Author's Note: Sorry for the wait. My internet was on the fritz again. ON THE BRIGHTSIDE: my laptop is fixed! YAYAYAYAYAY .. I'm the only one happy about that? .. Alright.
Ahem. Anyway. This is the LAST CHAPTER!
Enjoy :)
Epilogue
Endless
"I swear if I never wake up in a hospital bed again, my life will be complete," I moaned.
As soon as my eyes had fluttered open, and the antiseptic smell had layered its stench in my nose thickly, I knew exactly where I was. Never mind the horrible decorating and insistent beeping from my heart monitor, or the stationary dripping IV's at my side. The smell would give it away to a blind man . . . like Iggy. The above statement was the first thing flying out of my mouth as soon as I came to this conclusion.
"You do have a knack for it, don't you?" a bemused voice asked. I glanced to my right to find Fang sitting in an uncomfortable looking plastic chair beside me, his hair rumpled and his eyes glazed over slightly with lack of sleep. "Maybe if you quit putting yourself in near death situations involving sharp weapons, you wouldn't have that problem."
"What can I say? It's a gift."
He rolled his eyes, reaching over to pick up my hand in his. He inspected my fingers, tracing lines seen only to him on my palm.
"So what happened?" I inquired, clearing my throat. I let my head fall back down on the pillows, tilting it so that I could still monitor Fang's mostly expressionless face, watching for the tiny hints of emotion I -only- could detect in his dark eyes.
"You don't remember?" he asked quietly, concern ringing in an undertone throughout his words.
"I remember that son of a bitch Leroy confessing to being behind Jared, and Ian and Sarah's, murder. Then we fought, which I was mostly dominating in by the way, until his little dagger friend made an appearance. Then I was a goner. That's about it, though," I explained, clenching my teeth in anger at the thought. "How could I have been so stupid? I never even suspected a thing. He was never . . . he never showed any signs that he was . . ."
"Crazy?" Fang prodded. "Because he was, Max. Literally. He had psychological problems."
"He blamed me for the gym going to waste," I admitted.
"Because that's what he honestly thought. He wasn't capable of thinking through it rashly."
I turned to stare up at the ceiling, picking out patterns that weren't really there. Eventually I collected myself enough to return to the conversation, saying thoughtfully, "Jared must have figured it out. Leroy had been babbling on and on about how he was 'digging up the past' and that he 'took care of him' before he could tell me. God knows Jared wouldn't have let me around someone so unstable, which is exactly what Leroy dreaded."
"He thought you were going to hit the big time. He wanted to be a part of that," Fang added. It seemed he knew a lot about the situation. Even more than I did, and I was the one who was there.
"Were you the one who found me?" I asked, figuring this was the most obvious assumption.
"Yeah," he said gruffly, curling the hand around mine into a fist. "I was just walking in when I heard you scream. While you have a knack for getting knifed, I have a knack for good timing, or so it seems. I ran, got there just before he could kill you, knocked him out then called the police. He came to when they were handcuffing him. Started going off about stuff. I didn't know what he was ranting about until later when I talked to the investigator."
"Are they going to want to talk to me?" I wrinkled my nose. I hated the authorities. Maybe it had something to do with living by my own rules for so long. I had a tough time conceding to 'the man's' will.
Fang smirked at my expression, smoothing a flyaway piece of hair back into place. "If you want to get Leroy locked up in jail, then yes."
I groaned.
"Dylan stopped by," Fang informed me suddenly, his emotionless mask fit snugly against his face. I didn't know whether not showing his animosity towards Dylan was more for my sake, or his.
"Really? Why?" I asked, though I could probably guess.
"Wanted to make sure you were okay . . . Say goodbye," he admitted.
My brow furrowed. "Say goodbye?"
"Yeah. Now that the mystery is all solved, and your life is no longer in immediate danger, there's nothing left for him to do here. He's probably headed back to New Jersey where his mom and dad are as we speak. I, for one, am not complaining."
"Oh come on. He wasn't acting that bad. Obviously his intentions were sincere," I chided him.
"The way he looked at you. I didn't like it," he muttered, his eyes narrowing slightly at the thought. I laughed at his expression, pushing his head slightly.
"Jealous fool," I teased, to which he quickly went on the defensive, denying ever having felt challenged in any way. Boys. Geesh.
After a beat of silence I asked about the others.
"The Arizona crew is awaiting your call, and Nudge and Iggy are wandering around here somewhere. Most likely where they're not supposed to be, I'm sure," Fang responded.
"So we're all alone. For the time being, at least?" I inquired innocently, biting my lip.
His smirk widened, riding the fine line between that and a smile. I could feel it fall over into the grin area as soon as my lips brushed against his. He stood, kicking the chair away. It toppled over onto its side, lying pitifully on the shiny, waxed floor. He positioned himself with one arm supporting his weight on the other side of my waist, hovering over me. His mouth was like satin on mine. Exactly the drug they needed to be giving at a hospital.
I kept expecting a doctor or nurse to barge in, but they seemed to steer clear of my room for once. Maybe my luck was changing after all.
I'm sure more people would love to see me six feet under, but for now I was flying high in the sky. No one was out to get me for the time being, and I would revel in that for as long as I could. Just until the next drama in my life came up. Which, trust me, there would be more. There was no doubt about that.
After all, I still had an Aunt turned Mother to get to know, as well as a cousin turned sister at that. I'm almost positive we hadn't heard the end from my twisted "father" Jeb as well. That was just icing on the cake. Maybe I'd even venture to get to know Ari a little more. The possibilities were endless, really.
And I would do all those things. Learning to fly, hypothetically speaking, had made me realize that paranoia and extreme caution were clouding not only the bad things in my life that could happen, but also the good. If I didn't learn to trust, if not others but my instincts, what was the point in all this? Taking chances was a part of life. Good outcomes couldn't come without a little risk in the process.
Maybe I'd get hurt. Maybe I wouldn't. Trying to look too far into the future instead of acting in the present was only going to lead to endless trouble, that was the one thing I was sure of.
"Fang?" I murmured, pushing his chest so that he'd stop kissing me and listen.
He hummed in response, pressing his lips to mine quickly before pulling back, letting me know I had his undivided attention.
"We definitely still need that rematch."
Author's Note: Oh jeez. It's done. It's really done. It's complete.
So, SUPER DUPER GINORMOUS MUCHO BIG thanks to all that have reviewed, alerted and/or favorited this story. Especially those that did so for the last. ESPECIALLY especially those that have been along for the entire ride. You give me happy feelings :)
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