Epilogue - Years Later…
Fang POV
I'm standing near the exit of JFK International Airport. My foot taps out a steady rhythm against the tile floor. Where is she? Do I have the right time? I quickly check my texts and confirm that her flight did land at 3:30 and she should be here by now.
I glance around, wondering if she accidentally walked past me. I don't see her anywhere, though.
Finally, I see a tall blonde leaving customs. She spots me and her face lights up with a smile. My heart skips a beat. Her pace quickens as she walks toward the exit. And suddenly she's in my arms. I smile.
"I missed you." I whisper.
"I missed you too, Fang." She whispers back. She stands on her toes and kisses me. I kiss her back passionately. God, it's been so long. I really missed this. I almost forgot how beautiful she is. Email just doesn't cut it.
Finally we broke away from each other. A few people were giving us annoyed looks and a little kid was staring at us with wide eyes. I chuckled. We probably shouldn't have done that.
"Did you sleep on the plane?" I asked, leading Max out of the airport.
She nodded. "Yup. Why?"
"We have plans." I offer as an explanation.
She yawns. "Where are we going?" I roll my eyes. Of course she lied.
"You'll see." I tell her. I hope she'll sleep in the car because if she falls asleep during the show Grace will go ballistic.
"Why can't I see now? I don't wanna wait!" She whines. I just smirk and open the door for her to get in the car.
I get in the driver's seat and start the car. Max falls asleep in the first five minutes.
I park in the reserved spots just behind the Circus Tent and put the orange paper I was given on my dashboard. Then I shake Max awake. She groans and stretches.
"Where are we?" She asks. Then she sees the tent. "Oh, never mind." We unbuckle our seatbelts and get out of the car. I take Max's hand and we walk into the tent.
"So, your family finally made it to the Big Apple." Max says conversationally.
I shake my head. "Just Grace." A few years ago Gran died. With her gone, the Circus fell apart. Dad rented an apartment in some suburbs outside New York and I stayed with him so I could finish my senior year at a real school. But Grace called some young circus performers she'd met at a Circus convention years ago and they started their own circus.
We take our seats.
"Now will you tell me what we're seeing?" Max asks.
I say nothing.
She sighs in exasperation and leans back in her seat, staring up at the roof. Finally, the lights dim.
A lone performer walks onto stage. All I can see is their black profile. Flames shoot up all around them.
"Welcome to Circo di Fuoco! A voice booms over the loudspeakers. And the lights shut off. The tent is completely black.
The rest of the show passes in a blur. The aerialist and the baton twirler remind me of Angel and Gazzy. I miss them. After the circus broke up Aunt Jen took her family to San Francisco so they could have a normal life. Grace performs an amazing contortionist act with a couple of girls who aren't as good as her.
When the show ends, Max turns to me. "Your sister is a circus genius." She says.
"Please don't tell her that. Her ego is big enough already." Someone answers. They step closer and I see they have blonde hair and blue eyes. I frown. They look familiar.
"Iggy!" Max jumps up and hugs him.
"Come on, I'll take you backstage." Iggy tells us. We follow him. Max and Iggy are walking ahead of me, catching up on each other's lives. Apparently Max hasn't seen Iggy since High School Graduation.
The backstage of Grace's circus is much nicer than the dirt behind the tent that we used to call backstage.
"Iggy! Bring them over here!" My sister calls. She's still wearing her make up, but she's already changed back into street clothes. She's sitting in a folding make up chair next to a dark skinned girl. The first thing she says to Max is, "what happened with your dad after we left?"
Max tenses. I grab her hand again and rub my thumb in circles over skin. I wish I knew what Grace was talking about, although I have some suspicions and they're not good.
"He moved out a year after you guys left. My mom divorced him. We got to stay in the house." Max tells her. The two of them lock eyes.
"Good." Grace says.
Max nods in agreement.
I give them both questioning looks but neither of them says anything else. The girl next to Grace looks like she's about to burst from the awkward silence.
Finally, she sticks her hand out for me to shake. "I'm Monique. Everyone calls me Nudge. You must be Nick. It's nice to meet. Grace says that you were a lion tamer when your family ran a circus. By the way, sorry about your Grandma dying. That must have been horrible. When my Grandma died I cried for days. It was a total mess because my mascara was running and my eyeliner was smudged. Did you know that-"
"Nudge, Nick can't respond if you keep talking." Grace reminds her.
"Oh. Sorry about that. It's just that sometimes I get carried away and- I'm doing it again aren't I?" Nudge says. I tentatively shake her hand. Max tries to stifle her laughs and fails. I glare at her. This isn't funny.
Grace grins. "Great. We're all friends. Now come on, friends, let's go get pizza and drinks."
"Grace, I think drinks is supposed to mean, like, alcohol and stuff." Nudge tells her softly.
"I know." She says. Max and I exchange looks. My little sister isn't growing up at all.
End scene. Well, that's the end. I have to admit that I really loved writing this. But I totally should have made Nudge Fang's little sister. Oh well. I guess I'll have to put it on my list of things I regret.
Thank you to everyone who read and reviewed. I never would have made it this far without you.
Now, for a final time, I bid you adieu. (is that spelled right?)
~the one and only, LaceyRide