Squee! Two chapters in one day! I'm sorry, you guys. I admit I've been holding these back. Mostly cause I finished them both this morning and due to the dial-up-but-not-really connection, I've avoided posting them until now. So, enjoy. And I'm really sorry in advance to those of you who hate me forever for this chapter. If you hate me forever, or love me forever, whatever, feel free to review! Cause then I'll love you forever.
Chapter Eleven
Max
I got up the next morning feeling like crap. I was so tired. I'd slept fine, too. But I was still really tired. I slipped into some sweats and a baggy t-shirt, ran my fingers through my hair a few times, and stepped out of my room, headed for the kitchen.
Iggy was there, as usual, and I was sad to see that he still looked depressed as ever. The kid was really starting to worry me. Dylan was also there, sitting at the table, his hands woven into his hair. When he heard me come in, he whipped around and jumped to his feet.
"Max!" he gasped. "Um…" he ran his hand through his hair nervously. I walked right up to him and stared him in the eyes.
"What's up, Dylan?" I asked. He was acting suspiciously. He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked around the room, anywhere but at me.
"Max, um, I don't know how to say this…" He hesitated, and I cocked an eyebrow at him. "Um, I don't think…I don't think it's working out," he said finally. My other eyebrow joins the first to push their way into my hairline.
"What?" I said, trying to understand what he meant. "What's not working out?"
"Being here, with the flock. Max…you and I both knew that I don't belong here."
Were he talking to anyone else, he'd get a bunch of protests. "No, of course you belong here!" and "What were you talking about? You're like family!" But not with me. So all I said was, "So what are you going to do about it?"
"I don't know yet," he confessed, still avoiding my gaze. "I was thinking maybe I'd go off, start a flock of my own—"
"With who, Dylan?" I asked sharply, cutting him off. "We're the only bird kids on the planet."
"Maybe I just want to live life my way, okay!" he shouted. I must have hurt him. He hardly ever lashed out like that. I put my hand on his face, turning it so he'd look at me.
"Okay," I said when I'd securely grabbed his attention. I could see his eyes turning glossy with moisture. "Just remember that if it doesn't work out, you can still come back."
Then I stood way up on my tip-toes, until he was at eye-level.
And then I kissed him.
He kissed me back. It was gentle and plain, nothing like what I'd had with Fang, back when he was still here. There was nothing in it. No passion, no desire, no love. It was an empty kiss.
Dylan released me, taking two steps back. His face was flushed.
"Thank you," he said. He walked past me into the living room toward the door. I turned to see him off, but just as he reached out to turn doorknob, he dropped to the floor soundlessly. For half of a second, I was shocked silent. Then I came to my senses and dropped to the ground beside him. I grabbed his arm and checked his wrist for a pulse.
"Guys!" I hollered as I did that. "Someone! Get over here, quick!"
Nudge and Angel sprinted down the hallway, obviously sensing my hysteria.
"What happened?" Nudge asked, sitting down beside me.
"I—I don't know! He just dropped!" I explained. Gazzy and Iggy also joined us in the living room. "He doesn't have a pulse!"
"Quick," Iggy said, dropping down beside us. "Help me roll him over."
Nudge and I did as we were told, rolling Dylan onto his stomach. Iggy pushed the hair on the back of Dylan's neck away and the five of us gasped simultaneously. Sure enough, Iggy had guessed right. There, on the back of Dylan's neck, were the figures that could only mean he'd expired. Nudge's eyes were welling up with tears, and her hand was clasped tightly over her mouth. Angel was kneeling across from me, holding Dylan's limp hand and biting hard into her lower lip, while Gazzy wrapped his arm around his sister's shoulders.
Iggy was crouched near Dylan's left thigh, not reacting at all. I started to wonder if emotions had become too painful for him, as they had for me, and he'd given up on displaying them. Again, I felt bad for him. And, somehow, guilty. I couldn't figure out why, but I felt responsible for everything that happened to everyone in the last couple of years.
I really wished Fang were here to make it right.
But he wasn't. And I had to live with the fact that he'd found a better life. Something better than us. Something he really wanted. And we were left to hope for something even better.
Unfortunately, we still weren't getting it.