I'd like to credit my totally awesome Beta-reader in this - percabethatw. Ironically, I didn't actually send this chapter to her, because since my power - and consequentially, my internet - went out last night, I was already late in getting this up.

Chapter Two

My mouth was agape. Half of the Flock – the honest to god Flock – was right in front of me. I didn't know where Max and the rest of them were, but, right now...? Well, I didn't really care. I know – I'm mean, but personally, I think three bird kids are enough to deal with.

But now...how to approach them? I'd seen Fang's responses to the comments offering help – he probably wouldn't be willing to take any help, and, hell, for all I knew, he'd deny who he was. True, I didn't even know for sure who he was, but I knew. I don't know how I knew – I just did.

"Why's she stopped?" I heard Iggy ask. I saw Fang shake his head.

"I don't know. Wait...I remember something. She looks insanely familiar. Oh! I remember! She's one of the people following my blog." I could see on his face that he knew this wasn't a good thing.

"So she's one of your cult followers?" Iggy asked, his tone joking. Great. He knew who I was. Hmph.

"Actually, she's not as bad as most of them." I'm not? "She doesn't ask stuff like if I have a girlfriend, or when me and Max are getting married-" Iggy gave a little choking laughter at that. Guess he hadn't been told about that particular comment. "She gives legit responses and asks real questions. I think her name is Alex, or something like tha-"

"Um, you guys know I can hear you, right?" I called, and they both jumped. Apparently, they hadn't known. "So," I continued, lowering my voice so the others wouldn't hear. "I ask legit questions? I hadn't realised that." Fang smiled a little – I'll bet it was involuntary. I could hear the other's laughing and whispering. "Also, I suggest moving. Preferably behind a tree or something, because if you sit here much longer, my friends are going to start telling you to get in the water.

At this, I saw the younger boy – Gazzy, I guessed – looked up at that. "Oh, you guys should!" he said excitedly, coming closer, making little dark spots on the sand with the drops coming off his shorts and his wet foot prints. I glanced over at him. Didn't he get that was a bad idea?

"That might not be the best idea, Gazzy." Fang said, shaking his head. Gazzy frowned.

"Why not?" He asked, his eyes wide. The phrase 'Bambi eyes' came to mind.

"Because they'll think we're even weirder if we get in the lake with our shirts on, and if we take our shirts off, they'll see the wings. Both options are bad." Fang explained. I nodded.

Then Gazzy pointed at me. "But she knows!" He said, frustrated now.

I sighed a little. "He has a point." I agreed. "Plus, let's face it guys, this is a lot more remote than California, and you guys were willing to reveal yourselves there. Word is a lot less likely to get out from here than Cali."

As if on cue, I heard Morgan yell out to us – well, them. "You gotta be kidding me!" She laughed. "You guys have to get in the water!"

"Yeah!" Cassie yelled, bouncing on the balls of her feet. "It's not even cold! Get your butts in here!"

I said nothing, but looked back at Fang as if to say, "I told you so." He sighed and looked between me, then the teenagers in the water, then Gazzy. He sighed again. "Fiiiiiine..." He said, dragging the word out. He looked at me. "You sure they won't, like, try to shoot us or something?"

I shook my head. "No way," I said. "They read your blog too. I'm honestly surprised none of them realised it yet. And besides, Clear Lake park doesn't allow guns." I grinned, Iggy laughed, and Fang smiled a little, but looked unsure if I was joking or not. But they were committed now – all the girls were hooting and whistling, and the boys were yelling and calling them names jokingly.

Fang stood and tapped Iggy's hand, telling him to do the same. Then, both removed their shirts. Behind me, I heard Cassie wolf-whistle. Fang started to wade in, and I shook my head. "Oh hell no." I said. "You aren't wading. You're jumping off the dock with me!" I grabbed his elbow and pushed him ahead of me as I started toward the dock. He sent a glare at me, but now he was out there, once again, his choices were limited.

I gave him another push – noticing with a small jolt the black feathers now under my fingers – and he started to run. He launched himself off the dock, but didn't open his wings. Instead, his momentum carried him at least twenty feet before he started to descend. He was at least fifty feet over the drop-off before he actually hit the water. When he came back up, he spouted water and even grinned a little at the applause my friends were giving him.

I looked at Iggy. "Your turn!" I crowed. He looked a little paler than normal.

"You know I can't see." He pointed out. "What if I hit someone?"

"You don't have to launch like Fang did. Here," I said and grabbed his hand. "Just jump when I tell you. Don't push off hard, just jump. They'll get out of the way."

He nodded and his hand tightened nervously around mine. I grinned and started jogging, then running, Iggy beside me. We were about a foot from the end when I yelled, "Jump!" And pushed off from the edge. Iggy had jumped.

We didn't go far – you never really do when you jump with someone else, but I stayed attached to his hand as we both floundered for a moment, trying to get our bearings, before I discovered which way was up, and began to pull him. When we came up, he was grinning wildly. "Worth it?" I asked under my breath, as the others cheered our jump.

His grin widened. "Totally," He said, before I heard Kiera, one of my younger friends, cry out.

"Oh my god!" She said. "What's that on your back?"

I closed my eyes. Truthfully, they probably would have figured it out eventually, but really, did she have to yell? I saw everyone turn toward me and Iggy. His face was flushed, and I thought if his grip on my hand tightened much more, he'd be breaking a few bones.

"What'd you say your name was?" Cara asked, frowning suspiciously.

"I didn't." Iggy said. He looked in Fang's direction, and as if on cue, he took up what Iggy probably hadn't been sure about saying.

The attention turned to him, now, as he said. "My name is Fang. That's Iggy, and the younger kid up there," He gestured toward Gazzy, splashing in the shallows with the kids his age, "is the Gasman. I probably don't need to tell you that we're the Flock that you read about online."

I heard exclamations of surprise, shock, delight, confusion, and everything in between. I thought Iggy might have actually been breaking bones with how tightly he was clutching my hands. That's when I realised it – between the noise around us and the sounds of the water, and the fact that, under the water, he couldn't hear people's footsteps, he really had no idea where he was. I returned the pressure on his hand. Not the nervous, finger breaking tension he was exuding, but a comforting, friendly gesture that meant I'd help him. And his grip loosened somewhat.

"So..." Cassie began. "You're actually serious?" Fang nodded. Cassie seemed to pause for a moment, then her face broke into a wide grin and she laughed aloud. "I cannot even begin to tell you how impossibly awesome that is!" She said, still laughing.

And I felt myself let out a breath of relief. She didn't try to attack him, or question him, or scream. Really, I thought, I should have had more faith in her. As insane as she is, Cassie's always been better at taking shocking news better than the rest of them.

Kiera's reaction came next. Her expression still read as shock, but she seemed to be mostly recovered, when she put in her oh, so eloquent take on what was happening. "Hell yeah it's awesome!"

I hadn't realised it, but I'd been holding my breath. Cassie I'd known would accept it – she's practically my sister. But as soon as someone else accepted it, I knew the rest would follow. And I was right. The next few exclamations ranged from Lucas, who high fived Iggy and Fang and told them he couldn't believe he was actually meeting them, to Cara, launching herself at Fang, nearly pushing him under water and laughing hysterically. He sent me a pleading look and I shook my head, also laughing.

"There's nothing I can do! She's always like tha- EEE!"

That last exclamation was due to the fact that Iggy and Lucas had been plotting against me. They'd both lifted me up on their shoulders and began walking deeper. "You assholes!" I shrieked, trying to pull my legs free from their grasp without tipping backward and drowning myself. Too late. We were out deep now – too deep for me to touch. Of course, Luke and Iggy were both insanely tall, and still had their heads, necks and shoulders above the water. "Guys!" I yelled, about to tell them to put me down, but it was too late for that.

"One..." Lucas began.

Iggy looked smug. "Two." He said.

"Three." They finished together, and shoved me upward and away from them. I let out a short scream as I fell through the air, then I realised what was happening and clamped my mouth shut just in time – because I hit the water, hard.

It took only a few seconds for me to get my bearings in the deep water and start toward the group again. I didn't come back up immediately, though. Instead, I opened my eyes underwater and swam back to the group like that. Man...Clear Lake ain't all that clear. Eh-hem. Anywhoo...

I was right behind Iggy when I came up. Like, literally, right behind. I think my forehead might have grazed his back. Needless to say, he jumped half way out of the water when I popped up and began to cling to his back. He began flailing around, trying to shake me off, but it was useless.

Lucas laughed. "Good luck, man!" He said, shaking his head like he was so superior to all this, when really he was actually younger than almost all of us. "She's not coming off until she wants to come off. Trust me."

That didn't stop Iggy from trying, though. He tried going under water – I let go with my arms and kept my legs locked around his waist tightly (so tight, in fact, that when he came back up, he was breathless. He tried flipping backward – I released my arms and slid my legs up so they encircled his ribcage. I tried really hard not to think about the proximity of his head to my cleavage. He tried going into shallower water and bucking me off. I only clung on tighter. Finally, he gave up and sagged in my grasp. The girls cheered and the boys made noises of disappointment. I hooted along with the rest of the girls, but only lifted one arm in triumph, the other still fastened securely around Iggy's shoulders. Unfortunately, it was enough. Iggy's back – and, slightly uncomfortable against my bare stomach, feathers – were wet and slick from the water, and only being hanging on with one arm, when he suddenly flipped up and dove under the water, my grip loosened enough trying to steady myself that he was able to throw my arm off. Then, mind you, I'm not sure how he did it, he slid his arms between my legs and his body, and – I'm not even kidding – shed me off, like I was a shirt.

"You jerk!" I yelled in mock anger when I surfaced again. He was laughing now, and high fived with Fang. How the hell does he not miss!

It was then that I noticed Cassie and Keira were missing. I looked around and spotted them at the same time that Fang did. They were way out in the water, way over the drop off...and I could tell immediately what they'd done. Fang, however, couldn't, and started to swim toward them.

"Um, Fang?" I called, "I don't recommend going out there!"

"Why?" He said, pausing and looking back at me. In answer, Cassie raised her arm and threw something. It landed with a plop between Fang and I. It was her bikini bottoms. Fang reddened and choked a little. I only laughed.

"I'm not bringing that out to you!" I yelled. Cassie swore at me. I laughed and snagged the suit and began to swim, floating on my back, since I was faster that way. "You're really an idiot, you know." I said, treading water and handing it back to her.

She grinned at me. "I know. But you love me. So it's a non-issue."

I'd continue like this, but I'd probably either bore you or make you jealous. Suffice it to say we messed around at that lake with the Flock for hours. And I mean hours. By the time the parents were calling us in from the shore, the sun was down, and the only reason we were leaving was because the park was closing.

It was surreal, to see them standing there at the shoreline – Keira and Jason's mother, mine and Liam's mom and dad (he'd arrived a little later), and Cara, Morgan and Jake's mom and dad. Cassie's mom was absent because she – and Keira, actually – were coming home with me.

Anyway, seeing the parents standing there like that snapped everything into vivid perspective, and I realised it was time to get back to every day life. I looked down at Fang. Down, because I was perched on Iggy's back once more – and not by force. My legs were straight down and he leaned forward slightly, balancing me so that everything above mid-thigh was out of the water.

"I don't suppose you're willing to accept any help." I said. "A place to say...a meal?"

Fang, unsurprisingly, shook his head. "No way." He said, like I knew he would. "We're even putting you in danger by being here. Any more is too much."

I nodded, understanding. "Okay. But just in case you change your mind, I'll leave my address by your shirts." I said. "Well...bye, then."

"Bye." Fang shortly, then surprised me by giving me a quick, one-armed hug. I think he appreciated how quickly we accepted him – made him feel normal.

"Bye, Iggy." I said, turning to him. I didn't wait for him to do it – I took a step toward him and wrapped both my arms around him. He was frozen for a moment – probably stunned – but soon hugged me back. "It was really awesome meeting you guys." Gazzy was still in the shallows – not tall enough to come out with us – so I resolved to give him a hug on the way back out.

When I pulled back, Iggy's face was slightly red, but I wrote it off as the exposure to the sun. The others had been bidding Fang goodbye as I'd hugged Iggy and as soon as I moved away, Cassie was upon him. She hugged him – although I noticed that hers was much shorter than mine had been – and then started for shore. I followed her quickly. When we got to the shallows, we both gave Gazzy a quick hug, and grabbed the towels that my parents held out for us.

The others were splashing in behind us. The day had been long, fun, exhausting...and to top it all off, as we got into the car, everything packed up, I happened to look up. And I saw it – saw them. Fang, Iggy and Gazzy, flying. I nudged Cassie and Keira.

"Look!" I said happily, pointing upward. But they'd flown behind the treeline, and were out of sight before either one saw. "They were flying." I said. "Iggy and Fang and Gazzy. I saw them."

But, oh, if only I'd known then. The end of that day was only the start of it.

"I get off on you!" Cassie yelled along with the song blasting on the stereo in my room. "Getting off on me! Give you what you want, but nothing is for free!"

"It's a give and take, the kind of love we make," Keira picked up. "When your line is crossed! I get off! I get off!"

Okay, so we listen to obnoxious music. It was currently blasting in my room. Both my parents snore loud enough to drown out a jet, so they couldn't hear. Plus, my room was on the bottom floor, and theirs was on the top.

We'd sung along to the next verse and were staring in on the chorus, when the lights flickered, the clocks blinked, and then, the music – and, in fact, all the electricity in the house – cut off. Cassie and I jumped, and Keira actually let out a small scream.

Then, it was silent. Well, except for the loud-ass rain and thunder coming from outside. When had that started? I guess we hadn't noticed it because the music had been so loud. We jumped as a bolt of lightening lit up the sky, quickly followed by a boom of thunder. Man, the storm was close. Probably right on top of us. So what did we do? We went outside to watch it, of course!

We each grabbed a popsicle from the kitchen and stepped out my front door, pressing our backs against the siding to stay under the eaves, and dry. Another flash lit up the sky and wide yard in an eerie mockery of daylight, and when it vanished, I was blinded for a moment. My Coke boxers whipped around my legs in the high wind and I sighed heavily. I loved weather like this. I looked up for a moment, then back down at the yard.

From where we were, we had a vantage point over the whole yard and driveway. We could see right down to the road. And in the next flash of lightening, several figures were visible on the road. What? Were they insane? Walking in this weather?

Another flash and they were at the end of our driveway. Another, and they were at the end of our deck. Then, I could see them without the lightening. I let out a noise of shock somewhere between a gasp and a scream and stepped out into the rain, running toward the figures.

"Oh my god!" I cried, my eyes wide and horrified.

It was them. Fang, in front. His inky black wings were still half outstretched. They'd faired pretty well, but the rest of him looked like he'd flown at top speed through every pine tree in the state. Iggy was behind him, pale grey wings encircling himself...protecting Gazzy, who he carried like a baby. Iggy's face and arms were scratched, and one particularly long cut above his eyebrow sent blood streaming into his sightless left eye.

But Gazzy was the worst. The mud on his face had been half washed away by the rain, but there were tear tracks cut in it as well. The cuts were visible even under the mud, and he was still crying, cradling his right arm with his left.

I looked to Fang, my eyes still wide. "What happened?" I demanded.

He raised his head and looked at me. I heard the door close. Cassie and Keira had gone inside. I hoped it was to get towels or a first aid kit, or my parents, or something useful. "We...we need help." Fang said, his voice hoarse.

I blinked, processing the words for a moment. Then I sidestepped Fang and approached Iggy. "Give him to me." I said quietly, and Iggy laid Gazzy, still crying, into my arms. "Come on." I continued, staring toward the house again, where lights were beginning to turn on, and an uproar was beginning.