Like an Open Book;
Genre: A Fang/Max Romance.
Type: One-Shot
Description: Another day for the flock - hiding out in the wilderness somewhere. This particular day, it was at a clearing in the woods, around 3AM. Max is nearing the end of the watch shift for the night, and Fang is ready to take over. Of course, a sleeping flock and two hormonal teenagers can only mean one thing - romance!
Wow, I've never seen Fang do that before.
In all the years I have known him, I've never once seen him so...so nervous. Even when we had our first kiss – not counting the one where he was half-dead – he had never looked so anxious. If anything, he looked confident. I was usually the one on edge, fleeing from the scene as soon as the short romantic moment was over. But now, tonight, I felt as if the two of us switched rolls. Except the one distinct characteristic that set me apart from Fang perpetually; he never ran away from a direct confrontation. Even if it could possibly cost him his life.
Even though kissing wasn't exactly imminent death, it seemed like it for me. Just saying.
Maybe I just caught him off guard. Not very likely, especially with Fang, but it was definitely a possibility. I'd done it a few times before, and enjoyed every second of it. But when it came to something we both should enjoy, we both should enjoy it. (I decided that Fang and I were just not good at kissing, at least each other, anyway.) But, oh look, I'm rambling again – turning into Nudge.
X-------------------X
The fire was cackling, reminding me of those whitecoats as they watched us suffer with horrible tests. They can all go to hell, I thought to myself. My inner hatred had caused me to throw the stick I was writing in the dirt with into the flames. I said and picked up a skinny rock instead. No, I wasn't actually writing. I was more like drawing. Heck, I was just embossing symbols into the ground, whether they be letter or numbers or signs!
I growled at my own insanity, throwing the rock into the fire, too. Dammit.
You know, my Voice interjected, it's amazing how short your patience is when you deal with yourself, but when the flock is in your presence, you're cool and collected.
"I know I ask this a lot. But maybe once – just once – can you shut up? Please, I'm begging you. My head hurts, especially when I had two people inside of it..." I scolded my voice in a hushed tone, rubbing my temples with my eyes shut. Surprisingly, it didn't answer. A smile tugged at the corner of my lips, but then a frown when I heard another voice. At least there wasn't a third party inside my head.
"Going crazy again, I see, Maximum." I looked up to see Fang giving me a lop-sided smile. Oh, well, that was new. I kinda...liked it. I cleared my throat as if I said my thoughts aloud. I could never be too sure with all of the people in my skull. It was getting cramped, honestly.
None the less, I forgot my head trauma for a split second and managed a Fang-inspired lop-sided smile. "Again? I've always been like this. Maybe the School messed with your eyesight, too," I teased, referring to our blind 'brother', Iggy. Failed attempt of making a better human-avian hybrid. Sorry, School; doesn't get much better then this.
"Maybe," Fang laughed, kicking dirt into the fire to make it flinch away. He took a seat next to me, his dark wings brushing against my light ones. "You can go to sleep now, you know. It's my turn for watch. I have to check up on my blog, anyway. So get some rest; you look tired."
I was still smiling, but I felt kind of angry. I just couldn't help it when I was with Fang. I seemed to always be angry at him about something, but I always had to smile. The School must have messed with your vision if you're blind enough not to see the obvious attraction here, Max.
Shut up, Voice. Not helping. At all.
"I'm fatigued, not tired," I pointed out. It was true, though; I could go days without any shut-eye, but not even one day without rest. That was vital. Does it need to be said that I'm kind of lacking in the stamina department? No? Didn't think so. "And I'm curious, anyhow. I should check the history on your laptop, just in case you have something an innocent little Gasman could come across and ruin his little utopia. I mean, anything they shouldn't see, you shouldn't see. Don't think I can't hear you whispering descriptions to Iggy, either." I had a smug expression on my face, even though I kind of felt...repulsed.
Fang reach for his laptop only feet away, turning it on and waiting patiently for it to load up. I looked at all the others sleeping. Angel; in a comfortable fetal position with the grimy teddy bear, Celeste, in her grubby little arms that I just positively adored. Angel's little black yip-dog, Total, was minding his own by her shins. Gazzy; laying face down in such a way that it look like he would have scars on his face from where the rocks dug into his skin. I checked on him now and again, just in case, because that truly did not look comfortable. Nudge; the little chatter-box was only quiet when she was sleeping, hugging herself as if to keep warm meanwhile the fire was giving off more then enough heat to go around. Iggy; the blind kid who, I believed at times, was faking it. He was sprawled lifelessly across the small campsite of ours. I chuckled at the sight of him.
"There," Fang sighed, defeated. He startled me, causing me to jump. At least it was his voice and not my Voice. "I deleted it; nothing bad for the little eyes." He chuckled, shutting the computer right then. My smile tweaked into a smirk.
"You sicken me, you know that? You have such a vocabulary. You use words I've never even heard of before to describe things to Iggy. I just don't know whether to be stunned or astonished," I said, turning to my friend.
"Is there a difference?" His devilish grin – damn, I loved that – was teasing. He had deliberately ignored the rest of my dialogue. He was trying to weasel out of it! It was okay, though; I would confront him about it again later. Right now, I just wanted to move things along.
"I believe there is. Stunned is like when you're in amazement – the good kind of amazement. Astonished is when you're like, 'I can't even believe he just said that.' You know, the bad way." I looked up, breaking our eye contact as I thought. I knew he had a rebuttal afterwards, so I waited patiently for Fang to tell me I was wrong.
"No, they're the same thing." He chuckled, shaking his head.
"I knew you'd say that," I smiled, throwing a twig into the beginning-to-die fire. Fang copied me, then waited for me to finish. "I like that you're predictable, though; I know exactly what to say and do to get a reaction from you. I'm becoming something of a Fang Expert, wouldn't you say?" I laughed, but I knew that my winged companion wouldn't do the same. And he didn't, just smirked.
"Really? I'm predictable, huh?" He moved closer to me, moving his mouth to my ear. He warm breath tickled my ear. I think my heart skipped a beat. "I bet you didn't see that coming," he whispered, almost silently.
"I don't need to read minds or see the future to know you're a flirt, Fang," I said flatly, trying my best to hide my smile. I had butterflies in my stomach. I didn't like them. Not to mention, flying insects just really don't belong inside your organs.
"As much as that is true, I'm denying it. Just because I can. And you're not exactly a five hundred-piece puzzle either, Max," he chuckled, seeing my cheeks change shades from the glow of the fire. I bit my bottom lip and tried to think of a witty quip.
"I don't need to be when I'm around you," I blurted, before I thought anything through. Oh, Max. You're brilliant, I told myself, adapting the self-inflicting sarcasm from my Voice.
Fang raised an eyebrow, not really expecting that. It would've been a cute moment if I said it in a whisper and I had a warm expression on my face. But no; I was the ever-so-suave Maximum Ride. The thought came to mind, but I felt rushed. Ergo, I blurted it. And now I was in a situation. So what did I do?
I pushed myself onto Fang.
Because that would be the stupid Max thing to do.
I sucked in a breath and pressed my trembling lips to Fang's confused ones, and I felt like he almost gasped through his nose. I know – it sounds weird. But that's what it felt like. It caught him off-guard, but he didn't push me away. We calmed down; our lips still pressed together. Our breathing regulated as my best friend cupped my face and gently pushed my back to the ground, gaining control over me. I felt a smile cross my lips as our kiss deepened. Fang tried to hide his own, but when it came to intimacy, he was like an open book.
X-------------------X
Iggy's eyes were still shut. He didn't need to open them; he couldn't see, anyway. One of the best things about being blind is that it was so easy to pretend to be asleep. Which was always the worst thing – well, the worst thing after not being to see at all. People do things when they think you sleep. That was Iggy's current problem. The thing was that he was too nice of a person to interrupt these people.
From what he heard, it was nothing too bad. A word or two here and there, a suppressed moan every once in a while - coming from both parties, mind you, giggling constantly. He sighed, knowing that it would do no harm because Max and Fang were too distracted to notice. Shame on them, especially if the little virgin eyes of Gazzy or Angel opened unexpectedly. Not implying anything, of course. Yet, once more, Iggy sighed.
I hate being blind.