Thunder: Back Through the Rain-Chapter 10

By MyNameIsCAL

---Fang's POV---

"Uhm…Fang," Ella shook me awake.

I had been slouch forward on the chair in front of me, using it to rest my head on. I must have dozed off when I was watching Iggy and Max.

"Sorry," I muttered.

"Look." Nudge pointed.

Max had her head on Iggy's shoulder now. I sighed, leaning on the empty chair in front of me.

"How long have I been sleeping?" I could barely remember what happened in the beginning of the movie.

"About an hour," Nudge answered. "But you didn't miss anything. There's still a whole hour left."

I rubbed my leg. It was starting to hurt from not being moved.

"This movie is so predictable," Nudge yawned.

We fell into silence again.

We left after another forty-five minutes. It was just enough time to beat Mom and Max home. Maybe I had dragged Nudge and Ella out with me because inside, I was jealous that Iggy and Max were out when I was stuck at home, even though it wouldn't take that much to get out more often. I was just bitter at the time.

"We're gonna be so dead when Mom finds out," Ella said as I started to drive towards home. "I mean, this is illegal! What were we thinking?"

It was only about a ten minute drive home. "Well, Ella, I wasn't thinking."

"But we agreed to come with you," Nudge reminded us.

"Well, I knew you weren't going to let me go alone," I sighed. "I'm sorry."

"Well, it was a decent movie." Now Ella was just trying to be nice.

I shrugged and kept driving. We made it home and parked the car. We made sure there would be no evidence to give us away.

---Iggy's POV---

I guess at the time I never noticed, but my relationship with Max had been getting more complicated. I didn't understand why Fang didn't want to be around me or why Ella was avoiding me now. Looking back, it would have been clear, but in the heat of the moment, I had just gotten caught up in things.

Max and I had almost spent the whole night up talking about the movie. It didn't occur to me to go talk to Fang or anyway. We had just sort of drifted into Max's bedroom and ended up on her bed, laying in the dark, talking about everything and nothing.

"I really enjoyed tonight," Max whispered.

"Me too," I smiled into the darkness.

She curled up against me. "Goodnight, Ig."

"Goodnight, Max."

---Max's POV---

Love is complicated. It always was and it always will be. I felt like Iggy had just opened up to me and it felt right to fall into his arms, even though my heart would always belong to Fang. Maybe I was desperate. We all wanted attention from someone. I was being selfish. Neither the rest of the flock nor Fang crossed my mind when I sucked Iggy into my loneliness.

"You know, Max, we can't stay here forever," Iggy said as we lay in bed in the morning. "We have to deal with Itex and hopefully get a cure for Fang."

I thought for a while before responding. For a moment, reality set in. Fang couldn't live in pain forever. I mean, if he had to, he would, but he could only take it for so long.

"I don't know what to do, Ig," I finally answered.

His eyes seemed to drift in and out of focus as he thought. "I think we need to talk to the others."

"Yeah, we probably do."

---Fang's POV---

The flock all sat in a circle around the family room. Max had called a meeting.

"We still need to go after Itex," she told us. "We have to find a cure for Fang and if we can, we need to stop them from hurting anyone else."

Well, at least she was still thinking about me.

"And exactly where would we go?" Gazzy asked.

Max sighed. She didn't have a plan. I was trying to measure the distance in my head between Max and Iggy. The longer I stared at the space, the closer they got. I blinked a few times and I realized it was all in my head.

"We should talk to Jeb again." My words came out dry.

"Yes, we should." Iggy backed me up. "He helped us find Max and I'm sure he can help us again."

Max looked defeated. "I still don't trust him."

"Neither do I," Gazzy agreed quietly.

I caught Max's gaze for a moment. "We don't have any other options."

She looked away as she spoke. "Then I suppose we shall talk to Jeb."