Meant to Be – Chapter 1

By MyNameIsCAL

I couldn't resist putting the new story up already. Takes place after "Fang". This is my first shot at putting my spin on the future for the flock after "Fang" and more of my fantasy of how things should go, of course with a little struggle to happiness, but nevertheless, a hopefully happy ending. I can't promise you anything though. I hope you like it.

-Max's POV-

The aroma of Iggy's baking filled the air, bringing us all to the kitchen. We sat at the table, me at the head, Iggy and Dylan on opposites sides of me, Gazzy at the opposite end, and Nudge between him and Iggy. There were two empty spots, one for Fang and one for Angel.

Today, we were celebrating our birthdays, like we had made tradition over the past few years. Iggy and I were turning twenty now. Sometimes we felt younger than that, but often times more, we felt a lot older. Gazzy was turning fourteen, Nudge was turning seventeen.

It's been five years since Fang left. Only fifteen more until twenty.

A lot had happened since Fang left. First of all, whatever was supposed to happen, well it just didn't. I don't know what the hell Jeb was talking about, the apocalypse, or each of us leading our own flocks. That was a load of crap. We were safe and alive, still living in our hidden home in the mountains. Of course Angel was gone, but I'll tell you about that later.

"Alright, guys, chocolate cake," Iggy said, a touch of satisfaction in his voice.

Dylan began to cut pieces, giving the first to Gazzy, the next to Nudge. He served himself last, smearing cake on my nose.

"Hey!" I protested, wiping frosting on his face.

I watched Nudge and Gazzy exchange looks. Dylan and I had our differences. He still believed his purpose was to be here and be my perfect match now that Fang was gone. There were days we got along and days we didn't, but I guess after he tried to kill himself, it seemed wrong to kick him to the curb. Besides, he was no different than us. It was because of the scientists he was this way and well, it didn't make him much different than us.

The others didn't like Dylan much. Iggy only put up with him because he hoped that Dylan would help me move on from Fang. Even being blind, Iggy had become second in command. Dylan didn't always listen to me, but he listened to Iggy because unlike me, Iggy had reason and I just ran on emotion. Iggy would never ever admit it to my face, but I knew he secretly hoped that I would fall for Dylan and leave Fang in the past. Of course, I couldn't do that. But over the past five years, I guess I had warmed to Dylan being around. He wasn't such a bad guy.

"I'm glad you didn't fly out today," Dylan said, now eating his piece of cake.

Of course he would bring it up, after we had gotten through a whole day without discussing Fang. Usually, I spent a couple hours out, going to see the hawks, rest in the cave, and then fly back home. I always hoped that Fang might show up one day. For when I wasn't there, I even left a letter taped to the inside of the cave, in case he ever came back.

"Well, I'm going tomorrow," I replied.

Iggy put his fork down. "Can we not ruin today with one of your arguments?"

Dylan had opened his mouth to say more, but he quickly closed it. "Sorry."

Later that night, we sat outside on the large balcony, looking up at the stars. I had my head on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry about bringing Fang up earlier," he spoke softly.

"It's okay," I replied.

We sat in silence again.

"We should get some sleep," I said, letting out a breath.

"Of course," he said, still staring out at the sky.

We stood, still standing next to each other, inches apart. The sky was almost enchanting out here. The closer you moved towards people and the city, the stars got lost in the smog.

"Well, goodnight." Still, Dylan waited for me to walk towards the door with him.

"Goodnight," I said in response.

And that was when he pulled me into a kiss, his arms around me, strong. For a while, I was dumbfounded.

"No, stop." I pushed him away.

He looked hurt. "What's wrong?"

"I can't do this."

"No, you can. It's supposed to be like this, ever since I met you." Dylan sounded angry now. "It's been five years! And you still haven't let go of him. Why can't you let go of him, Max? He's never coming back. He doesn't love you."

"Neither do you," I growled.

He forced me to look him in the eye. "No, Max, you're wrong. I do love you. More than he ever could."

The next morning, I woke at my usual time and packed a backpack of food, a blanket, and a first aid kit. Unlike yesterday, today would be routine. I would head out to one of the first places I had been with Fang when all our troubles had begun.

"Max, where are you going?"

I turned to see Dylan standing in the doorway, blocking me.

"Where else would I be going?" I growled at him.

He sighed.

"Dylan, give it a rest and let her go," Iggy said from the kitchen. "You know you can't stop her and the rest of us aren't going to."

Slowly, Dylan moved away from the door, letting me go out, free for a while as I spread my wings, heading towards the hawks like I did every day. He still wasn't that great of a flyer, but if he was, I'm almost positive he would come after me and drag me back. As I flew onward, I told myself that I was never going to forgive Dylan about last night.

There was this satisfaction to flying alone, or sort of self peace and freedom that no one understood but me. Cars lazily wound through the roads down the mountain and campers were just starting to arrive at the sites. But being alone, it also gave me time to think.

Jeb had died two years ago. He tried to control us, attempting to use Dylan and Angel to get into my head. Angel sided with Dylan and Jeb, and we lost her after Jeb's death. She ran off and Gazzy spent days and nights looking for her, but I knew when she said she was leaving forever that it wasn't worth it to go after her. But when she took off, she said she was leaving forever. I knew that ripped a hole in Gazzy's heart. It definitely tore something out of me. At least Dylan started to see that Jeb had been wrong about everything, but he still insisted that me and him were meant to be.

And how did Jeb die, you ask? Well, I killed him. Not on purpose, but he was trying to hurt us so we would listen to him. It was instinct to fight back against him and in the process, forgetting that humans were more fragile, I snapped his neck. There was a sense of relief after it. Everyone besides Dylan and Angel felt the same way as me. I wondered where we'd be if Jeb was still around now.

The hawk population over the years had diminished. I flew around with them for a while and they seemed to be used to my presence. I grew tired after a while and perched onto the side of the cliff, seeing that my note that I left here whenever I was gone was still here. It said something to the affect that if I wasn't there I'd be there later and that he should either stay there or fly to the house.

The afternoon passed by and it was soon dusk. I should have been heading back hours ago, but today, I felt like staying. Iggy, who had sort of become second in command now, would keep them all in line. Besides, Nudge still had her big crush on him and Gazzy knew better than to mess with his partner in crime. Dylan was a different story, but he tended to listen to Iggy because unlike me, Iggy had reason and I just, well, these days, all I had was emotion to run on.

As the sunset, one I wish I could have shared with Fang, it grew colder. I started a fire and sat next to it, pulling Fang's last words out of my pocket, his letter, which was now torn at the edges and tear-stained, looking a little yellow after all these years of me reading it, hoping some kind of clue to where he was going would pop up.

But it was clear nothing had happened. The world was carrying on and it didn't need saving. Fang hadn't come back and sometimes, I started to think about the worst, maybe he was dead.

"I wish you would come back," I said, finishing reading it for the third time now. "So we can prove to Dylan that he's wrong. And even if you don't love me, I love you, Fang, forever and always…"

I started to cry, everything around me become a blur in my tears. And that's when someone's arms came around me. At first, I thought it was someone trying to take me, to drag me off, and I begged them to take me, to put me out of my misery.

But then, the person spoke. "Shhh, Max, I love you too."

"Fang…" I shook against him and he lifted my chin so I could look into his eyes.

"I'm sorry I missed the sunset," he gave me one of his rare smiles. "Please, don't cry."

I leaned my head back against him and we stayed like that for a while, his arms around me, my head against his chest. Even though I was crying, I wish it could have been like that forever.

If you follow my stories, then you'll know I chose to put this up because of poll results. I will be creating a new poll shortly, so you can revote again for what you want to see next. Thanks for reading! New chapter should be up next time next week.

Well, here goes another new fic. Wish me luck.