Max's POV

I sighed, lying back on my bed, eyes wide open. I couldn't sleep. We were at Mom's for the summer and I couldn't seem to relax, sleep, nothing. My flock fit in perfectly, even Fang, but I couldn't mesh into this normal lifestyle like everyone else could. I just couldn't.

So, here I was, lying here on another sleepless night with not a clue in the world on how to get to bed. It was another miserable attempt at comfort, but I kept at it. Who knew, maybe it'd pay off? Yeah. Right.

Just then, I heard someone walk into my room and lay down right next to me on my bed. Weird, it was really late. I looked over. Iggy.

"Ig…?" I asked, my voice showing my confusion with a blend of sleepiness sprinkles with irritation.

"You were making too much noise, I couldn't sleep through it. Everything okay?" He asked, looking me directly in the eye. I shivered. I still couldn't understand how he did it. I sat up and so did he.

"Yeah, just… I don't know." I really didn't, it was one mystery no one could solve. And on top of it, my head hurt.

"Just being uptight, stressed out Max?" He offered, a hint of a smile tugging at the corners of his pale pink lips. I blushed a little.

"Uh, I, yeah…" I muttered, feeling like a fool. What kind of person has trouble sleeping when it may be their only chance in the world?

"You need to relax." He said gently, his eyes softening. He put his hand on my shoulder and I blushed harder.

Then he got a sly, mischievous grin on his face. Shoot. Not good, abort mission and all that jazz popped into my head at once.

Then, he tackled me. "What. Are you doing?!" I said, my eyes shooting wide open in fear and slight confusion.

He chuckled, "Tackling the undeafeated Maximum Ride like I never could before." I tried to push him off of me but his weight was way too much and he was actually stronger than the last time we'd wrestled. We'd been about ten.

"Dammit." I said through clenched teeth.

He laughed and got off me, rolling over next to me. I glanced over and his face looked serene and peacful. I couldn't help but smile slightly. It felt good to know that he was somewhat happy.

"Whatcha thinking about?" I asked carefully.

"Eh, how you guys all looked before I lost my sight. I'm comapring it to how you looked up against that white background." He answered without thinking, then blushed. "Eh heh heh.."

I glanced over at him, my mind racing. I wondered if he really was happy. Or if it was all a facade? Maybe. Iggy's not the expressive type. Even less so than Fang in some ways. Ah Fang... what about him? We were on and off ever since we said we were on. I loved him, but I couldn't tell id I really loved him as more than a brother anymore. Myabe at one point but now? I wasn't sure.

I was awoken from my minds rampage to Iggy looking at me, concern on his face. "You alright?"

"I, uh, yeah." I said slowly, kind of fast at the same time though. It was fast out loud but slow to me anyways.

His face sofened. "You do so much for us Max. And I know it's hard. I know sometimes it doesn't seem like it, but we all apperciate you so much. Thank you." I smiled.

"No Ig, thank you." I sighed contentedly. Maybe I'd be able to fall asleep tonight after all. I already felt myself drifting. But that was only because of two things: Peaceful thoughts and Iggy.