A/N: Heeyyyy readers! Ready for an extra looonnnnggg chappie? Thx for all the reviews, keep it up! Review if you want Max/Dylan story. What story, you ask? READ THE CHAPTER ;)
Fly on,
Lia and Kali
Recap Ch. 8:
Our lips had barely touched when he sunk to one knee, pulled
small box out of his pocket. He opened it, revealing a gleaming wing ring that matched the
necklace I had.
"Max?" he pleaded, "Will you go out with me?"
Ch. 9: Cookies
I could see the nervousness in his eyes, and I'm sure I had the same look in mine.
"Yes!" I squealed-YES. I DID SQUEAL- jumping into his arms, he stumbled back, surprised by the sudden embrace.
"Thank God," he mumbled, setting me down. He carefully took my right hand, as if it were fragile, and lifted the ring out of the box. He slid the ring onto my ring finger as I admired its beauty. It was the same type as the wing necklace, which I alway wore tucked under my shirt. The "diamonds" glinted in the bright sun. I wrapped my arms around his neck, pressing my mouth to his. He set his hands on the small of my back, gently pressing me closer. I responded to this by forcefully shoving my tongue against his mouth. His mouth opened, and our tongues battle for dominance. We were having a make out session in a river. And I enjoyed it. My boyfriend pulled back, panting.
"Fang?" I asked.
"Yes...?" he responded.
"Turn around." He looked confused at me, then obeyed. I unclasped the wing necklace from my neck and fastened it around his. "There," I said, "Now we can be matching."
He turned back around, my half of the wing necklace returned to him. It hung around his neck, settling right beneath his collarbone. He leaned in and whispered, "Thank you," in my ear, sending chills down my arms. He gently tucked it into his shirt, and offered me his hand. We splashed out of the river, water weighing down our clothes and making them skin-tight. Once we were on land, I turned towards him and challenged, "Last one back has to be the other's servant for a day!" He groaned, but shook my outstretched hand, sealing the bet.
I snapped my wings out, taking off before him. I zoomed toward the clouds with my boyfriend trailing behind me. We were both a little slower, the water detaining our speed in the air. I broke through the clouds, the water vapor dampening my hair even more.I levelled out, reaching top speeds. Well, as top as speeds can get with water-filled shoes weighing me down and wet hair whipping my face. I quickly turned around, but Fang was nowhere to be seen. He most likely decided to stay under the clouds, but the air up here is much cleaner, so I tended to fly up here more often. I heard a loud humming from behind me, but couldn't turn around to see what it was. I was nearing the circus, so I couldn't waste time looking behind me. Suddenly, huge gusts of wind whipped across the sky, making me unstable. Then, I was under a shadow. I quickly glanced up to find I was under a jet. It was moving at such a fast rate, that it was gone in a few seconds. What perplexed me is that there were no insignias on the tail of the jet, like there usually are on airplanes. I only saw a small air hatch on the belly of the plane, with a symbol of a human figure looming over a horde of animals, depicting him as being above them. Strange... I forced my brain to move on, although the symbol was disturbing. I cut through the clouds, nearing the place I now call home. The vibrant colors of the tents were visible from any angle, and I flew towards them quickly. I landed at the kitchen with a few running steps to ensure I didn't break my ankles on a hard landing. Throwing open the kitchen entrance, I entered, only to find Fang lounging on a beanbag, a cocky smirk playing on his lips. He held a tray of chocolate chips cookies, with one left. From what I could see, there were no more trays...
"Max, where have you been?" he mock scorned me, "I've been waiting here for hours, and almost all of the cookies are gone..." He smirked at me, reaching out his hand toward the last cookie.
"OH NO YOU DON'T!" I shouted, and lunged at him, tackling him down and grabbing for the cookie. Unfortunately, I had hit the tray a bit too hard, and the cookie went flying up in the air.
"NOO!" We both shouted, and I, being on top of him at the moment, (Minds OUT of the gutter, folks) jumped up and stood on him, catching the cookie out of midair. I gave a shout of triumph, and ran from Fang like a bat out of Hell. I could hear him pounding after me, shouting for the cookie. I decided he was far enough that he wouldn't reach me, but close enough that he could still see, and turned around. I slowly brought the cookie to my mouth, and ate in it three big bites. It was a large cookie, OK? He caught up to me and grinned.
"You know I would have let you have it, right?"
"You... wait, what?"
"I would have given you the cookie, psycho," he repeated, shaking his head and chuckling.
"LIES AND SLANDER!" I shouted in his face, then turned and sprinted off. He caught up to me easily, and grabbed my wrist, swinging me around.
"Come on, let's go back inside. I'm sure Iggy will make you some more cookies."
"Ok. Should we tell him about what we heard from JJ's trailer?" I asked.
"..." He paused, thinking, "Yes. Let's tell Maya too, I think she might need to know, considering you both live so close to her... And Iggs will probably end up telling her anyway."
"Ok," I said, and we started walking, hand in hand.
I went to get Maya, and he went back to the kitchen to find Iggy. I walked into her trailer, and called out, "Maya?"
"I heard her response from in the kitchen area, "Yes?" She sounded stressed out. I thought I smelled something funny... I walked in to see her cooking.
"Oh God, Maya. What do you think you're doing?" She wiped her forehead, smudging flour on it.
"Um... cooking?" she responded skeptically.
"No, Maya. You're risking your life. Go change and clean up, Iggy's making us cookies," I said, exasperated.
"Fine," she responded, defeated. "Wait..." she paused, turning to face me again. "What's that, on your hand?"
"Um... a ring?" I said hesitantly.
"I've never seen it before. Who is it from? WAIT. That was a dumb question. The real question is... When did Fang give you that?"
"Wha... How... Why... Whhhhhaaa?" I stuttered, utterly bewildered.
"It's obvious, dimwit. Now tell me EVERYTHING, you complete and utter TOASTER." (Starship, anyone? -Kali).
"UGH. You are so nosy, Maya. But yes, Fang did give me this, and it was today, about 1 hour ago, if you must know. WHOA. THAT RHYMED." I said, totally distracted by amazing rhyming skillage. "Now go and clean yourself, we're leaving."
"Ok, miss BossyBoss." She finished cleaning up and walked out of her room into the trailer's living room.
"While we're on the subject..." I started, refering to the previous conversation about Fang and me, "What about you and Iggy?"
Maya turned redder than a tomato, and stammered, "Wha... What are you talking about?"
"It's obvious, dimwitt. Now tell me everything," I imitated, using her own words against her.
"UGH! Is it really that obvious?" She asked, suddenly looking nervous, yet annoyed with me at the same time.
"To everyone else in the circus, yes. To Iggy... Let's just say he doesn't have a clue. It's quite amusing, really, especially because he likes you too."
"He... wait. WHAT?"
"He totally likes you. It's hilarious, how oblivious the two of you are." And with that, I turned and walked out the door, leaving her stuttering behind me.
She caught up quickly, and in a few minutes, we were on our way to my favorite place; the kitchen. We had an unspoken agreement to NOT discuss the previous conversation any more, not here where people could hear us, anyway. We walked in to the most amazing, sweet smell in the world. COOKIES. Maya and I ran inside, and nearly knocked into Fang and Iggy. They turned around simultaneously, surprised to see us. No one else was in the room, and based on the look on Iggy's face, Fang had started to explain the Brigid scene with the whitecoats.
"Oh, hey Maya!... and Max," Iggy added quickly, blushing. Fang rolled his eyes at Iggy and Maya's situation. She, of course, didn't notice.
"Let's sit down, shall we?" Fang suggested, striding towards the table. I sat down next to him, and Iggy and Maya sat across from us, ready to hear what we were going to explain.
"So," Fang started as I reached for the tray of freshly baked cookies. "Last night, we spotted four (A/N: Lorein Legacies, Divergent fans 3) whitecoats in the audience. We tracked them down and watched as they went into JJ's trailer." He cleared his throat, and I continued.
"We watched from the window of her trailer, and found out that Brigid was also with them, and we heard one of the whitecoats say Brigid has been training with someone named Ari."
Fang picked up, "Ari, the Eraser who killed my family. This confirms our suspicions that Brigid, after she was captured, has been turned into one of them. We also know that JJ was given a task by the whitecoats, which she accepted." He concluded.
Maya's mouth hung open, and Iggy turned toward her, "Yes, the Erasers killed Fang's family."
"I... I'm so sorry," she stuttered, and real pain was reflected in her eyes.
"Don't be," Fang said plainly, no emotion in his voice, "I'll kill them someday." (A/N AAAHH SCARY FANG!)
Iggy turned back toward us, "SO. Recap: Brigid is an Eraser, The whitecoats are active again, and JJ is a traitor."
"Pretty much," I confirmed, "OH-"
But I never got totellthem that Brigid was still in the circus, hiding in JJ's trailer, because at that moment the tent flaps parted and JJ strutted in, looking PISSED. Oh wait.. her face was always that weird. She held an empty tray covered in chocolate chip cookie crumbs.
"That's where my other batch of cookies went," Iggy exclaimed, "Did you eat all of them?"
JJ turned scarlet red then stammered, "Y..Yes. I ate all of these cookies."
"Huh," Fang pondered, and I could tell he was thinking the same thing I was thinking. Brigid ate the cookies.
Changing the subject, JJ responded, "I AM A COOKIE MONSTER FEAR MY WRATH..."
Everyone looked at her in a stunned silence. Suddenly, a loud giggling could be heard from behind the canvas tent. It was Gazzy. That cleared up a whole lot. I only wondered how long he was hiding behind the tent and how much of our conversation he heard. He entered the tent, Angel trailing in a fit of giggles behind him. Everyone quickly put up mind blocks, lest the twelve-year-old find out about JJ.
"Iggy, can we celebrate our biggest show with a bonfire?" Angel asked... angelically. Just in case he'd say no, she pulled out the ol' Bambi eyes. That ought to do it.
"I... Um..." he seemed to try and resist, "Er... Sure, Angel. Go and get the marshmallows and wire hangers (NO. WIRE. HANGERS! -Kali P.S. comment if you get it... :P) and I'll start a fire. Gazzy, you go tell everyone else about the fire. We'll meet around back in fifteen."
"Fifteen what?" he fired back, and I was reminded of the day I met Fang. It seems so long ago, but really it had been only a few weeks.
"MINUTES, YOU ACORN! Now GO or I won't light your little fire!" Gazzy and Angel scurried out of the tent, leaving me, Fang, Maya, and JJ with a pissed off Iggy. Great. Fang and I looked at eachother for a second, then I said, "Um... I think we need to go and.. get some chocolate and graham crackers from the store. Be back soon! Um... JJ, come too." We rushed out, grabbing JJ by her wrist. I winked at Maya as I left, earning me a glare from her. We ditched JJ outside the tent and flew to the store.
-Because we really don't care about the trip to the store-
When we arrived, a grocery bag in each of our hands, Maya and Iggy was sitting by the fire together. I quickly pulled Fang behind the tent, not wanting to ruin their "moment." Their shoulders were touching, and the cool breeze was gently swaying Maya's hair. Iggy turned toward her and pushed it out of her face- OK IF I WATCH ANY MORE I WILL GAG.
I turned back behind the tent to find Fang staring into my eyes accusingly.
"You don't just watch them, Max!" he whisper-yelled.
"I wasn't! And it wasn't like they were kissing!" I whisper-countered. But when I glanced over my shoulder again, they were leaning in to kiss. Just then, Iggy drifted up into the air. I heard JJ snicker from behind one of the trailers.
"JJ, PUT ME THE FLUFF DOWN," Iggy screeched. The harshness in his tone obviously scared the crap out of JJ because she set him down hastily. Now that he knows she is a traitor, she won't be treated with the same level of respect as everyone else. She slunk out of the shadows, and I could see Ratchet and Holden approaching, too. I pulled Fang out from behind the shadows with me, and after Star, Kate, Nudge, Angel, and Gazzy joined us, everyone was there.
I pulled the chocolate out of the bag, laying it on the table Iggy had set up. Fang, who sat next to me on the log, pulled out graham crackers. Angel produced the marshmallows and wire hangers, which were passed around to everyone.
Iggy then pulled out a guitar. "You can play?" I asked, not really believing it. No offense to Iggy, but he just didn't seem like the musical type.
"Nope," he replied, popping the p, "But Fang can!" He handed the guitar to Fang, who reluctantly took it. I gaped at him.
"You play guitar? And you didn't tell me?"
"Of course I didn't tell you. Why? Do you play an instrument?" He inquired, raising an eyebrow as if to challenge me.
"Yes, actually, I do. Mostly electric guitar, but I can play acoustic too," I said, eyeing the sleek black guitar. "I also play drums, and violin." The curves of the acoustic were just right, and the guitar was overall beautiful. I looked up, to realize that everyone was now watching Iggy as he piled wood into the concrete firepit. He finished and held out his hands over the fire, igniting it in a split second. It blazed up, bringing instant warmth to the chilly summer night.
Fang picked up the guitar, and started strumming randomly. It was oddly peaceful. Of course, that meant Gazzy had to ruin it. You know what I mean...
There was a chorus of "Ughhh!"'s and "EWW!"'s and "GAZZY!"'s, but he ignored them and just laughed. Soon enough, the smell faded and another awkward silence set in. As if on cue, Fang started playing again. This time, the chords had a tune. I recognised the intro of "Home" by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes immediately. I started whistling along, and Fang joined. Before I knew it, we were singing the whole song together. Max, Fang
Alabama, Arkansas, I do love my Ma and Pa,
Not the way that I do love you...
Well holy moly me oh my, you're the apple
of my eye, Girl I never loved no one like you
…...4.6LEAVE IT AS .6 minutes later...
Home, yes I am home..
Home is wherever I'm with you...
Ah, home. Let me come home..
Home is when I'm alone with you...
We finished the song, and I broke out of my daze. Everyone was staring at us. Crap. I didn't mean to start singing...
"What just happened?" Maya asked.
"Um..." Iggy started, "Fang sang. And so did Max. And they were good."
"But... Fang never sings!" Angel exclaimed. "He always makes us do it! And... all this time, we thought we were all completely un-musical. And look what's happened."
Everyone else just stared in a mix of shock and amazement.
"Um..." I broke the awkward silence, "Let's roast marshmallows!" And soon everyone was laughing and joking around the campfire, roasting marshmallows and making s'mores. I had just finished roasting a marshmallow when I had a brilliant idea. I plucked it off the stick, stood up, and chucked it at Maya. It hit her square in the nose.
"Oh no you did NOT." She warned. Quickly, she took Kate's marshmallow and threw it at me. I ducked, and it hit Fang right on top of his head, sticking in his (beautiful, silky, black) hair. He looked up slowly, his eyes boring into Maya. She squeaked and began pleading, "Fang, that was to Max! It's her fault, see she ducked out of the way and then it hit you soyouseereallyIdidn'tdoanythingandyoushouldreally... please don't hurt me!" She squealed, and Fang remained stationary. What the... I would think he would have done something by now... But Angel came up behind Maya right then. Oh.
She raised her hand, which contained two big, gooey marshmallows, and smashed it into Maya's face. She had now been hit twice. Her eyes turned in to big O's as her mouth gaped. She wiped off what little marshmallow she could salvage, turned around, and smeared it down Angel's cheek. Angel picked up a new marshmallow, and threw it at Fang for asking her to her do that, but missed and hit Iggy instead. He, in turn, heaved another one at Ratchet, who held up a graham cracker and caught it square on top.
"Skillage." he announced, then ate the marshmallow and graham cracker.
The harmless campfire had turned into a deadly (ok, not deadly, but you get the point) marshmallow fight. It was chaos, every man for himself. Fang and I ganged up on JJ, who stopped the marshmallow in the air with her telekinesis (Damn, forgot about that...) and sent them right back our way. We ducked, and they hit Maya and Iggy, who had snuck up behind us and had two marshmallows each, poised for attack over our heads. We were all screaming, throwing big gooey blobs that no longer resembled marshmallows, and dodging big white things being flung through the air. It was chaos. It was freedom.
Finally, the attacks subsided and we all settled down. Fang strummed tunelessly at the guitar, and Maya laid her head on Iggy's shoulder. Angel had fallen asleep about an hour ago, and Ratchet and Holden were whispering in a corner, probably designing new pranks to pull on JJ. Gazzy was, well, who knows where Gazzy was. He probably went to sleep and nobody noticed.
"Fang?" I asked.
"Yes?" he replied, still strumming random chords on the guitar.
"What day is it?" I added, "And DON'T reply with the lyrics to You and Me by Lifehouse, okay?" (Because that's EXACTLY what I was thinking of... ;P -Kali)
"Um... today is July 2nd." he said calmly.
"So then... the 4th is in two days?" I asked, knowing the answer, of course, but... I'm not really sure why I asked.
"Yeah..." he answered, and looked away quickly. Wonder what that was about... We sat for a few moments in near-silence, his quiet guitar picking the only sound that penetrated the starry night. His chords once again took on a tune, and I sang softly along with him to "My Father's Father" by The Civil Wars. We finished, and I looked up to see Maya asleep, her head on Iggy's shoulder and him asleep with his head resting gently over hers. Wow. We must sing like Bon Iver, to put people to sleep like that. (I LOVE him don't get me wrong, but every time, I just get... so... tired... -Kali) I stood up, and kissed Fang gently on the cheek.
"I'm going to bed," I said quietly. "Good night..." I turned and walked away, leaving him by the fire to deal with Maggy (Maya and Iggy's new pet name. Don't judge.). I wondered if every night here was like that; so fun, and chaotic, and just... peaceful. It was everything I'd missed in my old life, but better. I hoped I could stay here for a while. With Fang. And everyone else, of course.
I quietly closed my trailer door behind me, and turned on the lights. My eyes quickly scanned the room, and when I was sure nothing was amiss, I trekked over to my unmade bed. Plopping down on the covers, exhausted, my shoulders began to relax. In a split second, they tensed up, feeling a crumpled sheet of paper underneath me. I sat up, reaching behind me to grasp the mysterious object. It was an envelope addressed: To my beloved creature Max.
My blood turned to ice at the name "creature". I flipped the letter over, opening the seal and pulling out the paper:
Dear Maxie:
I know where you are. And you aren't safe for long. When we capture you, you will regret ever leaving me. If you had stayed with me, you wouldn't be in this mess. First, we will kill that pretty boyfriend of yours... Fang. Then I will seize revenge, and I can bet you aren't going to enjoy it...
Yours always,
Dylan
My blood ran cold at the mention of my ex-boyfriend: Dylan.
Love and different identities,
Maya
*Review if you want Max/Dylan Story!*
