Time for a new chapter! Enjoy!
Disclaimer - I do not own Maximum Ride. That would be James Patterson :D
Fang literally dragged me to his car and sped all the way to the diner only to find it closed. Great. Some first date this is. I mean who closes a diner for their nephew's birthday?
So now we have been sitting in Fang's car fighting over where to go now for half an hour.
"Let's just go back to school Fang." I say defeated. I mean, obviously this isn't going to work right? Wrong.
"Wait, I just thought of the perfect place." Fang says in a burst of excitement. That has got to be the most emotion this boy has ever let out at once.
Fang backs out of the parking lot and drives off without telling me where we are heading. He says it's a surprise but if you know anything about me, you would know that I hate surprises and judging by the smirk I am currently getting from Fang right now I know he knows this.
I decide not to say anything more but start to get curious as we drive out of city limits.
"Um.. Fang? You aren't trying to kidnap me or anything are you?" I ask earning myself a chuckle from Fang.
"Just wait, you'll like it I swear." And so I wait. And wait. And wait. We drive for an hour down back roads until I am sure that Fang is lost but just won't admit it.
Just as I am about to say something Fang pulls over to the side of the road and jumps out of the car. I hear him pop the trunk and after a minute he comes up to my door carrying a blanket.
As Fang helps me out of the car- always the gentleman- he informs me that we will have to walk a little ways but it shouldn't take long.
Shouldn't take long my ass! We have been walking through a thick forest for twenty minutes and I have tripped at least three times over the vegetation growing thickly on the forest floor. Despite the trouble I am having, Fang is just walking beside me with this huge creepy grin plastered on his face. What the hell has gotten into him?
All of the sudden Fang stops and looks at me seriously.
"You have to wait here, okay? I'll be right back." You have got to be kidding me.
"Seriously?" I ask, disbelief coloring my tone.
"Yes. Now just stay here and wait for me. Don't move." Fang says and with that he is off again strutting through the trees leaving me, mouth gaping, staring after him.
Did Fang really just bring me here to ditch me? I consider leaving for a while before I realize that in no way would I be able to find my way back alone.
Before I can even try Fang is back and grabbing my hand in his, having ditched the blanket somewhere.
"Okay now close your eyes." Fang says and I do what he says because I have given up trying to figure out what is going on.
Fang leads me expertly through the trees without making me run into a single one. (A/N this has happened to me! We were doing a trust exercise at a retreat and my partner failed to mention the giant tree in front of me! Anyway... back to the story!) Ignoring the fact that Fangs is currently pressed tight against my back I make my way through the trees and before long Fang releases me from his grip.
"Tada!" Fang exclaims as I open my eyes.
Before me is a small lake house sitting right in front of a vast piece of water. Okay I wouldn't say vast but you couldn't swim across it. Fang laid the blanket in the sand right next to the water. The water is beautiful. Considering how long it took us to get here it doesn't surprise me to see the sun already setting, throwing rays of pink and purple light across the water.
"What is this?" I ask Fang finally turning around to look at him.
"This is my family's cabin. We spend some time in the summer out here but I figured we could go for a swim or something. Maybe have a picnic. My mom always keeps the freezer here filled with non-perishable food so we could make something." Fang says, clearly proud of himself for coming up with this idea.
I am speechless. No one has ever done something like this for me. Slowly I walk down to the water and sit on the blanket Fang set out for us. Crap. When did I get so emotional? I can feel my eyes fill with tears. Double crap.
I can feel Fang behind me, so I quickly glance down and wipe away the tears that have made their way down my cheek. This city has made me weak. I need to work on that.
Fang, noticing the gesture, sat down next to me.
"Are you okay?" His voice is full of unnecessary worry. "We can leave if you want, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you, I shouldn't have brought you here." Fang says obviously thinking he did something wrong.
I look up at his face and feel myself smile just at the sight of him. "No! Are you kidding me? I'm just happy. No one has ever, ever done something like this for me." I tell him, making him relax.
Instead of responding, Fang just moves closer to me and I lean my head on his shoulder. We sit like this for maybe ten minutes before he stands up.
"Well, I don't know about you but I'm going swimming." Fang informs me.
"I don't have my suit." I say and Fang just smiles.
"My mom has some old ones in the cabin, I'll grab you one." Fang says and with that he helps me up and leads me up to the cabin.
Taking the spare key from under the mat, he lets us in and walks straight down the hallway to get the suits, leaving me to look around. The whole place reeks of fish but even that doesn't take away from the appeal of the place. It looks like a house you would see in a magazine, full of antique furniture, throw pillows, decorative lamps, etc.
Before I could explore the rest of the house - yes I am now calling it a house and no longer a cabin, I don't think a place like this could ever be considered a cabin- Fang is back and throwing a bikini in my face and shoving me into a bathroom.
Once in the bathroom I actually look at the sorry excuse for a swimsuit Fang gave me. It looks more like colorful dental floss. Did Fang honestly expect me to wear this? Of course he does. He probably picked the sluttiest one on purpose. That pervert.
Changing quickly, and avoiding the embarrassment of looking in the mirror, I leave the bathroom wrapped tight in a towel.
Fang is already waiting out in the water for me. On my way there I take the time to look at, okay ogle at, Fang's body. I had never seen him shirtless until now and let me tell you I am glad because I don't think I would have been able to hide the fact that I like him while looking at this.
Fang has amazing abs that I could barely tear my eyes away from. He seriously looks like he was chiseled from marble… um… forget I said that.
Managing to tear my eyes away from his chest I give him a death glare remembering the bikini he have me and tightening the towel around me. "Do you honestly expect me to wear this?"
I can hear Fang's chuckle from here. "Just get in the water, Max. It's really nice."
Fine. I mean we are the only ones here and it's Fang we are talking about. Do I really care if he sees me in this? Yes. I tell myself. Well it's too late now.
I take off the towel and cross my arms over my chest, attempting to cover at least something up. I decide to risk a glance at Fang and immediately regret it. He is just staring at me. A blush starts to creep up my face and I immediately reach for the towel again.
"Max, no. You look…" Fang trailed off and started to walk out of the water toward me. As he does, I notice the sun glinting off of the water droplets on his chest. How is it that one person could make me feel so… I don't even know. These feelings… how can I even begin to describe them?
Before I can think about it any longer Fang is right in front of me.
"Max, you are so beautiful." Fang says and I start to laugh. Oh god did I just snort?
In between laughs I manage to get out, "Fang… you don't… have to… lie to me."
In response to this I get a steely look from Fang. "You don't even realize it do you." Fang asks me but before I can respond I am in Fang's arms and he is pulling me slowly to the water.
When we step in I realize that Fang was right about the water. It was nice and warm but was neither hot or cold. Perfect.
But right now I barely notice the water because Fang's face is mere inches away from mine. Staring deep into his midnight colored eyes I can see that Fang means what he said. He really does think I am beautiful.
Without even thinking about it I close the distance between us and gently kiss Fang which apparently was not good enough for him. In response to my lips on his, Fang moves his hands down to my lower back and pulls me up against him until every part of our bodies are touching and kisses me fiercely. Everywhere he touches me it feels like fireworks are exploding in my skin. In response I grab his hair and pull him closer while wrapping my legs around his waist. I pull myself as close to Fang as possible but nothing seems like enough. Fang tilts his head to the side and deepens the kiss and I can't help the moan that escapes my lips.
Fang breaks away from me but before I can complain he is kissing my neck.
"Max…" He whispers but before he can finish whatever he was about to say I cut him off by pulling his mouth back to mine.
Fangs hands move up and down my back, holding me tightly against him and I tighten my legs around his midsection. In response Fang kisses me even fiercer, if that's even possible.
We go on like this for what seems like hours but in reality it was probably only 20 minutes. Suddenly I notice just how much skin is touching and it is then that I remember what I am wearing. Or, rather, what I am not wearing, namely clothes. I quickly pull away and feel myself blush fiercely.
"Um, maybe we should slow it down?" I say avoiding eye contact with Fang knowing that if I look at him right now I would probably disregard my last statement and resume where we left off.
"Sure, whatever you feel comfortable with, Max." Fang says and I can tell he means it, even if I can tell by his eyes that he is a little disappointed. Looking up at his face I can see that he is also blushing from our previous activity, but he was giving me a big smile that I have discovered he only gives to me.
"How about we go eat?" I ask just as my stomach growls.
Fang just nods and starts walking out of the lake but not before grabbing my hand and taking me with him.
The rest of the night passes in pretty much the same way. We don't really talk a lot because we don't need to. Neither of us are very talkative people so there is never an awkward silence. We ate dinner on the beach and let me tell you something, Fang is an amazing cook! I mean it was just spaghetti but still! And after that we went swimming some more and it wasn't until I saw Fang staring at me… well my body that I remembered what I was wearing.
"God, Fang! Can you please go get me another swimsuit? I look ridiculous." I beg, giving Fang puppy dog eyes but I have no idea if they will work or not.
"Why would I do that? You do not look ridiculous. You look amazing and all of the other ones here are one pieces." Fang tells me adding on the last part in a bit of a rush.
"Oh, so there are other ones?" I ask. "Then get me one of those! I feel so exposed."
Fang just gives me an incredulous look. "Does it really matter now? I'm the only one here and I have been staring at you for the past 3 hours. It's not going to make a difference if you cover up now anyway. I have already seen you." Fang says and I slap him.
In my defense I didn't hit him hard but I am not used to guys saying they were staring at me. When I see Fangs hurt expression I start to feel guilty for thinking he was a sexist pig… and for slapping him. I guess he is my boyfriend, but that still doesn't give him the right to dress me like a skank.
"Fine, just this once but next time we come here I am bringing my own swimsuit. And I'm sorry." I say ending the conversation.
The sun has long ago gone down and so we stare up at the stars while lying back on our blanket. I told my mom an hour ago that I was staying at Nudge's and Fang said he was staying at Iggy's so we didn't have to go home. It's not like we were doing anything wrong, we just wanted to stay here tonight.
So here we are. We are now both fully clothed having stopped swimming a while ago and I am now lying with my head on his chest with his arms wrapped protectively around me. I can smell laundry soap and cinnamon on Fang's shirt, which is a smell I have now come to consider Fang's smell. It's a comforting smell.
"Hey, Fang?
"Hmm?" Fang replied, obviously tired.
"Why me?" I wait for a reply but when I get none I decide to elaborate. "Iggy implied that you could have your pick of any girl in the school but you picked me. Why?"
When another minute passed by without an answer I figured I wasn't going to get one.
"I already told you." Fang answers, surprising me. "Remember what I said to you that day you asked why I talked to you and no one else?" Fang asks and I nod. He said that it was because I was different.
"You said I'm different. But I don't get that. What makes me so unlike everyone else here?"
I look up at Fang and he seems to be deciding how to phrase his answer.
"You don't try to be someone you aren't. All of the girls here think they have to dress provocatively to get people to notice them and follow other peoples' examples and do anything to be popular. You, on the other hand, are just you. You know who you are and wouldn't change for anyone." Fang tells me. "That's what made me start liking you. Way back when we were quoting Harry Potter together when I first met you. Most other girls would deny even liking Harry Potter, even though we know they secretly love it. I mean who couldn't?" At this last part I can't help but laugh.
I think about what Fang said for a minute and then just nod my head, not knowing how to respond. So Fang had liked me since we first met? Hearing that made my heart swell to the point that it felt like it would explode. If it's possible, knowing why Fang likes me just made me like him way more. I knew he wasn't shallow but having that confirmed means a lot to me.
"Promise you won't leave me." I whisper and for a moment I don't think he heard me but then he leans down and kisses the top of my head.
Just before I fall asleep I hear Fang say, "I promise," so quietly I may have just imagined it. After that I was lost in my dreams, but not before I could think to myself, I guess sometimes things do turn out okay. But if my life has taught me anything it is that sometimes good things can disappear and you can't stop it.
Alright! Review! Did you like it? Hate it? LET ME KNOW!
