~∞ ROSES ∞~
Chapter Eighteen: 65 Roses
She's beautiful.
That was all Fang could think when he saw Max. He almost forgot to hold onto the rose. His eyes traveled over to Nudge, just for a second, to realize she was looking between the two, with an evil grin. But that was all, before his eyes were attached to Max's once more.
She looked nervous. Why is she nervous? He thought to himself. It's just me. And then the realization struck him. It's because it's me that she's nervous. But Max is nervous. Max, of all people. Crap, I'm getting anxious.
Max turned away from him, her cheeks slightly pink, and she gave Nudge a meaningful look, causing Nudge to run into the room and close the door. "Erm, hi," she said.
He shook his head clear, still mesmerized from her enhanced beauty, and how natural it was. "Oh, hi." Fang gave a weak smile in Max's direction. "You look… Nice."
Just… Nice… She thought to herself with a sigh. Nudge's efforts were a waste.
The slight drooping of her shoulders didn't go unnoticed by Fang, and he tilted her head to look at him. "Hey, you look beautiful. Even if you were wearing just jeans and a sweatshirt, you'd look beautiful to me. You always do." And with that, he lowered his head down and lightly pecked her on the lips.
A small smile graced Max's lips, as well as a light blush. Fang held him arm out for her. "Shall we?" he asked with a wink.
"We shall."
…
The car ride was silent, and Max was curious as to where Fang was taking her. When did Fang become so… Nice? She asked to herself, staring out of the window, and remembering the last time she sat in this car.
It was going to her ol — Fang's home. Where she had said yes to his begging. Where she and Fang actually began to understand each other.
She reclined her head on the seat. Little by little Max and Fang had been learning more about each other. But just the small things; the ones that were bound to change. Favorite color, favorite food, favorite song — those superficial things. The one thing neither of them had touched on was the unchangeable. The past.
Maybe it was time. Maybe she should tell him. It's seemed like Fang's changed a lot every since she had started dating him. And it wasn't just her that noticed. It was everyone who had bothered to speak to Max.
A hand touched her own lightly, and Max turned her head to face Fang. His dark eyes were trained straight forward on a road, but a small smile was playing on his lips. Max rolled her eyes and quickly leaned towards him, to give him a peck on the cheek.
When did she ever act like this? Nervous. Shy. Flirty. This wasn't her normal self! I blame it on the perfume Nudge sprayed on me, she grumbled, smiling, when she saw Fang's smile widen.
"You going to tell me where you're taking me?" she asked, looking up at him through her eyelashes, batting them.
Fang gulped, watching her through the corner of his eye, and shook his head. "Nope."
Max pouted, before she dropped the act, and burst out laughing. "Seriously? Not even after I did that?"
Risking a glance at Max, Fang shook his head again. "Did I ever tell you to do that?" he teased.
She sunk into the chair. "No. But shouldn't you tell me anyways?"
"Nuh-uh. Not going to happen."
"Why not?" Max whined, looking at Fang again.
He shivered slightly at the intensity of the stare, wondering what had happened to his Max. Not that this was bad, but it was… different. A nice different. He also wondered when he had become so possessive.
The car stopped. Fang took his hand off the wheel and turned to look at Max. She stared up at him, with shining eyes. His eyes are so beautiful… Max mused. I can almost see gold in the depths of them… That, and my reflection.
Subconsciously, her hand had reached up to stroke his cheek lightly, and she blushed when she realized what she was doing. Max made a motion to pull back, but Fang's hand gripped her own, lightly holding it there, continuing to stare into her eyes.
It was then, that Max decided she would tell him. About everything he wanted to hear about her past.
She only hoped he'd do the same.
"We're here, Max. We've been here for a while now," Fang said, his tone light and teasing.
Max broke out of her daze and looked around, with a gasp of awe. "Where are we, Fang?"
He smiled. "You have your secret alcove; I have mine."
She rushed to get out of the car, and headed out to the scenery before her. It was so… picture-perfect it seemed almost unreal. Like a scene out of a storybook. A picture from her own mind…
A dream-date.
Max ran out to the bridge over looking the gleaming waters of the lake. The stars were out, and the sky was dark, so they were illuminated even more than they would be in the city. They glittered, making the water sparkle. It looked like a lagoon. A beautiful, untouched, blue lagoon.
On the bridge — which was old, yet stable, with absolutely no railings — was a picnic blanket, and a small picnic basket to go with it. Max turned to Fang, a huge smile on her face. "Did you do all this?" she asked, her brown eyes shining.
Fang shrugged, trying to act nonchalant, although he was excited that she liked it, inwardly. After all, Fang wasn't normally one to take girls out on dates. "Iggy made the food," he blurted. Smooth, Fang. Way to make a fool out of yourself. He sat down beside Max on the picnic blanket, keeping a comfortable but close distance between them.
She scooted closer to him, resting her head on his shoulder. "It's perfect," Max said in a hushed tone. He leaned in to kiss her, slowly, oh so slowly, failing to notice the grin that had quirk up on Max's lips.
Before their lips had connected, Max brought her hands up and gave Fang a shove, pushing Fang off the bridge. His eyes widened in shock and he quickly grabbed Max's hand, holding her body to his, as they fell into the water together.
Max resurfaced with a laugh, as sent a playful splash in Fang's direction. His face took on an evil smirk, and he lunged at Max, causing her to squeal uncharacteristically. Both Max and Fang felt happier than they had in ages.
He trapped her against the edge with his body, and Max bit her lip, feigning innocence. The playful air was gone, replaced with something much more serious. Fang leaned in, kissing Max hard.
When they pulled away, he stared at her. "I love you." She felt her words get caught in her throat. "I can't take that feeling away. Even if I wanted to, I wouldn't be able to get rid of it. I lo —"
"Love you so much it hurts," Max finished, leaning up to kiss his lips softly. A wave of realization crashed upon her, when she finally admitted she was in love with Fang. She pushed the plan away to the farthest corner of her brain, just to live in this moment.
They climbed up to the grass, and she rested her head on his shoulder again. Slowly, Fang laid them down, so they both were on their backs, stargazing. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, and used it to cushion her head. Max subconsciously snuggled into his body.
They laid down, looking at the stars for a while, before Max began to speak. "Fang," she began.
He shifted his head to look at her. "Hmm?"
"Do you remember how when you asked me out, and I said yes, you said that you wanted to learn about me? To be the shoulder I could lean on?" Max asked tentatively.
Fang could feel the atmosphere surrounding him shift, and he tried to lighten the mood. "I didn't know you take that seriously," he moved the shoulder that she was leaning on slightly, "but yes."
Max took a deep breath. "Well… I'm ready. To tell you about my past."
He stared into her eyes for the nth time that day. "I think I should tell you mine, first…" Fang said. She nodded, craning her neck up to kiss him softly. He sighed. "My dad… He left us when I was just a kid, barely a pre-teen. Before then, he was always gone on 'business trips' for several periods of weeks. Once he was even gone for nine months.
"Turns out, he had a whole new family. A different one, behind my mum and my back. And he had a child. A baby girl; Angel."
Max gasped. "So Angel's not actually your…?" She couldn't bring herself continue, so she stopped when he nodded.
"His other… fling," Fang spat the word with distaste, "wanted nothing to do with sweet Angel. So Mum took her in. And then he left our lives. Mine. Mum's. Angel's. He broke Mum's heart, so I vowed that I would never fall in love. That I'd never get my heart broken, just like Mum. That's why I became a… player." He laughed shakily, trying to blink back the tears that were forming behind his eyes. There was a long pause, before he added something. "Until I met you."
She squeezed his hand reassuringly, trying not to shake herself. It isn't right to go on with this plan, after that confession! And I can't tell Nudge this, because he obviously had a hard time telling me. "My father had an obsession with roses," Max said, taking a deep breath. "He built that gazebo by his own hand and planted his own roses all around it. That rose trellis in the front of my — your house; that's all his doing, too. He loved them. But oddly enough, his… death… was related to them; not in medical terms, but another name for the disease he had."
Fang held Max to his body, as she began to shake with tears. "Sixty-five roses," she hiccupped. "Cystic Fibrosis. He was diagnosed when he was young, and never told me. He caught pneumonia several times, and his lungs began to worsen. He was coughing all the time and I thought it was just a bad cold or something he caught."
Max took a deep breath, trying to calm her senses. "Three years ago, he went outside to the gazebo. He always did that to work, tend to the roses, or just sit. But that day… It was different."
[Max's Flashback. Three Years Ago]
"Hello?" she asked, picking up her cell phone. "Dad?" There was no response on the other end of the line. All she could hear was feeble hacking and coughing, causing her to panic. "Dad! Are you alright?"
He went into a series of cough attacks, and Max ran outside, into the forest. "Dad! Daddy!" she cried, searching for him.
At last, she made it to the gazebo.
There was her father, coughing up blood, sprawled out on the ground. Her heart began to race as she took it all in. "Dad!" she screamed, running to his side, the tears beginning to pour out. "Oh my God."
She pulled her cell phone out of her pocket as fast as she could. "9-1-1, how may we be assistance towards you?"
"My dad, he collapsed and he's coughing up blood, short of breath!" Max exclaimed urgently, worry and panic seeping into her voice.
The response was instantaneous. "Where are you, M'am?" She told the woman her address, telling her they were in the forest behind their house, at a gazebo by a lake. "We'll send people over immediately, please stand by."
[End Flashback. Present Day]
"H-he was taken to the hospital, and that's when I found out he had cystic fibrosis. Dad… Daddy died at that hospital at the age of thirty-seven, due to lung complications. We buried him with sixty-five roses," Max sobbed.
"I always thought I would always have his roses, at least. But when my aunt took me in and shipped me off to West High, I had nothing to remind me of him. Nothing. Until you," she sniffled, "took me home and…" She rubbed her nose. "God, I'm acting like a brat right now, but it feels so good to just… let it all out, for once."
Fang kissed her forehead. "You're not a brat," he murmured. "You're Max. The Max I love."
She nodded stiffly, and they sat in silence, looking at the stars. Max opened her mouth, her tears finally starting to subside. "Thank you," she mumbled, resting her head on his chest.
He caressed her hair softly. "For what?"
"For listening. For being there. For keeping your promise. For everything," Max said softly.
"No, thank you. For telling me this," he replied.
"You won't tell anyone?" she asked anxiously. "I just don't know... I don't want anyone else to know or pity me or Dad..."
Fang kissed her lips gently. "I promise."