I flew out of the manhole with Angel in front of me. Fang was standing outside the manhole with Nudge, Gazzy, and Iggy; relief washed over me when I saw them, but a new question presented itself. Um… Weren’t there a few dozen mutants here a second ago?
“Where are the other kids? The mutants?” I asked Fang with heavy curiosity.
“The girl with the wings took them,” he replied. I muttered an “Oh” and tried to go on with life, there was so much that needed to be done, and taking a few dozen mouths to feed off of my hands was greatly appreciated.
“Uh, don’t mind my asking but wouldn’t it be best if we got out of here?” Iggy asked. He probably sensed the Erasers in the sewer. I gave him a nod. Nice Max, nod at the blind guy, “To the park.” They all complied, and without a second’s notice, we were sprinting for the park. We all sat down when we were hidden far enough away in the park. I poured out all of the papers from my pockets onto the ground. Nudge, Angel, The Gassman, Iggy, and Fang all found information on their parents. Everyone was ecstatic, except Fang, but that was to be expected. Well, I guess I wasn’t ecstatic either because nothing turned up on my parents or anything, but I would never show it. Fang shot me a glance that read: that-stinks-worse-than-Erasers-swarming-at-us-from-every-angle-with-guns-that-you-didn’t-find-anything, or something to that affect. “Max, can I talk to you for a sec’?” Fang asked. “Uh, sure,” I replied and he motioned for me to get up. I thought the children --and Iggy-- would be alright if we left them alone for a moment; after all, they just found out who their parents were, its now time for jumping up and down and fist pumps. They’d be occupied for a solid 20 minutes before Nudge announced she was hungry again.

Fang and I walked along one of the paths throughout Central Park, and the sun was starting to set. Unfortunately, the beautiful peaches and pinks of the sunset were ruined by the growing chill in the air. I shivered. Fang sucked in some breath and began, “You know when Ari beat me to a pulp the other day?” Dang it, I knew where this was going. My cheeks blushed bright red, fire trucks had nothing on me, my hear accelerated so fast I was sure it was going to rip out of my chest at any moment, and then the sweat started to pour. I could tell this conversation wasn’t going to end well. “Um, what was up with the… kiss?” Fang asked, he stopped and stared down into my eyes. My mind drew a blank, the kiss was just a spur of the moment, don’t-die-on-me-Fang impulse, but I had no idea how to tell him that. Also, people didn’t typically react like that unless there was some other feeling laying beneath the surface, and I had no idea if there was or not, which stunk. After a few minutes, agitation was evident in Fang’s dark eyes. He breathed in the cool mist of evening and broke the silence, “Max, do you like me?” Another question I was not comfortable answering, and of course, another silent moment occurred. Fang turned his head away from me and mumbled three words almost inaudibly. Three words which changed everything. Three words which made my heart stop. Three words which made me kiss him all over again, “I like you.” Fang’s eyes widened when he’d realized his lips were just attacked by mine, but he slowly eased into the kiss and his eyes fluttered closed. I wrapped my arms around his neck and he wrapped his arms around my waist. His lips were chapped and exceptionally rough, but I didn’t care because I knew in that instant how I felt about Fang. I liked him too. We parted after a little while and I smiled at him. For a brief instant, I saw Fang smile too, but Fang’s smiles were like unicorns, you got a glimpse of them, and then they were gone. “I like you too,” I said. He flashed me some joy and turned around, “Let’s go find our parents.”