jeb continued. I had the feeling that everything he was going to say was going to go in one ear and out the other.
"Max and I are going to see if we can go sometime over the next few weeks to meet everyone," Jeb said and it looked like he had more to say but he was interrupted by Nudge.
"Are we going, too, Max?" she asked her face lighting up.
I shook my head and her face fell, "That's why I'm going, Nudge. To check them out. You know, make sure they're safe and all. Hear their background stories." I realized Jeb picked up on my choice of wording of not including him in the details.
"But I thought that was why you're calling them," she said, her brow furrowing. "Right?"
"Well, more like I'm calling to make plans to meet them. I still have to check them out before any of you guys actually meet them."
Nudge had pretty much given up on trying to make sense of this, "Whatever," she said and I was surprised at the lack of words.
"Nudge?" I asked a little worried.
"Yeah, I understand now." She sank back deeper into the couch, twirling a curl from her hair absentmindedly. I would talk to her later.
"We," Jeb continued looking at me, "just wanted to make sure everyone was caught up with the plan. Everyone good?"
Heads nodded, and Iggy turned back to the TV. Angel went outside with Mom, who was teaching her to plant flowers in the garden. Gazzy moved next to Iggy to watch a baseball game, as Ella moved next to Nudge (who still looked a little off), to look at magazine. Jeb went back into Mom's study.
"Hey Darth Vader," Iggy said. "Come watch the game."
"It's Batman, Iggy," Ella told him.
"Well, he looks like Darth Vader."
"You can't even see him Iggy."
I rolled my eyes. Not this again.
"Alright, enough," I cut in. They were still glaring at each other. Well, more like Ella was glaring at Iggy, who was just kind of looking mad in her direction.
"Later, Ig," He turned towards me, "I want to talk."
So it was going to be one of those days.
Reluctantly, I followed him to the room the guys were sharing. Frankly, a bunch of homeless pigs would've kept the room neater, the way it looked right now.
When we were both in the room, he closed the door and then crossed his arms, "Talk."
Oh, so he wanted me to talk.
I tried to look innocent and confused, "About what?"
He rolled his eyes, "You know about what."
"Uh, no Fang. I don't know," I said, glaring at him.
"What's wrong?" he asked, now more serious, his eyes reflecting worry.
"Nothing's wrong," I mumbled.
"I know you better than that, Max," He uncrossed his arms. "You can tell me."
I didn't trust my voice enough to speak.
"Are you worried about the Flock? Them meeting their parents? You meeting their parents?" He was staring at me intently, as if he could see right into my soul.
"I'm not worried," I said and he gave me his don't-lie-straight-to-my-face look, "Really, I'm fine." I started to walk past him but he stuck his arm out across the door and I stopped dead in my tracks.
"Max, tell me what is bugging you so much." His voice was assertive and I wondered why he cared so much when he was about to leave me anyway.
I narrowed my eyes. "Leave me alone, Fang," I practically growled. He stood his ground. Then he straightened and pulled his arm back next to him, his eyes now softer.
"I'm not leaving you, Max. I told you. The Flock isn't either."
I took a step back, surprised at how quickly he figured out why I was so upset.
"Max," he took a small step forward, then seemed to stop himself at whatever it was he was going to do.
"How do you know that for sure Fang?" My voice sounded indifferent on the outside, but on the inside, I was pretty shaken.
"I just do."
"Well, that's not good enough!" I was getting pretty frustrated now and what was even more pathetic was the fact that I didn't even know what was really bothering me.
"Max, you're just gonna have to trust me on this one," Fang said his eyes averting my gaze.
"What, are you physic now Fang? Huh? Have you developed some ability to feel emotions? Or read minds? How do you know?" I was getting really steamed now.
Fang was quiet, looking everywhere except at me.
I froze. Did Fang really have some ability that he didn't tell me about?
"Fang?"
"No. I can't feel emotions or see into the future or anything." He still wasn't looking at me.
I crossed my arms. "Fang," I said to him, trying to keep my voice steady and even. "Tell me."
He looked up at me, his dark eyes searching mine, making my heart pound. He was very still for a minute, as if trying to figure out what to say.
"No," he said finally. "I can't do any of that." I observed his face trying to find proof that he was lying. A flash of worry shot through me when I realized that if he was lying, that meant he could be sifting through my thoughts or sensing my emotions and that made me sick to think about.
"I'm serious," he said and I narrowed my eyes. That was just the kind of thing I would expect him to say if he was just reading my mind.
"Max, get real. Would I have some power that I wouldn't tell you about?"
My first thought was, yeah, he would, but then I realized, more realistically that that probably wasn't the case. He would tell me if something like that had happened to him. I looked down.
"Whatever," I mumbled, not wanting to admit that he was right.
"Why were you up so early this morning?" he asked, changing the subject.
"I wasn't up early," I said.
Fang rolled his eyes, "I heard you."
"How do you know it was me?"
"I can tell by your footsteps."
Oh, sure he could.
I looked away, not sure how to respond to that.
"Max?"
"I was talking to Jeb." I was probably better off not lying; he would know if I was anyway.
"About what?" His voice was mildly surprised, but I bet no one but me would be able to tell.
I shrugged, "About what we're going to do and all."
"When are you going to meet their parents?"
"Don't know. I only want to make one trip, you know? Not one per family," I said.
Fang nodded, "Looking forward to it?" he teased, a small smile threatening to spread on his face. I glared at him.
"No, not really," I sighed. And that was the truth. I thought about asking him what I've been wanting to, but decided not to. I didn't want to feel the rejection when he shot me down.
"Nervous?" he teased even more.
"Ha, I'm not nervous," I said, pretending to be offended by his comment. His smile grew more prominent.
"Yeah? Why are you so pale?"
"I'm not pale," I said automatically, not knowing if it was true or not.
He raised him eyebrows, "Yeah, you're just naturally albino."
"Yup, that's right." I couldn't be that pale, I was sure. Someone would've said something before Fang had even brought it up.
He rolled his eyes, but decided to drop the subject. "Come on," he said, "Everyone's probably wondering where we escaped to."
"They're probably thinking that you're out back burying my dead body," I teased as we walked out the door.
He turned to face me, a wicked grin spread across his face that made my pulse race. I gathered up the courage to ask him, digging down deep before my annoying common sense kicked in.
"Fang?" I asked my tone serious.
He looked at me expectantly.
I took a deep breath; there was no backing out now.
"I was…uh…wondering, if…," I couldn't do it.
"Yeah?"
I chickened out, "Never mind." I started to walk past him but he grabbed my arm and hauled me back in front of him.
"What?" he asked, but I couldn't concentrate. We were closer than before and his hand was making my skin get all hot.
"Um…" I stopped. It wasn't fair to ask him. "I uh, think you look more like Johnny Cash." Stupid, stupid, stupid! That was all I could think of?!
His mouth quirked into a grin, "While I appreciate that comparison, I know that wasn't what you were going to tell me."
"No, really. That was it," I said, hoping maybe he would forget about it. Fat chance, but still, maybe he would.
"Max…"
"Will you come with Jeb and me?" I said it quickly, all in one breath to get it over with.
He seemed a little surprised, as if that was not what he was expecting me to say. I felt bad about asking him; I didn't know truthfully how he felt about meeting his parents. But I really didn't want to go alone with just Jeb, I kind of wanted a second opinion. Asking Fang to come was the only thing I could think of.
Fang hesitated and looked away.
"You don't have to come, if you don't want to. I don't know how comfortable you are with the situation anyway," I said quickly, rushing through my words.
He looked up at me, "What?"
"Like, meeting your parents," I explained carefully, thinking maybe he wasn't on the same track as I was.
His eyes flashed understanding, and my previous thought was proven correct.
"What?" I asked wanting to know what he was thinking.
Fang shook his head, lost in his own thoughts.
"You don't have to answer me now," I said softly, "You can think about it."
Fang nodded, and then walked out of the room, with me a few steps behind feeling less connected to him than ever.
Sorry it took so long to update but I was slammed with homework and all this other stuff all of a sudden. The next chapter will come quicker I promise!