Hi guys! it's been a while, I know. I'm sorry. You deserve better. BUT! if it makes you feel better, this chapter was originally going to be two, so.. two for the price of one! but anyways, I'll stop talking now. Enjoy the chapter!

It'd been nearly a week since we'd started school and officially bunk with the Cullens. We'd all started to fall into a routine during the week, and then just hung around on weekends. It was nice and made me love weekends even more. It was hard to think of us staying for more than a year, but at the moment I didn't really care.

However, time hadn't moved as fast as I wanted it to.

It had only been a day since I had punched Alice, and my hand was still swollen. Not a ton, but enough to annoy me. Dr. Cullen had wrapped it and told me how to take care of my hand, but all I wanted was it to go away.

I walked up stairs and, without thinking, walked to the boy's room. Gaz, Iggy, and Fang all shared a big room that supposedly used to be an attic, but now resembled something that looked kind of like a penthouse suite. All it needed was a pool, a bar counter, and a mega screen TV and it would be.

Iggy and Gaz were outside, playing with Emmet, while Fang often stayed holed up upstairs, plucking at the expensive guitar the Cullens had lying around.

I could hear his playing as I reached for the door. I was just going to open it and start talking, but I stopped. I just stood there and listen for a little. He was getting really good at it. Edward had taught him to play the basics about a week ago, and now he was playing like a champ.

It was funny, almost. The only thing we'd ever learned and practiced was fighting. survival. That kind of stuff. I'd never thought about whether any of us had talent with things like guitar or any instrument at all. My mind went to a picture of Fang as a professional musician. Doing concerts and shows, signing autographs, having screaming fangirls. I almost laughed audibly

Fang with fangirls? Come on!

But my mind didn't stop at Fang. What if Nudge became... I dunno, some kind of amazing model? or Iggy and Gaz became special effects artists for movies? Or maybe Angel becomes a psychic on TV or something! These weren't so much funny as they were frightening. Why was it frightening?

Because it could really happen.

If we did shut down the school, if I saved the world and shit, if everything was safe and fine... they could all leave. Find their families, get a life, be celebrities, be whatever! They could all do it.

But that leaves me.

And I'm alone.

I don't have talent in anything except fighting! And if I tried to enter a competition, I'd be disqualified, what with my weird bird genes and stuff! All the rest of the flock would be wonderful at whatever they tried to be! But what about me? Where would I be?

Where would I be without my flock...?

Suddenly the door opened, causing me to fall through it. I hit the ground with a loud thud. Stupid wood floors. Doesn't anyone have carpet any more?

I looked up at the dark haired bird boy I'd come to see in the first place, who was now laughing at me. I glared at him through my hair. "You suck."

"Sorry, I thought you'd hear me coming. I heard you standing out here. Mind asking why you're standing here at my door?" He held out his hand and helped me up. I quickly ran my fingers through my hair so I could see straight.

"I was just coming to talk to you." I shrugged. "Nothing big. You sounded good and I didn't want to interrupt you." I brushed myself off then looked at him. His goofy grin was now a subtle smile, the shadows cover his face just right. I smiled back.

"Well thanks." I walked in and he closed the door. He turned and gestured to the couch where he'd been playing just moments earlier. The shiny black guitar was currently resting on the table, it's handle tipped forward, and the back end in the air. I flopped on the couch, pretty much taking up the entire thing. But Fang just smiled, lifted my feet, and sat down under them.

"So," he asked, "What did you want to talk about?"

I almost didn't want to tell him about my realization at his door. But in usual Fang fashion, I spilled my guts out. Slowly at first, but then I told him everything. I was too comfortable with him not to tell him everything.

At first he just nodded, looking off into the distance, thinking, looking over my words as if they were floating in front of him. It was interesting to see the wheels in his mind turn. He thought his words carefully, then looked at me and said, "Why would the flock leave you?"

"I dunno...! They've all got dreams you know! ...Nudge kissed a guy about a week ago and I'm still flipping out! Why didn't she tell us?"

"Because she knew you were going to flip out?" I started to protest, then stopped, realizing he was right. "She probably just... doesn't think you'll understand. You're not a very girly person. Now that she's got a bunch of other girls around her, especially ones who've had more experience in the boy world, she's not going to go to you first."

It's already happening then. They're leaving me.

"But that's alright. You're still the leader of the flock. She still loves you. She's not just going to up and abandon you. We've spent our whole lives together. We're not going to stop now."

I thought about what he said... I didn't really have anything to worry about. They still loved me and I loved them. They trusted me and I needed to give them the grace of me trusting them. I just needed to calm down. I had to focus on the other major factor in my weird-ass life.

Which brought me to my next question.

"...I punched Alice," I said.

He looked at me like I had two heads. "...why...?"

I looked into his dark eyes so he knew I was being completely genuine. "Her hand... it looked like and eraser hand when I first saw it. I panicked!"

He nodded, then reached out for my hand, taking it in his and rubbing it gently. "Well... Maximum Anne Ride... I think... I am not your personal therepist, but... If I had to give you a diagnosis, I'd say..." He shrugged. "You're brain's craving danger?"

I gave him a look and he put his other hand up in defense. "Now, hear me out. ...We're adaptable people. We've basically spent our entire lives learning to survive. Survival has ALWAYS been priority number one. It's like... what is the point of having private detectives in a place that's got no crime? They're just going to sit there and jump at the next chance they get to get into action again. Maybe... your brain just went that extra step. Maybe your brain is just used to danger and life threatening experiences."

I sighed. It made sense. Why is he so smart...?

"Keep in mind, I'm not your personal therapist. I'm just..." He trailed off, and I wasn't sure why. I looked back at him and he was still in his thinking pose.

"...Oh boy. Is it time for a DTR?" He gave me a look like I was crazy. I rolled my eyes. "It means define the relationship."

He nodded. then leaned back. "Yeah, I guess so."

Then silence.

Pure

Awkward

Loud

Silence.

Then he looked at me and said "I mean.. it's not that I don't like you, I just... I don't think you would..." He groaned in confusion and dropped his head in his hands.

"Well..." I said, finding strange courage from nowhere to speak. "I think..." I bit my lip for a moment then said, "I think... I love you... but I don't want this to ruin anything for us."

He nodded. "Yeah. We've always been together. If we do ruin this..."

"It'll be fucking awkward."

We both laughed a little to defuse the tension. It was funny because the thought was just odd! What would we do if it didn't work? We live together! And it's not like you can just up and leave the flock! That's absurd!

"Yeah..." he said, grinning. "But... I do think I love you... and I think that if you're willing... I'm willing."

I smiled. It was cute how two people who have known each other their entire lives could be turned into complete socially awkward freaks by the thought of romance.

"Well... I'm willing to. And..." I took a deep breath and then said, "I love you too."

Then he smiled, took my hand, I put my feet down and we both leaned in and kissed.

It wasn't like a miracle kiss. I didn't have fireworks in my head, and I didn't instantly think he was my soulmate. In fact, as far as a real first kiss is concerned, it was kind of awkward and weird. I mean... why is his face on my face? But it was still nice. A show of affection. And it wasn't bad. It was enjoyable. And it was nice.

It was Fang.

And it was me.

And we were together.

And we had all the time in the world just to be together.

And we were.

School came around too fast for it to be considered healthy. I had my own routine in the mornings that involved me playing a game with time. How long could I sleep without being late? unfortunately, Esme didn't agree with my plan and would wake me up as loud and obnoxiously as she possibly can. And because I don't want my hands to swell up again, I can't hit her.

So I get up and go down stairs, eat breakfast, brush my teeth, get my stuff, and get in the car along with all the others. then we drive to school really fast, which I always enjoy, and then go to classes. That part's not so much fun.

I started to walk to biology with Fang, when he slipped his hand into mine. He was watching me to gauge my reaction, making sure he hadn't crossed a line. I just smiled and squeezed his hand gently, letting him guess how I felt.

We walked into the classroom just as the bell rang and I let go to sit next to Peter Pa- I mean Scott. He smiled at me. "Hey," he said, turning in his chair to look at me better, "How was your weekend?"

I smiled. "Pretty good. How about yours?"

He shrugged. "Oh, fine. I just hung out with some friends. You should come meet them. I think you'd like 'em." He folded his hands behind his head and leaned back. I wasn't sure if he was doing to to be cool, or just to show off his Cowboy BeBop T-Shirt.

I raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"

He nodded. "Yeah, we're all hanging out at lunch if you want to join us."

I nodded. "Alright..." Then I remembered, I'm not good around people. usually, I wind up beating up all the people I talk to. I didn't want to do a one on however-many-friends-scott-has confrontation. Then I remembered, I don't have to. "Mind if I bring my boyfriend with?"

Just those words and Scott looked both confused and little disappointed. "Oh, he's your boyfriend? uh... yeah, that's fine." His smile came back, but it didn't quite reach his eyes. I was about to say something, but the Dr. Kuipers spoke up and class began.

At lunch, I told Fang about Scott asking me to meet his friends. He agreed, stating that his lab partner, Kailey, was one of Scott's friends as well. So we walked around the cafeteria, holding our trays and went to the only table with a redhead sitting at it.

Scott smiled at us as we sat down. At the table with him was a guy wearing dark sunglasses, and having a blonde beard/gote thing and short spiky blonde hair. He was also wearing a black shirt and a checkerboard patterned tie. He took off his sunglasses and smiled.

Next to him was a girl who had lighter blonde hair with a side part and a blue streak in her hair. Her nose had a small stud in it and she had some tattoos on her arms. just butterflies, roses, vines, not a ton, just a few. she held up her hand, which had fingerless gloves on them, and gave us a little finger wave.

Next to her was a girl who had short brown/blonde hair in a bob cut style. she smiled at Fang and waved. "Hi Nick!" she said.

Right. I'd almost forgotten we were using fake names. Well, Fang was using a fake name. He waved back to her and sat down. I sat down between Scott and Fang. "Hello everyone!"

After a chorus of hellos, Scott started to introduce us. "Max, Nick, this is Tom," gesturing to the boy.

He gave us a two finger salute."Ello."

"And this is his girlfriend, Zoey." The girl with the tattoos smiled.

"Hi! Nice to meet you guys."

"Nice to meet you too," Fang said.

"And you already know me," Kailey said.

I nodded. So this is what a normal group of friends looks like... "Well, I'm Max, and this is my boyfriend Nick." I gestured to Fang and he returned Tom's finger salute.

"So," Tom said, "Where are you guys from?"

"Colorado," Fang and I said at the exact same time. We looked at each other and chuckled a little bit. It was almost so funny it was kind of scary.

Zoey chuckled a little to. "Wow, you guys are really in sync." She sounded almost jealous of us.

"Yeah," I said. "We grew up together, so... I guess we've just... learned to be in sync."

Fang nodded. "Yeah..."

"Well, I think it's bloody adorable," said Tom with a british accent. He noticed my confused face and said, "Yes, I'm british. Born and raised."

I nodded, impressed. "Really? What are you doing here?"

He sighed and shrugged. "My mum wanted me to spend the year by her. So I am."

I nodded. "Cool. So, what school do you go to in England?"

"Well, currently I'm just in highschool, but this is my last year. I'm planning on going to the University of Lincoln, or film school."

"Oh," Fang said, "You make films?"

He shrugged. "Well, mostly just youtube videos, but I'm actually pretty popular on the interwebs." He leaned back a little. "You should check me out. I could always use another viewer."

Zoey rolled her eyes. "He's being modest. He's only a few subscribers away from being in the top 100 most subscribed channels. He's got some great stuff."

"And, I take it you're not british?" I asked Zoey.

She shook her head and chuckled. I noticed she and Tom were still holding hands. "Nah, but I wish I was. I was just there for a little bit and I met this guy." She gestured to Tom. He then smiled, put his arm around her and the two kissed.

Scott instantly took his opportunity to be as immature as possible.

"Ewwwwww! Gross!" And then threw little balls of straw wrapper at them.

I chuckled. It was nice. Having friends. Normal friends who didn't care about my wings, or me saving the world, and just wanted to spend time with me. I wasn't as comfortable with them as I was with the flock, sure. But comfort is a thing that grows over time. I'm sure I'd get used to them eventually.

We talked about some random stuff, and I eventually zoned out. I was to busy watching Kailey make oragami shapes out of her napkin, when this odd sentence broke my zen.

"So, how well do you guys know your way around a gun?"

I snapped my head to look at Tom who had asked the question. I realized he'd asked the question to Fang, but that was after I'd said, "...what?"

"For a video," Tom said to me, then looked back at Fang. "I was wondering if you guys wanted to help me film one. It'll involve some guns, but they're not real ones. And I can teach you how to hold them. They're fake and aren't loaded." He looked at me. "Would you guys be interested?"

I looked at Fang. "I... Well..." He shrugged. Thanks Fang! Thanks a lot!

I looked back at Tom. "...uh, sure I guess. When are you filming?"

He grinned, instantly excited, jumping on the opportunity to pull us into his world of video making. "This weekend, in the forest. How about we meet at school and I'll show you where we're filming?"

"Uh, sure," I said, looking at Fang for his confirmation.

"Sounds great," Fang finally said. "We'll see you then."

"Great! It's a date!" Tom said. Then the bell rang and they were off, everyone up in a flash. "We'll meet at say... 11?" Fang and I both nodded, receiving a thumbs up from Tom. "Fantastic! Bye!" And with that, he walked away taking Zoey with him. Scott and Kailey had disappeared in the chaos, leaving me with Fang.

I looked at him, thinking about what had just transpired...Was this the second time I'd signed up for something that I was probably going to regret in my time here? Ugh...

aaaaaand Scene!

So, what'd you think? Love it? hate it? are you still mad at me, or do I have your trust again? Tell me in the comments! I read them a lot, so don't think I don't read what you say! I'm always listening to you guys.