Alrighty. I'm going to be in California tomorrow through the 29th, so I may not be able to update then. So I'm updating now. And sorry if this sounds a little strange, I couldn't decide on how this should go. Plus I'm not very good at conversations in the first place. So, tell me if I need to change something. Oh, and it's Christmas time in the story, too. Just FYI.
Disclaimer: JP owns MR, not me. (darnit!)
Zeke was leaned back against his desk chair with his arms crossed across his chest and his eyebrows high. "What do you want?" he growled.
"What is your problem, Zeke? You're such a grump." I huffed as I plopped down on his bed. He scowled.
"I am not a grump." He hissed. I raised my eyebrows.
"Really? Then why did Angel tell me you were giving her a headache with all of your negative thinking yesterday?" I told him, and I saw his eyes flash with something. Maybe pain? I couldn't decipher it.
"I didn't know she was listening…" he sighed.
I shook my head. "She's always listening, Zeke. Whether she even wants to or not." He put his head in his hands.
"I've just got a lot to deal with right now, okay, Max? And I'm sorry Angel heard all that. I didn't mean for her to." He admitted, mumbling into his hands.
"Like what? What are you dealing with?" I asked softly. He looked up and met my eyes. He let his emotions shine through his eyes, and it was so powerful I almost could have fallen over. I saw pain, worry, anger, passion, and even love. My breath hitched.
"Too many things, Max. I miss the way things were before those others came, before they… took you away from me. You spend more time with Fang than with me." He whispered, staring at the ground.
"Zeke… I haven't seen them in 2 years. I have a right to spend time with them." I defended. "Plus, you haven't even been around to spend time with us! Maybe you would like them if you would just give them a chance!" I told him, my voice rising. I stood up as I talked, to emphasize my point.
"Max, I don't want to get to know them! They broke your heart, and now you want me to get all buddy-buddy with them? I don't think I can just change my opinion on somebody that quick! And they hurt you, why are you protecting them?" he stood up too, his voice rising even more than mine. My heart tightened; I hated it when we fought. My head reached only to his shoulder, which made me feel a little less authoritive. I kept my head high and my shoulders back though.
"Because they're still my family, Zeke! No matter what! I can't just abandon them! I need them to feel whole, to feel like a real person! You should know that! I told you that a million times!" I screamed at him. His eyes flared, and he stepped closer to me.
"Yeah, you told me alright. But just because your old family comes along again, doesn't mean you have to leave your old one behind." He said, calm and steady. That was the most menacing, though. I held my ground, but felt a tug at my heart. He felt like I was leaving him behind!
"Zeke, I'm not leaving you behind. I'm just trying to adapt to having more people to care for." I whispered, but I knew it wasn't really true. I was sort of abandoning him, and leaving him to fend for himself as I chatted with Fang about pointless things. I sat back down on his bed, and leaned against his headboard. I sighed as he sat down in his chair again.
"Why don't we do something together? Just as a family?" Zeke said, his eyes lighting up with the possibility.
"Yeah… what about ice skating? That new rink is opening next to the pizza parlor. We could try that out…" I smiled at the thought. A good idea… definitely. Angel and Nudge would love it.
"Oh, yeah. It's getting to be Christmas time… maybe we should go to the mall too. Get some presents for everybody." he suggested. "Don't you still have the Max Ride card?"
"Yeah I do. I wonder who pays for it… and if it has a limit. Because we've used a lot of money on that thing." I said. I gave a humorless laugh, knowing it could possibly be a whitecoat. Then I shuddered. I would never go through any of that again, no matter what. If we were captured, I would get us out.
"Alright, so it's settled. We go to the mall and the ice skating tomorrow, without Fang, Gasman, and Iggy. Deal?" he hissed Fang's name, and the way he said the sentence it was obvious there was no other way they could go. I sighed/groaned, and fell back on his bed.
"Why do you hate them, Zeke? They never did anything to you!" I groaned, but let it go. It could be nice to spend some time with the others. I peeked and saw he was about to say something and start yelling again, but I interrupted him. "Fine. But I won't be too happy about our abandoning them." his jaw tightened as I emphasized abandoning.
"Okay. So, where is he anyway?" He asked, and I knew perfectly well who he was, by the way he said it.
"Did he leave? I didn't hear him."
He nodded. "Yeah, he left. A while ago." His expression was superior, as if he knew Fang was somewhere he shouldn't be.
"Oh. Well, he should be back soon then. Do you know where he went?" I lifted my eyebrows up, and saw the side of his lip twitch. My chest tightened, for some reason.
"Maybe. I have an idea." His chin was high, and the smirk was very prominent on his face now.
"Tell me. I don't care what it is, just tell me." I snipped at him, knowing he would put it off and change the subject before I got my answers. Suddenly he looked doubtful. He took a deep breath.
"I found his phone last night. It was on the couch, I didn't go snooping through his stuff." He reassured me. "There were a bunch of messages on it, from somebody named Hayden. Probably a girl. They were like, I miss you, I want to see you, where are you, what happened to you, are you alive, etc. There was literally about a hundred of them. I don't know who it is, I just saw them." he held up his hands as if I would hurt him for this. My heart tugged painfully, but I didn't know why. I kept my face a careful mask, and I could tell Zeke was trying to figure out my emotions. I sighed under my breath, and I know he heard it.
"Um, I'm going to, uh, go downstairs. I need something to eat." I lied, and I knew he didn't buy it. But he nodded anyways and I walked downstairs, sitting on the big comfy couch. I sat there, thinking, for what felt like hours. I think I might have fallen asleep at some point, but I couldn't tell. My mind was too clouded and jumbled up.
At some point Angel came down and sat on my lap. Her small blond curls were messed up from sleeping, and her small face was scrunched up in worry.
"What's wrong, sweetie?" I asked, brushing stray hairs out of her face.
"I haven't heard Fang all day. And I can't get into Zeke's mind; his mind blocks are too good. And so are yours. I feel like you guys are hiding something from me, and I really hate that feeling! Max, what's happening? Where's Fang?" her blue eyes were huge, and it looked like they might even be close to tears. I hugged her close and stroked her hair.
"It's fine, sweetie. I'm just thinking, and I didn't remember I had my blocks up, and Zeke probably forgot too. I don't know where Fang is though; he left early this morning after breakfast. He probably went to see a friend of his." My voice choked up on friend, and I coughed to cover it up.
She sighed, and nodded into my chest. "I'm just worried. I don't want to lose him again after these 2 years." She whispered, and I hugged her even tighter.
"Me too, sweetie. Me too." I whispered into her hair. She stayed there for a while, and finally she sighed and got back up.
"I'm tired. I'm going upstairs to sleep, okay?" she sounded so sad, and I had no choice but to let her go.
"Alright. Well, tomorrow, we are going to go out to the ice skating rink." Her eyes lit up amazingly, and I just had to smile. She started jumping up and down.
"Really? Really, really, really?! Oh, Max, thank you, thank you, thank you!" she ran and hugged me again, and then ran up the stairs shouting, "I'll be ready in the morning! Night Max!"
I laughed at her sudden hyperness, and shouted back "Night Ange!" before she shut her door. I sighed and fell back down on the couch.
After another hour or so, I heard someone step on the porch and unlock the door. I knew instantly it was Fang, since the footsteps were so quiet and stealthy. The only other sound that would tell you he was there was his shoes squeaking across the tile. He came into view, and I saw his eyes widen a little as he saw me. I made my face as stone-ly as I could manage.
He was dressed in his usual black clothes, and his lips were red from the cold and his cheeks were a soft pink. I had to admit, he looked really hot right then. I ignored the tug at my heart.
"Where have you been?" I asked, and I let the coldness seep into my voice.
"I needed some air." He responded, shrugging.
"Air? It took you 5 hours to get some air? Try telling that to Angel. She's been worrying about you all afternoon." I didn't let the worry show in my eyes, for him
"Sorry. I met with a friend and we were talking for a while." He said, and I couldn't read him. I dropped my arms and scoffed.
"Whatever. Just don't do it again." I huffed, pulling a blanket from a cabinet and throwing it on the couch. "Sleep down here tonight." I turned away and stomped towards the stairs.
"I was planning to. Night Max." He told me, and I sighed.
"Night Fang." I proceeded up the stairs and into my room, plopping down on my bed and screaming into my pillow. He had been out with someone, and I felt like he was betraying me somehow. I tried to forget about all of this, and just look forward to having a good day with my family the next day.
Even though half of my family wasn't even going to be there….
I sighed.
Okay…. This was a really long chapter. Almost 2,000 words! Geez. So, review and tell me how it is. ???:)
BoOk-NeRd38