Hey everybody!
This is just a filler chapter until the stories reach the end of the weekend. It'll pick up again in the next chapter. Sorry for any grammatical or spelling mistakes. I, again, didn't read it over once I wrote it. I really should start doing that…
Anyways, chapter seven! Enjoy!
"I'm fine, dad," Fang said, hugging his father awkwardly as tears streamed down his young face. I felt my own eyes well up with tears as I thought about how he must be taking it. It might have been worse on Mr. Keyes than anyone else. After all, it was his wife that passed away. Not to mention that his only daughter.
I fought back tears as Fang and his father broke away from each other. Iggy and Ella stood up quietly, Ella receiving a small hug from Mr. Keyes and Iggy shaking his hand stiffly. It looked like Iggy was about to break down and that was really not what we needed right now. There had been enough crying, enough pain, and definitely enough sorrow in this house for one day.
"Fang," his father said, looking down at his son through his small, horn-rimmed glasses. "We need to set up the funeral arrangements." He continued stoically. It looked as though he hadn't shown emotion in years although I knew for a fact that he had.
"John," my mom said, looking over at him, "Let the kids fend for themselves. I'll go with you." She said, giving Fang a sorrowful glance. He nodded at her gratefully. I assumed he didn't want to go set up for the funeral of his mother and sister the day after their death.
"So be it." Mr. Keyes said, looking around at the four kids in the room. "Behave yourselves." He added, nodding his head over to all of us. We all nodded silently and obliged. There was absolutely nothing that we could do that would make any trouble. Even Iggy wasn't in the mood for pranks.
My mom pulled on her jacket and grabbed her purse, making sure that she had everything she needed in it. She then nodded to Mr. Keyes and they left through the front door without another word. We all sat back down around the kitchen table, occasionally picking at some of the leftover food sitting there.
"Fang," Iggy said, finally breaking the silence. "Your dad scares me." He said simply, causing all of us to chuckle a little bit. Although it was a goofy thing to say, Iggy was being completely serious.
Fang's dad used to be in the Marines. He was high up rank-wise but once he got married, he found a way to drop out of the Marines and settled down with Fang's mom. Instead of just having a normal life like everyone else, Mr. Keyes brought some of the aspects of the army into their everyday lives. He was strict but it wasn't necessarily a very bad thing. Most of the time it was just little things like having to call him Mr. Keyes instead of John (all of Nudge and Fang's friends called their mom Mary). It was the way he was and none of us could honestly imagine him any other way.
"He can have that effect on people," Fang muttered, smirking slightly as he saw Iggy's expression. I tried to smile at the two of them but it ended up turning into more of a grimace.
The four of us broke off into our own little conversations. Iggy and Ella were talking quietly amongst themselves and I looked down at my hands, not really in the mood to talk to anyone. I was perfectly fine with the content silence Fang and I had. Until, that is, he interrupted it.
"I still haven't gotten my car from the school," he said softly. I had totally forgotten about the fact that my mom had driven us home and that we left his car in the parking lot. It was probably an icicle by now. "Want to go for a walk?" He asked, standing up and holding out his hand.
"Sure, why not." I mumbled, taking his hand and standing up. I felt his fingers tighten around mine as we started walking up the stairs to my room and the guest room. We split and went our separate ways once we reached them. I sighed and slowly went over to my closet. I pulled out a completely random pair of jeans and an old, baggy tee shirt. I pulled them on and grabbed my jacket off of the back of my chair. I snatched my knit hat off of my bed post as I slip my feet into my snow boots and I shoved my arms into the sleeves.
I walked out of my room, seeing that Fang was already waiting for me. He was, as usual, clad in his usual black jeans, old black boots, and his big jacket with the hood already over his head. I pulled my hat on and started walking over to the stairs, taking them slowly, making sure I didn't trip down them with all my winter gear on.
"Ella, Iggy," I called out, poking my head into the kitchen as Fang made his way to the front door. "We're going to go get Fang's car. We'll be back in about an hour." I added, making sure they knew where we were just in case Iggy left, although I doubted he would. He would definitely stay with Ella.
Fang and I walked out of the door, locking it on the way out. We started walking down the street in silence with the exception of Fang jingling his car keys in his pocket. I shivered and frowned up at him, realizing how cold it really was but he didn't seem to be affected by it. He just kept walking, head held high, eyes looking straight ahead of him. I sighed and watched my breath mix with the cold air once again. It couldn't be over thirty degrees out.
I felt Fang's arm wrap around me and I looked up at him. His face was a mixture of emotions that included worry and concern. I just then realized that my teeth had been chattering and I was shaking all over but as soon as Fang touched me and his hand was gently touching the side of my cheek, a warm electric jolt flew through me.
"Max?" he asked quietly, raising his voice so I could just hear him over the wind chills rushing past us as we walked down the abandoned street. I looked up at him curiously, wondering what he was going to say. "Uh, about this morning-"he started, looking down at me. I was afraid he was going to bring that up.
"What about it?" I asked, hoping to stall him a little longer. Let's just say I was never one to share my feelings willingly.
"The, um, the kiss." He said awkwardly. I had honestly never expected us to talk about something like this so it caught me completely off guard. I never thought something like us kissing would ever happen but I guess I was wrong.
"What about it?" I questioned, trying to play it cool even though I was getting more and more anxious by the minute. I didn't want Fang to know that though.
"What was it?" he asked absentmindedly. I looked up at him confused and he frowned down at me. "I mean, what was it to us? Did it mean anything? Was it just spur of the moment? What was it?" he clarified.
"I'm- I'm not sure," I said, looking over at him carefully. I really didn't want to say anything that could potentially ruin our friendship. "Did it mean anything to you?" I asked, curious to see what he might say.
"I'm not sure," He said, looking down at his boot clad feet as they stepped on a patch of black ice. "I mean, I think so." He added, making up his mind. My eyes widened a fraction and I looked up at him, trying not to look as astonished as I felt.
"Fang," I started, not wanting to talk about this. Things were confusing enough as is. "I think we should talk about this when everything that has been going on blows over." I said, looking up at him. A look of mixed hurt and anger crossed his face and I jumped at the chance to continue. "I mean, I'm just not sure that our heads are clear enough to deal with something like this. You could be mistaken about the- the kiss. After all, you are under a lot of stress." I added, hoping he would understand. This is why I didn't want anything to happen between Fang and me romantically. It could really mess up our friendship and I really didn't know what I would do without him.
"Yeah, you're right." He said, nodding his head. I thought he actually meant it too. There was a small glint of sincerity in his eyes that I almost never saw. I moved slightly closer to him, feeling his arm tighten around my shoulders. I just wanted to hold onto him and never let go.
"But, for the record," I added, not wanting to leave Fang out on a limb in this conversation. "I think I felt something too." He looked down at me carefully and a small smile spread across his lips. He gathered me into his arms as we crossed the street and into the school parking lot. He gently kissed my forehead and I smiled inwardly. It had worked. At least we had that taken care of. For now.
We walked like that down to his car, the only one left in the parking lot other than one or two that probably belonged to the janitorial staff. We both stopped dead in front of the back of the car and he let go of me after a long minute of just standing there in the cold, we both broke apart from each other and went to opposite sides of the car.
I pried open the freezing door and climbed in, not feeling a change in temperature at all. I immediately started to shiver and I reached out to turn up the heat as Fang started the car. I turned the various dials, trying to make the car heat up faster. I felt a warm hand over mine and I looked up at Fang. He was staring down at me with an amused expression playing in his eyes. My hand burned where his bare skin was touching mine and I gave him a small smile, him returning it with his eyes.
He pulled out of the parking lot, not taking his hand from mine as he drove. I waited for the heat to kick in but nothing was happening.
"I'm really starting to hate the winter," I muttered, looking out the window at the snow-covered trees and icy roads. Fang was driving pretty slowly, trying to avoid any of the snow and ice that was on the road.
"Yeah, me too" he said bitterly. His palm was warm against mine and our fingers were intertwined, "But I guess that since Christmas is coming up it'll be worth it. I guess." He added and I inwardly smiled. It was almost December. Maybe things would look up then.
"I guess so." I agreed, looking around at him. He was concentrated on the road, his eyebrows furrowed. We pulled into the driveway and I saw that my mom's car was in the driveway. She and Mr. Keyes must have gotten home already.
Fang pulled into his driveway and we both climbed out, going out into the cold. We started walking over the small patch of snow-packed grass and over to my house. I unlocked the door and pulled it open, feeling the warmth flow through me. Fang and I walked over to the kitchen after shedding our winter jackets and boots.
"I just don't know what I'm going to do," I heard a voice say as we stopped behind the bend of the kitchen. "I've been trying to hide it from the kids but I really don't think I can do this any longer." I held out my arm in front of Fang, stopping him from walking into the kitchen. He hadn't heard what his father said. He gave m e a quizzical look and I frowned, putting a finger to my lips, telling him not to talk.
"John, please relax," my mom answered, "We'll get through this and you know that. We'll definitely get through this." She added. I heard her put a cup down on the table.
"I know but, Valencia, I don't know if I can handle this." Mr. Keyes said with pain heavy in his voice. "Mary was the only woman I've ever loved and Nudge-"his voice trailed off and I could hear sobs.
"John," my mom said. I looked up at Fang, whose eyes were filled with tears. I reached over and grabbed his hand, squeezing it reassuringly. "Mary always loved you and she'll always be with you no matter what." there was silence for a couple of seconds, "And Nudge, well, Nudge loved you with all her heart. She looked up to you so much."
Tears streamed down my face and I turned away, facing Fang. He leaned down, putting his forehead against mine and he wiped away a tear on my cheek. He sighed and shook his head, grabbing my hand and pulling me up the stairs. By the time we reached the stairs, he was taking two at a time and his grip around my hand was tightening drastically. He looked like he wanted to sprint down the hallway but he restrained himself until we reached my room.
"I'm sorry," he said referring to why he had dragged me up the stairs with no warning. "I can't hear that. I can't listen to him lose hope." He said, looking at me with one single tear falling down his face. I jumped up on my toes and hugged him, kissing his cheek as he hesitantly wrapped his arms around me.
"There will always be hope," I whispered, tightening my arms around his neck. "It'll never be lost." I added. I knew it was one of those classic lines that people only say in the movies but this time, it felt real. It needed to be said.
I unlatched my arms from around Fang and sighed, taking a deep breath and strengthening myself for something that I needed to do. I looked up at Fang for one second but then looked away, walking over to my desk. I grabbed my phone off of it and turned it on, listening to the ringing that sounded when it started up.
After waiting for it, I closed my eyes and let my fingers do all the work. I opened my inbox, using muscle memory and I looked down, opening the text messages that people had sent. Some were from Fang, others were from Iggy, and there were even a few from Sam but I only cared about the ones what read 'Nudge Anderson-Keyes' at the top of it. My thumb paused over the button and I prepared myself.
Fang came up behind me and put his hand on my shoulder. I looked up at him and he nodded, urging me to click the button and open the text. I inhaled deeply and read them. There were messages about her wanting to be asked to the dance, her being at the mall and finding lollipops the size of her head, and a seven page long message about seeing out principal at her favorite store.
There was only one message that had any meaning. I stared down at it, not noticing anything else around me. The screen's light was shining up into my eyes and I snapped out of it when a tear fell right on the screen. I looked up at Fang and he had tears rolling down his cheeks also.
There was only one word written. That one word tugged my heart and I felt like I was drowning in tears. All that was written was, "Goodbye."
Okay, so that was chapter seven.
I hoped you liked it. I didn't really what I was writing as I was typing it so I had to re-read it to see what I had really written. It's not one of my best chapters, I'll admit it, but it's not my worst.
I'll explain what the text was in the next chapter so don't worry about it or anything.
Do you love it? Hate it? Have any suggestions? Let me know!