Whoa, long time no update…

Disclaimer:: I am so not feeling creative for the moment. I do not own Maximum Ride.

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"I'm hanging on the ropes of hope,

It's getting hard to cope you know."

--Bon Jovi

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Chapter 9: Max POV

Right away I could tell this trip was going to get real old, real fast.

We were in some rental car, driving on some highway, on our way to Fang's mom's house. It was around a four hour car drive, which made me feel better that Fang and Iggy were so close to each other.

Fang was sitting in the passenger seat, next to Jeb, listening to his iPod. I was in the back staring out the window as I had been for the past three or so hours.

Last night, after we had got back from eating dinner, I had called the Flock for a much needed phone call. Iggy seemed very uninterested in his parents. But it still felt good to hear all of their voices and to talk with them.

After the phone call, Fang had pulled me aside and told me about the clear membrane that had appeared on his back. He said it wasn't as apparent as mine, but we still opted not to tell Jeb. It wasn't like he would be able to do anything about it anyway.

So now we were talking part in a very silent road trip. And by silent, I mean silent. I don't remember anyone saying a word since we left the hotel.

But about twenty later, Jeb broke that lovely silence.

"Look out for exit sixteen," he said and Fang and I answered, then fell back into comfortable quietness.

I wasn't paying attention when Jeb turned off the highway. It wasn't until I started noticing restaurants and gas stations that I realized we've hit suburbia. My mind had been else where.

"Here, read these aloud," Jeb told Fang as he handed him directions that I had watched him write down back when we made the phone calls.

I easily read Fang's hesitation and, took to how my own heart was just about to implode; it was just then that I realized how nervous Fang was.

I leaned forward in my seat and took the paper from Fang's hand. He turned his head towards me, surprised.

"Turn right at the first traffic light, and then turned left onto Cleveland Drive," I read as Jeb glanced back at me.

"Are you buckled in?" he asked, then focused back on the road.

I rolled my eyes, annoyed. Like that really mattered.

"Watch out for Cleveland Drive," Jeb instructed us.

After about five minutes of Jeb driving and me giving directions, we pulled onto a wealthy looking street with large houses and bright green grass. I watched Fang as he took it all in with curious eyes.

Jeb parked his car in front of a navy blue house, which looked a bit modest for the neighborhood. The entire front yard was completely filled with plants and flowers. A silver suburban was parked in the driveway.

I gave Fang one last glance over before he got out of the car. He looked cool and collected but I knew him better.

I walked next to him as we approached the house. I wanted to do something to comfort him, but was too scared to. I didn't know how he would react.

We walked casually up the steps and Jeb rang the doorbell. Fang stood there as a statue as I tried to contain my nervousness. I knew that if I was acting this way, then Fang must be flipping out. Not that he would show it.

I heard tiny footsteps running closer to the door.

"Mommy, Mommy! Someone's here! Someone's here!" a little boy's voice shrieked on the other side of the door.

"I heard you Mikey," replied a woman. "Let me get it, alright?"

I looked at Fang. He didn't look much different than he did a moment ago. Except his eyes. Those looked jittery.

I nudged his arm with my elbow. He seemed indifferent.

I heard the door unlocked and then it opened. A smiling woman with tanned skin and shoulder length reddish brown hair was in the doorway. I recognized from the pictures that this was Fang's mom.

They looked more alike than I thought. From the photos, I couldn't see a resemblance anywhere. But here, in person, it was completely different. They had the same eyes, same face shape, and same nose. I could also tell where Fang got his smile from.

"Mommy, who are they?" the boy asked, looking at us curiously.

"I believe this is Jeb," she started, pointing at him. "And Max." I nodded and forced a smile on my face. It was harder that I thought. "And…Fang?" When he nodded, her smile grew larger.

"I'm Danica," she said extending her arm to Jeb. "And this is Michael. Or Mikey," she said, squeezing his shoulder. Fang was staring.

"Well, come in, come in. It's scorching outside."

She led us though the entryway, then through the living room and let us sit around a large table in what seemed to be the dining room.

The house was not as I expected. It seemed familiar and cozy and looked a lot more intimidating from the outside. I tried to not let my gaze linger on the pictures hanging on the wall.

"Are you guys' hungry? Did you have lunch already?" she asked, heading into the large connected kitchen.

"Yes, we stopped along the way," Jeb responded.

"How was the drive?" she asked. "You were in Washington, right?"

"Yes. It wasn't bad. Not too long," Jeb answered. Fang and I were just standing there, trying not to stare at the walls.

"Yeah, it's not a bad car ride. We sometimes go down for a weekend or something." She turned to Michael and handed him a cup of juice. "Hey, Mike, why don't you go downstairs to the family room and put on a show, ok?"

"Ok," he said, then ran off.

Danica turned back to us. "Please sit down." She motioned to the chairs around the table.

We took our seats and I scooted my chair a little closer to Fang. Our eyes met, but his were flat, expressionless. I wondered what he was thinking.

"Well," she said, calmly. "Where should we start?"

Everyone was quiet. I wanted Fang to say something, but I knew that wasn't going to happen.

"Your house is very nice," I said lamely. "Big."

She smiled. "Thanks."

It was quiet again. I was having car ride flashbacks already. This was not a good place to start.

"Have you ever been to this part of the country?" she asked.

I looked at Fang. He had no intention of responding, I could tell.

"We were in New York City before. About a year ago. Little less maybe," I answered.

"Yeah, we go there often. It's only about an hour an a half away. Rob actually works in the city."

I remembered looking in Fang's files that Jeb had found and recognized that Rob was Fang's step-dad.

I nodded, not knowing what to say to that. Fang was quiet, just sitting there, not talking at all. Jeb hadn't said anything at first, so when he spoke up, it surprised me.

"What do you do for a living?" he asked.

"I'm a guidance counselor for a high school about forty minutes away from here. Schools already out for the summer there," she answered.

I glanced at Fang, seeing his reaction and was a little disappointed. This was his mother, and after fifteen years of not knowing her, you would think he would show even the slightest hint of emotion. I couldn't tell what he was thinking at all.

"Have you two ever gone to school before?" she asked, her question pointed at Fang.

He looked at her and I prayed that he was going to answer.

"A few months," he answered. He turned his head towards me as Danica smiled.

"It was horrible," I said.

"Most kids think that," she said sympathetically.

Fang was looking at me, his eyes trying to tell me something. I pulled my eyebrows together in confusion. What did he want?

Then I got it. He wanted me to steer the conversation. I narrowed my eyes at him. Fang just stared right back. I kicked his foot lightly.

"What have you done up until now?" Danica asked us again.

"Running," I said truthfully. "We grew up in California. Then we lived in Colorado for a little while. After that, we moved around a lot."

"Must be tough, having to move from place to place," Danica said.

Fang nodded.

"Sometimes," I said. Beats living in a cage.

Uncomfortable silence met us then. No one said anything. Jeb was being uncharacteristically quiet; I almost forgot he was there. It was very nice, if only for a moment.

"How did this happen?" Danica asked, her voice a whisper.

Fang and I looked at each other. Jeb didn't say anything.

"Some lame scientists decided it would be beneficial to take innocent human babies and turn the into lab rats," I responded.

Jeb winced at my harsh words and Danica's face softened.

"I'm so sorry," she said.

For a moment no one said anything. Jeb was looking at me, I was looking at Fang, and Fang was looking at the table.

"What's it like to fly?" Danica asked.

Her question took both Fang and me by surprise. I hesitated and Fang looked up at her.

"Incredible," I answered.

"Like nothing else," Fang said, his voice getting deeper for a moment.

"Really?"

Fang nodded. "Really."

And that pretty much set the mood for the rest of the afternoon.

We talked some, me doing much of it, Fang adding things when I forgot, or when he felt like he needed to respond, and Jeb filling in for the more scientific questions.

At one point, we got onto the topic of her having Fang. I'm not really sure how it happened, but we were talking about it and Danica was pretty comfortable with it.

"I was going to give you up for adoption," she said. "It was only one night. I was with my boyfriend who was going off to college in the fall and we were breaking up. He took me to one of his parties and a few beers or so later…well, you get the point." She smiled. "I completely do not recommend it though."

That was that. I thought we were done talking about it until Fang asked, "Do you still talk to him?"

Danica nodded. "Yeah, we kept in touch, which is nice. I told him about you, you know, coming here now, but we decided not to force anything at first. He's married, with two year old twin girls, who, by the way, are adorable."

I smiled, and Fang's lip curled at the corners.

We talked comfortably for a little while. She asked about the School and Fang and I gave her the water down version. Fang talked about his now nonexistent blog. I explained the complexity of our eating habits. Jeb explained the whole we-need-to-be-kept-a-secret-or-the-United-States-government-will-completely-explode issue.

But after a while I got this sinking feeling in my chest. And a voice in my head, not the Voice fortunately, kept saying, this is it. He's really going to leave me.

And what made it a heck of a lot worse, was that I actually liked Danica. She was polite and nice and understood that we weren't normal kids with normal boundaries. And the more we kept talking, the more and more I felt comfortable with her. And Fang noticeably did too.

She reminded me of Mom. Maybe all moms were just cool like this. Or maybe it was a rare special handful and me and Fang just got lucky.

Around two-thirty, the front door opened. A girl with light brown hair pulled into a sloppy bun was standing in the doorway, an iPod in her ears. She had sunglasses on top of her head and a brown paper bag in her hands.

"I am officially done with finals!" she shouted. "No more German class ever! I am done!"

She walked down the hallway, and then stopped. I guess she was just noticing how Fang and I were just sitting there; staring at her like the summer heat was a little too much for her.

"Oh," she said, her cheeks getting pink. "Hi."

I smiled at her as she walked by. Opening the fridge door, she put in the brown bag in and grabbed a water bottle.

"Stephanie, this is Max, Fang, and Jeb," Danica said.

Stephanie stopped, mid-sip. "Oh."

She walked over to the table we were sitting at and plopped her bag on the ground. It said Save the Planet in green letters.

"Well, that was embarrassing," she said, and Fang raised his eyebrows.

Stephanie caught me staring at her bag. "You like it?" she asked me. "I got it for five bucks. It was on clearance." She was obviously pleased with this fact.

"Yeah, it's cool," I said. Fang looked at me, his eyes sparkling.

"Yeah, I know. I'm all for the whole, like, save the world thing, you know?"

"Yeah, me too," I said, and Fang looked like he was about to crack up. "Story of my life," I added.

Fang smiled, and from the corner of my eye, I saw Jeb shake his head. "Max," he said, sounding a little amused. I smiled at him.

Stephanie laughed, although I don't think she got the joke.

"Steph, get the iPod out of your ears," Danica said, and then turned to Fang smiling. "I was wondering, if it was comfortable with you, if you would like to stay the night."

This now, took me by surprise. Fang hesitated visibly, and I didn't want to say anything.

"I mean, you don't have to if you don't want to. I know you have to go tomorrow, meet everyone else's parents, but it's just for the night…"

"Max?" Fang said looking at me.

"What?" I asked him. "You don't have to ask permission."

Fang didn't say anything.

"Stay," I said, putting Fang first. "Your bag is in the car." Then I gave him a look that read, if-you-don't-stay-the-night-I-might-just-have-to-chop-off-your-arm-and-beat-you-with-it.

"I'll stay," Fang said.

Danica beamed. "Excellent."

I followed Fang out to the car after we excused ourselves. I wanted to talk to him alone for a minute.

"You'll be ok, right?" he asked me. "With Jeb?"

"I've had worse," I answered. One corner of his mouth rose.

"I really like her Fang," I said to him, once he closed the trunk and we were facing each other. "She's good for you."

Fang nodded.

"I'm real happy for you," I told him, meaning it.

"I know," he said, his eyes swirling with emotions I didn't recognize.

"What do you think?" I asked him.

He shrugged. "She's nice." But the way he said it, I could tell he really liked her.

"I'm not leaving you, Max," he said, forcefully, out of the blue.

I rolled my eyes. Not this again. "Whatever, Fang."

"It's only a night," he said.

"I know."

"And I'm coming with you tomorrow."

"I know," I said, now getting annoyed.

Fang gave me once long look, and then shrugged again.

"I'm glad this turned out well," I said to him.

Then I gave Fang a quick hug. For him. He looked like he needed one. He placed his hand gently against my back; like this was something he did all the time.

When I pulled back, Fang was staring at me. "What was that for?" he asked, like he already knew the answer.

Now it was my turn to shrug.

His mouth did his signature upturned corners thing, as we made our way back inside.

"I'm really not leaving you," he said quietly as we walked back in through the door.

"I know," I lied.

AHHHH!! Guys, I am soooooo, terribly, horribly sorry!!! TIMES A BILLION.

My beta wasn't getting back to me, and my friend was like, oh, I can do it, but I'm posting now. AND I am already half way done with chapter 10. Considering I was typing it the other day, and completely didn't save and deleted the eight pages I had written. Oops.

Please don't hate me. I'll update sooner. I promise!