Hey there! So, in the last chapter I got a few questions about the story.
Jason kidd13 asked "are Fang and Max getting together?"
Bwahahahaha. What do you think, my darling?
shiipitlikeFedEx asked "how did Iggy read his letter if he's blind?"
It mentions it in the chapter, actually. Due to Iggy's superhuman sensitivity, he can feel the slightly raised ink of the printed words.
maximumgirl23306 asked "when will there be more fax?"
Don't worry, my precious. There shall be more. I have MAJOR things planned for our favorite feathery couple. I swears it!
Have a question? Leave it in a review and I'll be sure to answer it!
Love you!
wise_yet_harmless
FANG'S POINT OF VIEW
"Fang? Fang!"
"Huh?" I said, shaking myself out of my thoughts. Ella gave me a puzzled smile, her hand waving in front of my eyes. She lowered it, watching me carefully. Crap. I looked away, trying to hide what I was feeling. It didn't work. Ella smiled wider, sitting on my bed next to me and getting comfortable with her legs crossed.
"Something happened, right? You must tell me," she said.
"Nothing happened," I denied. Ella slapped my knee lightly, laughing.
"Fang, you know I can tell."
I sighed in defeat. There was no hiding anything from my sister, her observations were like no other. Max was getting pretty good, but Ella was the master of reading emotions. She could do it with a single glance, putting together your reactions with what she already knew to make an almost spot on prediction as to what was in your head and why.
"It's Max."
"Well?"
I rubbed between my eyebrows, hating to be talking about this.
"What's wrong, Fang?"
Just get it over with.
"I hit her."
"You did what?"
Ella, who had leaned closer to me, now leaned back, moving away from me, her eyes wide with terror. It reminded me of Max's expression, when she looked up from the concrete...
Wait. Focus.
"She shoved me, I shoved back. I...I wasn't thinking," I spat out, the words getting caught in my throat. Only then did I realize how it must seem to my sister. She had always looked to me for protection from the violence, and to hear that I had done something she feared so much...
I swallowed. I felt as much shame as I did that night, my hands shaking slightly. I almost expected Ella to leave, or to be angry. I would have felt betrayed, if I were her. Instead, I felt her arms wrap around me, her head on my shoulder like she'd done a thousand times before.
"What happened after that?" she asked in a hushed whisper. I ducked my head, letting my ebony hair cover most of my features.
"She left. I ran to her house. We talked."
"It ended well, didn't it?"
More than she realized. I nodded, knowing if I kept talking, I would spill it all. Ella did that to me. She was one of the only people who could pull it all out of me.
"Fang?"
"Yeah?"
"You care for her, don't you? Like, you really have feelings for her. Right?"
"Why do you ask?"
Ella laughed.
"I've never seen you act this way around anyone before. It seems like the only explanation."
"And if I did?"
Ella pondered this. She took a deep breath, readjusting her head on my shoulder.
"Then...I would be happy for you."
Well. I certainly wasn't expecting that.
Maybe, just maybe.
MAX'S POINT OF VIEW
"Angel, hon, sometimes you shouldn't tell people everything you've heard about them. They might not like it," I explained patiently.
"Why not, Max? Why don't people want the truth?"
"They do, just maybe not all of it. I mean, sometimes people say things they don't mean if they're angry or scared and if the person heard them say it, it would hurt their feelings. Does that make sense?"
"No."
"Wonderful."
"Max, if you like him, he should know, right? Then you two can fall in love."
I gave a nervous laugh. Oh good gandhi, she's been spending too much time with Nudge.
"I don't like Fang, hon and we're not going to fall in love."
"Yes you do, Max! You give him weird looks. Nudge says that's affection. She says you do it when you like someone. When people like each other, they fall in love. That's how all it works, trust me. I read about it."
"Where on earth did you read about this?"
"My fairy tale book. The one with those weird painting like pictures? The old one? It says. I know."
"Angel, sometimes it takes a while to fall in love, and it doesn't always happen to the first person you like."
"Why not?"
"Because...love is a hard thing," I said, trying to explain my baby something that I didn't even understand myself. Just then, I saw a bird fly by the window.
"See that?"
"The birdie?"
"Yeah. Look at it. Do you think flying would be fun?"
"Yeah!"
"Does it look easy?"
"Well, duh. That's a bird! They all know how to fly!"
"Not exactly. It looks so simple; just unfurl your wings and flap, right? But even the birds sometimes have a hard time learning how to fly. They might soar on their first try, but they might fall a few times. Love is like that. It looks so easy, so beautiful, but sometimes you have to fall a few times before you can really fly. Love is dangerous, especially of you're in love for the first time. You could want to fly all the way to the clouds, but if you're not ready, you'll plummet right out of the sky. You might be able to do it, but sometimes it's just safer to take it a little at a time."
"Max?"
"Yeah?"
"If you didn't try your hardest to fly, what would be the point? Why fall in love carefully, when you can fall in love for real?"
FANG'S POINT OF VIEW
"You need to tell her. I mean, if you do care for her, that is," Ella said decisively.
"I wouldn't tell her if I did," I said honestly.
"Why not?"
"You know why."
"I don't."
"It wouldn't work, Ella."
"Why not? I think it would be lovely."
"Unfortunately, things don't always work out they way they did for you."
"But it could."
"I guess."
There was silence, and I cursed myself for bringing Iggy up. I was trying to keep Ella from thinking about him, because she'd barely gotten over the disappointment of his supposed departure. She really did care for him, and it was really starting to worry me.
"I think you'd be surprised."
"Surprised about what?"
"I think she cares more than you think she does."
"Yeah?" I asked, suddenly curious.
"Yes. It's her eyes."
"I've noticed that too," I commented before I was able to stop myself. But it was true. Max had the habit of letting her gaze linger on me when she thought I wasn't aware. At first I thought she was just gawking, but now I wasn't sure. I couldn't see the point of it, but it was starting to catch my attention.
"Maybe it's your manly charm," Ella teased me. I smirked at her, rolling my eyes.
"But you should tell her. At least think about it, okay?"
"Sure, Ella. Sure."
MAX'S POINT OF VIEW
"I don't even want you around!"
I scowled.
"I need to talk to you."
I shook my head, trying to keep my head clear. I was washing dishes and kept zoning out. I scrubbed harder at a pan full of a dinner I had burned horribly. I had Fang's low voice was stuck in my head, driving me crazy and distracting me.
"I'm sorry."
I remembered the burn of my red cheeks, the sting of my pocket knife handle as I gripped the weapons in my palms as tightly as I could. I remembered his tortured expression, his bent head. I could almost feel the slight cool breeze that helped cool my overheated body.
"Thank you."
Then I remembered the way he leaned in and kissed my cheek, quickly enough that I couldn't even react.
I scowled harder.
After trying to keep my mind focused for another five minutes and failing, I growled and threw the pan back into the sink. I turned away from the soapy mess and crossed my arms over my chest, my cheeks red with embarrassment.
This is ridiculous. Get it together. It's no big deal. It's over, right? Done with.
But it didn't feel very over. It felt like it was always lingering there in the back of my mind, the corners fuzzy. There was something bothering me, but I couldn't place it. It was there but every time I almost grasped it, it slipped away. It made me irresistibly curious and ridiculously curious.
"Oh for the love of-!" I said, hitting the side of my fist against the counter top.
"This is absolutely ridiculous."
Really short chapter, sorry. I just wanted to show the two going back and forth with their thought.
Love you!