So, let me first of say that I hate high school and all of this freaking homework and stupid textbook readings and stupid teachers that are absent, but don't tell you so you do all of their homework at 6:00 in the freaking morning before school because you've procrastinated by writing a 13 page long chapter of MAXIMUM RIDE FANFICTION.

Anyway, when I first listened to this song, I was like, whoa, it's really good. And then I listened to the lyrics and I was like OHMYIGGY THIS IS TOTALLY LIKE MY STORY, so I had to add in the lyrics.

And now, enough of me talking, because you probably don't want to hear it anyway.

"Let me tell you goodbye,

Doesn't mean we'll never be together again.

If you wake up and I'm not there

I won't be long away oh."

--Hootie and the Blowfish

Chapter 17: Max P.O.V.

"Max," Angel whined, for the thousandth time it felt like. "Gazzy did it again. After you told him not to."

I sighed, but secretly, I was really enjoying it. This morning, I took off my watch so I wouldn't be tempted to check the time every five seconds, which seemed to pass by rather quickly.

"Gazzy," I said, as he positioned his wings upward, at a perfect angle to speed up and knock into Angel's left wing, "Knock it off."

He smiled and shrugged, which was exactly what he did the first twenty-something times I told him to quit. He flew over to Iggy, as Angel flew closer to me.

"What does my house look like again?" she asked. I smiled as I began to talk.

"It super humongous," I said, exaggerating, but I knew to them, it would be, "And your future bedroom is just as big. In comparison."

"Do you think Total will get along with the other dogs?" she asked, peering from the corner of her eye to Total who was flying away from the Gasman. All Gazzy seemed to be doing was causing trouble lately.

"He just wants your attention, Max," Angel said.

"Yeah," I said, distracted.

"So?" she asked, "Do you think Total will fight them?"

"Who?" I asked.

"The other pets you said Dad had."

I fought back the awful feeling that was sinking in my stomach. She was already calling him Dad.

"Well, Total's not really known for getting along with other dogs. Don't you think?" I said.

She sighed, "I wish he did."

I swallowed back my, Well, sometimes things don't turn out the way you want them to, knowing she would see right through it. Angel was no dummy.

I looked down, seeing everyone watching us. Some with shock, some with envy, mostly with awe. We certainly had surprised everyone with the sight of our wings. Nudge had told me that she had shown her family last night. That was rather brave of her, seeing she was alone, with just these people she had never met before, but hey, that's Nudge.

Fang was watching me, as he had been all morning, his eyes searching for mine rather often, but I never made contact. He had to be able to see right through me, through everything single smile that I had been faking this morning. And if he said something along the lines of oh everything will be fine, I would probably break down. And I really wasn't in the mood to have a group sympathy fest.

Keeping my eyes down at the ground, I realized how high we had climbed in the half-hour we had been flying. It was easy to get lost in your thoughts, and easy to forget how bad normal people's eyesight was.

"Guys," I said, shouting over the rush of wind, "Let's move down a little bit."

"Are we landing already?" Nudge asked, disappointed.

"No, I just don't think they can see us," I said and she smiled.

"Oh, yeah. Do you think they like it? The flying?" she asked, looking down.

"I think so," I said. "It looks like they do."

"I'm glad," Nudge said. "And everyone seems really cool with the whole wing thing, which is pretty awesome. It would really suck if they didn't like them, or thought we were weird or something."

"Yeah," I said.

"I can't wait to see my house! Do you know I'm going to share a room with Olivia and Brooke? How much fun will that be? I've never shared a room with a sister before!" she said, and I pulled back, stung.

She had shared a room with Ella, Angel and I back at home. And she shared her room with Angel in Colorado.

Nudge kept talking, not even noticing the look on my face. Apparently, it wasn't obvious.

"And they said the town we live in is huge. A lot bigger than the town we were in with Dr. Martinez. So I won't be so bored all the time," she said, getting really excited as her wings started beating faster.

She was bored with Mom? But we always did things. Fun things. Or I thought they were fun things.

"Hey Max?" she asked, and I suddenly realized how far away we've gotten. I looked at her, and her eyes were casted downward, and her smile had shrunk.

"I'm nervous," she said, a little more quietly than before, "What if I get teased at school? What if someone finds out about my wings? Will I get into trouble? Wasn't that the deal? I can go live with my parents if they keep me safe and if they don't tell anyone? But what if they turn out like Iggy's parents and call the newspaper or TV station?"

"I'm not sure Nudge," I said, "But, it seems like, if they really love you, and I'm sure they do, they won't tell anyone. And they'll make sure that you're happy and safe."

She smiled, still not looking at me. "Thanks Max," she said, "You always say they right thing. Well, most of the time." Her smile grew larger as she pivoted on one wing and flew back the direction we came from.

If she thought I was so great why was she leaving me?

I shut down that thought as quickly as possible. I wasn't about to get cocky. I was technically the one making them leave. It was just that no one was protesting.

She fled away, off towards Angel and at the same exact moment Fang glided right above me. Nudge smirked in our direction, and then did some flip-thing, probably showing off in front of her parents.

I moved away from him, heading towards the ground, already planning on landing soon. Iggy's plane ride home was at eleven-thirty, and it was already nine. I couldn't help looking at my watch; it was like a ticking time bomb, counting down the seconds until my life was over.

Only not that dramatic.

Fang kept moving in on me, and I kept gracefully moving away, trying not to make it obvious that I was avoiding him. Thankfully, Gazzy flew directly behind me and rammed into my feet, making my fly forward. He laughed loudly, holding his stomach.

"You're it!" he screamed above the wind, as I turned around.

"You're so dead," I said, "Just wait till I catch you." I was smiling when he flew off, and I quickly caught up to him. I grabbed his waist, pulling him upward, smushing his wings against my chest so he couldn't get away.

"Max!" he shrieked, but he was laughing, which made it hard for me to hang on to him.

"What?" I said, as if I was speaking to a toddler, "What's wrong? Am I going to high for you?" I straightened myself upward, my face hitting the sun, and I shot up like a rocket, pouring on the super speed.

Gazzy laughed more, "This is so awesome!"

"Really?" I said, dumbly, "You think so?" Our voices got lost behind us, and I started to slow down just a little.

Then, suddenly, I let him go, watching as he went down through a cloud, his wings closed because he wasn't expecting me to drop him. I smiled more, and then turned back down to see where he had gone.

The Gasman met me halfway, and I could see the four others, who were laughing. Gazzy caught up to me, his face part smile, part scowl, and he was pretty wet.

"You suck so bad," he said, beating his wings.

"Do I?" I said, laughing.

He punched my arm, but not that hard. I looked at him. Gazzy had never hit me before. Sure, he wrestled with Fang and Iggy all the time, and it was different when we were sparring, but he had never just outright hit me.

"What was that?" I asked, putting on my best, you're-in-so-much-trouble voice, but it was hard knowing that in a few hours, I technically wouldn't be the boss of him anymore.

He looked down, almost embarrassed. He mumbled an apology, but I grabbed his arm gently.

"You ever hit me again and I will chop you up and flush you down the toilet," I said, sternly, "Now tell me what's wrong."

He looked up at me, surprised, although I had no idea why.

"What?" I asked, a little more sympathetic.

"I'm gonna miss you," he said quickly, looking straight at me.

I blinked then tried to bring him closer for a hug, but it was difficult because our wings kept getting in the way. But I gave him a sort-of-air-hug, and then held his hand.

"I'm going to miss you, too," I said, biting my lip, wondering when I was going to wake up from this heartbreaking nightmare.

About an hour or so later, we were standing in the hotel of the lobby, desperately trying to hold it together. Fang was holding Angel's hand, and Nudge was leaning against my side.

Iggy was the first to leave. Not to jump to conclusions, but I think that his parents wanted to get away from the flock, so Iggy wouldn't change his mind. Unfortunately, as he and I both knew, this wasn't an option. The leaving thing. Which only made it so much worse.

My mom stepped up first, wrapping her arms around his shoulders, and he awkwardly hugged her back. He was a full two heads taller than her, already past six feet tall, so he had to lean down when she whispered something in his ear.

When she pulled apart, Ella hugged him next, with one arm tightly around his neck. They pulled apart quickly, and Iggy's face was a little pinkish.

He turned around to face us, remarkably right in front of us although he couldn't see. At first, no one moved. It was like, maybe if we didn't even breathe, time would stop. And then we wouldn't have to split up.

But I never said we were optimists. Years of living undercover with nothing but a moments notice of enemies approaching and being on the receiving end of negative effects and awful news, pretty much guaranteed our pessimistic personalities.

Nudge moved towards him first, flinging her arms around his waist, and her shoulders shuddered as she breathed. Iggy pressed his cheek on her head and whispered something that I couldn't hear.

Off to the side, I noticed Iggy's mom and dad waiting by the door. Tom looked impatient; he had kept glancing down at his watch while Iggy was buying for some more time. But now, Susan looked almost sad and sympathetic, and she played with the necklace around her neck.

Nudge backed away, and sank down on the couch beside me. Her head flung back as she closed her eyes. She sighed, as the Gasman walked towards Iggy.

Rummaging around in his backpack, Iggy pulled out a large brown bag, the kind you would get at the grocery store. He handed it to Gazzy, who peered inside curiously. He smiled up at Iggy.

"Put it in your backpack, so when the airport security questions you, Angel will just talk her way out of it," Iggy said, and I rolled my eyes.

"But why would security question anything in there?" I asked, placing a hand on Gazzy's shoulder. I gave him a stern look, "Don't do anything stupid. I don't want the federal government to put you on their Most Wanted list for exploding an airplane."

"Sweet. Thanks, man," Gazzy said, and he and Iggy bumped fists.

Iggy shrugged. "Probably wouldn't be allowed to keep it anyway," he said, glaring perfectly in my direction. Like it was my fault for making explosives illegal.

Angel had moved forward, wrapping her skinny, little arms around Iggy's waist and pressed her head to his stomach.

"Bye, Iggy," she said, sniffling.

He ruffled her hair, "Bye, Ange. Be good."

She pulled back, wiping her eyes with her sleeve and went to sit next to Nudge on the couch. I leaned down and rubbed her arm, my other hand still on Gazzy's shoulder.

Fang stood up, and he and Iggy did that man-hug thing, that guys always do. They didn't say anything, but I could see Fang's hands clenching.

I stepped forward, and we hugged. I sucked in my breath quickly, trying not to cry.

"I hate you so much," he said, and I got the feeling that I really didn't comprehend how much he didn't want to leave.

"Sorry," I mumbled against his shoulder.

"And there's really no other way around this?" he asked, his hand squeezing into a fist on my back.

"No. Sorry," I repeated.

He sighed. "You would think the great Maximum Ride would find a way around this. But I guess not."

"Guess I'm not that great."

We didn't say anything for a moment. Then, I stood on my toes, hating that I had to do that, and leaned up and kissed him on his cheek.

We pulled away, and Iggy stepped back, maneuvering around the small coffee table with perfect ease. He slung his backpack, his only bag, on his back and then turned around to meet his parents.

He walked out the exit, the automatic doors opening with their forward steps, as Susan tried to be reassuring and place her hand on Iggy's arm, but he pulled away.

Angel choked back a sob next to me, and Fang pulled her next to him. Gazzy stepped backwards towards me, and I placed my hand on top of his head.

And then Iggy walked into the parking lot, without ever looking back.

"Okay," Nudge said, about an hour or so after Iggy left, "I'm all set. These are all my bags."

"This is all you have?" Henry said, sounding surprised. He took a second look at her three bags, none of them all that big.

Nudge shrugged, "Yeah. I don't have much." She took a deep breath, and then turned around to face us, her palms sliding down the front of her jeans as she smiled.

"So," she said, "Who's gonna miss me the most?"

No one laughed. I tried to smile, but my attempt was less than perfect. Angel sprang towards her, her head already buried in Nudge's shirt.

Nudge hugged her back, and they both silently cried, their shirts getting wet with tears. From the corner of my eye I saw Fang looking at me for what seemed like the trillionth time today, but I refused to make eye contact with him.

"We never got a chance to do it," Angel whined, and I had no idea what she was talking about.

"I know! I'm so upset," Nudge sighed, "I guess we'll have to post-pone it a bit. Nothing will happen in the meantime. I mean, seriously."

"I guess," Angel said. And then she pulled apart, "Bye," she said, her voice small.

"Bye," Nudge smiled. Then she winked at her, and Angel giggled, her hand covering her mouth, as she moved to stand next to me. Angel looked up at me, and her face was a mixture of tears and laughter, a bittersweet combination.

Fang hugged her next, and Nudge's arms tightly gripped his sides, her head pressed against his shoulder. She mumbled something I couldn't make out. He rubbed her back.

She backed away from her and turned towards Ella, holding out her arms.

"Bye Nudge," she said, "I'm gonna miss your help with trying to give Max a make-over."

"Which totally never happened," Nudge said.

Oh, thank God.

Mom hugged her next, pulling her close. "Bye, Dr. M," she said, "Thanks for letting us stay with you."

"You are more than welcome," Mom said.

They pulled apart, and Mom pushed a strand of hair behind her ear as Nudge smiled. Then she turned to Gazzy.

"Bye, Gaz," she said. I pushed him forward with the back of my palm, gently telling him to hug her. At the awkward age of nine, he was pretty uncomfortable with mushy affection, even if was coming from a sort-of sister. Especially if it was coming from a sort-of sister.

They hugged quickly, and after, Nudge sprang at me, wrapping her wrists tightly around my neck, and she breathed heavily against my shoulders, and my eyes squeezed shut.

"I can't believe this is actually happening," she whispered, "I've been, like, actually fantasizing about this, for like, ever."

"I know," I said.

"I'm gonna miss you," she said, pressing closer against me.

"I'm going to miss you too," I repeated.

"Think about what I said," she added, without missing a beat. She pulled away, her heads still in back of my neck.

"What was that?" I asked, confused.

She smiled wickedly, looking pointedly at Fang. I blushed and she backed farther away, to where he family was waiting patiently.

"Bye guys. I promise to call you as soon as I get home!" she said, turning around and picking up one of her duffel bags. Sophie and Henry grabbed the other ones.

Home. I tried to push that out of my head. It really was her home now.

She walked through the same door that Iggy had a little while ago. She turned around when she was outside, and waved and smiled as she walked away, but I could tell she was trying to hold back tears. Just like I was.

For a change of scenery, we were outside in the parking lot this time. I handed Dan Angel's hot pink bag that she had picked out herself, on one of our many excruciating trips to Wal-Mart. I had thought I wasn't going to miss those outings, but now, I kind of thought I might.

Dan stood there, a hand on Angel's shoulder, very fatherly like, "You guys good to go?" he asked. They nodded.

"Okay," he said.

Mom hugged Gazzy first, squeezing him tightly. "Behave yourself," she said, "I hope I don't see you name and photo on the national news anytime soon."

"Don't worry," said Gazzy, "I don't get caught. Especially now, because Max always seems to know when I've done something."

I shrugged, "It's a gift."

He smiled, as Mom went to hug Angel, "You be good, also."

"I will, Dr. Martinez," she said, smiling sweetly. Ella moved up and hugged Gazzy quickly.

"I really gonna miss—actually, I'm not going to miss you getting me into trouble when I didn't do anything," she said, flashing Mom a pointed look.

She hugged Angel, then added, "And I'll watch out for anything new."

"You guys have some secret code or something?" I asked, my hands on my hips.

"Nope," Angel said, smiling.

Wendy came up with Total's new blue leash in her hand. "All good to go," she said. "Whenever you guys are ready," she smiled.

I looked down at Total, who had a sour look on his face. He had to be kept in the hotel room all day because they didn't allow dogs in the lobby. And, boy, did he enjoy that.

I leaned down and scratched behind his ear, "She called me a dog. Multiple times. And not just a dog. The dog. Like I don't have a name, or anything."

"She just doesn't understand. Remember, my mom did that when she first met you, and look how well you get along now!" I said.

He scoffed, and turned around, and hopped into the backseat of the rental car.

"He doesn't like adapting," Angel said.

"You can say that again," I sighed.

For a moment, the four of us just stood there and twiddled our thumbs, trying to buy time, which totally wasn't going to happen.

Fang took the first step towards Angel, and hugged her tightly, as she shuddered against him. I reached out for Gazzy, and he willingly came towards me, wrapping his arms around my stomach. I rubbed his back, between his wings, and noticed how uneven his breathing was. I planted a kiss on his forehead.

"Please be good," I said, "Try to stay out of too much trouble." He nodded against my shoulder, and sniffled.

He pulled away from me, rubbing his eyes with his fists, embarrassed by the weepy emotion. Angel on the other hand, having no qualms about tears, leaped into my arms, and burst into tears.

"I'm gonna miss you," she said.

Number One Line of the Day.

"Me too," I said, leaning down, and kissing the top of her head. I saw Fang hug Gazzy, and noticed how he didn't pull away as soon as he did for everyone else.

"You wouldn't make us go if it was unsafe, right?" Angel asked.

"Of course not," I said, "What have you learned in your seven years of Max lessons, huh?"

She laughed sadly, "Dan says we're gonna be late for our plane. But he doesn't want to say anything," she whispered.

"Okay," I said, pulling away from her, but she managed to quickly kiss my cheek.

"I love you," she said.

"Love you too," I replied, squeezing her hand, before she turned around and looked up towards Dan.

"Ready you two?" he asked.

Gazzy looked at Angel, and then nodded.

I stepped backward towards Fang, my hands clasped together as my arm twisted in front of me.

I watched as Dan opened the door for them, and Gazzy looked back at me. I managed to smile, as he climbed into the car, Angel following him. She waved at Fang and I, the only ones left.

Then, I saw the brakes flash once, and the car pulled out of the parking space, and I felt my throat close up. Distantly, I felt Fang's hand hovering against not quite touching, but brushing against the fabric of my shirt.

Angel and Gazzy waved at us through the back window of the car as they pulled out of the parking lot. I bit my lip, and stepped backward, bumping into Fang's hand, but he didn't move and neither did I.

We stood there for a little while after their car left the parking lot. Fang's hand was pressed against the small of my back, and I brought my fist up to my mouth as I choked back my sobs. I had prided myself for staying dry for so long; I wasn't about to give up now.

Fang made some sort of circle motion on my back. "And then there were two," he said.

"Do you have everything?" I asked for the thousandth time, "Laptop? Camera? IPod? Passport?"

"Max," Fang said, crossing his arms over his chest, "I'm not leaving the country. I don't need a passport."

"Well, do you have one? Did you forget it?" I asked.

He sighed, "I don't have one."

"Well, I guess you're good then."

Standing in the middle of the airport entrance, right before you had to go through security, we were trying to avoid the joyous greeting of couples and families hugging each other we they arrived.

Mom and Ella had already said good-bye to Fang, and now he and his entire family was waiting on me. But I had just lost my entire family, and Fang was the last one left. And of course, having him know everything, and realizing this was completely unavoidable, only made it so much worse.

My cell phone vibrated in my pocket, and I quickly picked it up, hoping for any chance to stall for time.

"It's Iggy," I said to Fang. I flipped the phone open.

"Iggy?" I said.

"Hey," he said, sounding tired.

"Hey!" I was super excited to talk to him; even though it had only been about six hours since he had left, "How was the plane ride?"

"Awful," he said, sounding miserable, "I sat right behind this guy who declined the whole trip. I felt so claustrophobic."

"Oh," I said, "Sounds pretty bad."

"Yeah," he responded, "Look, I can't talk for long, but I just wanted to call to let you know I landed."

"Alright. Thanks for calling," I said, feeling bad that he couldn't talk for longer.

"Sorry," he said, "I'll call you later." And then he hung up.

"He landed," I told Fang, who nodded.

"Now," I said, "Are you absolutely positive you didn't forget anything?"

"Max," he said, sounded aggravated, "I've got a plane to catch."

My heart sank. Even Fang wanted to leave me.

We stood there awkwardly for a minute, and I could feel his dark eyes on me, but I was looking down at my feet.

"I'll call as soon as the plane lands," he said, and I nodded.

"You'll be okay, right?" he asked, and placed a hand on my arm.

I nodded again, "I'll be fine."

"Okay," he said. "But you know, it's not like you never see me again."

"I know."

We stood there again for another awkward minute. He still hadn't moved his hand.

"Max," he said, sounding distraught.

"Don't even go there," I said, "I'm not going to cry."

He looked at me for a moment, and then wrapped his arms around me like it was something he did all the time. I pressed my forehead against his shoulder and he rubbed my back. I slipped my arms around his back, pressing my fingers against his shoulder. He moved some of my hair away from my face.

"It'll get better," he mumbled. I nodded against.

"It's only for a little while," he said.

We stayed there for a little longer, and I didn't want to let go. I breathed heavily, and Fang kept rubbing my back in rhythmic movements.

But soon, he sighed, "Max," he said, "I really have to go."

I stepped back from him, moving away, embarrassed that our huge mush-gushy-hug fest in front of everyone in the entire airport. He kept his hand on my arm, and he looked worried.

"I'll call you," he promised.

I nodded, and he stepped away, picking up his bag from the floor. He took one last look at me, and then walked over to his new family, and got in line to go through security. I watched as he went through the metal detectors, without even looking back.

If this were a perfect world, Fang would turn around, and then jump over the metal gate, thing, and then run towards me and promise never to leave me ever again, realizing how wrong he was about wanting to leave and go all the way to New Freaking Jersey in the first place and then he would sweep me up and we would fly off into the sunset.

Instead, he walked until he was almost around the corner, then turned back around, and gave me a small smile. I couldn't even smile back. He vanished around the corner, and almost instantly, I dropped my head into my hands and cried, right there in the middle of the airport.

I wonder how many people hate me now…

But NO BOTHER. Because I have a big bowl of PARTY CAKE ICE CREAM (which, if you have not tasted, I suggest that you go out to the nearest grocery store and by yourself a huge cartoon of Turkey Hill Party Cake ice cream, and eat it. Because it's like heaven in a carton.) And, I have 5 chapters left of this story, so I'm almost done. YAY!