Mercedes
I crossed my legs, and he draped an arm over the knee pulled up to his chest. And there we sat, facing each other. His bright green eyes were so sad and heartbreaking.
He pulled off his shirt, nodding for me to do the same.
I could have felt self-conscious in an 'I-know-I-ought-to-be' kind of way. But that wasn't true; it felt like I was being honest. I still had my tank top on, anyway. His gaze overwhelmed me, so I let my eyes drop to his bare chest - wide and strong and pale and faintly glistening with sweat. I was transfixed by its rise and fall.
With his outstretched hand, I think he was spelling out his name on my jean-clad thigh, sending a rush of nerves to my very core.
I leaned closer, lightly tracing my fingertips over the muscles carving his arm.
My eyes met his earthy green ones, flecked with sparkling raindrops. But they were tears, not promises. By the bob of his Adam's apple, I could see him refusing to let them fall.
As I ran my fingers delicately to his wrist, his hand clasped mine, interlocking our fingers.
He pressed his thumb to the corner of my mouth, stopping me from gnawing at my lips. Although I noticed it before, it meant something else now, something very intimate; his jeans were unbuttoned and unzipped, revealing his black boxers underneath.
I was trapped between his long legs. The electricity was thrilling, and there was so much of it. He slid one hand to the back of my neck, sweetly possessive, and his other arm wrapped around me, palm pressing to my lower back. One of his fingers pushed away the clingy fabric of my top, brushing against my skin. I traced a line from the centre of his collar bone, between the planes of his chest to briefly feel the beating of his heart and then down to his hard-muscled stomach. Perhaps it was the anxiety and giddiness that made me smile.
I felt his gentle, rough hands move underneath my top, gripping my waist. Anytime before now, before this tragic month, I would have been so self-conscious about his hands on me this way, touching my soft sides and stomach. I wasn't slim or toned like Quinn.
But the sexy and authoritative sharpness in his eyes dared me to move away, dared me to be scared or self-conscious. There was no time to care about that. I wanted him, and he wanted all of me.
I wrapped my hands around his wrists, and directed them so his fingers hooked underneath the hem of my top. I hadn't even realised my eyes welled up until I finally blinked, and allowed the tears to spill down my cheeks. I saw his jaw clench, and it looked like he was keeping his eyes shut so he wouldn't cry.
When he opened them, he took in a deep, shaky breath, and exhaled heavily. He started to lift up my tank top, carefully, as if a piece of me would go with it. It was so calming to let him undress me.
Sam
I peeled her vest over her arms and head, placing it beside me without breaking our eye contact. With two light touches, I wiped away the tears from Mercedes' beautiful face, before she caught my hand and held it in hers.
My heart was breaking with every tear she shed, shattering with every second that passed without feeling every inch of her body on mine.
I gripped Mercedes' arm and tugged her closer so she'd sit between my legs. So gently, she pressed her mouth to my cheek - how I craved her touch. She shivered, as my fingertips ran soothingly down her spine.
For a long while, that was how we stayed; with little distance between our hot skin and the suffocating denim over our legs. Two semi-naked bodies pressed together to make two halves of one soul. She finally kissed me, and as I instantly parted my lips for her, she responded, I could feel her tongue skimming mine. I didn't want this feeling of connecting to ever stop. Our tongues continued to lap each other up, and I softly squeezed her bottom lip between my teeth.
I savoured the melting sensation I felt when her hands brushed against my pelvis as mine did to her. I cherished the way she squirmed as the rough denim grazed against the chocolate skin smoothed over her hipbones.
With all the strength I could muster, I tried to rid my mind of the truth. This would be one of the final times I'd get to see her, to touch her.
We were going to die.
In seven days time, the world was no longer going to be a world.
All I could hope for was that, until that final day, I'd be able to feel the pent-up intensity in these desperate touches again and again until then.
Mercedes
We moved as one to the double bed in his guestroom.
I gripped the wood of the bedpost beneath my fingers, hoping to mould it the way Sam was moulding into me. The thick bands of muscle in his arms, chest and abs were flexing against the soft curve of my stomach and breasts. His hand was trembling in mine as silent tears slid down my cheeks. He couldn't see them because his warm forehead and damp blonde hair was nestled into my shoulder.
He didn't know how much my heart begged to be torn out from my chest: I didn't want to hurt for the rest of my – for the rest of our short timed lives.
Why couldn't I just have Sam alone?
Sam
Why couldn't I just have her? Together, we'd face the end of life.
I knew she was crying, because when she cried, she swallowed more often. Tears were burning my eyes too, but I didn't want her to see them.
Why not? There's nothing left to hide, and there's no time to lock away emotions. I lifted my head from the comforting warmth of her neck and touched my forehead to hers, mixing our tears together. I never cared for Quinn this way, and I knew Mercedes never cared for Shane this way either.
We were both in other relationships. But Mercedes and I were in love. I knew, and she knew, that we needed to end it with them.
But millions of questions prevented us from doing so:
Does it matter, since there's only a week of life, of caring, left?
Did we have the right to make their final time on Earth so miserable?
Or did that mean we shouldn't break up with them?
Did we want to die unfaithful?
We were both religious Christians, so where were our morals?
Although, as of late, I had started to doubt my own faith - was now the time to be agnostic?
Or was it the best of times?
The doomed world outside was closing in on me, and all that I wanted right now was to be inside her, the girl I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, and take shelter there until this asteroid destroyed the world, and ripped us apart.
Mercedes
I wasn't aware of how much Sam needed me, how physically sensitive he was to me. I breathed a heavy sigh of relief – finally realising that it was both him and me together in this. As I exhaled, I shifted my weight, just slightly, and I felt him react. His body jerked, and he moved awkwardly, lifting his hips away from me.
During the past hour of just being silent and intimate, we had definitely connected more than I could ever imagine. Now, I was in tune with his body. I understood it. All I did was move position slightly, and he had reacted.
I ran my hands down his smooth, toned back. I spoke for the first time since being together this way. "Touch me," I whispered.
He dragged his eyes up to meet mine. "Cedes, I couldn't help it." His voice was seductively raspy.
"You shouldn't have to, Sam. I don't want you to help it. Touch me," I repeated.
His wide, pink lips pulled up into a sheepish grin.
Sam
I adored her so much. She knew me, inside and out.
I lowered my body again, and though I was hesitant, I wasn't trying to hide it. There was nothing to be ashamed about. I heard her take a sharp intake of breath when she felt my erection touch the inside of her thigh.
It's been a year since we cautiously made each other aware of how we truly , we did absolutely nothing about it. I got with Quinn, and she got with Shane. Our messages to each other, though, were always heavy with our unsaid words and unspoken affection.
Literally, I had imagined this moment for too long – adding to it every single time.
I wanted to treasure this moment to the very last second.
Both of us were obviously strong and hateful enough to ignore our urges, to ignore my erection and her ragged breaths. Mercedes wanted to savour this moment too.
Mercedes
I wanted us to admit what was ahead of us: that during the past three weeks of utter chaos and turmoil and panic and fear, right now was our first moment of clarity. And embracing it meant we could finally get lost in each other's eyes, hearts and souls. We could get lost in ourselves until only the world's destruction could find us.
Sam
I kissed her before she spoke. I sucked at her soft lips. I didn't want her to speak, I didn't want to hear those words, but there was no avoiding the truth lurking over us. I needed her to admit the thought plaguing my mind ever since that announcement.
Mercedes
When he pulled away, fresh tears spilled from his eyes and onto my neck. He felt the same way I did; we had to acknowledge our fate, we couldn't tiptoe around it.
"I don't want to die, Sam. I don't want us to die."
Sam
For the first time since I've known her, there was nothing I could say in response; there was no sarcastic comment or words to comfort her. I didn't want to die, either. And the thought of Mercedes, my real world, being obliterated by this asteroid, made me want to cry again. I very needed and desired to make love to her, but I wanted to do it when we had both accepted what was coming.
Mercedes and Sam
"I'm so afraid."
We both cried into each other's arms: our own personal sanctuary and escape.