Our Eyes – Chapter 1

By MyNameIsCAL

Wrote this a while back and thought I'd finally put it up. Hope it's alright. It's another Figgy fic. Thanks for reading everyone!

-Fang's POV-

The cold air stung as Max and I walked from the apartment we shared to the corner coffee shop. The last traces of fall were fading away into the sharpness of winter, the leaves now gone from the trees, stores with Christmas displays that seemed to have popped up at the end of September already.

We got our coffee and sat in our usual corner table. She was going on about getting stuck in Alaska last night. Max was an air marshal, and she flew often here and there. I worried about her. She'd only be around for a couple days at a time.

"Did you see Sarah Palin?" I remarked.

She laughed. "No, I didn't see Sarah Palin. I don't even think she was in Alaska when I was there. Don't worry, if I run into her, I'll get you an autograph."

I chuckled. She always humored me. Sometimes she made me question why I was gay. There was only friendship between us though. I could only think of her as my sister.

I remember when I came out to my family in high school. My parents pretty much disowned me and my younger brother, Gazzy, vowed that he would forget I ever existed. Fortunately, my sister, Angel, was always the kind one, and every now and then my brother would give in and take her to visit me, but that was rarely.

So when my family was absent for my last year of high school, through college, and up until now, Max was around for me instead. I'm pretty sure if it weren't for her, I might have jumped off a building or something already. Okay, that's not funny at all, but really, that's how I felt after being rejected by my family. To them, I didn't even really exist. Angel told me my mom would get all mad whenever I was mentioned at home.

"Well, good because I don't want Palin brainwashing you," I said, my eyes wandering around the coffee chop.

"Like I would let that happen…" Max started to go on about other things, but I was distracted by this guy who was sitting at the table behind Max.

His pale blue eyes were unfocused, hand gripped around his coffee cup. I've seen him here recently, always sitting at the same table, his shirt buttons off by one. I wondered whether he was on drugs or if he was just always in a hurry to get his cup of coffee.

"Hey, are you even listening to me?" Max turned, tracing my line of sight. Then she turned back to face me. "Jeez, Fang. He's here all the time. Maybe you should just try talking to him."

I shook my head. Max made everything seem so simple.

"It's been a year since Michael dumped you, Fang. Maybe it's time to move on." She let out a sigh. "Besides, it'd be good if you got out when I'm not around."

Move on? I hated to admit she was right. My feelings towards Michael no longer consisted of butterflies and apprehension. Instead, it was resentment, and although I knew I no longer loved him, it was hard for me to think that I hadn't spent the last three years prior with him, unknowing of his affairs with both men and women. It was devastating when I found him in my bed with another man. Although it wasn't like he treated me well, and Max hated him. I was too blind to notice until the end.

"Look, I'm just saying that it can't hurt." Max took a moment to calculate the rest of her words. "Michael was never good to you anyway, Fang. He didn't deserve you."

"He's probably not even gay, Max." I sipped some of my coffee just to have something to do. It was hard to suppress a wince as it went down.

"You never know." She opened her closed her a mouth a few times and then dropped the subject. "I was just saying."

"I know."

We sat in silence for a little while and then she started to talk about something else, ignoring my stolen glances at the guy sitting behind her. It was his eyes that captivated me, and I was surprised he hadn't caught me staring at him. That was when a woman bustled in, heading directly towards him.

"Iggy, could you at least tell me you were going out?" she frowned, bending down and picking up a red and white cane from the floor. "C'mon, let's get you home."

"I'm not done with my coffee yet," he said quietly.

"Well you can finish it at home. C'mon." She ushered him out and I wondered whether she was his girlfriend or not. Something inside me sunk.

"…so you should pick a place you want to go for your birthday," Max continued. "I'll get the tickets and we can go wherever. You can take a few vacation days, right?"

I took a few seconds to answer. "Yeah, I've got them saved up."

The day dragged on after that with Max's proposition to go on vacation for my birthday and Iggy, whose name I had learned from eavesdropping. I sat in my office, staring at the wall, unable to concentrate on my work. Not that there was much to do. Every now and then I'd step out of my office, intimidate them, and then go back and send a few emails.

I got promoted because I scared people so they'd stop fooling around. It was nice not to have to be one of the number crunchers, but I could hardly see why my job was important at all if all I did was sit around.

Around six, I started to pack up my stuff. The cubicles were starting to empty out now. I locked my office, walking down where the cubicles parted to make a path. Iggy was still on my mind.

The city bustled, but I turned down the street which I lived on, a few taxis passing by. The only people who came down this way were late coffee goers and apartment residents. So when I walked into someone when I turned the corner, it came as a surprise.

"Jeez, I'm sorry!" I grabbed the man to stop him from falling, but he grabbed onto me and we tumbled to the ground. I landed on top of him.

"I'm sorry, I can't see," he said.

When I regained my orientation, I realized that it was Iggy. I managed to roll off of him and get up.

"Here, let me help you up." I put my hand around his wrist, and he managed to stand.

"Thanks." His eyes danced around and for a split second, they seemed to focus on me. Those pale blue eyes. "Hey, do I know you from somewhere?"

"The coffee shop?" I offered. "I see you there every day."

He nodded. "That sounds about right. Your voice is familiar. You're with your girlfriend?"

"She's my roommate. We've been best friends since high school, but uh, yeah, she's not my girlfriend." I shut my mouth. I had said too much already.

"Hey, well, you know I should get you a cup of coffee sometime." He held out his hand. "My name's Iggy by the way."

I shook his hand, feeling relieved. "The name's Nick, but you can call me Fang."

After that, we exchanged our goodbyes, and I hurried home, wondering whether I would tell Max or not.