GOOD DAY LADIES AND GENTS OF THE WORLD OF INTERNET DWELLERS! HOW ART THOU DOINGEST ON THINE FINE DAY?! Well, all formalities aside, I just want to say that I love you guys so much and that I hope y'all like this chappy!
Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN ANYTHING SO DON'T SUE ME FOR MY MONEY. EVEN IF YOU DID, I DON'T HAVE ANY MONEY SO THE JOKE IS ON YOU. THE ONLY THING I OWN IS THIS PLOT SO YES.
6 MONTHS AND 27 DAYS BEFORE DEATH
After a while, my gang stopped asking about what happened on the trip. They finally got the sense not to ask and eventually things went back to normal. Well, almost normal. Iggy, Fang, and I still had our playful banter, but there were times when they would catch me staring off, thinking. While nobody said it aloud, I knew they all were thinking the same thing: What's wrong with Max? It came to the point that every time I stared off into space, they would share a concerned look which really irritated me. And one time...
"Hey, Max. Max!" I snapped out of my reverie and looked up. Fang was staring at me with that familiar concerned look on his face. Ugh.
"Yeah…?" I asked although I already knew what he was about to say.
"Are you okay? Because lately you've been acting strange and distant." Fang took a step forward and placed a hand on my forehead. "Are you feeling alright?"
I slapped his hand away. "I'm fine, dumbass! Just thinking about things." I continued walking. While I had been daydreaming, Fang and I had been walking out of school onto the parking lot. I tried in vain to remember what exactly we were talking about earlier and I cursed myself on the fact that I couldn't.
"What kind of things?" Fang tilted his head and gave me a smirk that made the butterflies in my stomach flutter.
"Things that are not of your concern." I walked faster. Fang kept pace.
"Max…" Fang's voice took a warning tone to it.
"Fang…" I said stubbornly. I made the mistake of looking at him and we locked eyes. His gaze was so intensely staring into mine that I thought he was looking right at my soul, stripping me down, secret by secret, lie by lie. I felt that he was looking and seeing the truth for the first time. I shivered at the thought.
We stayed like that, trapped in each other's gaze for all of five minutes. I broke eye contact first and looked down at the ground, the sky, anywhere but his eyes. Even though he had won our little stare-off, he still kept on looking at me, almost as if he was deciding what to do with me. Again, I shivered under his intense gaze. He seemed to have come to a conclusion when he stepped forward, and wrapped me in his arms.
We were so close. I could feel his muscles through his shirt and his breath on the side of my neck. My nose was flooded with his minty scent and my body was swathed in his warmth. I squirmed and struggled to get out of his grip, but he held on tighter to me. Now I know what you're thinking: why don't you want Fang to hug you? Isn't he the guy of your dreams or whatever? What's wrong with you? Now to answer your questions in order…
I didn't want to hug Fang for two reasons: 1) hugging Fang was just plain weird, what with him not being a touchy-feely kind of guy, and 2) He was too damn close. Just close your eyes and imagine my situation. An extremely gorgeous dude wraps his arms around your waist and pulls you in close. Your mind starts turning to mush, your heart is fluttering as fast as a hummingbird's wings can beat, and the butterflies in your stomach threaten to make you explode. Now multiply that feeling by ten. That's how I felt with Fang.
As for your second question, audience, isn't it pretty obvious by now? OF COURSE FANG IS THE MAN OF MY DREAMS. I just, you know, didn't know it yet. And for your third question, there are many things wrong with me. Don't judge.
Anyway, I finally gave into Fang's arms and relaxed. His arms wrapped around me like, well, a warm embrace, so strong and tender that I knew if my legs were to give out then, he would hold me up. I realized then that for the first time in ten years I felt like I didn't have to support the fate of my world on my shoulders. For the first time in ten years I felt like I didn't have to stand on my own. I knew Fang would stand with me, would pick me up when I fell down, would hold me when I felt all was lost. A warm feeling exploded in my chest and wrapped my heart in a bear hug, melting the ice that had resided there for the past two months. I tentatively wrapped my arms around Fang and buried my face in his chest. I felt him grin into my neck.
After twenty minutes, we reluctantly pulled away from each other. "How about this: you, me, and the rest of the gang get together and hang out tomorrow?" I suggested.
"Yeah okay. That would be cool." Fang flashed one of his very rare genuine smiles which made his eyes sparkle. I grinned back. It's kind of a good thing that Fang's real smiles were so rare. If he did it every day, then everyone around him would be in a constant state of blindness. His smile's brilliance lit up his eyes like the rising sun, causing them to have an excited, almost childlike, gleam to them. His cute button nose scrunched up ever so slightly and his cheeks formed dimples. And then there was the matter of his lips. They. Were. Fine. Even stretched in a smile they still had a full look to them and they looked so soft and kissable….It was at that moment I realized that I had been staring at Fang's lips for quite a long time. I snapped out of my reverie and blushed fiercely. It didn't help the fact that I found Fang staring at my lips as well.
I cleared my throat, getting Fang's attention and inducing a blush of his own. "So, um, until tomorrow…bye." And with that, I left before things could get any more awkward.
TWO HOURS LATER
My newfound, high-spirits plummeted once I got home. It was Friday, the one unfortunate day of the week that Jeb has the entire day off from work, which means that he spends the entire day soaking up the booze and getting pissed about how crappy his life was. As usual, Ari and I snuck in through the back door only to find Jeb waiting for us.
Upon first sight of him, Ari whimpered and I pushed him slightly behind me towards the door in case he'd have to run for it. In my most cold and level voice, I said, "Jeb."
I immediately tensed up, ready for the blow that would soon follow. Instead, Jeb only sighed.
"I suppose I deserve that, huh," Jeb chuckled sadly and put his head between his hands.
"Deserve what?" I resisted the urge to wince at how sharp my voice was.
"The fact that you probably see me as a mindless, raging asshole instead of your father." Jeb looked at me through his fingers. His words shook my core. His eyes were slightly red. It could have been from drinking and being spitting mad or it could also have been from…crying. I had expected him to be drunk and mad, but could it be that he was sober? As soon as the hope crept into my heart, I squashed it immediately. No use wasting something as precious as hope when I already had such a short supply.
"What's your angle, Jeb? What do you want?" I cocked my head and folded my arms over my chest.
"No angle, Maximum. Just sadness at what I've done to you and Ari. Let me just say that I am so-"at this he stood up and moved as if to reach for me. I jerked away and completely blocked his way from Ari. Jeb flinched and lowered his outstretched hand-"sorry. I know there is nothing I can do to make it up to you and Aristotle (Ari's full name, which he hates to hear by the way). But let me at least say this: I swear on your mother's grave that I will never touch a beer bottle again and that I will never raise my hand against you kids again."
I felt Ari start to step towards Jeb, but I held him back. "Ari, would please go to my room for a moment." When he began to object, I said, "Now." Ari reluctantly slid past me and Jeb and slinked up the stairs. I waited for his door to shut to continue. "You're right about one thing, Jeb. There is nothing you can do to make it up to us. No amounts of sorry's and hugs can ever make up for all the pain you have caused us. And you're right about another thing. I do see you as a mindless raging asshole. Just add a lot more colorful words to the mix and you'll get a completely accurate description of yourself. But here's where you're wrong, Jeb. We are not kids anymore. You'd be amazed how getting beaten senseless from the majority of ten years matures a person. And more over, we are not your kids and you are not our father. You lost that right the first time you smacked me and Ari. So I'm going to say this only once, so you better listen well. I don't know what you're trying to do with this whole sorrowful, grieved father thing you've got going on, but I don't trust you. Hell, I don't even trust you as far as I can throw you because that would be way too much room for you to stab me in the back. If you're really trying to change, good for you. Otherwise, I don't give a damn. All I know and all you need to know is that if you so much as harm a hair on Ari's cute little head, you'll find a knife twisted in your back. That I guarantee." I spun around and charged up the stairs before Jeb could say any other lies. About halfway up the stairs, I stopped and glanced at Jeb over my shoulder. "And don't you dare speak of my mother again. If Mom were here, she would hate you as much as I do." I quickly ran up the stairs to avoid the tortured look on Jeb's face.
When I got upstairs, Ari frowned and opened his mouth as if he were about to lecture me. I held up my hand and said, "Not now, kiddo. I gotta think about somethings." And with that, I went over to my bed and curled up facing the wall. It may have appeared that I was asleep, but my mind was actually racing. To my annoyance, most of my thoughts centered on how sad and broken Jeb looked, how he slouched in his chair, how he flinched and grimaced at the venom in my voice and the coldness in my eyes. I immediately felt horrible, but justified it by reminding myself of all the bad things Jeb had done to us. Still doesn't mean it was right to snap at a pathetic, broken little man, Maxie. The metaphorical angel, which looked suspiciously a lot like Angel, whispered in my ear. Shut up! No one likes a goody two-shoes! The metaphorical devil, which looked suspiciously like Gazzy, snapped at the angel that looked like Angel. The angel that looked like Angel huffed and disappeared in a puff of white smoke while the devil that looked like Gazzy snickered and disappeared in a mass of red flames.
Great, Max. Now you're hallucinating. What's next, you'll hear a Voice in your head? I expelled all my outer thoughts and focused on something easy. "Hey, Ari. You wanna come with me and the gang and hang out tomorrow?" I had turned around and was now looking up at Ari who was still standing in my doorway. All his previous disapproval of what I had said to Jeb flew out the window and was replaced with glee on the prospect of hanging out with friends. He then continued to ask me a million questions about where we were going and stuff, all of which I said I didn't know, but it didn't really bother Ari. He was just glad he could tag along, especially with the possibility of seeing Angel again. I giggled at his adorabsness (Author's Note: THERE'S THAT WORD AGAIN! I FREAKING LOVE IT ;) and tried to push back any thoughts about Jeb.
A couple hours later when the house was still and everyone was asleep, I went downstairs to grab a midnight snack. When I opened the fridge, I nearly fell back in shock. There wasn't a single can or rack of booze to be seen….
THERE'S MY CHAPPY FOR YOU GUYS! So what do you guys think? Could Jeb have really changed or is it too good to be true? Comment your thoughts and what you have enjoyed about this story so far, please! I love you all and I hope you guys have awesome days and awesome lives. Read, comment, follow/favorite, enjoy! DOCTOR BESSY OUT.
Watch the skies,
Doctor Bessy
