The Disbanded: Divided We Stand – Chapter 64
By MyNameIsCAL
-Nudge's POV-
"I'm leaving."
Max stared at me. "Leaving?"
"Gazzy is gone, Max, and Iggy has Ella," I told her. "There's nothing left for me here. I'm going."
"And what am I supposed to tell Iggy and Ella when they get back? That you just left because they got married?" Max shook her head. "You can't leave. Where are you going to go?"
"Anywhere but here," I said, picking up my back of the few things I did have.
"No, please don't go," Max said, but Fang grabbed her by the arm.
"Fang, what are you doing?" Max said, shaking him free.
I gave Max and hug. "I'll call you, I promise."
She hugged me back. "Please, don't go."
But no amount of begging was going to stop me. I had told Angel I was going to leave, but I think she knew all along, like she knew about Gazzy's death. It was a gift and a burden to know the future. Angel handled it so well though.
As I started down the hall, Max still begged me to stay. Fang put his arms around Max, restraining her from going after me.
"Let her go, Max, let her go," he said.
And then I was gone, unfurling my wings, and taking off into the sky, for the first time alone instead of the flock. But that day we had been separated was the day the flock ceased to exist, when priorities got mixed with emotions causing everything to fall apart. Or at least that's what I thought as I flew away from Max.
-Max's POV-
"We have to go after her!" I said as Fang held me back.
"No, we don't," he said in a low growl. "She'll be fine. Angel told me. And she told me not to let you go after her."
"Why is that?" I shouted, pushing him away.
He leaned back against the wall, his eyes searching for what to say. "Because things are going to happen, Max, and we can't stop them."
"Where is Angel?" I questioned.
"With Mom," he answered.
His eyes met mine. Before I knew it, I was crying against him, his arms around me. He said nothing, mostly because there was nothing really to say. And there we stood for a while, in the empty house, together like that.
"This is my fault," I whimpered.
Fang dropped his chin to my shoulder. "We can go on forever pointing fingers at each other, Max. Even if you had chosen to save Angel and Nudge, we'd all end up hurt in the end."
But I only started to cry harder. In fact the only reason Fang stood before me now was because I had saved him. Even though Angel had told me Nudge and her would be okay, Nudge didn't see it that way. I had ruined her relationship with Iggy, even though he didn't see her as someone he could be romantically involved with, and Gazzy, she just saw him as another casualty of my love for Fang.
"Max, it's not your fault," he said quietly.
-Fang's POV-
Max was curled up against me as we lay in bed. The house seemed empty now without Nudge, especially since Ella and Iggy were off on their honeymoon. Once they got back, we would be off to Ted and Cal's wedding. But I was tired, and Max, well she just seemed so unhappy right now, that it was hard for me to want to push forward.
We had skipped dinner, mostly because the idea of sitting at a half empty table was too hard for us to wrap our heads around. I knew Nudge was going. Angel told me, and she told me to keep Max from going after her, so I did, but I wondered if it would have made a difference if I had stopped Max or not.
"Maybe they all hate me," Max said.
I frowned. "Max, they don't hate you. Nudge is just upset. She needs time to be on her own."
She held onto my arm. "Promise me you won't take off, that you won't leave me."
"I won't leave you," I said, finding her hand. "I left once. I'll never do it again, I promise."
But I knew Max wasn't thinking straight. Just because Nudge was gone didn't mean everyone was just going to up and leave all of a sudden. As strong as I knew Max was, I also knew that when it came to the flock, emotions got to her.
"Sleep now," I whispered, stroking her hair. "Things will be better in the morning."
"Alright," she said quietly, like a little child, and she rested her head on my chest, listening to my heartbeat and she drifted off.
-Angel's POV-
Nudge left. I knew she would. But she had to because being here would only make her miserable. I told Fang to stop Max from going after her, and he had done his job, but it also hurt him too.
There would still be more for them to get through, for everyone to get through. After all of that, though, everyone would find their own peace.
