Together Again At Last: A Fax One-Shot

I stood on the beach, tapping my bare foot in the sand impatiently. I had been waiting for Fang for about twenty minutes. This was the spot we'd chosen to meet; he was returning home from one of his private missions that he was frequently disappearing on, much to my displeasure, and we'd wanted to meet privately first before Fang saw the rest of the flock. The family wasn't far away - our house was only a few miles down from the beach. It was the perfect vacation spot, in my opinion anyway.

"Come on, Fang," I murmured to myself, kicking sand in frustration. "Where are you?" He promised me he would be here at exactly five, and it was now thirty minutes past five. Once he got here, I was gonna kick his butt for being so late.

"Fang!" I shouted in impatience.

"Yes?"

I jumped, startled, and whirled around to face my soul. He was standing there, having snuck up on me, wearing all black and looking dangerously hot.

All thoughts of yelling at him for being late disappeared as I literally jumped into his arms and wrapped my legs tightly around his waist. We kissed and kissed and kissed until we were forced to take a breath.

"I missed you," he whispered, setting me down on the ground. He took both of my hands in his and leaned his forehead against mine.

"I missed you, too," I said, kissing the tip of his nose. "How was the mission?"

"Successful," he replied. "I'll tell you about it tomorrow. For now, though . . ." He grinned and gently kissed my lips. It was a brief kiss, but passionate and very, very sweet. "I come bearing gifts." He held up a plastic bag slung around his right wrist.

"Yippee, presents," I said sarcastically, and he laughed. I hated presents, and I would prefer if Fang didn't spend money on me, but he always did and I always ended up loving the things he got me. Ah, the beauty of contradictions. "Is it more jewelry?" I asked, hoping the answer was no. He'd already gotten me a promise ring and a gold necklace with his name on it, both of which I was currently wearing. I never took them off.

"Not this time," Fang said. "Even better."

"What could be better than jewelry?" I gasped, feigning shock. He grinned and reached inside the plastic bag. I closed my eyes tightly, holding out my hands for whatever it was. But instead of placing something in my cupped hands, Fang twined his fingers through mine and planted another brief, passionate kiss on my lips. When I opened my eyes again, he was holding a bouquet of multicolored roses. Tears stung my eyes, and my jaw dropped.

"Oh, my God," I whispered, taking the bouquet from him. "Fang . . .they're beautiful." I paused a moment to grin at him. "And totally cheesy."

"But you love them," he said, and I nodded, leaning in for another kiss.

"But I love them," I repeated. I examined the roses carefully and noticed that one of them was different from the others. It had a different texture to it, and it didn't smell as pretty as the others. I realized that it was fake.

"Maximum Ride, I promise to love you until the last rose dies," Fang whispered. I had to keep myself from laughing - now that was cheesy, and totally not Fang-like at all.

But my heart swelled at hearing the words.

"Love you," I whispered, pulling him in for yet another kiss. "Always."

"Love you too," he whispered back. "Forever."

"Let's go say hi to the rest of the family," I suggested. He smiled at me, and we walked down the beach towards home, our hands clasped tightly together between us.