I don't own MR

Max

Hate is a strong word. It's also a word people like me use a lot. People who kill, who deceive, who survive solely on animal instinct. The kind of people who get where they're going in life by building a staircase out of their inferior. I've always been one of those people. Ever since I grew up from a normal kid to a mutant freak I've been one of those people. And yet, I've never been able to hate any of the close friends I managed to hook, line, and sinker in the business of being a Fugitive. Not until now anyways.

I didn't exactly want to hate Iggy, but he had left me no alternative after trying to kill Ari yesterday. Of course I could see as to why he'd be angry at my brother, but the damage he caused was way beyond what he should have even thought of doing. It wasn't Ari's fault that he had gotten Lupo pregnant. It wasn't Ari's fault that she was nothing more than a shadow of who she used to be, and it wasn't Ari's fault that he loved her.

I sighed to myself, looking at Ari, examining his broken, bruised face. I wanted to hug him, to do something to comfort him, but I knew anything I did would just hurt him more, and so I didn't. Instead I just laid next to him, listening to his ragged breathing as he twitched in his sleep, probably reliving a nightmare. "Oh Ari, why couldn't you just stay at HQ with Nudge?" I whispered to myself, wishing he would have never come with me.

Cautiously, I sat up, careful not to wake my brother as I slipped out of bed, replacing the covers before walking towards the door. I took one last glance at Ari, just to make sure he was still breathing, before heading out of the room. I quietly moved out into the hallway, shutting the wooden door behind me and turning to head to the kitchen.

"Why weren't you next to me when I woke up?" Fang asked, a wild look in his eyes. I jumped back from surprise and instinctively shot out a roundhouse kick that he easily caught.

"You can't always be my center of attention, Hotshot," I joked, attempting to pull my ankle out of his grasp. Fang's grip only tightened and he glared at me.

"You're not allowed to sleep in another guy's room, Max," Fang growled and I rolled my eyes.

"You can't be serious, Ari's my brother, you sicko," Finally, I managed to yank my ankle away and stumbled onto my feet. It's amazing how clueless you can become when blinded by what you want to believe.

I watched timidly as Fang shook himself out of it and blinked at me. "S- sorry. I don't know why I said that," He mumbled, looking a little pale.

"Fang, I think you got something," I told him, resting the back of my hand against his forehead. Instantly, I yanked my hand back and hissed. "Dude, that is not normal," Fang was burning up; he felt like a fire in a forest.

"Maybe I should go lay down," He said, still seeming unplugged from the world. That was when I figured out. Something was wrong with Fang, and it wasn't the flu. I sent him a wary look, trying to decide if being around him was smart, then remembered I was Maximum Ride and I could take him out faster than he could blink.

"Yeah, I'll bring your breakfast to you," I patted his shoulder and kissed his cheek before heading towards the kitchen, watching as Fang stumbled a little down the hall towards the stairs, mumbling to himself. Great, just what I needed. A broken brother, a sick boyfriend, a numb friend, and an angry chef. Could my team get any stranger?

I sighed and found Iggy in the kitchen, cooking up pancakes. "We had pancake ingredients?" I asked, perplexed at the idea.

"No, I went to the market. Did you know this house in the woods is like five miles away from a town?" Iggy asked sarcastically and I smirked. At least I could still get along with him.

"No I didn't," I played along, "I figured we would just eat tree bark," I took a breath, hoping he couldn't see how angry I was with him, then I thought of something. Why was I hiding my anger? Maximum Ride does not hide anything. Except pain.

"Well I could probably make anything appetizing, even wood," Iggy mused and I scowled. My friend blinked in surprise at my sudden shift in mood, and tilted his head in question. "What's wrong?"

"Oh I don't know, why don't you ask the blood stains in the living room," I snarled, walking over to the fridge and yanking it open, then slamming it closed when I realized there really wasn't anything worth eating in there.

"Max, I-"

"Until you apologize for trying to kill Ari, it'd be smart not to talk to me. Because whereas you're too much of a frightened little girl to actually snap a neck, I'm not." With that I spun on my heel and stormed out of the room, up the stairs. For awhile I stood at the top, watching to see if Iggy came after me, but he never did. Instead I could hear the clicking of pans and metal against metal. I sighed and started walking towards my own room until I stopped at a cracked open door. Inside I could just barely catch a glimpse of Lupo.

I was a little shocked to see her just sitting on the bed, her knees pulled to her chest as she hugged them. For a moment I thought about continuing on to my room and checking on Fang, but then I thought of Lupo, and how she must feel, and how maybe she could use a Maximum Ride pep talk.

I walked in and sat down next to her on the bed, looking in the same direction she stared in, unmoving except for the rise and fall of her chest.

"Lupo, I can't pretend I understand your pain. Hell, I don't really understand anybody's pain. But I do know you can't shut down on us. You can't let these little things stop you from living your life." I said in a harsher voice than I intended. Lupo continued just sit there, unmoving. For a moment her mouth twitched, and I knew she would have retaliated furiously if she wasn't in this numb state of mind. "I'm sorry, you know," I continued, deciding that she was listening, even if it didn't seem like it. "I'm sorry I didn't get there in time. I'm sorry I couldn't save him or her. I'm sorry you had to go through this, and if… if I could trade places with you I would."

In reply, Lupo blinked, and I groaned, running a hand through my hair and trying to figure out what to do with this hollow body that had once held so much life and attitude and joy. "Look, you can mourn this lost for awhile, but eventually you need to wake up, Lupo. Life is cruel and you have to deal with it like everybody else. You can't do this to Iggy. You love him, and you need to open up to him if nobody else, okay?" I stood up to leave Lupo to think about what I had said, not expecting anything from her. Which is why the four simple words she said next utterly shocked and horrified me.

"It's not worth it,"

I left, pretending not to wonder what she had meant by it. Pretending not to be terrified for my friend. I tried not to dwell on it, but everytime I let my mind wander it took me back to those four words, and so I figured I needed to talk to Iggy again, as much as I didn't want to.

I headed down the creaky stairs only to find him on his way up with a plate of breakfast in his hand, most likely for Lupo. I glanced over his strawberry blonde hair, his icy blue eyes, his lanky build. Did I really want to hate one of my only friends? I shook my head, deciding I needed to let it go, and told myself I would… eventually.

"Hey, keep an eye on her, okay?" I said quietly, looking to Iggy to be Lupo's rock. He needed to hold her falling walls up, and patch up all the cracks like only he could. Lupo needed him right now way more than she would ever admit, and he needed to understand that he had to be there for her twenty-four seven until he could pull her out of this hole she way digging deeper and deeper.

"What happened?" Iggy asked seriously, a mix of fear and curiosity sliding into his words as he watched me cautiously. He was urgent to know, and I could see him twitching to move up the stairs, to throw the plate down and sprint up to Lupo and check on her.

"Nothing bad but… just keep an eye on her," I decided telling him the whole story wouldn't be the smartest thing to do at the moment and just left it at that before heading into the kitchen. I could feel Iggy's eyes burning a hole in my head as he contemplated my words, tossing them around and weighing them out before finally the comforting creaks began again, meaning he was continuing his journey to give Lupo some needed nutrients.

I sighed, taking a seat at the island on a wooden bar stool, resting my head in my hands. It's not worth it, What's not worth it? Life? Love? Me? Was it me? Was I not worth her time anymore? I groaned and let my head bang against the marble countertop, trying to figure out the complex runix cube that is Lupo.

I remembered her saying that same thing yesterday when Iggy had been pummeling Ari. But she had only meant it about them fighting, I thought. "Stop thinking about it," I mumbled, but I couldn't. All I could do was picture this one accident being the end of Lupo.

"Morning," Ari said brightly and my head shot up to find my brother limping into the kitchen with something that was supposed to be a smile on his face.

"Ari! Go back to bed! I swear, what part of grounded from life don't you understand?" asked, thinking back to when I gave him strict bed orders last night. Ari only chuckled at my frustration and opened the refrigerator.

"You can't ground me, Max. I'm eighteen years old, and your guardian." I watched as he pulled out a half-gallon bottle of orange juice and unscrewed the top before downing at least have of it.

"Ari, I've utterly destroyed Generals and Admirals of all badges, so you should listen when I ground you." I snapped, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Max, Honey, you must have hit your head hard or something if you think you can boss me around." Ari decided, putting the orange juice back in the fridge and shutting the door.

"Go back to bed," I demanded, wishing he would listen to me.

"No," He smirked and left the kitchen, with me hot on his tail.

"After all I've done for you, you're telling me 'no'?" I asked.

"Yup," Ari sat down on the couch and grabbed the remote off the coffee table, not even sparing me a second glance as he turned the TV on and began flipping through channels.

"You are impossible," I groaned, rolling my eyes and sitting next to him. I would have pointed out the couch was okay too, but then he probably would have gotten up and joined a marathon that was scheduled for tomorrow or something along those lines.

"You know, it's kinda nice being back here," Ari told me as he finally settled on a Fast and Furious movie.

"Yeah," I agreed, looking around. "I can look at almost anything here and recall one of our stupid memories we share."

"Like how you almost killed me over there by that painting," Ari pointed to a portrait of a wolf, howling at the moon that still had dried blood splattered on the golden frame.

"That was your fault. I told you not to mess with the TV while I was in the shower," I countered.

"And so you decided the only way to punish me for such a heinous crime was ambushing me with a spoon?" Ari asked, and I could see the amusement in his eyes.

"Nobody comes in between me and boxing." I said jokingly and we both laughed until Ari broke out into a coughing fit. I waited for him to catch his breath, but he never did. Instead he fell off the couch onto the floor , choking on air and growling like a feral beast at the same time. In all honesty, it was kind of terrifying, but I held my fear down because this was my brother, and he needed some sort of help.

"Ari?" I asked, patting his back, which was a stupid move because he just grunted in pain. I immediately drew back from him, watching helplessly as he gasped for breath while clutching onto the carpet like his life depended on it. Until finally, after ages it seemed, he began to breathe again, and he sat up and looked at me.

"Are you okay?" I asked meekly, unsure of what else to do.

"I'm fine," He mumbled, sounding irritated, whether it was at me or himself, I wasn't sure. "I think I'm going to go lay down for awhile, um… can we forget this happened?" He asked and I nodded slowly before watching as he retreated to his room, mumbling to himself like Fang had earlier after-

Fang! I had completely forgotten about him. Didn't I promise to bring him up some breakfast? I rushed into the kitchen and hurriedly looked through the pantry, deciding some five year old Nutella might still taste good and slapping it on some fresh bread Iggy had bought sometime before I woke up.

And then it hit me. Here I was, the Great Maximum Ride, ruthless murderer and rampaging villain, making breakfast for my boyfriend. Just let that sink in people. I had become a housewife, and I wasn't even a wife! I sighed and banged my head against the island countertop, trying to blame my strange behavior on the little Fang growing inside me and not on the one upstairs. I hated this whole love thing. It acted like a fatal disease, storming through your body and spreading from your heart straight to your brain, clouding the real you, turning you into a shadow of the conniving evil you used to be.

I really need to get my life back on track.

After some thought in the kitchen, I helped myself to the nutella sandwich I had just made as I walked upstairs, wondering how many times Fang would ask for a bite before giving up and getting off his butt to make his own breakfast.

I walked into my old room, currently Fang's and my room, and plopped down beside the cluster of pillows and blankets that was Fang. "Did you bring my breakfast?" He asked, peeking out from under at least four blankets. In response, I took another bite and watched as his eyes filled with want.

"Can I have some?" He asked reaching for the sandwich, to which I slapped his hand away. Hard. I had to make him feel pain if he was going to understand this was my breakfast. Not his. Something like a growl escaped his throat and I watched his eyes flicker. I thought it was odd, but didn't question it considering I was enjoying his hurt look.

"Max, give me some," Fang whined, sitting up. I shook my head.

"Get your own damn breakfast," I said smirking. I went to take another bite, but all too soon I was tackled by Fang. We flew off the bed and I landed hard on the carpeted floor, barely having any time to recover before two strong hands gripped my wrists a little too tight for comfort. "Fang get off, that hurts," I snapped, struggling underneath him as he shifted his weight to hold me down. I met his gaze, about to yell at him for causing me the physical pain he was from crushing my wrists, but something stopped me.

His beautiful eyes were flickering. Two vastly different colors in the middle of a vicious war danced around in his irises. I watched for a moment as the dark brown began to melt away as a stormy grey took over. Lightning flashed as the anger transformed across his face and I realized all too late that I had been egging on the beast that had been injected into Fang when he had been taken from me. This short five minutes of rubbing a nutella sandwich in his face had brought on a monster who was fighting to take control of one of the only pieces of my sanity I had left. And by the looks of it, that monster was winning.

Fang tightened his grip on my wrists, and I winced at the sound of cracking bone, wanting to cry but demanding that I keep the waterworks at bay. Now was not the time to break down. Now was not the time to let the little girl I used to be shine through. I wasn't her anymore and every part of me needed to understand that.

"Stop teasing me, you son of a-"

"Fang!" I snapped harshly, cutting him off. He couldn't call me that. I wouldn't let him. If he did I knew I'd break down. I couldn't let him break me. I sighed as Fang continued to growl and snarl as he held me down, searching for words. Each time he opened his mouth though, his speech failed him and he closed it once more, thinking as he glared at me. "Fang let me go," I sneered firmly, hoping to switch on those deep brown eyes.

The gray continued to thunder on.

"Fang, don't make me hurt you," I threatened, wiggling my good wrist around as I tried to free it from his iron grip. He had gotten stronger since I met him. Much stronger. And who was I to believe I even stood a chance against the guy who had ripped Omega to shreds?

I winced as a hideous laugh that wasn't quite Fang's rang out of his mouth, echoing across the walls and shaking my bones.

"You think you can hurt me?" He scoffed and let himself laugh until he had tears in his eyes that weren't quite his eyes. "I believe you're the cornered one this time, Max," I flinched once again, this time at the way he said my name. As if I was… as if I was the bad guy. Like everything I had done had been evil.

I let that sink in as Fang began to pull himself together, his laughter dying out. Was I the evil? Was I the bad guy? After all, I did kill his dad. Snapped his neck right in front of Fang without a second thought. And then I got him entangled into my crazy life. He turned into a fugitive, a wanted criminal, because of me. In reality, Fang was holding me down, having broken my wrist and his way to causing me more pain… because of me. I was the reason he was hulking over me, smiling a smile that wasn't quite his smile. Me.

But of course I didn't let that sink in. I refused to let my own self-pity wash away my will power. And so selfishly, I finally broke my good hand free, throwing the quickest, sloppiest punch I ever had in my lifetime that clipped Fang's nose and smashed into his eye. I didn't mean to potentially break his cheekbone. In fact, I wasn't even on planning on giving him the black eye, but I guess I was just too desperate to be precise.

Fang groaned and locked his knees against my waist to keep me from escaping, holding his face in his hands as he swallowed fresh breaths of air and tried to blink himself out of his confused state.

Then he looked at me. He looked at me with his one good eyes while he cradled the other and I swear I've never seen so much hate in half of a glare in all my life. I have never seen that much hate- that much loathing- in all my life.

I knew it was coming before it did. Maybe it was the glare, maybe it was feral animalistic noise he made. Or maybe it was just because Fang doesn't let people push him around. I knew it was coming. I didn't try to stop it. We stared at each other a long time before it finally came.

Searing, gut-wrenching, excruciating pain.

Okay guys so you know, it's kind of funny because this chapter is only sorta-eventful and yet I think it's the longest chapter of this story so far.

Alright so I have an awesome friend on this website (actually I have quite a few but I have to give a shout-out to this one in particular) who I have nicknamed Random. Although, if you read How to Survive the Zombie Apocalypse you would know her as WhoSaidBlondesCantRead (And knowing me I probably did some little spelling error to the pen name that I will never live down). She basically helps me out with almost every chapter (even if she doesn't realize it) and she's just really Majestic. Random, without you this chapter wouldn't have been half as good as it is now thanks to your (horrible) critique skills. Hahaha. And also, like for some reason she is the nicest person and actually EDITS the chapters as she reads them and I'm like throwing virtual gold at her feet for that cause I don't want to go back and read this five times trying to figure out where I spelled words wrong. I mean seriously, nobody likes editing but she does it for me and until now, Random probably hasn't realized how much I appreciate that. So I'm going to end this here before it turns into like five gazillion paragraphs. Thanks, Random, for all the help!

Go read How to Survive the Zombie Apocalypse if you haven't already!

Soar on

VR