Ooookay. Reviews would be awesome!
Max:
I sat up, bleary eyed and with a killer headache. Not a Voice headache, a self induced one. The early morning sun streaked in through the curtains and I blinked, flinching at the new type of throbbing head pain.
Picking my way over the sleeping bodies of Nudge and Angel, glancing quickly at the boys' bed to see if they were sleeping soundly, I tiptoed towards the bathroom.
Just as my hand clasped the knob, the door swung open revealing a very clean- and shirtless- Fang. Gulp.
"Oh… sorry" I mumbled and slid aside. My mind was still fuzzy from dreamland- or nightmare land in my case- which is probably a good thing. It kept me from gawking at Fang's half nakedness.
"Don't be" He said and I caught a whiff of soap as he stepped closer to me. My head cleared just a bit to notice his proximity. His hand slipped under my chin, tilting my head up to his and his lips brushed against mine for just a second. "All yours"
All mine? Like he was all mine or the bathroom was? Any left over drowsiness evaporated at his touch but before I could drag his face back down to me, he was at the other side of the room, sliding into his usual black shirt.
The hot water loosened up my muscles for the day, easing the pounding off my skull. The water glided over my wings, leaving them sleek and shiny, but not great for flying with for about an hour.
I closed my eyes and let everything from the past day come back to me. Re-arranging my thoughts into something mildly coherent and less frantic than they always are first thing. And that's when I remembered.
"Great" I sighed and clambered out of the shower. I quickly dried off and slipped my clothes back on, finger combing my hair before just letting it hang around my shoulders.
Fang was gone when I came out of the steaming bathroom and the Flock was still out cold. The clock on the table read 6:30. I decided to let the kids sleep in, they looked so peaceful when they weren't talking.
Good Morning, Maximum. Sleep well? Not even half an hour and it was already gracing me with its vocal presence.
Not that you care, I thought. My hand hovered over the power button on the television but I decided I didn't need to see another snapshot of me in the news.
So, instead, I went to the curtain and peeked outside. I love it early in the morning. When the air is still crisp from the night before and the sunlight seems new and extra clear. The weather was warmer here and I could hear the caw of birds in the air. No snow clouds or rainy days in this part of the U.S.
Fang was making his way across the parking lot, shirt sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He had a grocery bag in one hand, a can of coke in the other. I couldn't stop myself from smiling at the sight of him, so calm and cool and handsome. Why had it taken me so long to notice that about him? Why was I only just seeing what every other teenage girl had seen?
Because not every other teenage girl grew up with him. I rolled my eyes and let go of the curtain. Of course not every other teenage girl grew up with him! They weren't all shoved into cages the moment they popped into the world.
"Got you a Twix" Fang closed the door slowly so it wouldn't wake the Flock. He can be so sweet sometimes I don't think he even realizes he's doing it.
"Nothing like a good, balanced breakfast" I said and leaned against the wall under the window. He sat down beside me and opened his bag of goodies.
"You got that right" He pulled out a few muffins, some granola bars, two Snickers, my Twix, some big water bottles, and… "News spreads fast"
Fang plopped a newspaper in my lap, a magazine falling on top of it. There, blown up with a caption that read "Friends or Foes?" was me, a heavy camera slung over my shoulder.
So, I knew it was me, but to any average person on the street, it could just be a big bird, photo shopped or animated. I ground my teeth as I read the paragraph underneath. I was either A) an alien B) an impressive stunt or C) some new species unknown to man. Wonderful.
"Oh, God…" I muttered, my head in my hands.
"Hate to break it to you, but your also on the internet and the radio" I looked up just long enough to glare at Fang who looked back with a grin.
"You are so not helping right now" I said.
My day could only go from bad to worse at this rate. I was still mentally smacking myself for not thinking yesterday and at any moment, I was expecting Ari to come busting through the door or the FBI or something!
But nobody came pounding on the door. No cages or cameras or guns. Just Fang's hand, slowly trailing circles in the middle of my back.
My head leaned against his shoulder and his arm wrapped around my waist. I made myself not think about the mess my life would be for the next few days. With big, deep breathes, soon I could almost fall asleep again.
"You still falling in love with me?" Fang's voice was a whisper in my ear and it sent a trill up my spine.
"More and more everyday" I whispered back, my eyes fluttering closed.
"I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that and take a shower" My eyes snapped open and there stood Iggy, hair standing on end, shirt twisted around his neck. He padded to the bathroom as my face turned beat red.
Oh, God… oh, God, oh, God, oh, God! Fang's shoulders were shaking and when I looked up, wide eyed and totally embarrassed he was smiling- full on, not holding back smiling. It was like a second sun had just come up.
"You knew he was there didn't you?" I snapped and he caught my mouth with his.
"We'll have to tell them eventually. Why not start small?" He cocked an eyebrow and I grimaced. He knew me too well which is not always a good thing. But he had a point. Angel would either see it my head or hear me thinking about Fang and go tell Nudge who would announce it to the world.
And the more I considered it, I didn't really mind Iggy knowing about me and Fang being a bit more than best friends. If I knew him as well as I thought I did, he'd have already put the pieces together.
The sound of the shower running suddenly cut off and there was a crash from inside the bathroom. My body went rigid as I sat bolt upright. Iggy burst out of the bathroom, his head just poking out of the neck of his shirt.
"Do you hear that?" He asked and I wished he could see my face. Nobody could hear as well as him. If a pin dropped in Guam, he'd know.
"Uh, no-" But then the sirens flared to life. Red and blue lights filtered through the window, bathing everything in color. The kids were startled awake, rubbing their eyes and yawning.
"COME OUT NOW. IF YOU DO NOT COOPERATE, WE HAVE A WARRANT. WE WILL BE FORCED TO TAKE ACTION" Lifting the curtain to peek outside, my stomach dropped to my feet and the air felt suddenly colder.
Think Fast.