We Were Strangers in the Dark – Chapter 4

By MyNameIsCAL

It was New Year's Eve and neither Fang nor I were up for celebrating. Although we had treated ourselves to fast food instead of cereal tonight, sitting at a small corner table as people bustled in an out, grabbing food to go. A lot of them were heading to the massive crowd to watch the ball drop, and it hurt to think about it because I used to stay up every year to watch it with my family.

After dinner, we walked back to the empty apartment building, ducking into the alleyway and going in the back. The only light we had inside was a little candle on the table where we usually ate cereal for dinner. All showering and whatever we needed to do in light had to be done before sunset, unless we did it by candle or flashlight.

I lay on the bed, listening to Fang settled on the couch, trying to find a comfortable position. He caught me by surprise when he began to talk.

"You don't want to go look for your family?" he questioned.

"My brother is there, with those scientists freaks. I am looking for my family," I reminded him.

"Right." Fang took a moment to think. "Well, I don't know, I guess I'm curious about your family, that's all. I probably owe you an apology for my poor introduction skills."

"Nah." Fang amused me sometimes, although I'm not sure he'd be entirely happy to know that. "My mom and dad were going through an ugly divorce when I got taken away. It was a custody battle, and maybe my disappearance, and my brother's disappearance, snapped things into perspective for them."

"Perhaps." He sounded troubled. "I just wanted to say thank you to you."

"For what?"

"Agreeing to help me. Cleaning me up after I got shot."

"You got me out of there." I felt like I was constantly reminding him of this.

"Alright, well, goodnight."

"Goodnight, Fang."

We were getting our supplies together slowly. And it wasn't easy because we didn't have a lot of money. Fang, shamefully, admitted that he had pick pocketed a man, but also claimed the man had been harassing some poor woman earlier, and so that he didn't need the money. If I had known Fang in another life, this wouldn't have been acceptable, but circumstances changed and it seemed like we were on the short end of the stick right now.

Fang had warmed to me now. Occasionally we would speak of our families. I managed to get a half smile out of him here and there. There were things he was holding back, and he knew that I was okay with that, which seemed to be bothering him because he always sounded like he had something else to say to me.

In passing, I had mentioned my birthday was soon, and to my surprise, he picked up on it because when I woke up one morning, he had hot food instead of cereal ready to eat.

"You didn't have to do this," I said, smiling at him. "We need the money."

He shook his head. It sounded like we were some married couple, unable to pay our bills or rent or something. I wanted to laugh, but held it back as I began to eat. Fang had been away a while ago, his food wrappers already sitting in the garbage can.

"Do you want to see a movie, or something? We can go somewhere, I don't know. I never got to celebrate my birthday. I was always stuck with the scientists." Fang glanced out the window. "Anyway….wherever you want to go."

"A movie sounds nice, actually."

Sometime later we found ourselves walking through the crowded streets of New York. We found a theater, Fang held the door, and we stood in line, staring up at the movie titles and the titles next to them.

"What do you want to see?" I asked him.

He shrugged. "I don't know. It's your birthday. Isn't Eclipse about vampires and werewolves? That could be interesting."

I shook my head. "I don't think you'd enjoy sitting through a romance movie."

"Ah." Fang scanned the list again. "I'm not familiar with any of these."

There was something disconcerting about standing in line for tickets at a movie theater without knowing what you wanted to see, and I realized how out of touch we really were. When we reached the front of the line, I stood there for a few seconds.

"So what's been making the most money?" I asked the cashier.

He looked annoyed. "The action thriller of course. Big stars. It's been showing for a while though. Not many people wanting to see it anymore. Guess they're bored. That's the problem these days. Too many bored people."

"Alright two tickets for that then," I said.

He gave me a funny look and took Fang's money, producing two tickets. We headed inside, avoiding concessions. I noticed the prices had risen since I had last been here. They were already so expensive before.

The theater the movie was showing in was empty. Fang and I were the only two people.

"Well, this is awkward," Fang muttered.

"No it's not." I wasn't even thinking, but I settled my head against his shoulder. He tensed up for a minute, and I half expected him to shake me off, but he didn't.

A little bit of Fax to end your Valentine's Day. I was lucky enough to have a date with Angel and I have completed reading it just a little over an hour ago.My honest opinion is that it was good. It lived up to my realistic expectations, although I find myself a little frustrated because it's not exactly what I wanted. But there's still one more book, you must remember when you're reading it. The ending needs to be good, or we'll be left with a feeling that all this was wasted.

Just a suggestion, don't go into reading Angel with a hatred for any of the characters. Take a deep breath and let them speak for themselves, and you'll realize that things may be complicated, but Patterson is definitely setting up an ending that could be good (as I'm hoping), or it could be a disaster, but let's not ponder that because no matter what happens, I'll still be sitting here writing fanfics until people stop reading and reviewing them.

My inbox is opened for opinions once you've read Angel. I'd like to know how you felt about it.

And thanks for reading, as always. I'll be sure to update soon

}MyNameIsCAL{