Minor Editing Completed
I'm back, and we are moving forward in "No Easy Way". Yeah for progress!
Max's POV
"You smoke?!" I ask, staring in disbelief. The Fang I once knew wouldn't smoke. But, this isn't the Fang I once knew.
"You have a son?!" He shouts back, still trying to light his cigarette.
"We have a son!" I reply, "And put that thing away!"
I proceed to pluck the lighter roughly from Fang's grasp. It hits the wall with a satisfying thud; enough force to smash the hard plastic exterior into large chunks.
Sadly, my victory is short lived. Fang, the jerk, brightly pulls out another lighter, just like the last. I want nothing more than to knock the smirk off his face. So I do exactly that.
I tackle him from the side, successfully knocking the lighter from his hands.
"You shouldn't smoke," I scold him, brushing the hair from my face.
"You shouldn't act like my mom," He retorts. I don't respond. Instead, I simply start to wrestle him. I can't help but feel 13 and immature again. Talk about a blast from the past!
"Whoa! Don't bite me!" Fang yells, "We're not 15! Hey!"
I pause and look up into his hair covered eyes. "15? Fang, who did you bite at 15?" Immediately, I regret asking.
Slyly, he replies, "Did you really forget about our make-out sessions?" He taunts, "Hmm, Maximum?" My heart starts thumping painfully in my chest. Is he really leaning closer? Just… a… little… less… distance… and… our… lips… would… be… tou-
"Eww!" Ash decides to exclaim just then. So much for that idea.
Fang seemed to finally notice the teen standing near the entrance of the cave. "How old are you, Ash?"
"15," He replies with slight hesitation.
"How can he be my son, Max? I haven't seen you for 20 years. Unless… " Without looking at him, I know that he is frowning in confusion.
Suddenly it seems as though Fang's eyes widen in recognition, "No. No, no, no. You were not created by the school."
"Not the school. A few scientific whack-job's though." I say. The urge to touch him-his shoulder, his cheek, something-is evident. I do nothing about it though.
Ash's sleeves are pushed up slightly, revealing the burn marks underneath. "What did they do to you?" Fang asks, moving quickly to his son's side.
"It's nothing." Ash insists, trying to get out of Fang's grasp. His father has an iron grip though, and quickly jerks the sleeve upward farther. A frown plays on his face, and his eyes look murderous.
For a minute, no one says anything. Slowly but surely, I stand and wipe the dirt from my jeans.
"Fang," I begin, reaching a hand out to touch him. His grip loosens, and Ash wiggles free. They now stand on opposite sides of the cave.
Before I can even think prevent it, Fang's fist pounds the rock wall. His breathing looks raged and his other fist is clenching and unclenching at his side.
"Ash," I turn to him, speaking like a leader, "Go to the town below. Find someplace to eat… anywhere will do. We'll meet you there in a few minutes."
"But, how will you know where I am?"
I sigh heavily, "Here, take my phone and give me yours. I'll call when we need to know where you are."
We switch phones, though Ash still looks skeptical, "But-"
"Go." I say through gritted teeth. I only have so much patience…
Reluctantly, he leaves. When I am sure he is out of hearing range, I turn to Fang.
The first thing I do is smack him in the back of the head. Then, I take his bloody hand and start to bandage it. Luckily, I bring a first aid kit everywhere; you never know what might happen.
Just to break the silent tension that set in, I angrily ask, "What are you trying to do? Break your hand?"
"You don't get it, Max."
"I-I don't get it?" I stutter, "What don't I get? That he grew up in a lab? I get that. That he was tortured for 15 years? I get that too, Fang."
"No, Max. That's not it." Just when I don't think he is going to continue, he does, "I promised myself that if I ever had a kid, they wouldn't go through what I went through. I would make sure they had a better childhood than I did."
"There was nothing you could have done, Fang. Beating yourself up certainly won't stop what those people were and probably still are doing."
He goes on as if I haven't spoken, "I didn't know I had a son. Here I was, smoking my cigarettes, living my life, while my son was being tortured and kept in a cage. A cage, Max!"
"It's not your fault! I don't like what happened to him any more than you do, but there is nothing you can do about it now. Nothing." I shout, violently yanking the gauze across his knuckles.
"Still, I can't help but feel bad. This is my son we're talking about."
"He's my son too, Fang."
"I feel like such an ass for not stopping it." Something in his voice makes me look up from his hand. He sounds… upset. Not enraged, but saddened. In fact, there is a bit of mist in his eyes. I'm shocked to realize that he's almost crying.
"Don't cry, Fang," The words feel alien on my tongue. This is Fang we were talking about. I have only seen him cry once. "This is the most I've seen you cry."
He lets out a weak grunt, "You didn't see me after I left. I flew a few hundred feet, found a tree, and cried myself to sleep. For months, I cried myself to sleep. Still do… sometimes."
"You're joking."
"No, I'm not. I think I'm getting a little soft because of it." He smiles halfheartedly, "That was the hardest thing I ever had to do. But I'd do it again."
"Why? If it hurt so much, why'd you do it?"
"It was what was best for you guys."
"What was best for you, Fang?" I ask, rubbing circles in the space between his wings.
"I don't know." He answers truthfully.
"Let me give you a little advice," I pause. Absently, I pull his arm over my shoulder. He does nothing to stop me. "You can't think of everyone around you all of the time. Sometimes, you have to think of yourself."
"Says the girl whose destiny was to save the world."
"And I would have gone crazy, trying to think of every person in the world beyond myself. Now come on. There's food waiting down there for us. And I know you're starving."
"Well, if you put it that way…" He says, taking a running jump off the cave's edge. Watching him fly away makes me feel whole again. Some things just don't change.
Yeah! NO long AN, gonna get killed if I don't get off soon, but let's just say one thing for sure. REVIEW!
~Faxisthegreatest123~