Hey. These last chapters have been setting the ball rolling for later plot. Big things still to come. I hope these past chapters haven't been to boring. I've just had little things I needed to write, in character development, to set them up.
Hope you like!
Chapter Twenty-Two
The dinner with my family went... surprisingly well, well, as well as can be expected, (my, that's a lot of wells) and I hadn't expected much. Dad, Ella and I had sat around the table together and ate dad's spaghetti and meat balls, and actually talked. We didn't talk about anything important, we just made small talk, about our days, school, work, it wasn't much, but it was a start. We never talked of Mum, but still, somehow to me, it felt as if we were making progress, that maybe, just maybe, we could be a family again. The feeling didn't last long...
Nudge and I had a sleep over at my house on the Friday night. She had told me there was something she had to tell me. As we lay in my bed that night she asked me if I remembered that time years ago when she told me she had a crush on Iggy. I told her I did remember. She hadn't said anything for minutes; I thought maybe she had fallen asleep, when she spoke again. She said she had been fighting those feelings since then but she couldn't any more. I didn't say anything to that; I didn't know what to say.
The next morning, as we were eating breakfast, I masted up courage and said to her, 'Why fight it Nudge. He loves you, I know it. God, even I see it. That goofy grin... there's something amazing about best friends dating, don't you think.' I stopped talking and grinned at her. She had said she didn't know what to do, so I said, 'Ask yourself a couple questions Nudge. Who am I? What do I believe in? What do I want? Forget about anyone else, forget about consequences and answer those questions for you and only you.'
'I am Nudge, the hopeless romantic.
I believe there's no greater love then dating your best friend.
And I want Iggy!'
'God I'm good'. I had said after she had answered those questions. I didn't even care that we had, had the cheesiest conversation of our lives. Nudge and I got into my car and drove over to Iggy's place straight away. I dropped her off and wished her luck.
Gazzy broke up with Shara, or rather Shara broke up with Gazzy, a couple days before Iggy, Fang, Nudge and I finished school. He never said the real reason why. He said it was for the best, that they had both agreed, but we could see threw his tough guy act, we could see he was hurting, could see it every time he looked at Shara. My protectiveness of my own took over and I tried to be angry at Shara for hurting Gazzy, but I couldn't. No one could be angry at Shara, she was far too lovely for that.
"LAST DAY OF OFFICAL SCHOOL FOR YOU GUYS." Gazzy yells as he runs over to where I'm standing with Nudge and Iggy- it's been a week since I dropped Nudge at Iggy's house, and if you haven't already guessed, they are dating.
Iggy puts his hand up and high-five's Gazzy.
All us Year Twelve students are wearing our white shirts today, with signatures all over them.
School hasn't even started yet and our shirts are filling up.
Gazzy and Angel told us yesterday that they were going to pretend to be Year Twelve students so they could stay with us all day. Iggy and I have a bet, on how long she could keep that up. My bets on they'll only last until the first bell.
Today's the last day of, official school, for us Year Twelve students. We had our last day of classes yesterday, though we didn't do much, just watched movies and sat around talking.
Today there are activities organised for us, if we want to get involved, like netball matches and egg and spoon races, jumping rope and apple bobbing. You know. All that grown up stuff.
"Where's everyone else." Gazzy asks, as he pulls a sharpie out of his pocket and puts it into Iggy's hand, Nudge lightly pushes Iggy's hand towards a blank spot on Gazzy's shirt.
"Angels looking for Matthew in the sports department, to sign her shirt." Nudge says.
"She's not graduating." Gazzy frowns.
"I know." Nudge laughs. "I'm just telling you what she told me."
"Fang's running late this morning, he had to drop Lana and Melanie off at some lunch they are having." I tell Gazzy. Who turns to Nudge.
"You got out of that one?" He asks her with a grin which she returns.
"It was Fangs turn, I drove them last week." She replies.
"Why can't they drive themselves?" Iggy asks as he hands the sharpie back to Gazzy.
"They say that's why they had kids, so we could drive them around." Nudge says with a roll of her eyes and a shrug. Iggy laughs putting his arm around her shoulders.
"And Ella? Where's Ells?" Gazzy asks.
"Around here somewhere." I say looking around us. We are standing in the middle off the top basketball court out side. There are other students all around us getting their shirts signed. I spot Ella over on the bottom court signing Shara's shirt. Ella looks up and spots us, she waves and makes her way over in a speed walk.
"Hey Gaz. haven't seen you this morning." Ella greets him.
He smiles in greeting. "I just got here, I had gone over to the bakery, got my lunch. Sign my shirt." He hands her his sharpie. Ella takes it, going behind him and writes on his back.
"Ah, last day of school!" Nudge says as if she had forgotten.
"Don't start crying on us." Iggy teases.
"I wont, it's just... the last day of school, for like, forever."
"And you're sad about this? People are only sad about leaving friends. As we've said before, we'll never be able to get rid of each other." I tell her, squeezing her arm lightly. She smiles, then steps towards me pulling me into a hug.
"Ow, oh okay." I laugh, patting her back.
"What's with all the love?" I hear Fang ask from behind me. "Are you crying Nudge?"
"It's the last day of school!" Nudge says forcefully.
"She says as if that should instantly explain everything." Fang mutters. Nudge still hasn't released me.
"Your last day. It's major." Ella pipes in. "We won't be together all the time."
"What? Yes we will. Half of us are related in some way. The twins. You and Max. Nudge and I. Ig and Nudge dating. Max and I. We'll see each other all the time!"
Nudge huffs. "You're just like Max."
"I didn't say I wasn't a little sad." I say. Nudge pulls back and holds me an arm length away, studying my face.
"You know what I think. Maxie here. Isn't as tough as she likes us to think, why, she's a big softy." Nudge says grinning at me. I mock offence and pull away from her.
"What do you say Fang?" She asks her cousin.
"Nudge. I've known it for years." He says.
Ella 'aw's' from beside me. Though I don't know if that was an 'aw' worthy moment.
"Hey Guys." We all turn to see Angel walking towards us, her shirt covered in writing. Fang raises his eyebrows but doesn't say anything.
"Anyone one questioned you on why your getting your shirt signed?" Gazzy asks her.
Angel shakes her head. "I said they wouldn't." As she speaks the bell rings for the start of school.
"Where are we meant to be this morning?" Fang asks.
"Year Twelve's are to meet here." Iggy answers.
"I heard we're having a boys verses girls netball game." Nudge says nodding her head.
"Why is it always netball?" Iggy complains.
"Because it's a game girls and boys can play on even terms. You know non contact." Nudge says.
"Girls can do anything, just as well as boys." I can't help but add.
Fang laughs lightly. "Right." He says nodding.
"Alright. You heard the bell. Get to class if you're not in Year Twelve. The rest of you lets gather over here. Come on now." A teacher calls out, waving her arms around.
We say goodbye to Ella and Gazzy and walk over to the group. Angel joining us. But the teacher takes one look at Angel and frowns.
"Darl, you're not Year Twelve." She says. "Get to class." Angel nods, and waves sheepishly to us before walking off. Iggy and I snicker, and he slips the money he owes me into my hand. I smile triumphantly.
The day went past fast. We played our boys verses girls netball game. Regretfully the boys won.
Fang kept following me round the court, determined not to let me touch the ball. When ever the ball would come near he would grab me from behind and pull me back or tickle me. So much for being a gentlemen and letting me win. We eventually got kicked of the court for 'mucking around'. And that was by the captains from each team we had elected, Nudge and Iggy. We went and sat a little way away.
"I've decided to apply to Queens Collage, like Nudge." I say. Fang smiles down at me. Bumping his arm against mine.
"English? Literature?"
"Both. How did you know?"
"I know you... and Nudge mentioned you guys had talked." Fang took my hands that were resting in my lap and held them in his.
"I have a surprise for you tonight. I'm kidnapping you at seven."
"Oh really?"
"Really?"
"And do I have a say in this."
"No babe. No say at all."
As promised Fang picked me up at seven. Dad had been home and stood by the door as we left. We three stood in conflicted silence for a few moments. Dad kept opening his mouth to talk but then quickly closing it again. Eventually he had said 'have fun', which he probably thought was what he was meant to say, so I said, 'don't wait up', which is what I had thought was what I was meant to say. He had frowned at that, levelling Fang a look of distrust.
"Your Dad loves me." Fang says sarcastically, once we are in his car.
I laugh. "Hmm. He doesn't know how to act."
"You don't know how to act." He smiles at me.
"True. We're both as bad as each other." I turn my head and look out the window, trying to figure out where we're going.
"Let's not talk about your Dad." Fang says.
"You brought him up." I answer turning back to look at him. "So, are you going to tell me where we're going?"
"No." He shakes his head smiling.
"Why not?"
"You don't understand the concept of a surprise."
"Sure I do. You tell me where we're going, and I act surprised when we get there." I grin. Fang just chuckles. "That's not how it works. We're almost there."
I look around. It's dark out so I can't really see much, but I know we're near our school. Fang takes a sharp right turn off the main road and we travel about a kilometre down the narrow windy road leading up hill.
I smile to myself. We've been up here a couple times before. Iggy, Nudge, Fang and I skipped school to come and eat lunch up here. There's this great spot, right on the top of the mountain, with an amazing view of the city in the distance.
As we get to the flat spot where you can park cars, I see Nudge's car.
"What?-" I start to say confused. But Nudge with Iggy in the car, drive past us with a wave.
"They helped me get ready. You'll see." Fang stops the car and gets out coming quickly around to my side, and opens the door for me.
"Oh, such a gentlemen." I say.
He laughs. "I do try." He takes my hand and leads me up the path to the top of the mountain.
It's a warm night, so I'm wearing a summer dress. It's a pale yellow spaghetti strap dress, that comes in tight at my waist and then fans out, coming to just above me knee's. I had decided to dress up, though having said that, I am wearing my pale blue ankle converse shoes.
I look up at Fangs handsome face and smile. His dark hair is blowing, with the light wind, over his equally dark eyes. He has a relaxed, earnest expression on his face.
Without looking at me he smiles and squeezes my hand.
Once on the top of the hill I look out over the grass field, and see something that almost, just almost, takes my breath away. There's a picnic rug set out with a basket on top. But that's not the thing that takes my breath away, or even that surrounding the rug are what looks like hundreds of tea lights, no. What really sets my heart a flutter are the photos that hang from the string across the branches above the rug.
I drop Fang's hand and take a couple steps forwards to take a closer look. There photo's of us. Fang and I. Maybe a hundred or so.
I turn back to Fang in amazement. He's got the biggest smile on his face.
"Max, I wanted to show you how much you mean to me." He moves towards me and takes my face in his big hands, also moving his face down to my face level. "Look around. All that history of ours. From when we were little kids in Kinder, all threw school. You and I, always. I love you Max." I stare back into his eyes. My heart racing. "You know that don't you. I don't say it enough." He moves his lips closer to mine, and smiles. "I love you." He says again before moving his lips softly against mine, taking his hands off my face and running them down my back.
"I love you." I mumble against his lips. He holds me tighter to him.
When we break apart, he takes me by the hand again and we walk around looking at all the photo's, laughing at the memories.
"And this one." I say pointing to one of Fang and I sitting in the closet at his house. With very guilty looking expressions on our blushed faces. It was taken by Nudge, who had thrown open the door laughing happily and taken a photo of us, after breaking out of a kiss. She hadn't let us forget about that.
"And here." Fang says. I look to where he is pointing. It's a photo of Fang and I at this years school swimming carnival. Fangs standing behind me his arms around me his chin on my shoulder. Gazzy's off to the side, only half of him in the frame, but he's pulling a face and we're smiling at him.
"This is so amazing Fang." I tell him gesturing with arm hand around us, at the photo's. "You went to so much trouble." He shrugs, but smiles looking pleased with himself.
"Ig and Nudge helped me."
"But it was your idea?"
"Yeah-" I cut him off by kissing him. He smiles against my mouth, running his hands down the length of my hair. He pulls away and puts his forehead against mine.
"Let's sit." He says pulling me down with him onto the rug. I settle into his lap, him sitting cross legged and me curled up, my legs bent; knee's pulled into my chest.
Fang moves my hair over my shoulders and kisses the back of my neck. I lean back into him and he wraps his arms around me, his hands going around my legs. And rubs his lips across the back of my neck to my jaw.
"I could stay here forever." I whisper. Loving the feeling of his lips on my skin.
"Let's stay here forever then." He mumbles.
I pull my legs down and turn around straddling him, pressing my lips to his. He responds by wrapping his arms around me again, bringing me impossible close.
"Does anyone else come up here?" I ask between kisses.
"No." Fang says attacking my lips again.
I pull away looking around.
"You sure?" I ask. Kiss.
He smiles. "Yes." Kiss. "Positive." Kiss. He starts leaning back, lying on the rug, bringing me down with him.
-Next Day-
I wake to the feel of to a warm pressure across my waist, and it takes me a moment to remember last night.
I smile to myself and lean back into the warmth of Fangs naked chest. I feel his lips against my shoulder blade.
"Morning." He says in my ear. I arch my neck, turning slightly to kiss him.
"Morning." I say back when we break apart.
"Do you think my Dad noticed we stayed out all night? I did tell him not to wait up."
"I think he's probably noticed." Fang laughs against my neck. His hand that is rubbing my back moves around my waist to rub my stomach.
"We didn't eat the food." I suddenly notice.
"What?" Fang asks, not really listening.
"From the basket. You had made food?"
"Oh, we can have it for breakfast. You hungry?"
"No." I stroke his tanned arm that's across my stomach.
"Me either." Fang turns me around so I'm facing him and crushes his lips to mine.
Thanks For reading. Please please review!