OH MY GOD I HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH MY WEEKEND BUT WRITE THIS STORY! And neglect my homework, but that's not important ;) Anyway, here's chapter twelve, the third chapter I've posted today. Feel free to review. Or not. It doesn't matter. I don't really care. Though I value each and every review I receive and store them in a very special place in my heart and my inbox. I haven't mentioned it in a while so just to remind you, I still don't own Maximum Ride or any characters, settings, brand-names, or ideas there-in.

Chapter Twelve

Fang

I got in the driver's side of Allison's mom's car and Allison slipped in beside me. Allison and her mom had insisted that I learn to drive a car because it was a "useful skill to have, with or without a vehicle." I decided it wasn't a good time to mention that I had driven before, even if it was only in a car we'd assembled from various pieces of scrap metal.

I also didn't mention that driving is useless when you have means of flying instead.

So I learned to drive and used this new-found skill to drive Allison around. No, she couldn't drive. Why? Because she kept failing the stupid test. She hated it when I passed on my first try.

I sped through the darkened city streets, heading back for Allison's house before we got attacked by Whitecoats. But I was also stressed and relatively pissed, which made my hands gripped the wheel so tightly that my knuckles were white.

"Fang?" came Allison's tentative voice from beside me. I turned my head briefly to look at her. She was staring out the window.

"Yeah?" I said, looking back at the road.

"Do you ever miss them?" she asked. She paused, then added, "The flock, I mean."

I took a deep breath. If I was going to spill my feelings to anyone, I'd want it to be Allison. As much as she loves to talk, she's also really good at listening. I saw her turn to look at me out of the corner of my eye.

"Yeah," I said finally. "I do. A lot, actually. They're my family."

"Then why did you leave?" she asked, even though I'd answered this question for her a thousand times.

"Because sometimes you have to make sacrifices for people you love," I said, frustration tainting my voice. Allison reached over and put her hand on my thigh.

"You should go back," she said simply. "I've been hanging around you for two and a half years and nothing bad has happened to me. Nothing bad has happened to you, and nothing bad has happened to my mom. Maybe it's actually safe now. Maybe it's time to go back and be with your family again."

As wrong as it seemed, Allison was right. Nothing had happened to me in two and a half years. Maybe the kids had been successful in ending Itex's rein once and for all. And I really wanted to go back to the flock. I wanted to take on the roll I'd had before, like I'd never even left.

But that would never happen. Not as long as I actually had left. Max would be beyond pissed if I came back, and, as much as I hated to admit it, Dr. Häagen-Dazs was right. Dylan was Max's other half. And they probably had—shudder—mated with each other, in his words.

That didn't matter to me, though. Max could do whatever she wanted with Mr. Perfect. But I still had to go back as long as I was alive enough to do it.

"If they really love you—which they do—they'll take you back," Allison said, answering the main question that my inner turmoil revolved around. She really was right. I should go back. "And even if they don't take you back, which I'm not saying they will, you can always come back here."

I stopped at the red light in front of us. I saw Allison's face turn slightly pink out of the corner of my eye. What I didn't see coming was when she clicked off her seatbelt, leaned over, and pecked her lips against mine. But just as quickly as the kiss had started, Allison pulled away, sat back down, and put her seatbelt back on like nothing had happened.

I smiled, but only on the inside.