"Why do you hate me?"

I turned to look at Ma- I mean Maya, who was lounging on the hotel bed next to me, feeling that familiar heart stop at the sight of her. I'm still not used to the fact that she's good, and a clone, even after all this time.

"Hmmm?" I was interested to see where this conversation was going. She'd marched into the room I shared with my current mini-Flock (the thought made a pang of sadness run through me), who weren't in here at the moment. She hadn't said a word until now.

"I said, why do you hate me?" Maya repeated irritably. She rolled over onto her side, propping her head up on her open hand. "I see the way you glare daggers at me. Everyone can. So why can't you stand me? Is it because I'm just a defective copy? Do you think I've replaced you? Are you jealous of me and Fang?"

I bristled at the thought, and my eyes hardened, the infamous Death Glare coming into play. "There is nothing going on between you and Fang!" I hissed, fisting handfuls of the comforter beneath me to keep from strangling her, or something of the sort. "And even if there was, I wouldn't be jealous of you. I'm over Fang. Period."

Maya simply smirked. A knowing kind of smirk, as if those few sentences explained everything. "What are you smirking at?" I growled.

"Nothing. It's just amusing to see you riled up over the guy you're 'over'." She replied. "But you don't have to rip me to shreds. I'm not interested in Fang."

"Hmph," I leaned back onto my hands, eyes narrowing. I didn't believe her. Not for a single second. Not after everything else that's happened. "Whatever." We lapsed into silence, and I pondered some kind of stinging retort. Oh, God, she did have a point. Instead, I decided on turning the tables. "Why do you hate me, then?"

"I don't hate you."

"That's bullshit."

Maya fixed me with a pointed glare. It was a bit unnerving, to be honest and I could see why it worked so well on everyone else. But I held my ground and didn't budge, mimicking her expression. Finally she sighed and said, "You complicate things, Max."

"Care to simplify?"

"It has nothing to do with being a copy of you, if that's what you're wondering. The rest is just complicated."

I snorted. "So indulge me." I replied. "So it has nothing to do with being a clone, whoop-ti-do. Saying it's complicated isn't an explanation. Expand on that." She was really starting to piss me off with all these vague answers and the constant question dodging.

Maya pushed herself up, shaking her head as if she couldn't believe she was starting to have this conversation. Then she was on her feet, closing the small distance between the beds until she was towering over me. My muscles instantly tensed, and I brought my fists up, ready for the fight I was sure would come.

"Put your hands down, Max. I'm not gonna kill you."

Slowly, I did as she was told, still wary. Call it a flaw, but I don't like people standing over me. It feels like they're trying to exert some sort of dominance, trying to bend me to their will. "Fine then. Just sit down and talk."

But she didn't sit.

And she didn't talk.

Instead, she leaned forward, and before I could react, a pair of soft lips were on mine. Like just about every other time this type of thing has happened (well, not like this, but you know what I mean) my mind seemed to short circuit.

Before I could really process what the hell was going on, it was over, and Maya was at the door, peering through the hall to see whoever was on the other side. Had someone been knocking on the door?

With a small smirk over he shoulder at me, Maya opened the door to reveal Fang, and he stepped inside, slightly confused by the presence of her. Though you'd be hard-pressed to notice. "What are you doing here?" He asked.

Maya shrugged. "No real reason, just thought I'd chat up Max."

He turned to face me and I could feel the heat flaring up in my cheeks. I looked away, still in a state of disbelief. The last time I found myself in a situation like this, I had thrown myself off a cliff. Unfortunately, there were no cliffs for miles.

Fang raised a single eyebrow, and Maya interrupted with a smug-sounding, "I'll leave you two alone," and attempted to make a clean get away.

"We aren't done here, Maya," I managed, trying my hardest to keep my voice cold and steely. "You have a hell of a lot of explaining to do."

She glanced at me over her shoulder and flashed a quick smile that made me want to go up and backhand her right across the face. "Maybe sometime else, Max." And then she was gone. Maybe it was just my slight paranoia, but could have sworn I heard her laugh.

"Maybe a little explanation is required from you," Fang said. I could feel his dark eyes staring holes into the top of my head.

I rubbed my lips on the back of my hand and gave a small huff of annoyance. Leave it to Maya to make things so damn complicated. "It's safer to hate that girl." I supplied, shaking my head to clear it. "Trust me."

X X X

Author's Notes: I thoroughly apologize for what you have just read. I have no idea what it is or why I wrote it. But I blame my friend for it. When we were talking about Maximum Ride, she was joking around and said, "What if Max and Maya got together?" and ever since that time it has been nagging me and nagging me until finally, this happened, I guess. On top of everything, everyone seems OOC, at least to me, even though I tried to keep them in character. Do they seem like that to you. If they do, then I'm sorry for slaughtering their personalities.

(Maya crushing on Max... Slightly disturbing thought, if you ask me. Can't take it back now, though.)