Winter Wonderland

"Max!" Pounding on my door and I instantly jumped out of bed ready to fight but the pounding continued and the giggles grew louder. "Come on!" Angel's voice was persistent, glad that she couldn't read minds or control them anymore. I turned around panicking and Fang tossed me his really large tee shirt. I slipped it on and let my wings fall through the slits. I didn't want to open the door in my underwear.

I peaked around the door to see Angel looking like a pink puff ball with fuzzy earmuffs underneath the hood of the thick winter coat. "Snow! We can build a snowman in the meadow! Let's go!" Nudge and Gazzy were both dressed as well jumping up and down.

Our first real snow day and we had the day off. Iggy and Ella were walking down the hall dressed warm as well. I blushed when Ella turned her head and managed to get a glimpse behind the door. Either she saw Fang in the bed or me in his tee shirt because she smiled and shook her head.

"Tell Fang to come too," Nudge said with a little jib. Iggy laughed over his shoulder and gave her a grin. I noticed the way Nudge blushed and watched him and Ella walk down the hall together hand in hand. I suppose she wanted a boyfriend badly. She was the girly-girl who did all the shopping and dating scenes. I heard Fang's muffled okay from behind. He wasn't enthusiastic.

"We'll be right out," I informed them and I watched as the kids jumped up and down in excitement. I shut the door and shut my eyes, "Snow day…awesome. I thought we'd get to sleep more." I stepped forward and Fang stood up to greet me. Outside the snow is glistening. Fang caught my stare for a moment and looked out the window. "Beautiful sight," I whispered as he snuggled me into his arms.

"Yep," but Fang wasn't like other guys who pulled the cheesy agreement thing while staring at you. That was the thing about us, we didn't need to say the words we so obviously felt. Fang's hand played with a strand of my hair and I smiled as I rested my head against his chest.

"That was a very rude wake up call," I replied and I felt him smile, his way of laughing. I backed away and ran a hand through my hair. I gave a wide smile, "I suppose a few snowball hits are due for them." Already I was plotting as I pulled on a pair of jeans. Instead of reaching for a new tee shirt, I kept on Fang's black one even though it was so large. It smelled of pine tree from our final night fly of the winter. It would be too cold for the rest of the season to go out at nights.

Fang slipped on a pair of jeans from the drawer he kept in my room. We alternated between his room and mine so we had to keep each other's clothes in both rooms. I had tried my best to keep the younger kids from knowing Fang and I shared a room but they knew it within a week. My mother had no idea about the sleeping in the same room, just that Fang and I were back together. From the end of October to now, the beginning of December, no one knew that it was every night Fang and I were together. We didn't do anything all the time, we shared a bed to know that we were alive and with each other.

Abraham hadn't done anything but that made Fang and I both nervous. We didn't let our guards drop as we traveled. School had gotten easier having him with me and we began making more friends as people once and for all put the wings behind them.

"Max?" Fang's hand overlapped mine. There I went again, getting lost in my thoughts over the worst in my life. Focus on the happy Max, I told myself. I no longer had the Voice after all to intrude. Pressing his lips right were my blood pulse made me dizzy and I smiled. "Let's get ready." Then, he went to his room as we both got on the snow gear my mother had bought for us.

Outside, the sun was casting a really bad glare. "Woah," Iggy said shading his eyes with his free hand, "I'm blind again." Ella and him were the first to step off the porch beside the younger kids who were running out and already diving headfirst into the mounds of snow.

"Really?" I asked picking up snow in my glove as Iggy turned to face me. I whipped the snowball and it grazed the top of his head as he ducked. "Then how did you see that blind guy?" I gave him a smile. It was nice knowing Iggy could see. It had been almost a year and nothing had gone terribly wrong.

We broke out into a war of snowballs. Fang and I against Iggy and Ella, but eventually, even the teams broke apart because I somehow found myself tackling Fang into the snow while exchanging kisses. "Hey, watch it you two, keep it PG for the youngsters." I laughed and rolled off Fang. I stared up at my mom standing on the porch watching us with a smile. Being a vet who lives with seven children has its advantage, such as getting the day off from work because the schools were closed.

"Max, let's build a snowman!" Angel and Nudge pulled me off the ground as Fang smirked from the ground. Ella ran over to join us. Total went back inside complaining that his paws were frozen. The boys flew off to do their own thing. Being super strong, we made a pretty giant snowwoman as we decided to call it. The snow piled up over my head and we used large branches for arms. My mother, as if knowing what we would do, had bought a bag of coals and carrots. We gave her a mouth, eyes, a nose, and buttons.

"She's beautiful," I stated as I fix my hat on her head. I shook out my hair to avoid hat hair. "Where did the guys go?" I asked curiously just as figures broke through the forest screaming on their lungs. I instantly took flight with a laugh as Gazzy and Iggy hurled forward with snowballs.

"Gets vu littles ones!" Gazzy imitated Borch perfectly before giving up to laughter. Nudge and Ella fought against Iggy while Angel fought against Gazzy. I was wondering where the last one was when- smack, I was hit in the side of the face with a snowball.

Fang was flying with a handful of snowballs in the crook of his arm. He went to throw again and I easily dodged. Our fight ending when he ran out of snowballs. Panting I landed on the ground and leaned against him. I shut my eyes as the fog of our breath mixed together. He felt warm in the chill of the air. "Geez, you've gotten a lot faster," I noted. I had almost switched over to full on hyper speed with the way Fang was flying.

"Hot cocoa and a fire!" My mom called, the sun was setting. As our last adventure of the day, we all decided to do one last thing…making snow angels. All of us with wings stuck them out and simply fell backwards in the large space of the front yard. Ella had to wave her arms up and down. Snow angels aren't as good when you don't have wings, I noticed.

Inside, I sat right beside the fire in the still-dry jeans and Fang's tee shirt that still smelled like him. My hair had gotten soaked as I sipped the hot cocoa. "Hot," I announced, burning my tongue. Fang rolled his eyes from the couch and made the obvious point that he blew on his hot chocolate to cool it down. I stuck out my tongue, "I got excited, so shut up."

"Technically, he never said anything," Iggy pointed out beside Fang. I sighed and figured not to argue with him today. All of us had been chattering from the cold when we walked in but now, we were comfy and warm as our snow clothes were placed in the dryer in the laundry room.

"I like it here," Angel announced. I believe it was the first time any of us had said it. I think it's because we were so use to leaving all the time that we had chosen not to get attached at all. Now we could as everyone nodded their heads in agreement. For once, everything felt completely normal- wings or no wings.

Nudge chattered away, Iggy listened as always as if he was still the blind kid, Angel and Ella played a Pretty, Pretty Princess game, Total slept beside the wall right next to the fire. My mom walked into the kitchen to start cooking dinner. Music was turned on and it was Christmas. Soon, we'd have a tree and decorations for the first time because last year I was so broken and with three close friends dead we didn't have the heart. This year would be different.

Fang stood up and then, rested beside me. As we dream by the fire, Fang slips his arm around me and I rest my head on his shoulder. I watch my flock happy and safe for once with no future to have to worry about. We had now and it was long enough for all of us. "A beautiful sight, we're having tonight." Fang whispered in my ear staring right at me. All right, so we did do the kind of moments where we said lines like that to each other but I didn't mind it at all. He kissed my cheek to keep it PG as my mom had asked. Tonight maybe deeper kisses would be exchanged.

I sighed and Fang raised an eyebrow in question.

"Home," I replied.

Song is "Winter Wonderland" re-sung by Jason Mraz

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