Fang's POV
I sat at the edge of the fire since it was my turn to take first watch, and I regarded the flock sleeping peacefully. We'd come back from an extremely dangerous mission to save Max a few days ago, but the kids were all okay. Iggy lay on the ground on a bunch of blankets not five feet away and the three younger kids all curled around him. I sat staring at the fire that was just starting to burn down. Max had climbed up into the wide branches of a nearby oak tree and sat with her back against the trunk. She wasn't asleep yet; she was watching the stars, which shone down through the trees.
Max's face was illuminated by the moonlight, her hair shining like liquid silver. I watched her sigh and then she turned to look at me. Her eyes met mine and I wanted to look away, but her gaze caught and trapped me.
Like the sound of silence calling, I hear your voice and suddenly I'm falling, lost in a dream. Like the echoes of our souls are meeting, You say those words and my heart stops beating. I wonder what it means. What could it be that comes over me? At times I can't move. At times I can hardly breathe.
My breath caught in my throat as she smiled sadly at me. I finally managed to turn away, but I heard Max jump from the branches to the ground. Her quiet footsteps got closer and closer until she sat down beside me. She placed her hand on my arm as I stoked the fire with a stick that I held in my hands.
"Fang?" The question was implied. She was worried about me. She had been ever since we'd decided to go our own ways. I'd promised not to leave her for a second time and she'd promised as well, but somehow, we'd grown distant after we reunited. The other kids had gone back to their normal (if I have the liberty of saying that) lives, but Max and I still hadn't clicked back into place. A/N This is a second time that they broke up and they are a bit older.
"Fang? What's wrong?" Max pressed me, even though it was very difficult for even her to get me to talk nowadays. Her voice was soft and gentle, not wanting to push me too hard. When I turned to her, a million different memories and flashbacks were prompted by her sweet brown eyes.
Flashbacks
Max was throwing punches and kicks over and over, trying to defend Angel from the Erasers. After it'd been disabled, Max turned to Angel and held her as she cried.
Max let go of Sam and smiled at him carefully, holding back something. When she came up into her room, I was so bitter that I didn't really want to hear anything about her date with another guy.
Max closing her eyes, drifting off the sleep, the only time I had really seen her relax.
Max's mouth, fitting perfectly with mine, filling me with love and making my heart beat five times faster than normal.
Max coming into my room and sitting on my bed. I set my book down and listened as she told me that we had to let go of each other. That there was something that she needed to do and that I had to let her do it by herself. I had to stop caring about her or I would get my heart broken. She didn't want to hurt me.
Max's sobs echoing through her door. I lean against her door and listen. I slide down to the floor and let my head fall into my hands. A sob shakes my shoulders and I let a tear fall onto my cheek.
End Flashbacks
Her hand stroked my arm in soft circles. She leaned closer to me. I put my arm around her and let her lay her head on my shoulder. I pressed my face into her hair and took a deep breath.
"Why can't things just go back to the way they were before? I know that we've been distant, but I still want you be my side." Max sighed into my neck, and I felt a tear on my shoulder.
I finally answered her, "Max, I'll always be here for you. I'll stay by your side for however long you want me to stay." My heart raced inside my chest. Why did I still feel this way about her? I'd told myself time after time that I'd gotten over her.
"I'm sorry Fang."
For a second, I couldn't breathe. My heart stopped as I looked down at her. She met my gaze, took a shaky breath, and then proceeded to explain.
"I never thought that it would be this hard to try to put the past in the past. I thought it would be over after a couple of days. The truth is, Fang, I still love you."
When you say you love me, the world goes still, so still inside and when you say you love me, for a moment, there's no one else alive.
I turned back to the fire, watching it crackle and spark as I laid my cheek on her head. My face twisted into a smile. Max began to sob into my shoulder and she wound her arms around me.
"Shh. Shh. Oh, Max," I whispered. Her shoulders shook violently as her tears fell on my neck. I lifted her head and looked right into her eyes. "Hey, hey, shh. I love you too. I love you Max." I repeated the words as I pulled her back to me. I gently rubbed her back and wings and stroked her hair. I sighed and kissed her temple softly, pressing my lips to her hair and keeping my face there for as long as I could.
Her face came up and looked at me, her cheeks streaked with pink. A piece of hair fell over her right eye and I reached up to put it back. I pushed it behind her ear. My hand curved around her neck. I pulled her to me and kissed her softly, at first, only letting our lips graze just slightly. Our mouths were perfectly synchronized. We began to turn our heads, tilting this way and that to get as close as avian-human-ly possible.
"Max," I whispered around her lips. She pulled back a fraction of an inch, so our noses brushed gently. Her right hand was in my hair and her left hand rested on my chest.
"I missed you…I missed holding you…and hearing your breathing right next to me as I fell asleep…and kissing you every morning and night….You don't know how much I love you." Max swallowed hard as I kissed every inch of her face. When I finished saying this I kissed her lips; they tasted just as sweet as I remembered.
You're the one I've always thought of. I don't know how, but I feel sheltered in your love. You're where I belong. And when you're with me if I close my eyes, there are times I swear I feel like I can fly for a moment in time. Somewhere between the Heavens and Earth, and frozen in time, Oh when you say those words.
"I knew I must have hurt you real bad—"
"Max, you didn't. I was just so worried about you. When I found that note, and I figured out what you must've done, I just didn't know what I would do if I didn't get to you in time."
"But, why—"
"Because I love you." A tear swelled in the corner of my eye and I blinked hard to control my emotions. "Did you really think I could forget how much I loved you?" Max, you have no idea what you can do to a man. I mean, w-o-w. I sort of feel bad for Sam, because once anybody has a taste of one of your kisses, there's no way to recover."
When you say you love me, the world goes still, so still inside and, when you say you love me, for a moment, there's no one else alive.
And this journey that we're on. How far we've come and I celebrate every moment. And when you say you love me, that's all you have to say. I'll always feel this way.
Suddenly, I wanted so much more. I wanted so badly to show her just how much I loved her. But I didn't just want to hold her. I wanted to enfold her in my arms and have her beside me the entire night. These urges came on unexpectedly. I had thought of her like that before, but never this strongly.
I put my fingers under her chin, and gently, gently lifted her face to mine. Our kisses gradually became more hungry and our hands began to wander. Max's hands slid beneath my shirt and pulled it up over my head. I felt the soft feathers of her beautiful wings as my hands held her closer to me.
All I could think was that I was with the woman I loved and that I never wanted this to end.
When you say you love me, the world goes still, so still inside and, when you say you love me, in that moment, I know why I'm alive. When you say you love me.
I reached into my pack and tugged a blanket from it. I threw it over Max and myself, although we were warm enough. She kissed me again, softly and more comforting. Max held the blanket over us. Her breath was warm on my neck and chest.
"I love you Fang."
I whispered into her hair, "When you say you love me, do you know how I love you?"