A/N This chapter was so loooonnnnggg. Well not really long, but I don't like how my chapters just keep getting longer and longer. It's very inconsistent. I won't bore you guys with lame excuses of my lack of updates.
Raining non stop for the last two days, stayed in watching Disney movies with my friends all day : )
-Ash
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her feelings she hides
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"You've got to be kidding," I panted, swiftly dropping to the ground...and narrowly missed being impaled with a pole. Fang merely smirked, choosing to ignore me for the moment and instead threw another object of a rather sharp and pointy nature at me.
Oh, and shiny. Just can't forget that important detail.
I gritted my teeth not so much at the slight pain but at the fact that my pissed off meter was steadily rising. I couldn't believe that I was letting Fang and his infuriating silent yet obvious arrogance get the best of me.
I was strong, dammit! I should be beating the crap out of him not five seconds away from becoming a shish kabob!
But I was forced to get over it quickly seeing as he'd now decided to take the fight to a more hands on level.
"I wouldn't lie to you Maxxy. You've got to build up your stamina and besides," he teased, not seeming the least out of breath.
"This is fun," Fang got right up in my face in what I guessed was supposed to been an intimidating stance but was ruined by something that shocked even me.
And let me tell you that that's quite an achievement.
I smirked at the faint but sure trace of eyeliner (which was most likely just dirt but I could just ignore that insignificant detail)
"Well, well, well. Who would've thought that Fang liked to indulge in his more feminine side? Now I'm starting to think that whole 'strong and silent' type is just a front and that you're secretly a total cross dre-"
Fang obviously tired of listening to me bash his ego punched me in the gut hard enough for me to literally fly backwards. I resisted the urge to groan as I breathed shallowly and instantly put up my guard.
Maybe screwing with his male pride wasn't the smartest course of action…
Rushing towards me, Fang delivered a combo of blows that ranged from kicks to punches. I narrowly blocked each hit until finally I found an opening in his attack. Taking advantage of the moment and I kicked his feet out from underneath him all the while hitting him with a round house kick sending his scrawny little butt flying.
Eh, not that I was particularly watching his butt.
Fang rolled away and was on his feet before I could deal another blow but I wasn't about to give up that easily. I stalked over to him and started throwing punches which he all dodged of course, making me even more frustrated.
"Never…Call…Me…Maxxy!" I ground out with each punch and as I said the last word my punch finally clipped him in the jaw.
Fang didn't even have the decency to hide his obvious surprise at the fact that I'd managed to hit him. He stumbled back a few feet and I winced.
Ok, I think I just need to take a breath and remember that this is just training.
But damn, did it feel good.
Just then Fang did something totally unexpected, he disappeared. Or at least that's what it seemed like. He sprinted in the opposite direction of me and I watched him, puzzled. Once he was past one of the larger trees I lost sight of him. What the heck? You're not supposed to run away from a fight! That little…
"Ah!" I yelped, falling forwards into the grass…only to be caught again. How Fang got behind me in order to kick me with such force is beyond me.
I resisted the urge to kick him while he was off guard; he had obviously won this round though. Not that I had had any real chance of beating him but it still stung. He was right, not only were fighting skills pathetic but so was my defense.
Not that I was going to admit that to, he didn't need an ego booster.
"This is why we're not moving onto anything new."
Fang pulled me to my feet and I could see we had a temporary truce which meant my training was over for the moment.
Iggy, standing a good ten feet away began clapping at our performance. "In my opinion honestly, I think you've gotten better. But then again, you didn't exactly set the highest standards."
"Well I guess it's a good thing that no one asked you,"
It'd been around two weeks since I joined the Flock, more or less. The days seemed run together when you had all the time in the world.
Fine, maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration.
But with all the continuous training we'd been doing it left little time for me to think or as Iggy liked to call it, brood. I'd rarely thought about the home I'd left, seeing as I woke up too early to think coherently and crashed as soon as it was late.
Besides my new friends (I don't think I'll ever get used to that word) were so exceptionally good at distracting me it was almost scary.
"So Maxxy, I say we take a break I'm starving." Iggy said with an obviously forced serious expression, yet the smug tone was evident in his voice. Nudge and Angel giggled, whether it was at what he had said or what I was going to do to him now that he had I didn't know.
The lone pole that Fang had used earlier I picked up and hurled it at Iggy, knowing he'd duck or else…well let's not go there.
"Is that the best you…" I hit Iggy over the head with the palm of my hand and he glared at me. Laughing at his expense I stuck my tongue out.
I was perfectly content and for once…happy; I looked over at Fang to see him arguing with Angel about where we were going to eat. And it looked like we would be eating at the fancy hotel next to the toy store.
Fang was desperately (as much as a guy who at an average uses a maximum of five words per sentence) defending his point but it was as if she had mind controlling abilities, that or it was her baby blue eyes. To be honest, the whole situation was pretty funny.
Fang, cold and unbending and totally in control was losing to Angel.
I fought a snicker, who's in control now?
Angel suddenly averted who gaze and caught my eye. I gave her a small smile which she returned followed by a wink. What just happened?
"Angel, we can't go there, you know that. We have to discuss our ahem… plans and Erasers are almost sure to be there." He said exasperated. We all watched as Angel's face fell, even the stuffed bear she was holding appeared mournful.
Gazzy skipped over from where he was talking to Nudge and took his little sister's arm. He whispered something into her ear and almost immediately she perked up. She giggled and let him lead her over to where Nudge was typing furiously on the laptop they were using.
How someone can be that chipper is beyond me.
I rolled my eyes and turned to Fang, "So where are we going to eat genius?"
Ignoring my mocking tone he answered and shrugged, "Probably one of the fast food restaurants." I raised my eyebrows at the last part but said nothing.
Sometimes less is best.
Practically glued to each other's sides we walked alongside the sidewalks, keeping to grass, dirt or road. Now that I knew that Erasers can be pretty much anyone I wasn't too keen on being split up in a large crowd. At least some people share my paranoia.
A particularly harsh gust of wind tore through me and I pulled my hoodie closer to me. It was the middle of October and Halloween was fast approaching. I knew I was going to be in for a rude awakening when winter came considering I didn't exactly have that much room in my backpack for clothes.
I remember when we arrived at 'headquarters' as I liked to call it, I had been shocked that it had survived all the moving around I'd done. Somehow Iggy had managed to retrieve it from the disaster that was the subway tunnel.
I shivered but it wasn't just because of the cold. What happened to all those people, refugees from society, all the outcasts? It made me sick just thinking about how they could've possibly made it out alive…
If not for Fang I would be nothing short of dead. I shook off my unease and sped up, anxious to get to our destination…
I had been so wrapped up in my own thoughts that I had also had failed to notice that the shiny new apartments with their spotless windows had given way to streets lined up with broken down buildings.
The air carried an eerie stillness that was unnerving and I immediately wanted to turn on my heel and race back to the relative safety of the crowds and parks. I stole a glance at Fang and Iggy and they seemed perfectly at home if you count their blank expressions and stiff posture.
I guess that's how they always were when they're out in the open.
Biting my lip and attempting to keep my cool I strode on, slightly behind the others because of my uneasiness. We'd had to have walked this way dozens of times since now and somehow I could never get past the feeling suffocated the place like a photograph that never changed, suspended in time.
A few buildings later Fang slowed down and stopped in front of a creepy old apartment. It looked as if ready for demolition with the crumbling walls and paint but he walked right up to the door and called out,
"Sam!" I waited, too stunned to move. Did people live in here? And then I was hit with the fact that I was a runaway now, homeless. The Flock were runaways too and it would only make sense that they would have a type of headquarters.
I shivered at the mental image. Great, now I was comparing us to superheroes and waaay too tight underwear.
There was a rhythm of knocking from inside, "I'll fly on broken and bloodied wings through the skies of despair and over the land of war…" Fang said his voice confident and loud.
For a moment there was complete silence and I feared that he had somehow offended them, although I don't know how he could've.
Breathe Max, breathe. Not everyone is out to get you, stop being paranoid.
Sure enough a voice came through, higher and more boyish than Fang's but with the same sureness.
"…because not even my demons can keep me away from the air and accomplish the trueness of a life without a shattered soul."
The words made me slightly depressed, a tone of defeat lying behind the words.
"Way to be in touch with your inner emo," I muttered under my breath, walking in behind Nudge.
Fang proceeded to ignore me as he led us farther into the house, letting the door shut and lock behind him. To say I felt safer in streets than in the apartment wouldn't exactly be a lie.
I've never liked closed off places and this place was no exception. Before I'd left, I'd always spent more time outdoors than in my house. Maybe that's why I'd never gathered the courage to peek into my father's lab. It'd held a dark type of secret that I admit frightened me and I didn't want to take the risk of accidently locking myself inside it.
A boy with chestnut brown hair and just the perfect amount of waves in his bangs appeared as we walked led us into what I figured had once been a living room but appeared to be ghost of what it once was. Dusty, banged and miss-matched furniture was scattered throughout the room. Silently, trying not to draw attention to myself I found an armchair in the back by the shadows.
People in general made me nervous, I hated having someone size me up like I as some kind of experiment. I wasn't shy; I just couldn't stand the presence of strangers…
…and that didn't sound creepy or suicide bomber at all.
I shivered at the eerie stillness of the place…or that could've just been the fat rat that just scurried past my feet, blinking up at me for a split second in an almost mocking gesture. I breathed and out forcing myself to stay calm.
1…2…3…
"What's up this time? We usually don't hear from you guys unless there's some impending doom upon your sewer city." The boy who'd we'd first seen when walked in spoke up,
"It is not a sewer city, Sam. They live in subways and they're better off there than in the hands of the Erasers," Fang replied sharply.
Sam simply chuckled, "I was only kidding, you don't have to be so serious all the time."
"It's the only thing that keeps us alive," he mumbled irritably under his breath,
The boy shook his head with a wry smile and focused his attention away from Fang, seeming to suddenly notice my quiet presence in the back of the group. It was a good thing too; I was about ready to pound Fang for not introducing me to everyone right away.
He was grinning and across the room faster than anyone could realize what his intentions were, I included. Sam hopped up onto the arm of my chair and playfully wrapped his arms around my shoulders. I stiffened at his touch, how did people get comfortable with just going up and invading other's personal space?
By now I was getting really agitated.
Sam smirked and addressed Fang again, "When were you planning on introducing the rest of us band of misfits to your new recruit? She's the perfect girl for you! All quiet and brooding, a match made in heaven." He said wistfully, a smirk plastered to his face.
I definitely would've been rolling on the floor laughing at the jab to Fang if not for one tiny little fact…
I was the girl he was talking about.
The words Max, Fang, and relationship don't even belong in the same sentence! Yeah, sure he's cool and all for letting me roll with them and whatever but he's just so…so…high mantience. I'd rather be with a guy who speaks in complete sentences instead of making everything he says a game of charades.
Gazzy and Iggy immediately joined in on the teasing and laughing at the scowling Fang.
I tapped Galen on the shoulder and smiled sweetly when he finally looked down at me with an amused expression.
"And you know what I think would be a match made in heaven?" I asked, "My fist and your face," I then proceeded to elbowed him in the gut forcing him to drop to the ground and for me to be free of his arm.
I snickered at the sight of his pained expression and his writhing form and Nudge came over to me and gave me a high five. Slowly, Sam pulled himself off the floor and glared at me.
"You just made my list, hope that Fang will protect you!" he warned although I didn't believe him one bit. I rolled my eyes and muttered,
"We're rooming with people with people who can't tell fact from and fiction and you want to put our safety in their hands? Oh god, we're doomed." I directed my comment more towards Fang. Sighing I fell back against the couch in a defeated slump.
I had almost expected Fang to scold me for not putting any faith in Sam and or some lame comment that would take all the fun out of our bickering.
But he simply sat there smirking, the closest he would come to agreeing with me, a small smile made its way on my face.
There was a lapse of silence or at least I thought so, maybe I had just tuned everyone out. Either way the quietness in my head felt like total bliss, finally having the time to sort out my thoughts. The mere sight of the dreariness and dark clouds through the window seemed to drain all of my energy.
Eventually everyone started chatting again, small talk that I knew that wouldn't miss. Silently I stood and started up the stairs, following the now familiar path to "my" room, Angel nearly gliding beside me.
I remembered Gazzy once telling me that there were six floors and that runaways like us lived on all of them. I hadn't thought much of it considering it seemed the apartment was completely empty whenever we arrived. Sam was the first one I'd met; I hoped that the rest were like him.
When we reached a door at the end of the upstairs hall she stopped and looked at me expectantly. I pushed the door open and peered inside, on alert for any danger. There was only a mattress set upon a creaky bed frame and a single wooden chair next to it, a boarded up window covered the opposite wall.
I sighed in relief; everything was just as I left it.
I turned to thank Angel but before I could say anything, those normally blank blue eyes seemed to smile up at me as she spoke,
"You'll stay, I know you will because he needs you and so do we. You fit in like family already."
Walking back towards the stairs, Angel brushed back her blond curls one last time and gave the most heartbreakingly sweet smile ever. None of her pain was reflected and she seemed to shine for that one second before reality dragged her down with it again.
I closed the door to the room and fell back onto the mattress feeling more than a little dazed by what Angel had said; the most sincere words she'd spoken to me since we'd met. Closing my eyes, I turned to my side, my last thought more of a realization than anything else.
I hadn't even had to ask who he was.
XxX
Lying back in the grass, reading my new book I couldn't have been any happier than I was then. The summer sun beat down on me fiercely and the wind played with my hair while I absorbed the freeness of the day.
Someone came up behind me, shattering my peace, pulling on my hair and covering my eyes with their hands. I scowled, I knew exactly who it was and at the moment I wanted nothing to do with him. Prying his too large hands off my face I turn and faced him.
"I was doing perfectly fine without you," I muttered coldly. My eyes were trained on the back of my book but I could sense the smile in his voice as he spoke. Of course he would only smile when I wasn't looking.
"I said I was sorry, don't make me beg." He said quietly, his voice playful. I couldn't resist, I glanced up and immediately realized it to be a mistake, there was no way I could stay angry with him. His dark orbs bore intensely into my hazel ones, sparkling with life and my breath caught in my throat.
All former anger diminishing at our now petty seeming argument, I leaned back into his arms. My friend's strong and comforting form was better than any other force of nature.
"What's today?" he asked suddenly, startling me out of my reverie. Confused, I twisted in his arms and answered softly, not daring to let our voices disturb the peace that seemed to be surrounding us.
"Saturday, May 3rd. School's not for another two days, chill." All I got was an absent minded "hm" while he played with a lock of my hair.
I began to hum a song I'd heard once a long time ago, I'd forgotten the words but the melody just fit my mood. I'm not a very sappy or affectionate person by nature, it just isn't my thing. But the urge was so strong that I felt like I would burst out in song, screaming 'The hills are alive' any moment now.
Ick, talk about your Kodak moment.
Yet, right then though I couldn't have cared less about what anyone else thought. Everything in the world was right and nothing could sour my soaring mood. I realized as long as he was around, nothing could make me any happier. No matter how High School Musical that sounded, for once I was sticking to my words.
XxX
Gasping, I sat up and leaned forward on my hands gasping for air. My hair was slicked back from sweat and my face was flushed and throbbing. My whole body was on end, almost like I'd been hit by lightning.
There wasn't a mirror in the room but I was completely sure that I was in no way presentable. Glancing at the boarded up window I could see a few streaks of sunlight peaking through the cracks. Wow, I'd slept through the whole morning.
Dream... I straightened up immediately; there was a dream I remembered now, that must've been what woke me up. Pressing my fingers to my temples, I focused on the hazy image of a dream of some sort. I went through forms of ideas, ranging from what I'd done yesterday to four years ago but nothing jogged my memory.
In fact the more I concentrated the more a blurry image of a face seemed to slip just out of mind's grasp and it just kept getting farther away until all I remembered was some kind of black light…
Why wasn't anything ever clear? Frustrated, I brought my hand down hard on top of the bedside table, causing a vibration through the thin walls and floors. I groaned, just what I needed to start off my morning, now this would rack my brain all day.
If anyone had been asleep they sure weren't now.
I hated reliving those days, I hated the old Max. She was always so happy and she actually had a friend. Wow, a real live, can touch and talk to friend. Talk about a fairytale without a happy ending, right? I really shouldn't be that bothered anymore though.
With a steady push, the door to the room opened and to my surprise Fang let himself in. Leaning against the wall he asked,
"Rats? Bugs? Unidentifiable liquids or substances?" I glared at him, now wasn't really the time for jokes, couldn't he see that I distressed?
"No…" I answered curtly, hoping Fang would take the hint and leave. But heaven forbid he give me my peace.
Sighing with impatience I snapped, "No offense or anything because I'm glad you've 'taken me under your wing' and all the crap. But what the hell do you want?"
Fang looked away for a moment, scowling and obviously having an inner debate, "You know…you were...talking in your sleep. I just wanted to hear it from you."
My cheeks burned, I knew I talked in my sleep. I couldn't help it, the dreams were so vivid and they unsettled all the barriers around my mind. Considering what my dream had been I couldn't see any reason to feel as flustered and embarrassed as I was.
The emotionless mask was back on his face and he seemed to be searching me for something. His eyes bluntly traveled up and down my body, taking in my disheveled appearance. I wanted to hit him, scream but I could only glare.
I knew how horrendous I looked at the moment. I didn't need him assessing me like he was.
"It was just a dream," I snapped, eyes cast downward. I could feel his gaze on me making me feel self conscious. I wanted to kill him for that, I loathed that emotion. Fang remained silent, he wanted me go on but there wasn't really much else to tell.
Not much that I cared to tell anyways.
I met Fang's dark brown eyes and for a minute we just stayed like that, staring each other down in what couldn't be called a totally uncomfortable silence. He walked over to the bed and sat down a respectful distance away.
"You loved him, didn't you?" The words seemed to float in the air, making it hard to breathe. I couldn't read his face but he'd spoken it as more of a statement. Shame filled me, my emotions were exposed and I didn't like the results.
"I have no idea what you're talking about and I would appreciate it if you gave something before you took." I didn't for my words to come out so harsh but that's what happened. I wasn't so much irritated by him as I was by the question itself.
The fact that I didn't have an answer, the fact that my dream hadn't just been a dream but reality at some point.
Oh, how much I would give to relive that part of my life all over again…not to sound too nostalgic.
Hesitantly, I answered. I mean it wouldn't kill me to throw the guy a bone. "Maybe…if I yell myself up enough he'll be more than a blur in my memory."
Fang chuckled, a warm sound that made me want to slap him and melt at the same time. But not you know melting, the kind you do when you like someone, definitely not that.
"How much do you want to bet that's not going to work?" he said, a smirk plastered on his face.
"Depends, how much you got?" I joked, we were both dirt poor. He pretended to look thoughtful and answered a few seconds later.
"M y soul, but of course I get yours if I win." for a split second his eyes lit up, laughing at me and the barest hint of a genuine smile tugged at the corner of his lips. The moment was broken by footsteps coming towards us from the hall.
Nudge looked so extremely pleased with herself when she reached my room, not even registering our closeness as she squealed,
"Guess what!? I persuaded Iggy to let us ride on the subway! Isn't that great? We're going to this garden restaurant place!! He promised!" Her face was practically glowing and I could tell that it was taking all of her self-restraint not to jump up and down, screaming throughout the whole apartment.
I smirked; it couldn't be too bad, right? The thing that amused me the most was the fact that Iggy had cracked under Nudge peer pressure, shame on him. Still, I wished I'd been awake to see it.
I stood up and smoothed out my hair half heartedly. No amount of smoothing or water would be any help; sadly it would be a big poofball all day now. No doubt I'd been tossing and turning in my sleep.
I slipped quietly downstairs, or at least tried to, it's a hard feat to achieve when the floor boards creaks with each step I took. Yet no one noticed as I slid into a chair in the kitchen due to the yelling that was taking place between two redheads, Iggy, and Sam.
I smirked, someone get out the popcorn and icies, let the action begin.
