Maximum Ride: Forevermore

Chapter Four

Fang, being ever the worrying busybody, followed me inside without asking. If he wanted to follow me, he had to work for it, so I kept walking, stubborn as a mule, to the furthest balcony from the front door. It's a bad decision, but then again, I'm notorious for making those.

"God, it feels like weeks since we were... lying on that hammock," Fang said, coming to stand beside me. He leaned over the railings, mimicking my stance, watching as the treehouse village began to light up.

"Lying," I said blankly, wishing I hadn't taken the word to heart.

"Max..." he started, sighing, but I didn't want to hear it. Instead, I did something very uncharacteristic of me and leaned against his shoulder, breathing in slowly. Silently he wrapped an arm around me and we stood there, quietly, for a few moments, listening to the other mutant children tuck each other in, even though Night wasn't official yet after the apocalypse. It was a picture out of a freaking fairytale.

"I'm sorry," I mumbled, only because I hated being sorry, even when I genuinely meant it. "About Lucy."

"No, I'm sorry," he said, kissing my forehead. I turned to face him, my back leaning against the railing and wrapped my arms around him. It felt so, so good to finally be able to do that without feeling weird and siling like and heart broken and confused. It felt right now. "I shouldn't have just shown up with her. Just that she's helping with the whole Rebuilding Plan and..." he cut me off as I began to ask what the 'Rebuilding Plan' was, and carried on before I could speak again, "And I just wanted to get here as fast as I could to see if you were awake. She had to tag along to give me some updates, that's all."

Sighing, I buried my face in his chest, wishing I hadn't overreacted.

"You worried me," he said. "Fainting like that."

"Sorry," I muttered, "I'll try and ignore the unbearable dizziness and overwhelming exhaustion a little more next time." He laughed, but halfheartedly, and I looked up to see the concern in his eyes. I had thought all the concern was gone now, that the world could finally be peaceful. How wrong I was.

Then Fang kissed me, long and slow, and it felt like, for a moment, it could be alright. Then, he spoke.

"Now for the bad news. We need a leader. A democratic leader figure. The whole village has decided that if we're going to live as a community, we need someone to guide us."

My eyes widened.

"And guess who's been voted as Queen?"