Through the Eyes of a Servant | Chapter 16 | by: Rachel / Chapter posted September 18, 2010.
AU | Max/Fang | PG / 3,970 words
Max, Fang - 17 | Iggy - 19 | Nudge - 16 | Gazzy - 15 | Angel - 13 / The original age ranges have been changed.
When Max accepts a job as a maid in Fang's household, will it be love at first sight? Or will anything and everything come between them?
The idea for this story is my own, and no one else's. Everything else belongs to Jame's Patterson -although I will be next in line for the throne when he retires xD-. I made no money for writing this story, I simply write for reviews.
Slowly, July faded into August, and the six children faded into a comfortable routine. Every day was a new one, a different one, and yet the same. They didn't mind. But one thing was becoming increasingly clear – summer was coming to an end. Fang, Nudge and Angel would be staying the same, and Max, Iggy and Gazzy would be changing. Leaving.
So while they could, they vowed to make the most of it.
Every day, Gazzy went to the large house to see Angel. They became inseparable, spending day after day in their place in the secret passage, talking and laughing just as they used to. Nothing had changed, because everything was the same. They were still the best of friends, even if they were romantically involved. They were each other's' first loves.
Every day, Nudge stopped by Iggy's gas station, loving it most when there were no people, when it was quiet. Some days, they would sit and talk about nothing at all. Some days, Nudge would wonder exactly what was happening between her and the blind boy. And during that time, he taught her to see without her eyes.
And every day, Max went to work at Fang's house. The hours were long and the work was tedious, but it was always worth it when she snuck away with him at lunchtime to go flying high over the world with him, their wings just inches apart as they flew hand-in-hand.
On one of those days, Max walked through the front door, feeling particularly happy, as she generally was whenever Fang told her that he loved her. Gazzy followed her in, walking to the fridge and grabbing a juice pouch out of the door.
"Oh, look and mister big and bad," Max snickered, and he looked up. "You're manly enough to date Angel all of a sudden, and at the same time, you can still live with yourself when you grab a juice box and sit in front of your DS playing Lego Star Wars."
He reddened. "You just don't like the fact that I'm dating her," he raised an eyebrow. "You're mad because now you can't tease me about not having a girlfriend. Meanwhile, your need to tease someone has dried up now that I'm not your punching bag."
Max shrugged. "No, that's not it. I have Iggy for that." She walked to the counter and dropped her bag. "But I am kind of freaked out about you dating Angel." He grinned, and she slapped him upside the head. "Come on, think about it. Don't you think it's a little weird? She's Fang's sister."
Gazzy shrugged. "Why is it weird?" he asked, and then it dawned on him. "Oh. Oh. Ew, God. That's nasty," he shuddered, and she nodded. "If you ever…that is, if you and Fang ever…you know, get together, Angel and I will be like…"
"Family?" she asked, and he gagged. She smiled and rolled her eyes. "This is where it gets weird. If Iggy and Nudge hook up, it'll be fine, because she's adopted. But Angel is Fang's real sister. Cue the southern jokes," she grimaced.
He sighed. "Max, I'll be honest," he looked up at her. "I don't really care."
She sat down next to him, seeing that he was serious. "Gazzy, what do you mean, you don't care?"
"I mean I don't care!" he exclaimed, frustrated. "You're always putting me down, making me seem younger than I am. I know we're family, and you're supposed to do it, and all," he sighed. "But you never take me seriously. I really like Angel! She makes me laugh. She makes me happy."
"I'm sorry," she said softly, and sighed. "I know you're serious. I know because everyone expects this thing between Fang and me to end, but I don't want it to. I want him to stay with me forever. I love him more than anything else in the world."
Gazzy nodded thoughtfully. "Do you ever wish that you guys would get married?" he asked.
She shrugged. "I don't know. I've thought about it. But I don't see how it would work. His mom will never, ever let him go. If I was to marry into that…I'd be stuck there, just like he is. I'd lose my freedom. I'd lose my own self-respect." She sighed.
"What I want is…to be with him, just the two of us, in a house for normal people, where I can see him as he really is, not what his mom wants him to be. I want him to just be himself, not what he has to be. I want what Sam offered me. But I want it with Fang."
He nodded. "I won't tell anyone, you know," he looked up at her. "But Max, you don't have a lot of time left. Soon, school will start, and you'll have to lose him if you aren't careful." He dug in his pocket and opened a wrinkled piece of paper.
She inspected it closely. It was the back to school notice. And the first day was a week and a half away. "I know you aren't ready for this," Gazzy said as she swallowed hard. "But you have to be. And you have to make sure that you don't lose Fang when school starts."
"Sometimes you're so grown-up that you scare me," she smiled wryly, but it faded. "I've got to find a way to tell him, to make him understand. I have to do it soon." But she knew in her heart that she couldn't. She couldn't let this be the end. Telling him meant that it was over.
Why does summer have to end?
The next day, Iggy found himself on the front steps of the large house. Or at least, what he hoped was Nudge's house. With blindness, one could only hope that they were at the right place. Otherwise, you ended up being chased by a fat man waving a baseball bat at you like you were a piñata.
He sure hoped that didn't happen again.
He lifted his fist to the door and felt around for the doorbell, eventually stumbling across it. What would he do if Nudge didn't answer the door? He hadn't really considered it when he'd just spontaneously come over without anyone to guide his way. It was a good thing that he'd learned how to drive.
"Oh, hi," he heard a small voice about a foot and a half below him as the door opened. Well, it couldn't be Nudge. "You're Iggy," Angel looked up at him, craning her neck. "You were at that fourth of July party. I'm Angel," she grabbed his hand and shook it.
A lazy smile spread across his face. He opened his mouth to speak, but she interrupted him. "If you're about to make a crack about how I'm seeing Gazzy, I'll strangle you with your own tongue," she said sweetly, and he felt his jaw drop. That's scary, he thought uneasily.
"You're here to see Nudge, right?" she asked, reading his mind again. He nodded meekly. "Well, she's in the shower," Angel informed him. "So you can either wait or leave. I'd prefer the latter, personally."
He looked down at her skeptically. "You're not a very nice little short person," he said dryly. "I'll wait for her."
"Okay," Angel shrugged. "But just so you know, she takes really long showers. So you'll probably be here for another half an hour at least." She grabbed his hand. "Okay, blind guy. We're going inside now, try not to trip over anything. My mom isn't a big fan of blood on the floor."
"God, you're like a miniature Max," he muttered. She flashed him a grin. "I talk to her a lot when she's over here. But since it's around lunch time, they're off flying in their own little world." They both rolled their eyes. She grinned and plopped him down on the couch.
"So, are you and Nudge, like, boyfriend and girlfriend now?" she asked expectantly, taking a seat next to him. "Yes, it is my business," she answered his thoughts. He rolled his eyes, but looked away.
"That hasn't really been established yet," he answered uncomfortably. "I'm not sure what we are. She still comes in to see me, and I guess I really like her, but I'm not sure where to go from here," he replied tiredly.
"Well, here's an idea for you, genius," she snorted. "Why don't you just take her out on a date?"
He laughed. She could have answered his thoughts, but she thought she'd let him have this one. "Nudge, on a date with me? Please. She's used to all of this! Anywhere I take her would make me look like a cheap son of a bitch who's taking advantage of her."
"True," Angel answered, and he glared. "But you're forgetting who Nudge wants to be." Iggy sent her a questioning look. She sighed. "Well, if I must explain it to you." She took a deep breath.
"Nudge told you that she doesn't want this life! She wants to be like you, free and normal, even if it meant losing all of this. She wants to know what it's like to be you. She wants to feel like a regular girl. So I bet that if you just took her on a normal date, she'd like it a lot."
"What do you mean, a normal date?"
She sighed, looking deep into his mind. "Iggy, you're very sweet, but I hate having to explain all of this to you. Look, going for pizza and a walk and maybe spending some time talking to Ella made you happy, right?"
"How do you know about Ella?" he asked suspiciously.
"Never mind!" she exclaimed, exasperated. "Just answer the question! Didn't it make you happy?"
"I guess," he nodded, and she smiled. "Exactly. Nudge wants to feel that happy, normal feeling. So do something like that with her, and she'll love you forever. But just try with her. I can tell that she really wants to go out with you. Like, make it official that you're her guy."
"Hey, guys! What's up?" Nudge asked as she skipped down the stairs. "Hey, Iggy, why are you talking to Angel?" she asked curiously. "You weren't talking about me behind my back, were you? I hate that," she said sourly. Angel grinned.
"No, no," Iggy said quickly. "We were talking about how disgusting it was that Angel is going out with my brother." Angel glared.
"Tongue. You. Strangle. With," she whispered, and he shuddered. "Come on, Nudge, let's go," he stood up and grabbed her hand, leading her away. "Oh, and thanks, Angel, for the help," he said over his shoulder. Angel smiled as Nudge gave him an odd look and went on her way.
Now, if Gazzy could just be that open with me, she thought glumly.
Hours later, Gazzy wondered just why he was at the mansion in front of him. This was the tenth day in a row that he'd seen Angel, and even she needed a break from him sometimes. But he knew that summer was ending, and if he didn't spend time with her now, he would miss it later.
He pressed the doorbell, his hands shaking. He didn't want to give her up. He knew that change was inevitable, but he still hoped that it wasn't true. She was his best friend, his constant companion, his partner in time. And now that summer was over…so was she.
The door opened, and he was expecting to see Angel standing there. But instead, it was Nudge who answered the door, peering down at him curiously. "Hey, you're Max's little brother," she recalled. "Come on in."
"Thanks," he said hollowly, and stepped inside. "So where's Iggy?" he asked curiously. "I thought you'd be with him today."
She laughed. "I thought so, too. But right when things were getting good, if you know what I mean, Fang called and said that my mom was looking for me. So I had to race back here." She chuckled at his grimace. "What about you? Are you looking for Angel?" He nodded.
"Well, she's grounded for the day, so you can't see her," she replied. "Mom found another snake in her dresser drawer, so she's locked in her room, which is hardly a punishment." She inspected him curiously. "Hey, what's wrong? You've looked kind of down ever since you came in. Are you okay?"
He sighed. "No," he answered gloomily. "Now that summer's almost over, I won't get to see Angel very much anymore. You don't have to worry, because Iggy works, and you can sneak out to see him just like you always do. But I'm trying to figure out a way to tell Angel that I still want us to be together after school starts. I really like her a lot."
Nudge's eyes lit up. "Ooh, this is interesting," she chirped. "I know that Angel really likes you, too. You're kind of too young to go on a date, but…" she paused, thinking. "How about you get her a nice gift? Girls always like that."
Gazzy looked up at her. "Really?" he asked, tilting his head to the side.
She nodded. "Really. Now, with a girl like me, you can pretty much get her something sparkly and call it good. I know I like stuff like that," she grinned, showing off her necklace, earrings and other accessories.
She looked thoughtful. "But for someone like Angel, I think you need to put a little more thought into something like that. She really likes things that mean something, that have sentimental value. So why don't you get her something that speaks to her soul or some crap like that?"
He grinned, but sighed. "I wouldn't know what to get her," he looked down. "I mean, it's not that I don't have money. I've kind of been saving. But it's just that I have no idea what girls like."
"Ooh, ooh! I come with you and help you pick something out!" she said excitedly. He gave her an odd look. "Oh, come on, please? I haven't been to the mall, like, ever, but at least I know what Angel would like! Come on, come on, take me with you!"
He looked up at the ceiling and sighed. "God, if you're there, shoot me now," he prayed. Nothing happened as Nudge sat there, her eyes pleading. Great, apparently God isn't there. Today, the earth is being controlled by some apocalyptic voodoo monkey in the sky. "Okay, Nudge, come on. We're going to the mall."
"Yes!" she jumped up, and several servants eyed her strangely. She grimaced. "Oh, right, I forgot about them. Listen, say goodbye to me and then go outside like you never talked to me. I'll meet you in two minutes on the other side of the gate."
"Err…goodbye?" he said, slightly confused. In a flash, she had disappeared up the stairs. "Girls are crazy," he muttered, and walked through the front door, back down the driveway. When he reached the edge of the property, she was there to meet him. "Let's go," she directed, and they were off.
Half an hour later, they were walking through the mall, with absolutely no destination, just window-shopping. "So what do you think Angel would like?" Gazzy asked after a while. Nudge didn't answer. She was just taking it all in.
The mall was huge. It was something she'd never seen before, only imagined. There were so many things to buy. Things that celebrities endorsed, things that were shiny, things that were new. And even though she could just order whatever she wanted online, there was just something about walking through a mall that made her eyes light up.
"Well, clothes might seem a bit too much," Nudge observed. "And it's not like you're getting her a wedding ring or anything." She looked around, her eyes resting on a jewelry store. "Hey, let's look in there! Girls love sparkly things!" she cried, and dragged him into the store.
"Yeah. Because I have three hundred dollars stockpiled under my mattress," he said dryly, observing the prices. "Nudge, most of this stuff is way too expensive for me. Think along the lines of something a fifteen-year-old boy can buy."
"I thought you were fourteen," she said absently as she searched through the racks of necklaces.
"I had a birthday since the fourth of July," he explained. "Anyway, what do you think I should get her?"
"A necklace would probably be the best thing," she said thoughtfully. "Come on and help me find one." Slowly, they began to search the entire store for the perfect necklace for Angel. Gazzy thought about what she'd said. A necklace that means something. Something sentimental.
"What exactly would you like her to know?" Nudge asked as she sorted through the shelves upon shelves of necklaces. Gazzy scratched his head thoughtfully. "I guess I'd like her to know that even though we're kind of young, I don't like her any less. I still really like her. Max thinks I like her more than I should."
"Hey," they said at the same time, their eyes falling on a sign near the cash register. Make your own necklace, $65, it read, and they both looked at each other, nodding. "That's perfect," Nudge smiled. "It's not too expensive and not too cheap. And you can personalize it. Make it yours."
He nodded, and they stepped up to the machine that did it, looking at all of the designs. And their eyes rested on the same one. "That's it. That's perfect."
This is it. I have to tell him, Max thought as she sat on the roof of one of the buildings in town with him. She didn't want to bring it up, but she knew she had to gather her courage. Fang deserved to know, especially since it appeared that he was under the allusion that he'd still see her just as much once she was in school.
"I need to talk to you about something," she said, and looked up, surprised to hear him saying the same thing. "Um, you can go first," she bit her lip. Sure, let's save the best news for last, she thought tiredly. Even in my brain, I'm sarcastic.
"Well, I know that we're only seventeen, and not even adults yet, and everyone expects us to just give up on each other," Fang began, sounding worried. Change is inevitable, Max, said a voice inside her head. She groaned internally. Not now, Voice! Go back to sleep!
"I know that the summer's coming to an end," Fang continued as the Voice chuckled darkly. I was never asleep, Max. I'm not human. I don't need to sleep. She bit her lip. Voice, you're bad luck. Last time you talked to me, Gazzy ran into me and drenched me in iced tea. And let's not forget that time with Nudge, she thought coldly.
What are you getting at, Maximum? the Voice asked snidely. "It's just that I want you to know that I don't care if we don't see each other every day. It's not like it's forever," Fang continued. Max felt horrible. Fang was actually sharing his feelings and she was more concerned with what the Voice was saying.
I'm not getting at anything! It's just that you know you're bad luck, I know you're bad luck, and I have my feet dangling over the edge of a building! This is not a good situation! she screamed at it. "Oh, that's nice, Fang," she said absently, wanting him to think that she was listening. He gave her an odd look.
You have wings, Maximum. What's the worst thing that could happen? the Voice asked calmly. Max sighed. "Max, are you alright?" Fang asked curiously as Max stared off into space and glared slightly. I don't know, but when you're around, I'm sure I can think of something.
"Max?" Fang asked again. "Yes?" she looked up at him. He looked at her curiously. "Are you alright? You seem kind of out of it."
"Me? Out of it? Nooooooooo," she said slowly. "Why would I be? I've been listening to you the whole time. Please, continue!" Her left eye twitched slightly.
"Okay…" he said uneasily. You are so smooth, the Voice stated, sounding quite happy with itself. "Anyway, Max, I just want you to know that you're really important to me, and I would never let something like your school come between us." Shut up, Voice! I'm trying to have a conversation here!
"Uh-huh. I love you, too, Fang," she said in that same absent voice His eyes narrowed. Careful, Maximum. Fang's getting upset. You might want to focus on him instead of the talking voice in your head. "I didn't say that…" he almost groaned.
"Sorry, honey, what didn't you say?" she asked, trying to pay attention while still communicating with the termite in her brain. Then stop talking to me! You started it! She struggled not to glare furiously at the "Voice". "Never mind," Fang answered angrily.
Did you ever think that perhaps you should explain me to Fang? the Voice asked. She struggled not to roll her eyes.
I just can't tell him right now. We have too much to deal with without me having to explain you. And anyway, he'll just worry. I'd go square-dancing with my dad sooner than I'd tell Fang about you. Now shut up! She looked back at Fang. "Fang, I'm so sorry. I'm just really confused."
"About what?" he asked, sounding impatient and hurt.
"I just don't know what's going to happen after I go back to school. I don't want to lose you, especially to any other girl." There. She said it. He gaped. "It's always someone. First Brigid and now me. I just don't want you to get my hopes up and then crush them."
"Max," he began, but she interrupted him.
"If you don't want to be with me, than just tell me now! I've had enough of this 'I love you' stuff! If you really love me, you won't forget me when I go away. You won't leave me."
"Max-"
"No!" she exclaimed. "It won't be your fault, it'll just happen." She looked down. "I don't like this. I hate this feeling vulnerable. But if you're going to make me feel this way…then I can't do anything about it but hope that you're telling the truth."
"Max!" he shouted, and took her hands in his. "Max, I love you, and I'm sorry about all those other girls," he looked her straight in the eye. She gulped. "I loved you since I met you, and I don't want you to go! But if you have to go, I'm not going to lose you!"
He looked down. "I can't change what happened in the past. But I can tell you what'll happen in the future. I promise never to leave you, ever."
"R-Really?" she asked, her voice shaking. He nodded. "Really. I promise not to lose you."
And he leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on her lips. She looked up at him, her eyes swimming with doubts. "If you're telling the truth," she stammered, "If you're telling the truth, then promise me, and…and kiss me again." He leaned down, his face inches from hers.
"I promise." And he pressed his lips to hers. She went with it, knowing that she should have told him. But she couldn't. She just couldn't tell him that she'd most likely not see him again, unless he was willing to sneak out of his house all the time to see her.
But she'd have this moment. Just this moment, to remember, when she was gone.
Ah, it's so good to have a schedule for updating. I feel so...organized? xD Anyway, things are going to be fluffy and stuff in the next chapter, and then you get more drama and angst after that. More plot twists ahead! And yes, they involve Dylan...kind of. And more of the characters come in! Oh noes xD This story's about to get a whole lot more interesting.
Thanks, Birdwatched, for noticing the number of words in each chapter. I didn't think anyone really read that. And thanks, Elizabeth, for all the reviews. :)
Now, I really should be finishing that homework assignment and studying for that test. Peace out,
~Rachel