Fang had not left his hotel room in the past month and a half. He paid from a wad of cash he had taken with him for room service, which, at the crappy hotel he had found himself, was surprisingly rather cheap.
His thoughts had continuously drifted back to Max, Lysander, the triplets, and the flock. He might as well have abandoned them. But somehow, he felt abandoned. Or, as though he could have done something to change what had happened. His face was constantly sad, and the room service lady always asked him at least twice if he needed a hug or someone to talk to. He would simply shake his head and shut the door. He had grown a short beard, which felt itchy and disgusting on his face, as if it were some sort of fungus, but he could never bring himself to get up and shave it off. He simply stayed in one place, the TV blaring in the background, his phone occasionally vibrating on the nightstand next to him.
Just as it was doing now.
He ignored it, hoping they wouldn't call again. But it buzzed again. And again, he ignored it. But it buzzed again. Third call. Fourth call. Fifth call.
The sixth call, he rejected. He didn't want to talk to any of them. But a seventh call came, rejected. An eighth, rejected. The ninth, he finally answered, and growled hoarsely into the phone.
"What?!"
"It's likely that Max will wake up soon. She's moved around a few times and muttered some things. But, we also need you to come home. Not just to be here, but... er, you should come see it for yourself," Nudge spoke into the phone.
"Nudge, I don't want to -"
"Fang, she is your fiance, get over here!"
"You think I don't know she is?! You think I just don't care about her now that she's in a goddamn coma?! I do care, but I can't bear to think that if I had just done something, she'd be awake and I'd be with her and my goddamn kids!!"
"Fang... she's... you need to come. Please. Do it for Max, if not for yourself." Then Nudge hung up. The line went dead.
Fang went into the bathroom and looked himself in the mirror. His hair was crusted into one position, his clothes dirty and stained with sweat. He got in the shower and stood for a long time under the stream of water, then started cleaning himself. When he was done, he shaved his face, combed his hair and put his clothes back on. Upon getting his small amount of things together, he walked across the street to the strip mall, in which he bought himself a pair of jeans, some decent shoes, and a sweatshirt. He changed in the bathroom, then flew back towards the house in Arizona.
---
A few hours later, he arrived back at the house. When he walked in, he heard faint screaming, probably in another room. Or perhaps upstairs. Jeb walked into the room, saw him, and smiled, but then frowned.
"She's awake... but she's definitely not happy. It's not your fault, just... you'll see. Go upstairs," Jeb said carefully. Fang walked up the stairs cautiously, and looked into the room to see Max's back turned to him. She was pounding on one of the metal cabinets, but it wasn't making a single dent. It was she who was screaming.
"Babe, what's wrong?" He asked. She suddenly stopped the pounding, but she did not turn around.
"So you're finally back are you?" She whispered, her voice low. "Where were you when I was asleep, huh?" He stuttered, trying to come up with a reasonable answer.
"Huh? Where were you when -" she paused to turn around. "This happened?!" She screamed at him, and he had to take a step back when he saw her.
She stood with her weight on one leg. Her face was furious, and her stomach was enlarged.
Max was pregnant.
Again.
YOU ARE READING
Maximum Ride: Picking Up the Pieces (A Maximum Ride Fanfic)
FanfictionThey took her away two and a half years ago. As far as the flock could tell, Max had disappeared. But now, Max has returned to the flock with A LOT on her hands - more than just trying to rejoin the flock and move on from her past. What happens now...
