Fang

I hated Maximum Ride. I hated her so much. She was the very essence that collected itself into all of my problems. Everything about her was toxic. From her beautiful face to her obnoxious laugh, to the way she kissed me. It was all a disgusting charade meant to break any fragments of my heart that were left. I wanted to hurt her like she hurt me. I wanted to watch her cry knowing I had caused every tear. I wanted her to bleed because of me, but it was too late. She was already gone.

"Damnit Max." I snarled, falling back on my bed in defeat, converting my pain into the type of anger that made me lose control. I needed to wrap my hands around someone's neck and snap it. I wanted to make everyone feel the agony she had caused me.

"Fang, are you okay?" Ari knocked on the door to my hotel room hesitantly, and I glared ferociously at the white piece of wood that separated us.

"If you come in I might kill you." I growled, and brushing my threat away he opened the door, causing me to groan in all of my frustrations. I should have never given him the extra key.

"Look, I get it. She ran away and you're upset, but she had a reason, and she's coming back." Ari insisted, his voice desperate for me to calm down. I sat up, looking at him as if he was the cause of all my problems. He knew exactly why she left and he wouldn't tell me. So be it, then.

"Well by the time she gets back I'll be gone." I roared, my voice as lethal as a loaded gun as I snatched my backpack off of the couch, stuffing whatever belonged to me in it.

"Fang, don't be like this. She's coming back." Ari persisted, yanking my backpack out of my hands. I didn't know what I was doing anymore. All I was sure of was I was seeing a roadblock in my way and I was determined to get past it.

My fist acted on its own accord, and even before Ari hit the ground I was already going in for a second hit. "Don't you get it! I hate her!" I yelled, my fists pounding into Ari who could only block his face as I took all my anger out on an innocent bystander. No, he wasn't innocent. He knew why she left and he wouldn't tell me. He knew where she was and he wouldn't clue me in. I could have caught up with her by now. I could have broke her by now. "I hate her so much! I hate her! I hate her! I…" My voice shattered into a sob, and finally I forgot how to punch, how to breathe, how to do anything. All I could do was fall back and sit, leaning against the bed as useless tears threatened to spill over.

"Fang, it's okay to cry sometimes." Ari whispered, his voice gentle and kind unlike it normally was when he spoke to me. He sat up cautiously, and guilt immediately invaded my system at the blood that dribbled down his face.

"I'm sorry," I mumbled, but he only shook his head.

"Don't be. You're angry, I get it. I'd be too."

"Why can't you just tell me?" I pleaded, my voice barely recognizable to my own ears. It had never sounded so raw before, so completely destroyed.

"She doesn't want you to come after her, Fang. She needs to do this by herself."

"Do what by herself?" I cried out, wishing there was a gun around that would put me out of my misery. I just wanted to die- to end. It would be so much easier if my existence just stopped.

"I… I want to tell you, but she made me swear I wouldn't. Fang, she loves you so much. She's doing this for you."

"I don't want her to do anything for me! I want to do things for her! That's how its supposed to be! I'm the provider- not her!" I exclaimed, though my tears were blurring my vision and I wondered if she thought I was too weak to give her everything she wanted. I wouldn't blame her if she did.

"You know Max doesn't follow tradition, and if she did I don't think you'd love her as much as you do," Ari told me, and even though I knew he was right I shook my head.

"I- I hate her." I growled, the lie falling off my tongue as smoothly as a truth.

"She'll be back by the end of the month. If you really wanna leave I won't stop you, and maybe it's better if you do, but I'm going to tell you something and I want you to listen. Max didn't ask you to marry her because she was going to run out a day after, she asked you that because she wants to live the rest of her life connected to you in some way- and if that means by a last name and a couple rings then she'll take it." Ari pushed himself onto his feet, patting my shoulder once before heading towards the door.

I watched in a sort of trance as he left, waiting until the door was closed and locked before getting to my feet. I didn't want to leave, to be lost in Sin city with a couple hundred bucks and no wife, but I couldn't stay. It hurt too much, and if I stayed then I'd have to see her when she got back, I'd have to fall back into her soothing words all over again, and I'd have to go through all this hurt once more the next time she left.

I loved Max so much, but I wasn't sure I could live her life anymore. Not if it meant losing her for months at a time.

"Fang, put the backpack down." A familiar voice entered my mind. Their voices were so similar, so strong, so defiant. If I closed my eyes and I forgot to think I could pretend it was Max.

"What do you want, Lupo?" I muttered, not bothering to listen.

"For you to man up." She growled, snatching the bag away from me and tossing it on the floor. "So Max left- so she's gone for a bit, are you just going to run away from the problem?"

"She doesn't have a problem doing it, so why should I?" I snapped.

"Because you're not her, Fang. You're better than her-"
"No, I'm not, Lupo. I'm worse. At least she knows what she wants. I'm still unsure of everything." I admitted, sitting down on the bed and staring at my backpack in shame.

"Ari gave you a choice, but I won't. When Max comes back you're going to grin and bear it. I'm not going to let you make this mistake. Walking out on someone you love is the worse idea you could ever think."

"Is this where you point out losing Iggy?" I questioned, raising an eyebrow at her.

"No. Our situation was different. We had issues- I was still a dumb teenager and Iggy- well he still has the maturity of a four year old but at least he tries now, but that's not what this is about. Think of this month as preparation."

"For what?" I asked, although if I bothered to think about it I could have guessed.

"For Max. Pretend she didn't leave, she's just on her way back and it's taking awhile. She wants to come home to you, Fang. You are her home. So go out and buy her some flowers for when she gets back or something. Just pretend you're the welcoming committee."

"I'm not good at pretending." I insisted stubbornly.

"Well figure out how to be. Thirty days. That's barely any time in the grand scheme of things. It's a blip in your life. Power through it." Lupo demanded, and I sighed, already defeated.

"Well what if I can't?"

"Remember when Max pretty much died back in London? If you can get through your psychotic episode of trying to kill yourself with a pen I'm pretty sure you can get through anything."

For a moment we sat in silence, but then Lupo must have felt like she was just a distraction to the decision I had to think about and left.

Being alone was so much worse than being with people who just wanted to change my mind, At least with words throwing themselves at me I didn't have to think. I sighed quietly, laying back on my bed and staring at the ceiling. I hated Maximum Ride. But then, why couldn't I get up and walk out the door? I groaned as a thought dwindled through my mind, engraving itself as the only possible answer.

I love Maximum Ride.

Hey All, so welcome to the beginning of the end! From here it's just a downhill spiral of emotions. Aren't you glad you stuck around?

Okay, but for seriousness for a moment: I have a joint account with one of my best friend's MPHknows and you guys should go check it out because we have a story on there that already has 45 chapters.

Go To Vampire-knows (Such a classy name) and experience the usual gang in How Life's Rivers Flow

I expect to see you all there R&Ring (Please)

Soar on

VR