And she was running. Her tan uggs slapping the ground, the black sweater flapping out at her sides, hair shimmering in the cool autumn sun as she ran towards Barbie.
He's okay.
He pulled her into her arms, and pressed his nose into her hair. She smelled fresh, like the outdoors and Dove, her favorite body wash. Julia breathed heavily, her hands clutching his shirt like it was her lifeline - after all this time (it was still so little time, Julia reminded herself, but two weeks under the Dome seems like years) it was.
Julia leaned back for a moment before stretching up on her toes and kissing him.
In her mind, amendments to the previous statement he's okay we're made.
He's okay but his left eye is bruised. his gait was uneven, he seemed - seems - distant. But overall, or really, as far as I know, he's okay.
"Stop thinking so much, Jules, I can hear it from here." Barbie bit his lower lip and grinned in a way Julia would have never expected - coyly. She simply adjusted her hands from his back to the sides of his face and kissed the side of Barbie's mouth. Soft, nothing more than a press off lips.
She was drifting in and out of wakefulness on the couch, with Barbie pressed against her back, his arm long since settled over her waist, snoring lightly.
Julia was almost asleep again when a thought struck her - would Barbie still want her when this was over? Would he be willing to settle down with her, leave this wretched town - if they could? Or would he try and leave her behind in the dust, like he had attempted originally in the beginning? She untangled her arm from underneath the soft brown blanket they were curled under, and put her hand atop his, and hoped and prayed (although she was not much of the praying type) that she could keep this one happiness.
Julia sat between his legs, and Barbie wrapped his arms around her as she turned as best she could to try and face him.
"We never talked about us outside the Dome. What happens when - if, if - we get out?"
"I want you. Wherever we are doesn't matter. Whether it's here, or in Zenith, or anywhere. I want to be with you, and that's a promise I can keep." Barbie grinned, kissed her neck and Julia smiled.
The future seemed like a lovely promise.
