Dislcaimer: I'm running out of clever sayings. My brain must not be working today. OK, how about… I do not own Maximum Ride. Never have never will.

OK OK, I never said I was freaking Shakespeare. Although Shakespeare was pretty awesome. I wouldn't mind being Shakespeare. ANYWAYS, on with the story...

"That thunder in your heart
At night when you're kneeling in the dark
It says you're never gonna leave her
But there's this angel in her eyes
That tells such desperate lies
And all you want to do is believe her."

--Bruce Springsteen

Chapter 7:

Fang sat on the edge of his bed flipping through the channels on TV. He was incredibly bored, hungry, and pretty much miserable. A few of his least favorite things.

He couldn't believe he had just chickened out from finally telling Max. He was so close. He had brought up all this courage to tell her, and he froze up.

It was her eyes, those eyes that made him freeze up. When she looked at him…

Fang shook his head absentmindedly. It wasn't like him to just get scared like that. And after all, it was only Max.

But Fang knew it was never just only Max. No, it was much more than that.

Fang repositioned himself against the back of the headboard, enjoying the peace and quiet. Although he was starving.

Jeb had left to get Chinese food which they were having for dinner, about twenty minutes ago. Max was in the shower and Fang couldn't help thinking that Max was avoiding being alone with him.

He looked around the room, which was pretty nice for a hotel. A tiny kitchenette was next to the bathroom doorway. There were two full-sized beds, and a pull out couch that Max had promptly chosen to sleep on.

Fang heard the water turn on in the bathroom. He knew Max was stalling. She would never take such a long time in the bathroom. She was never the kind of girl to sit and stare at her reflection all day.

Fang looked at the TV screen. Some baseball game was on. Fang couldn't really care less about that. He had too much on his mind.

He was worried about Max. Fang just couldn't believe she was giving up; just letting her family get torn away from each other. Something else was wrong, something she wasn't admitting to Fang, much less herself.

Fang heard the water turn off in the bathroom. He couldn't help thinking it was a rather short shower for such a long time in the bathroom.

He heard Max stumble a few times or something and then he heard a loud thunk sound. What was she doing?

Fang saw the door open and Max emerged wearing nothing but a pair of dark green mesh basketball shorts and a towel wrapped messily around her torso.

Fang raised one eyebrow but then took a good look at her face and paused.

Her hair was dripping wet; she hadn't dried off at all and her eyes were frantic. She looked nervous and scared. Fang shot up off the bed and walked over to her trying to stay calm. The first thing that came to his mind was her expiration date.

"Fang," Max practically mouthed, "my wings are gone."

Fang stopped walking, in shock.

"What?" he asked.

"My wings," she said, her voice shaking. "They just disappeared."

Well, at least he understood the towel.

"Let me see," he said quietly, walking over to her.

Max moved the towel, so it was covering her front only, but not her back. She clutched it tightly, her hands curled into fists around it.

Fang spun her around slightly, his hand on her bear shoulder. He felt goose bumps rise on her skin.

He almost gasped. Taking a good look at her back, his eyes widened a fraction of an inch.

There was nothing there. Her back was completely naked.

Max stood there, fiddling with the towel. She was obviously uncomfortable.

Fang grazed his hand across her back, feeling for anything other than skin. He stopped when Max shivered.

"I can still feel them," Max said. "Just like I can feel my arms. But when I touch my back, they're not there."

Fang didn't know what to do. He had never heard of body parts just disappearing. It was like waking up one morning and realizing your leg just fell off.

Unless…

"Try moving them," Fang suggested, hoping it would work.

Max nodded.

At first, Fang couldn't see anything but then he looked a little closer and he saw the tips of her feathers appearing from under a thin layer of skin.

"They're still there Max," he said. "Try moving them a little more; it looks like they're coming from under your skin."

Wordlessly, she unfurled them a little more.

They paused for a moment, not saying anything.

"I think maybe, your skin grew around them," Fang said. "There's a layer surrounding your wings. I'm not exactly sure though."

Max sighed, relieved, and then adjusted her towel.

"They're still there?" she asked.

"Yeah, but you should have your mom check it out when we get back."

"Yeah."

They both paused again, the silence awkward. Max moved her towel again, trying to make it seem less noticeable.

"Should we tell Jeb?" Max asked.

"Maybe…" Fang responded.

"Well, he might know what's going on."

"Unless this wasn't supposed to happen," Fang pointed out.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"We're changing. Things are happening to us that are not supposed to happen. He might not know about it," Fang explained.

"But maybe he does and can help me," Max suggested.

"But if he doesn't, then that doesn't help us."

"Us?" Max raised one eyebrow.

"You."

"Don't you trust Jeb?" Max asked.

"Do you?" Fang thought that he actually trusted Jeb more than Max, but he couldn't be sure.

"I don't know." Max looked down.

They were quiet for a minute, Fang looking at Max wondering what she was thinking.

"I'm gonna go get changed," she said quietly.

"Hold on," Fang said before grabbing her wrist. This was eating at him since she came out of the bathroom looking all freaked out.

He twirled her around again and swept back her soaking wet hair with one hand so he could get a good look at her neck.

There was nothing there. Completely blank.

Fang let go of her arm.

"What?" Max asked, sounding worried.

"Nothing."

"Fang…"

"Nothing there," he said. "I promise."

One side of Max's mouth curled up into a half smile.

"You shouldn't make all these promises, you know," she warned. "One day they're all gonna come back and bite you in the ass."

Fang smirked and watched her walk back towards the bathroom. Max continued adjusting her towel uncomfortably. It fell a little, showing off some of her skin but Fang didn't see anything before she quickly placed the fabric under her arm.

Not that he was looking anyway.

Fang sat back on his bed, after Max had closed the door, a little dazed. What had just happened? He always felt like this after a talk with Max.

He needed to tell her. Before something happened.

He knew Max knew it. Or was at least wondering about it. Fang knew she was waiting for him to do something. Max would never say anything first.

Max came back out of the bathroom, her hair pulled back in a sloppy ponytail. Fang had always liked her hair back anyway.

He watched Max opened the mini-fridge and take out a water bottle.

"You know you have to pay for those," he said, just trying to make conversation.

She shrugged and took a sip. Max looked at Fang, then moved to sit next to him on the bed. She stretched out her legs, crossed at the ankles and stared off into space.

"Stressed?" Fang asked.

Max sighed. "This wasn't supposed to happen," she said quietly.

"I know."

"And we can't even do anything about it," she said sounding defeated.

"Why not?" She hadn't actually given up, Fang was sure of it. She just needed a little persuasion, that's all.

"I'm pretty sure the Flock wants to go anyway."

"I don't think so." Actually, Fang knew so.

"How do you know?" she asked, looking at him for the first time.

Fang paused for a moment. He thought Max didn't notice, but he couldn't be sure. "I know everything."

"Oh, sure you do," she said, rolling her eyes. But she was smiling and that made Fang's heart pound.

Sorry for the shortness. And by the way, I am a strong believer that Max and Fang will never, ever share the same bed because there isn't enough place to sleep. One of them will take the floor or something.