89Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride or the song this story is based off of.
I glanced down at the ground from the air, scanning the land for what I was looking for. The kids were literally seconds from falling from the sky. They had their heads down, each downward flap looking like a monstrous task.
"There's one."
My heart skipped a beat. I had zoned out, and his voice had startled me, like I'd let him know that, though.
Fang tilted the tips of his feathers and coasted along side me. "Should we get a couple rooms then?" he asked.
I nodded and angled my wings down. "'Kay guys," I shouted over the wind. "We're going to get a hotel tonight. Let's land."
The relief just rolled off of the rest of the flock. It was like I had just lifted a ten ton weight off of their shoulders. We glided down to the ground, tucking in our wings before touching down behind the hotel.
Before we went into the lobby, I made sure they knew the rules. "No running around, stay put, don't say anything, and wait for Fang and me to get back before you decided to go anywhere." They nodded, and we walked through the revolving doors. The kids, Iggy, and Total dropped like dead weights onto the lobby furniture.
Fang and I, well, mainly me, went up to the front desk. I put on my best smile. "His, can I get two adjoining double rooms for tonight?"
The receptionist lady looked down through her oversized glasses lenses at the computer screen. "No, I'm sorry, we don't have two adjoining doubles available," she said with a frown. "But I can give you three rooms. There's an adjoining double and single with another double across the hall. Would that be okay?"
I glanced back at Fang. He shrugged and shoved his ands into his pockets. "Yeah, I guess that's okay."
She returned to her computer, and the keys on the keyboard clicked against her finger nails. "Okay," she finally said, looking up. "You're all set. Here are your keys. Please enjoy your stay."
Fang and I ambled back to the flock, and I gave them the low down on rooming arrangements. "Okay, who wants to room with who?"
Nudge raised her hand, waving it wildly. "Oh, oh! I want to room with Angel!"
"I want to room with Iggy," the Gasman said coolly.
I sighed. "Okay, okay, Angel and Nudge can have the single. Gazzy and Iggy, you guys can share the double across the hall as long as you don't turn anything into explosives, got it?"
The boys nodded. "But Angel and I were going to do something! Can't we have the room that's connected to theirs?" Gazzy pleaded.
"Um . . ." Hmm, what should I do?
"Sure," Fang muttered from behind me. "Max and I'll take the one across the hall." He pried the card keys from my still hands. "Take the stairs up to your rooms and go to bed soon." Everybody shook their heads greedily and headed up to their rooms after Fang handed them their keys.
I stared at Fang for the longest time, not knowing what to say or what to expect. We finally stopped gaping at each other and headed for the stairs.
After checking on the kids briefly, I walked back into the room with Fang trailing behind me. When I walked into the room, you don't know how relieved I was. Ah, yes, two beds, and thank goodness there was a shower. I catapulted myself onto the closest bed and buried my face into the mattresses' and blanket's softness. "I've got dibs on this one," I sighed into a pillow.
"Hope you're willing to share," Fang said in disgust. I picked myself up and looked over at him. He was inspecting the other bed. "There's something on this one, and I'm not about to figure out what it is."
I hopped off of my bed and peeked over his shoulder. Sure enough, the blankets were stained with something yellow and then some clear stuff that was caked on. I wrinkled my nose, totally repulsed. "Well, someone really needs to fire the cleaning lady," I snorted.
"You got that right," Fang muttered.
I sat back down on my bed, clutching a pillow to my chest. "Well, I'm gonna go take a shower, and you decide what's going to happen."
"I'm going in after you!" I heard Fang shout as I closed the bathroom door.
The moment that water hit my back, I felt a shard of ice melt from my chest, along with an ugly layer of dirt. I massaged my head with the hotel's two-in-one, putting great use to the rise, lather, and repeat steps. When I finally stepped out of the shower, I took a deep breath, feeling revived. After wrapping a few towels around me, I carefully opened the door at walked out.
Fang barely lifted his head as I came out of the bathroom. He grabbed his own clothes and went into the bathroom, locking the door behind him. With Fang not in the room, I got dressed. I slid into a pair of baggy, black sweat pants and a short sleeved shirt that hugged my waist just a little too much. Seeing as the TV was practically calling my name, I switched the thing on and kicked back to watch a show.
Ten minutes later, Fang came out of the bathroom, fresh smelling, fully clothed, hair still dripping wet. Now I was the one staring at him. I couldn't help it. He just looked so . . . appealing with his hair plastered to his face, his skin bright, and his eyes so rich. Times like these, I wish I could speak.
"So, when you're done gawking," he coughed, sending me a smirk, "we still need to discuss sleeping arrangements."
I shook my head and focused on something else. "Right," I mumbled. He came over and sat on the corner of my bed. "You could always just sleep here, you know," I suggested hesitantly. "I mean, there's plenty of room, but you don't have to if you're not comfortable with it."
He was silent. "Nah, I'll just sleep on the floor."
I looked over at him. He had his head down, hair making a curtain over his face. I have a couple words for that: breathtaking. Or is that one word? Oh, who cares? It gets my point across.
"Fang, you're not sleeping on the floor," I told him. He didn't move. "We haven't had a good night's rest in . . . since . . . It's been a while, okay?" Still no movement from the Fang department, isn't that just peachy? "Look, I'll be fine. There's plenty of room see?" I lay down on one side of the bed just to prove it. "See? There's plenty of room for both of us."
What the hell. Of all times Fang chooses to be quiet, it's now when we've got some major decision making to do. I swear the only thing that makes me keep this guy around is his brains. No, it's not just his looks. Okay, I'll admit, Fang is a decently good looking guy, but it's not like I'm drooling over him. He has determination, smarts, and a heck of a lot more. His looks are just an added bonus, I guess you could say.
Of course, I also hate that he has this quiet streak. It's, like, a killer silence, and that's when I start to get ticked. When Fang just sits and goes all silent when I need him to answer something, yeah, expect me to get mad. So, yeah, right now, I flip.
"Okay, then, fine!" I shouted, pushing him off the bed. He landed on the ground and looked up at me innocently. "Sleep on the floor. See how much I care." I yanked the blankets over my head and pressed my face into the pillow.
It was silent for a few minutes, and I was suddenly feeling bad for yelling at Fang. He didn't deserve me yelling at him for something as stupid as that. I was about to apologize when I felt him slide onto the other side of the bed. Just as I flipped over on the bed to face him, he drew up the comforter.
"Look," I sighed, "I'm really sorry for yelling at you. I freaked over nothing. Forgive me?"
Fang was speechless for what seemed like hours. "All the time," he said with a smile. Of course, when Fang smiles I have to smile back.
I turned back over and faced the other wall and closed my eyes. Just before I finally started to drift off to sleep, I felt Fang slip an arm around my waist.
"What are you doing?" I asked him groggily. I turned my tried to turn my shoulders toward him so I could see.
Fang pressed up against me, and I naturally shaped myself to fit with him more comfortably, which still felt odd. He rested his cheek on mine as he spoke. "Saying good night," he whispered. I felt his lips touch my forehead with much delicacy. "'Night, Max," he said softly after kissing my forehead again.
I lay there, being as still as possible. "'Night, Fang," I mumbled.
I half expected Fang to stay by me with his arm around me the whole night, but he soon rolled over onto his side of the bed, facing the opposite direction. A million thoughts went running through my head at once. For one, I was sleeping in the same bed with my best friend. Two, my best friend just kissed me good night. And three, well, you can fill in the blank.
With a sigh, I rolled over again to face in the same direction as Fang. I pulled my body against the contour of his back and draped my arm over his chest. My head was resting right behind his, and I inhaled the fresh scent of his hair. Fang gently took my hand and his and kissed my fingertips. I let one last sigh before closing my eyes. This would be a great sleep.
Okay, I really don't know what to say now. I don't have any updates for you 'cept that chapter 5 is up for Midnight Morning...Anyway, I think I may do another short one along the same lines as this one. Hotel/Motel situations. It would basically have the same plot line as this one, just a few different sets of dialogue in some areas. Like an alternate ending.
Well, since I've got nothing more to say, I'll just say thank you all for reading and extra thanks to those who are also reading Midnight Morning!
Thank you, and please review!
- Saz