A/N: Warning: Lots of random babble at the end…hope you don't mind too much. O yeah, and I sincerely apologize about the Iggy mistakes I keep making, I think I fixed them all…and don't ask, I don't know why, I know he's blind…I've got to stop writing at 2 a.m.
"It's this way."
"No, it's this way."
"No, she said go right."
"Yeah, at the lamppost, but this is not a lamppost, are you blind or something?"
"No, that would be me, and this is a mailbox, not a lamppost."
"How did you know that?"
"Guys! Please!" I yelled, "It's right there." I said pointing to the mall across the street.
"Oh." They all chorused turning to see what had taken us an hour to find. We can find our way across the U.S., but send us down the street for clothes…bad idea, takes us just as long.
We all crossed the street and stood in front of the doors frozen, staring at the huge busy building.
"You first." I said to Fang sanding on my side.
"Ha-ha, no way. You go first." He replied neither of us looking away from the doors.
"Not a chance, hey Ig? Why don't you go first, lead the way." I yelled across to Iggy standing at the other end of our line.
"Great have the blind kid lead six socially awkward bird kids through a giant mall of frantic teenage shoppers." Out of the corner of my eye I saw a mom grab her child and speed up. "Nudge, why don't you go? You're the best people person of all of us."
"Fine, it's just a mall how bad could it be?" But she shivered in the blistering Arizona heat one more time before finally removing her gaze from the building, taking a deep breath and stepping forward. No one followed. "C'mon you cowardly mutants, there's only one way to get clothes" she said turning around and grabbing Iggy's sleeve. All of us finally looked away and reluctantly followed her through the doors.
We all froze; it was even worse on the inside. There was loud music, hundreds of people and shopping bags galore. My paranoia instantly flared.
"C'mon it's not like its swarming with white coats or anything." Nudge said clearing her throat and taking a deep breath.
"The white coats wouldn't be so bad right about now…" I said as a group of girls dressed in pink velour jump-suits walked by giving me the dirtiest of looks, and Fang and Iggy a different kind of dirty look.
I took a deep breath and said, "maybe splitting up isn't the best idea." That had been the original plan when Dr. Martinez sent us on this death mission to buy some clothes for school claiming 'we can't wear the same worn out t-shirt everyday, it'll raise suspicion' Suspicion my ass, I bet she just didn't like the way we smelled…which I guess is also understandable.
"Max it will take all day if we don't split up, and plus there's no way you're dragging me around to 'Vicky what's-it' all day." Iggy protested. Vicky what's it?
"Fine, but be on your guard, you never know…" I said, not liking this idea in the slightest.
"Right because an eraser is bound to pop out from behind the underwear rack!" joked Gazzy.
"Okay, me and Nudge are going over that way," said Angel pointing down to the end of a line of stores, "we saw a bunch a girls around our ages go in there. We'll be careful Max I promise!" she added.
"Don't go too far!" I shouted as they skipped away.
"Alright we're going over here then," said Iggy meaning him, Gazzy, and Fang.
"Oh, alright…" I said, now realizing I'd be shopping on my own, being the oldest and a girl. I glanced at Fang and realized we hadn't been apart more than a few minutes since I'd found him crumpled in his cell. And in those few minutes I kind of freaked out took a lap around the house and ran into him.
"I'll meet you guys there," he said, noticing my hesitation. The two boys smirked and walked off.
"This place gives me the creeps, I can't hear myself think." I said turning towards him.
"Me neither, lets just get our stuff and get out of here." He said as another group of girls walked by and one wolf-whistled.
"You guys see that kid? He looks like that guy from that movie…" she trailed off. I suddenly felt extremely defensive and wrapped my arms around his neck.
"Alright I'll meet you guys later," I said and planted a soft kiss on his cheek.
"Possessive are we?" he smirked.
"Shut up" I said tossing him the bird and walking away to find myself a store. Alright now where can Max find t-shirts? Damn why are there so many stores? I walked by a couple than spotted a group of girls around my age heading into a store not far in front of me. It looked okay, most of it definitely wasn't my style, but it had a "must have: basic tee" section so that's where I headed. I grabbed a few different t-shirts in different colors, some of them were fitted, some crew, and some v-neck; I just grabbed a variety not really knowing what any of it meant. Next I found a similar section of shorts and did the same grabbing a variety of different kinds; some 'long', some 'short', some 'patterned', some 'solid'. I looked around for a sweatshirt and grabbed a navy blue fleece 'zip-up', and a pair of jeans if it ever got cool. I walked to the register with the pile in my hands and dumped it on the counter.
"Would you like to try a fitting room first?" asked a young woman behind the counter.
"Uh, not really."
"Oh…ok, I'll ring it up."
I paid with the cash Dr. Martinez had given us so we could split up. I left the store and decided I should buy another pair of sneakers. I searched around and found a place called "Athletes Foot" and bough a pair of pumas. Now I had everything, except for underwear, the one thing I had really been dreading, and doing my best to avoid. I looked around and spotted an underwear store off to my left and headed towards it. Right before I entered I looked up at the name and saw a big sign that said, "Victoria's Secret". Ooooo…Vicky what's-it. When I looked inside I saw that it wasn't just a plain underwear store but had everything form pink and furry to black and silky. Okay, not really what I was looking for, and I tried to make a quick get away but was grabbed by a sales-woman before I could leave.
"How can I help you dear, what're you looking for?" she asked dragging me in the store.
"Um…a quick way out?" I offered hoping she would let me go.
She gave me a scandalous look and said, "Oh, I see, so you're looking for a front clasp maybe?" she asked dragging me farther into the store.
"What? No! That's not what I meant; I like regular underwear that closes in the back!" Did I really just yell that in a crowded store? Nobody noticed, I'm sure they hear this everyday.
"Hmm, okay, so you're a simple girl, you want something classy…" she continued clearly not phased by my protests, dragging me even farther.
Seeing as she was determined to sell me something and wouldn't give up 'till she had, I relaxed and said, "Do you have anything plain? In white maybe?"
"Hmm…" she said looking around. Is this really how people bought their lingerie, by discussing it with strange sales people?
"How about this?" she asked holding up a soft white bra.
"That's fine" I grumbled, "do you have anymore?" stupid Max.
"Why of course we have them in every color and style." She said throwing bras of all different colors out into my hands. I grabbed a blue and a black and dumped the rest back into her hands.
"Thanks!" I said and ran over to the cashier so I could pay and get out of here. As I was walking out of the store my heart dropped through my stomach with a sickening thud on the floor. Fang, Iggy, and Gazzy had just walked by and did a double take seeing me come out of the store. Well Iggy didn't see but I'm sure Gazzy informed him. I turned in the opposite direction walking as fast as I could away from them.
"I didn't think you'd actually go in there Max!" called Iggy as the three of them caught up to me. Both him and Gazzy were cracking up; Fang was giving me a strange look.
"Sh-she dragged me in there! They didn't give me a choice, do you have any idea how pushy sales people are?!" I yelled in defense.
"They forced you in there?" Iggy gasped out between bouts of laughter.
"She took me off guard…" I mumbled feeling totally embarrassed. They continued laughing and just made me angry. "Well how else am I supposed to buy underwear?!" I yelled at them, earning my self a few strange glances from passersby as I stalked off.
"Max come back, they're just messing with you!" called Fang chasing after me.
"Go away Fang!" I yelled at him.
"There's something else bugging you, isn't there?" he said catching up to me and noticing my sudden anger. This whole shopping and going back to school thing was really beginning to bug me out. It's been days since we've last flown, and I was feeling antsy, cramped, and overwhelmed.
"Leave me alone, Fang." I said beginning to stalk off once again, but was stopped by a meat head looking guy in my path.
"Hey, this guy bothering you?" he said referring to an approaching Fang. Ah, gees here we go!
"No, I'm fine." I said trying to get around him.
Fang came up behind me grabbing my arm and said, "Max, tell me what's bugging you…" his deep onyx eyes looking down at me from behind his bangs.
"Dude, can't you see she wants to be left alone?" snapped the meat-head advancing towards Fang probably hoping to win me over or some crap.
"Yeah I can, so why don't you just back off?" retorted Fang. Way to go Fang. (note sarcasm)
"I think you're the one who needs to back off. Come on baby." He said grabbing my arm hoping I'd follow him.
"Get your hands off her" demanded Fang, stepping in from of me protectively.
"Fang, come on, lets go." I said grabbing his shirt, praying he'd come and avoid a confrontation. He didn't budge. Although Fang liked any confrontation with an eraser, he usually tried his hardest to avoid them with humans, so his unwillingness to move caught me by surprise. "Fang…don't be stupid, c'mon!"
"And who are you to tell me who I can and cannot touch?" He said in reply to Fangs demand. Eww, creepy. Then the meat-head made his biggest mistake. He advanced on Fang and grabbed the neck of his shirt with both hands. This guy definitely thought he had a chance. Looking like he spent about every minute he wasn't chugging protein shakes in the gym, he definitely was bigger than Fang and although Fang was tall this guy still had a few inches on him. But Fang was not one to be pushed around. Way to go meat head! (Once again please note sarcasm)
"I'm her boyfriend." Fang spat out giving the guy a hard enough push that he let go of his shirt. Wow, I thought Fang was going to rip the guy apart, good job Fang! He turned around and I smiled at him and we began to walk away shoulder to shoulder through the small crowd that had formed. But of course we weren't that lucky. This guy was the kind that went looking for confrontation and found it where none existed. Great!
"Not so fast Tarzan!" The meat-head yelled coming up behind us. Tarzan?! Fang does not look like Tarzan! Yes, he's very tan and rugged looking with all his scars, but Tarzan way crosses the line! The meat-head swung a punch from behind in attempt at cheap-shooting Fang, but Fang was way too quick and had ducked, dodged, and pinned him to the ground in a split second.
"Deusch, touch her again and I'll kill you." Fang said under his breath and we walked away with many curious stares behind us. Ooo…protective. Thats, kinda hot actually. Oh my god, I did not just think that!
"So, boyfriend huh?" We had never officially called ourselves anything; around the flock it had always been 'we're together'. 'Boyfriend' sounded kind of funny.
Understanding my meaning he said, "I thought the word was a little inadequate myself." He smiled with his hands in his pocket and nudged my shoulder with his.
"That was awesome!" yelled the Gasman, him and Iggy reuniting with us.
"I think you should have kicked the shit out of him," said Iggy. Fang shrugged. I smiled.
"Let's go find the girls," I said.
Ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
"Alright guys, I picked up your class schedules today from the school." Dr. Martinez said coming into the living room after our horrifying shopping trip.
"I can't thank you enough for doing all of this for us, you really don't have to." I said feeling incredibly guilty.
"For the last time Max, stop thanking me, I don't mind. I love that you guys are here, life's been a lot more interesting since you've arrived," she added with a slight smile handing me the schedules.
"Alright, who wants their schedule?" I called to the various flock members scattered around the room. They all ran up tossing around the schedules 'till they found the one they were looking for.
"Hey Ella, I think we have some classes together!" said Nudge glancing between her schedule and Ella's old one that she didn't need anymore seeing as it was the middle of the year.
"Well I tried to keep you guys together as much as possible. Nudge, since you and Ella are the same age, I was able to get you into some of her classes", said Dr. Martinez.
"Let me see your schedule", I said to Fang leaning against the couch next to me.
"All of our classes are together except English and Math." I pointed out. Okay, not too bad.
"Ig, what about you?" I called across the room yelling out my schedule.
"I have math with you and English with Fang and science with both of you." Okay, even better now I only had one class by myself.
"Oh and just so you all know in order for the school to accept you, you have to meet graduation requirements, which means taking gym. I tried getting you out of it because of you wings, but there's no way out you have to take. I'm not sure what the gym uniforms are like, so I figure go to school tomorrow and see what they're like; if they don't hide you wings think of an excuse to sit out and we'll think something up okay?"
"Yeah that's fine," I said, "Thanks for trying."
I looked up at the clock and it said eleven thirty. "Alright guys, big day tomorrow, let's head upstairs." They all groaned but acquiesced none the less.
We walked upstairs and into our separate rooms. Dr. Martinez had cleared space in a bigger guest room she had been using as storage for the three boys to share. Ella shared her room with Nudge, with who she talked the most. And Angel and I shared. Seeing as this house hadn't really been intended for eight people to live in, it didn't happen to have six spare bedrooms, we're lucky it had the three rooms it did, so I don't complain. But I do silently curse myself for not being able to share a bedroom with Fang, like we had the last few days.
Angel and I walked into 'our room' and I tucked her in. She fell fast asleep as I flopped down onto my own make-shift bed. I lied there for a while but found I couldn't fall asleep…something was missing. I decided to go downstairs and maybe get a drink of water or something. I silently tip-toed over to the door and crept out into the pitch black of night, shutting it silently behind me.
"Oof!" I said slamming into something hard. "What the-?" But a hand was clamped over my mouth before I could finish my question.
"Shh, it's just me," came the husky voice of Fang.
"Sorry," I whispered peeling off his hand. "What're you doing up?"
"I could ask you the same thing…"
"Couldn't sleep" I whispered.
"Me neither."
I grabbed his hand in the dark and pulled him silently downstairs. Letting go of his hand I flicked on a tiny kitchen light to let the slightest of light into the room.
I reached up to a cabinet and pulled out two glasses. "Water?"
"Sure…thanks" he said as I handed him a full glass. We both popped up on the counter sitting shoulder to shoulder drinking our water in silence.
"I'm dreading tomorrow." I said finally breaking the silence.
"Me too…"
"I have an idea," I said suddenly putting my glass down and pulling his from him. I grabbed his face between my hands and planted a huge kiss on his lips. I pulled away and saw his extremely confused expression.
"This is your idea?"
"Uh huh"
"I don't-" but he was cut off when I placed my mouth to his again.
"I'm claiming my territory." I stated matter-of-factly
"Territory, huh.?" said Fang his eyes beginning to blaze, giving me what I had been looking for.
"Well yeah, do correct me if I'm mistaken but according to my observations, those girls are going to be all over you tomorrow, and statistics show, I will be possessive; this is your warning." I said in my most professional voice.
"You're crazy Max Ride…but you completely missed something in your statistics." He said.
"And what would that be?"
"My overwhelming possession of you…surprised your so called observations didn't pick that one up," and with that he kissed me back full force, filling it with more passion than I was prepared for. He grabbed me around the waist and lifted me off the countertop. I wrapped my legs around his torso and he carried me into the living room, gently flopping us onto the couch. With a sudden surge of self-confidence I snaked my hands up under his shirt gently tugging at its hem. He caught my drift and only breaking the kiss for a split second tugged it over his head, revealing his bare chest. He came back to me kissing my neck leaving a fiery path of burning kisses along my flesh. He snaked his hands around my waist encircling the soft flesh around my hips and repositioned me so I was now straddling his lap. I brought my lips back to his and felt him tug at the hem of my own shirt. Without even thinking I had it up and over my head within a second, revealing my black bra. He stared at me for a moment, causing me to feel suddenly extremely self conscious.
"What?" I said slightly irritated, snapping him back to reality.
"Sorry…" he said sheepishly, "Black?" he inquired now smirking.
"That's right…" I said, and we both laughed. He grabbed my waist and fell back on to the couch, me falling on top of him. He flipped us over so he was now on top of me, propping himself on his elbows. I ran my hands up his chest and he captured me in another kiss. Once again feeling a little bold I flipped him over so I was now on top of him, never breaking the kiss. He ran his hands up the sides of my bare waist, and it was one of the greatest things I'd ever felt. We finally broke apart and I laid my head on his bare chest listening to his heavy breathing. I looked down to see his scars and felt instant anger at the erasers who'd left them.
"I'm sorry Fang," I whispered bending down to kiss one of his scars. "I'll never let them take you again…" I added against his skin as I continued to leave a trail of kisses along his scar. I felt him shiver at my touch and smiled to myself.
"Never be sorry Max" he whispered under his breath pulling my chin up to meet his sincere gaze. I leaned up and kissed the scar on his cheek than laid my head on his chest feeling suddenly exhausted. He kissed the top of my head and wrapped his arms around my waist pulling me to him, and pressing our bare flesh together.
"I love you Max" he said suddenly, and my heart nearly burst at the sound of the words from his lips.
"I Love you too" I whispered into his bare skin.
And we both fell fast asleep snuggled up together on the couch.
…faxy, no?
A/N: Okay so they go to school tomorrow!! And just to let you know, the "school" and the erasers haven't magically disappeared so they will be making an appearance in coming chapters…but not too, too soon, I'm going to give Max and the flock a little bit more time off to breathe, and learn about the lives of typical teenagers…things don't go so smoothly.
But don't worry, action ensues shortly!! I really hope you enjoyed! Please, please REVIEW! And I didn't forget about the bet!
P.S. Originally in the story Max and Fang were going to be enrolled in school as brother and sister but after reading a review that said most stories did that (thank you crimsonscarz) I poked around. I came to the conclusion that there were a lot of stories and revised part of the chapter so Fang and Max didn't enter school as brother and sister. But my problem is I loved the end of my original chapter so much I had a hard time parting with the fluff, so I'm posting it anyway just so you all can see what I had originally written… so here it is, tell me what you think:
"Let me see your schedule", I said to Fang leaning against the couch next to me.
"All of our classes are together except English and Math." I pointed out. Okay, not too bad.
"Ig, what about you?" I called across the room yelling out my schedule.
"I have math with you and English with Fang and science with both of you." Okay, even better now I only had one class by myself.
"Oh and just so you all know in order for the school to accept you, you have to be residents of the district. I told them that you all were my nieces and nephews here for a long-term stay; it satisfied them enough." She paused for a moment but looked like she had more to say. She reluctantly cleared her voice to continue, "So that means that, Max, you and Fang…can't uh…you're considered brother and sister." Seeing our completely dumb-founded and horrified expressions she added, "I'm trying my hardest to work on it…I'm sure there's a way around this whole residency thing, but until then…"
This conversation was way too awkward and I pushed it to the back of my mind to think about later. I looked up at the clock and it said eleven thirty. "Alright guys, big day tomorrow, let's head upstairs." They all groaned but acquiesced none the less.
…all the same…they're now in the kitchen drinking water and sitting on the counter
"I'm dreading tomorrow." I said finally breaking the silence.
"Me too…this is gonna be so weird."
"I know, it's bad enough just being there, but pretending to be your sister…just gives me the creeps." We both shuddered at the extremely awkward thought.
"I have an idea," I said suddenly putting my glass down and pulling his from him. I grabbed his face between my hands and planted a huge kiss on his lips. I pulled away and saw his extremely confused expression.
"This is your idea?"
"Uh huh"
"I don't-" but he was cut off when I placed my mouth to his again.
"It is in my most professional opinion that it would only be logical for us to release our pent up sexual energy before entering an environment where we must hide all traces of a relationship." I stated matter-of-factly. "I believe it's a necessary procedure," I continued in my most professional voice.
"Necessary huh?" said Fang his eyes beginning to blaze, giving me what I had been looking for.
"Yup"
"You're crazy Max Ride…but totally correct in your hypothesis," and with that he kissed me back full force, filling it with more passion than I was prepared for.
…all the same…
Okay, yeah, so I know its not much different but I like it, and as I'm sure you can tell that the whole, "according to your statistics" thing was kind of like a knock off to the "your hypothesis" thing, but I was drawing a blank when revising.
Sorry I put you guys through that, for those of you that read it.