A/N: I am so sorry this took so long, for the last like month or two I've had almost no motivation to write this chapter. I don't really know what it was, but then my bestfriend sent me this song called "The Days Go By Oh So Slow" by Nightmare of You, and something just clicked. This is what came out of it. It's not very long... but I think it's kinda cute.
Chapter XIX: Done.
In contrast to the day, which had seemed to go on for endless hours in sun basked timeless sense, when in reality not even four hours had gone by, the bus ride home was a short one. A blur of passing cars and commuters on their way home to the inner city, filled with nothing but noise from the outside, and their own quiet thoughts to fill them within.
In fact, these thoughts were so consuming, so very overwhelming, that Fang very nearly missed their stop, and had it not been for Iggy's gentle tapping on his shoulder and careful listening, they would have most likely found themselves calling another taxi to find someway to get home.
They went in to the hotel from the back way and after fumbling with the key in the lock, the two fell into the automatic motions of taking off their shoes and setting those away; shedding their sweatshirts and whatever other baggage they'd picked up throughout the day as they leisurely made their way to their mess of a bed. Housekeeping had not come by, since Max had somehow found the sense to hang a "Do Not Disturb" sign on their door before leaving. Which meant everything was exactly as they'd left it that morning. In one night they'd some how managed to already make a mess of their two rooms, leaving clothes askew, with magazines and newspapers spread all over every conceivable surface. Not to mention their beds, comforters heaped at the foot and sheets even worse. Pillows stuffed in the cracks between the headboard and the mattress. Yet there was a comfort in this sort of chaos- which was still nevertheless shameful- because therein, they could safely assume that the rest of the Flock had not yet arrived back. And maybe they wouldn't for a while. This gave them time. Time to think and digest and breathe without Angel and Gazzy's constant please for attention, Nudge's need to intoxicate their air with her nonsensical blabber, or even Max and her controlling nature. Time was what they needed, and time was what they had.
Until they'd grown so close, but boys had often felt smothered by the rest of the Flock. Sure, they loved them, but they were always there, every second, of every day, of every moment. Jus like families are, but there was no bedroom to escape to, no friends to call, no television to watch. It was the Flock. You couldn't move without one of them breathing down your neck. Or asking a question, or complaining, or… just being there. This was nearly twice as bad as any of the others. They'd stare you down, scrutinize and analyze you, like it was any of their business in the first place. And it wasn't. Not at all.
But things had changed, a lot. Not just that they'd found their ways to escape, or that they'd more or less started enjoying each others company, but all of this… the drama of the last few months, seemed to age all of them several years. Even the younger ones seemed to have started to calm down and relax a bit. A miracle in it's self.
Still, times like this, when they were all away, were the best.
Fang was the first to collapse onto the heap of sheets, eventually managing to wriggle his way beneath the now icily cool linens. Iggy came next, more carefully picking his way between piles of clothes and god knows what else, before peeling back the covers with the precision of a scientist measuring a beaker. He slipped in as well, but not before pulling the comforter, which was still bundled on the floor, over the both of them.
Wordlessly, they moved together. Iggy resting his head against Fang's chest and Fang resting his head atop Iggy's hair, and at the same time, their bodies fell into perfect form, due mostly to old habit, like two matching puzzle pieces.
Fang's breath ruffled Iggy's hair, and Iggy found himself listening for the reassuring beat of Fang's heart against his own, and their racing minds slowly began to calm and rationalize. Just like that.
Outside the air began to cool as the sun slowly lowered itself to sit across the horizon as a burst of red and orange, running into a sky perfectly water colored into shades of pink and purple by fluffy clouds in the distance. An open window let a low breeze in, and it swept across their bed. Iggy shivered, and instinctively, Fang tugged at the covers until it was nearly at both their chins.
Footsteps and yelling of the angry sort thundered like the breaking of glass down the hall, and that made Fang uneasy. As the noise escaladed, his head slowly rose, and he stared accusingly at their door to the outside. But, gently Iggy pulled him back down with smooth hands and a tight hug.
The clock showed the passing of forty-minutes, but it could have easily been a day and a half before anything disturbed them. But it wasn't as much a disturbance as it was a welcome distraction from the thoughts they'd spent nearly the last hour grappling with.
Slowly, Iggy swallowed and opened his mouth, letting his voice roll out low and husky, with just a touch of sleepiness tainting his diction, "I love you."
"I love you too," Fang's voice was soft as his fingers moved down Iggy's side, tracing his every curve and line as he went, gently tickling the other boy like a feather grazing your hair as it floats towards the ground.
There was a long pause filled with only the sound of the air vent purring, and the rustling of sheets as Iggy pulled himself up towards Fang's face- which he could picture so clearly. Long brown hair, with little waves at the ends, touching his shoulders, thick and smooth like silk. Big, brown eyes with flecks of gold like the sunset framed by long, dark lashes, set in high cheekbones and tanned, olive skin. Thin lips, likely chapped, and a long nose, which Fang had always been self conscious of, but Iggy thought it'd made him look more mature. He wouldn't have looked right without it.
If he strained his imagination he could picture what could only be the sunset, for he thought it was about that time, streaming through the window, blonding Fang's hair and making the gold in his eyes dance.
"I think this is the best day of my life." His fingers gently reached out and touched the soft skin of his cheek, while Fang's hand grasped his wrist, and then his hand, holding it tightly. Iggy liked the sensation.
"Not because I met my parents," Iggy cleared the smokiness from his voice in annoyance, "I mean, I met my dad. My dad's pretty cool, I think. He's one of those parents who'd always love their kids no matter what, just look at Janie."
He chuckled softly to himself, thinking of the sweet smell of marijuana, cigarettes and booze which seemed to emanate from her.
"I like that about him. And Janie's cool. I think she, like, gets it. You know, me. At least, more than I thought she would," and his tone suddenly turned rather perplexed as a vision of what he could imagine his mother as came to mind, "It kind of sucks that my mom's dead… I know Janie liked her. So she can't be all that bad, you know."
"Mmhmm," Fang hummed softly to show he was listening as he took Iggy's hand from his cheek and held it in front of him, burying it within both of his palms affectionately.
"I'm glad I didn't grow up with them though. I know they mean the best and everything. My mom and my dad, but I don't know what would have happened… I might have ended up like Janie or something, you know.
"I wouldn't be blind, though, and I guess that's a plus." Iggy shrugged a bit, mostly for his own reassurance, rather than Fang's.
Another silence followed, this one shorter, and the usual white noise was instead disturbed by the slight smacking noises of Fang's lips against Iggy's knuckles.
"If you grew up with them you wouldn't be Iggy… you'd be someone totally different. Like, they say that the way you grow up sets the way you'll be for the rest of your life, like makes you who you are. Since we grew up in the School we're kind of fucked up and stuff, but we're also… I dunno, just different, you know? And if you didn't… it just wouldn't be you. And I like you just the way you are." Iggy felt a fluttering in his stomach during the entirety of Fang's short lived monologue. Because he realized this was true. Perhaps there were some good points about the school. Or just one really. That they made them into the people they were. They could have become spoiled brats, or stupid jocks. Any number of things, but instead they ended up being them.
"You know how much you mean to me, right?"
"Do youknow how much you mean to me?" Fang retorted.
Suddenly, he found his eyes beginning to prick with what could only be tears. Because suddenly, the magnitude of it all, was there.
Months of changes and events. From the time that they spent in the City together, to their time on the rooftop, to the Eraser's attack, to coming here, to meeting their parents, to now.
Everything was so different. He found himself holding himself in less, and sharing his feelings more. Of course, this was mostly with Iggy, and of course he was going to do that with Iggy, but it was still a very unfamiliar sort of thing for Fang to do. Always the stoic one, always the strong one, always the quiet one, by choice. He liked it that way, within the solemn-ness of himself there was comfort in the sameness, there were no changes or things to consider. It was simple, then.
And feelings somehow came into play, slowly battering down the walls he'd built inside to protect himself from nothing until they fell, and things started to happen. The need to be near Iggy, the wanting to touch him, and eventually, the yearning simply for him.
A very, very knew phenomenon, considering the way he'd pushed away simple boyhood crushes before, such as the one he'd had on Max for so long. He knew it would pass, and it did. Yet this stuck, and it grew.
Until that night when they finally kissed… and everything sort of came pouring out after that. They grew so close so fast…
There were so many good times within that. Going into the City once, and breaking away from the group to spend the day together. They held hands for the first time in public that day, and sure people stared a bit, but no one came up to them and began to scream in their face. No one begged them to turn to god. In fact most people just ignored them. Being that it was New York, this was probably something they'd seen everyday. Somehow though, it felt like a big deal to Fang.
Once they'd come through the City during some sort of Gay Pride get together. This was with the rest of the Flock of course, but briefly, as they distanced themselves from the rest of the Flock to avoid their curiosity, they really belonged. It was also the first time they'd really identified themselves as a gay couple. They barely considered themselves a couple, so it was a bit of a shock when two outgoing lesbians started up a conversation, asking them about their experience as a teenage, gay couple. Luckily, Iggy made up some sort of story to satisfy them, and they went on their merry way.
Better yet, the time they'd taken Angel to see some silly kid movie, and they'd snuck out of the theatre together and seen something totally different. He didn't even remember what. But they'd sat up in the back row the entire time, completely engaged in shoving their tongue down the other's throat.
They'd grown up so much together, and not just in kissing and holding hands and being a couple, but they'd matured too. He used to just brush off things that happened around him as other people's silly problems, but he realized soon enough that those silly problems affected him even more than he could have ever expected.
He knew too, that though they'd already changed so much, there was so much more to come. There was Georgia, for one, and living in the South, where they'd never even been before. Working with these people who were hiding them, that was another matter entirely. He couldn't even imagine how that was going to go…
Yet somehow, it didn't scare him. There was risk he knew, and he'd have a whole new plate of things to get used to, but there was so much to look forward to.
The Flock was still together. And not only that, but he had Iggy.
And looking at him right then, he knew, this was it. This was his world. He didn't need anything else, nor did he want it. That was that.
IMPORTANT NOTE: I am definitely writing some sequels for this... so check my profile for updates. Currently I think I have a oneshot lined up next, so hopefully that'll be up soon.
If not, slap me.