Ok, so I am pretty much winging it with the cruise thing.

Seeing as I have never been on a cruise in my life, I have no idea what I'm doing.

So, for those of you who have, or who know what it's like, you know what I want…. RnR!

I will give you some virtual chocolate chip cookies… made by Dr. M…

Chapter 6: Distracted

That night, after a delicious dinner of lobster bisque, we decided to try out the pool. We all wore normal swimsuits, but had to wear windbreakers over our backs so our wings weren't noticeable. We got some pretty weird looks, but then again – since when do I care what other people think?

I had warned Angel beforehand not to spend too much time underwater. Although she did have gills, you know us – our number one priority is to not attract attention. I was pretty sure that all of my words had gone in one ear and right out the other, but I can't say I didn't try.

Nudge had wrestled me into a string bikini as we were about to leave, ignoring my angry protests. I self-consciously hiked it up as a group of teenage guys walked past, longing for my one-piece Speedo sitting dejectedly on the bed in the cabin.

When we arrived at the pool, Gazzy and Iggy organized a splash-fight fiasco, which involved very large buckets and 6 hyper birdkids. The life guard near us looked a bit disoriented, like he wanted to tell us to stop but something was holding it back. I quickly shut out all thoughts of world-domination floating around inside my head – I didn't need to give Angel any more ideas about how to abuse her power.

After an hour of romping around in the pool, I was beat, so I made my way over to the hot tub. Leaning my head against the edge, I closed my eyes and tried to relax, which we all know I'm very good at.

"What's up?"

I shrieked and jumped about ten feet into the air. Fang had (once again) come up behind me without my noticing, and he had scared me out of my wits.

I took a couple of deep breaths, trying to calm my rapid breathing. "Not much. Enjoying your 'relaxing cruise'?"

"Mmm hmm."

"It's been better than I expected so far. I mean, our cabin is huge, the food was delicious… those brownies that they served for desert were amazing. And this pool is really nice; I can tell the kids are having a really great time…"

At that moment, I realized two things. 1) I was starting to sound like Nudge, and 2) Fang wasn't really looking me in the eye. He seemed a bit… distracted. I followed his gaze… wait a second. He wasn't – no, it couldn't be… Was he looking at… at my –

I was going to kill Nudge for making me wear a freaking bikini.

"Fang?" I waved my hand in front of his face. His eyes slanted upward, than quickly flicked down, as if he wanted to keep looking. "Fa-ang?"

"Sorry. What were you saying?"

"Never mind."

. . .

A half hour later, we tromped back to our room, dripping and water-logged. I tucked the little ones into bed, and hopped in the shower, while Iggy and Fang sprawled on the couch to watch American Idol. With the hot water beating down on my head, I wondered, a bit nervously, what we were going to do next. Sure, this cruise had been a blast so far, but we were only stalling our time. I knew that deep down, I would never rest until I had accomplished my mission and actually saved the world. That thought preoccupied me for a while, until I heard a loud banging on the door. Fang.

"Are you almost done in there?"

"Yeah. Be right out."

Then, in horror, I realized that I hadn't brought any clothes in the bathroom to change into. Which meant that A) I'd have to ask Fang to get my clothes out of my backpack for me, or B) I would have to walk out clad in nothing but a towel. Both options were looking grim.

"Hurry up!" Fang pounded on the door impatiently.

"Coming!" I squeaked.

Mortified, I wrapped my towel around me, twisted the doorknob, and skedaddled right out of there. I discreetly looked behind me to see Fang staring, open-mouthed, scratching his head in puzzlement. Oh, the joys of teenage adolescence.

I changed, hopped into bed, and pulled up the covers around me. A few minutes later, I heard the rustle of sheets as Fang slipped in next to me. I edged towards the side of the bed, away from him.

"Max?"

"Mmm?"

Fang slid closer to me, and tentatively rubbed my back in between my wings. I stiffened at first, but then sighed in pleasure. Rolling around, I looked in his eyes, and their depth startled me.

"Max, I –"

But suddenly, his lips were on mine, and I never knew how he intended to finish that sentence. His callused hand slid up my back, tangled in my hair, and though I was surprised at first, I kissed him back enthusiastically, holding him in my arms, my hands tenderly cupping his cheeks. I don't know how long we stayed in that position, but it felt like a million years had gone by in the span of a couple seconds. Eventually, though, I realized what had just happened.

And I knew then that Fang and I couldn't be together like this.

"Fang…" I said, pulling away from him abruptly. "Fang, I don't know about this…" And with that, I rushed out of the room, leaving Fang alone in the dark.