Long Distance Lovin'

Summary: After moving to London, Max struggles to keep up her relationship with her long-time boyfriend, Fang. On one of their anniversaries, Max claims that she needs to break up with him, for some outrageous reason. Will Fang be able to win her back and keep their relationship going, or will he just let her go?

~February 13, 2008~

Max jiggled the rusty key into the shiny keyhole, holding her black leather bag from work between her teeth, her hands already being filled other bags containing boxes of chocolates for her boyfriend. She slowly set down the bag, resting it up against the white door frame, and jiggled the key even more. She groaned in frustration and banged her head against the rickety door, knowing that she probably wouldn't be able to get inside her own apartment until Fang, her boyfriend, got home.

She heard something click right then, and suddenly, she was close to falling face flat on the wooden floor of her home. Two strong arms grabbed her and put her back on her feet as she dusted herself off and regained her balance. She looked up, brushing her locks of brown, sun-streaked out of her face, meeting familiar obsidian eyes.

She smiled at her 'savior,' and asked, "What are you doing here so early?"

Her boyfriend cracked a crooked smile, showing off his white, pearly teeth, and got out of the way and motioned Max to come inside. "I asked if I could go home early. After all, tomorrow is our anniversary, and my boss said I could stay home for tomorrow too, since I've been working hard these past couple of months."

Max's smile faltered a bit at the mention of their anniversary, but was quickly covered up with a wink and said, "So that means you haven't working that hard before these past couple of months?"

Fang noticed the tiniest hint of sadness in her eyes when he mentioned the special day, but he let it go and rolled his eyes at Max's comment. He helpfully grabbed Max's work bag out of her hands, and asked, "What's in those other bags?"

Max shrugged and grinned, hiding the bags away from him. Fang cocked an eyebrow, and made a lunge for them, ultimately failing as Max took the bags and shoved them in a cabinet. "Later," she whispered to him as she walked past him to change her clothes.

"Wear something nice!" Fang called out to her as she walked into their bedroom. "We're going out!"

Max's eyebrows furrowed questioningly as she yelled, "Tonight?" She could practically feel him nodding, but instead he called out, "Yeah! I thought we could go out tonight, and have the night to ourselves tomorrow."

Max shrugged to herself, and walked into her closet, looking through all the fancy dresses she had. She finally decided on wearing a black, sleeveless, form-fitting dress. It fit snugly on her body, and showed off her curves. She picked out a pearl necklace and matching pearl earrings.

Thanks to her friends from work, she knew how to dress up. It didn't take long for her, but she needed to make her hair nice. She plugged in her hair curler, and while that heated up, she decided to put on some make-up (all courtesy of her friends). She started off with a little mascara and a thin line of eyeliner on her eyelids to bring out those chocolate brown eyes she had. She brought out a brush and lightly brushed her cheeks with a pinkish-colored blush. The curler, by now, had heated up, and she took about 10 minutes curling her already curly hair, to give it a little emphasis.

Her brownish-blonde locks of hair flowed from her head and down to her shoulders, her eyes now popped, and her cheeks had a pink tint on them. She went back to the closet and picked out a matching pair of heels. With those on, she'd be almost as tall as Fang was.

She checked her phone for the time, and realized that she'd taken quite a while. As she walked out of the bathroom and bedroom, she bumped into Fang, who was ready to go. She caught him staring at her, and she blushed, her cheeks growing redder than the blush that was already applied.

He leaned in close to her, and whispered in her ear, "You look absolutely beautiful, as always." She shivered, his quiet, low voice sending shivers down her spine.

"You don't look so bad yourself," she retorted, winking at him and seductively walking out of the room, leaving Fang gaping at her.

The two ended up going to a fancy restaurant, which clearly explained why Fang asked Max to dress nice. They got situated and ordered their drinks and food.

Max was scared. She needed to tell Fang something important, but he always gave her this dazzling smile, or whenever he looked into her eyes – it just made her want to melt. She sucked in some air through her mouth, wiping her sweaty palms on that beautiful black dress she was wearing.

"Fang," she said quietly, "I need to tell you something."

He looked expectant, ready to hear something happy, but as soon as he saw her hesitate for the slightest moment, he knew what was coming.

His eyes bore into hers, searching for any sign that he was wrong. "You're breaking up with me, aren't you?" he barely whispered.

She looked down at her lap instead of meeting his dark eyes. "I got a promotion," she said quietly. "It's in London."

~February 14, 2009~

Max laughed at her friend's antics as she dialed up her boyfriend's number. She was still laughing when he picked up.

"What's so funny?" she heard a deep voice rumble through the device.

Max got ahold of herself and explained it to Fang. "Iggy's just hilarious, Fang. Whenever you visit, you have to meet him, okay?"

She heard some hesitance on the other side after she'd said that, but then she heard Fang say, "That'd be cool."

Fang and Max decided to keep their relationship going rather than drop it, since they'd been together for so long anyways, and they really loved each other.

"Well," she said merrily, "I just wanted to wish you Happy Anniversary, sweetie."

She could feel Fang smiling as he repeated the same thing to her. "I love you," she added.

"I love you too."

~February 14, 2010~

Max got off of the plane and stretched her arms and legs, tired after the long flight. She was excited to see Fang, but he didn't know she was coming.

She grabbed a taxi, which were easy to find in New York, and had the driver drive her down to the apartment which she used to live in, where Fang still resides.

She hopped out of the yellow cab about half an hour later, and ran up to Apartment 216, and rang the doorbell. A groggy and tired Fang answered the door.

"Max?" he croaked.

She grinned at him and flung her arms around his neck. "Happy Anniversary," she whispered in his ear.

"I was just about to call you," he said excitedly, happy that she was here. "How long are you staying?"

She let go of him, missing the warmth his body radiated, and quietly said, "At least a month," all the while winking at him and letting herself in.

~February 14, 2011~

Max stood impatiently outside of the red box, waiting for her turn. The person inside was taking an awful long time. Max tapped her foot and checked her watch several times.

The person inside finally stepped out, allowing her to step inside and place her call.

She dialed her boyfriend Fang's number, and heard the line ringing. After she told him the news about the promotion, they decided that they would work it out, and have a long-distance relationship, but now she felt that it wasn't working. Almost halfway across the world from each other wasn't the best way to work a relationship.

"Hello?" Max heard through the receiver, the voice crackling a bit.

Max drew in her breath, just as she did three years ago, and slowly said, "Fang, this isn't going to work."

There was silence at the other end, until he finally said, "Why do you say that? Plus, it's our anniversary today."

"It's just not going to work." She didn't feel like explaining, but she felt like she owed it to him, bringing up a break-up all of a sudden. "We're really far away from each other, we rarely video chat with that in mind, we hardly talk on the phone with each other," she muttered, listing everything. "Last time we video chatted, I saw a pair of earrings and a ring on your nightstand."

She was on the verge of tears when she said that. She'd spent nights not sleeping, just thinking about how there was jewelry on his freaking nightstand when he was video chatting with her. The last time they'd video chatted was about a month ago, which really had Max worried, since today was, after all, their anniversary.

"I can explain," he rushed out, his words meshing together as he spoke. "That wasn't what you thought it was-"

Max effectively cut him off by saying, "Listen, I don't want to hear it. Sorry, Fang." She hung up on him before he could hear her about to cry. She stood still in the telephone booth, her face buried in her hands. Tears threatened to spill out, but she swallowed it down and blinked it away. She opened the red door and it accidentally hit someone's back.

"Sorry," she muttered, before noticing who it was.

She looked at the stranger, who slowly turned to face her.

It was Fang.

Max's eyes widened as she spluttered out a, "W-What are y-you doing here?" Her voice shook with every word that exited her mouth, her hands were shaking, and her palms were sweaty. She was about to really cry now – there was no swallowing it back.

"I was here to surprise you," he whispered, looking down. In his hand was a beautiful bouquet of flowers that immediately made Max feel guilty. "I knew you live near the Big Ben, and I saw you go into the phone booth, so I just waited outside for you."

The next thing she did was something she didn't expect herself to, but she hugged him tightly, and sobbed in his shoulder. Fang slowly wrapped his owns arms around her.

"Explain the jewelry," she demanded, her words muffled and distorted by his shoulder.

Fang let go of her, and Max wiped her eyes with her hands. He said, "Did you really want to break up with me?"

She stubbornly looked away from him, sniffling. "No," she muttered. "I love you."

"Do you trust me?" he persisted.

She avoided eye contact with him as she mumbled, "Yes, of course, but that doesn't explain - "

Fang shoved his hand into his jacket pocket and pulled out a tiny box. He opened it up, and inside were the same pair of earrings that Max had seen from the night they video chatted. "Happy Anniversary," he muttered bitterly.

She looked at him with sad, guilty eyes as her hand grazed the earrings. They were unique; one of a kind; Fang had bought from a close friend of his that makes them. They were exquisite, with all sorts of colored beads on it.

Instead of taking them, Max grabbed the lid to the tiny box and closed it. She forcefully wrapped Fang's hand around the box, silently meaning that he should keep them.

"Keep them," she whispered, her voice breaking. "Save them for someone better. I don't deserve you."

She turned around to walk away, but Fang grabbed her elbow.

"There isn't anyone better for me," he whispered, looking her straight into her sad, bloodshot red eyes.

He got down on one knee and pulled out an even tinier box from his pocket.

"Maximum Martinez, will you marry me?"

~February 14, 2012~

"Do you, Nicholas Ride, take thee, Maximum Martinez, to be you lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, for sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this forward until death do us part."

Fang smiled down at Max, and without leaving her eyes, he responded, "I do."

The pastor turned to Max and said, "Do you, Maximum Martinez, take thee, Nicholas Ride, to be you lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, for sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this forward until death do us part."

She smiled widely as she whispered, "I do."

The pastor looked up from the happy couple and loudly said, "Rings!"

Max turned and looked at her friend Iggy, who was supposedly in charge of the rings. "Aw, shit!" he exclaimed, shooting an apologetic look at Max.

She just closed her eyes and face-palmed, shaking her head disappointedly. An African-American girl stepped up. "I have the rings," she announced blatantly.

Iggy grinned. "Thanks Nudge!"

Max smiled at her; she was the one who made those beautiful earrings that Fang had given to her. "Thank you," she mouthed. The two had become very close friends over the past few months, as did Iggy and Fang.

Nudge nodded, handing the rings to Iggy, who handed them to Fang and Max. Fang slowly took Max's ring finger and placed the exquisite ring on her slim finger, and she did the same after.

"I now pronounce you husband and wife," the pastor said warmly. "You may now kiss the bride."

And that was exactly what Fang did.

He sealed it, with a kiss.

How is it for a one-shot? They aren't really my thing, but I did it for Fluffy Bunnies Are So Cute, Anna Ride, and Piper Elizabeth Mclean's contest, The Starlit Awards. Since it's over, I can post it.

Please review and tell me your thoughts! It's a bit rushed and all, in my opnion (but that was because of the deadline!)...

Peace! Thanks!

~UnicornsBubblesAWESOMENESS