Chapter 11

Jacob and his big sister stood in the kitchen with mugs of coffee whilst Helen and Klaatu were talking in the living room. Sophie had forgotten what it was like to spend time with her family, she wished she saw them more but she just never had the time anymore. She missed them; she missed the conversations she could have with them. She and Jacob were smiling now, they were having an easygoing conversation, and they hadn't had an easygoing conversation in so long. They'd hardly seen each other since she moved out and he went to college.

"So what's going on with you and Klaatu?" he asked her, he was looking at her curiously, but he wasn't pressing her. He was smiling gently with narrowed eyes; he wanted to know for the sake of gossip but also to protect his big sister.

She sighed before answering, leaning back against the counter. "I don't know."

"You always looked forward so much to him coming back but now you're hardly even looking at him. And if what he's saying is true, then shouldn't you wanna spend time with him? He might die, Soph. Surely you wanna spend as much time with him as possible?"

She took a sip of coffee and looked at him, "It's complicated. He showed up at my apartment in the middle of the night and I looked at him, and everything had changed! When I was eleven I looked up to him, he was a scary alien who I naively thought it was my job to protect. But that was sixteen years ago Jacob, now it's different. I look at him, and he's not a scary alien. He's a man, and I'm a woman…"

"Oh my God…" he gasped and she looked at him, alarmed.

"What?"

"You totally have a crush on Klaatu!" he said excitedly and she glared at him.

"A crush? What, are we sixth grade again now?"

"Come on Soph. You like him."

"I think it's worse than that Jacob." She paused and sighed, he waited for her to go on so she thought that she might as well tell him everything. "On the way over here, I told him I love him… It was indirect and I didn't even realise it was coming out of my mouth but he did. I'm not sure I can have that conversation with him, I'm not ready for it but I know that he will want to have it. I don't know what to do."

"Just have the conversation! Who knows maybe he has a crush on you too!" he grinned and she punched him playfully in the arm, sighing.

"You're such a child."

"Sophie! Jacob!" Helen called from the other room and they put their coffees on the side before walking into the living room. Klaatu was stood and Helen was still sat, Jacob sat down beside his step-mother and Sophie remained in the doorway, leaning against the doorframe.

"I would say we have a few weeks before the other race will decide to attack against the Earth. We will have to plan the defence meticulously." Klaatu stated, looking at each of them in turn.

"There are different people in charge now; they won't just go along with this. Trust me, I've met the new head army general and he is not a nice guy." Helen said.

"There is no time for petty quarrels."

"They won't listen to you Klaatu; they will be like they were before I can guarantee that."

"I have to try."

"Wait…" Sophie said quickly, "Try what? What are you doing Klaatu?"

"I need to have access to the Earths defence system."

"How?"

"I need to get into the military base."

"You're insane. Mom's right they will kill you! They will literally shoot on site!"

"I have no other choice."

"There have to be loads of other choices!"

"Sophie…"

"I will not let you be killed for us!" she didn't realise she was yelling. There was a silence in the room and Helen stood up, hitting Jacob's shoulder as she did.

"Maybe we should give them a moment Jacob…" she said and they both left, leaving Sophie alone with Klaatu.

They stood in silence for a moment, staring across the room at each other. "Please don't do this…" Sophie whispered. He looked at her with pain in his eyes.

"I must."

"There's gotta be something else. They will kill you. You cannot die, I just got you back! You can't die. Not now. Not at all!"

"This is the only way."

She glared at him with tears in her eyes. "Fine. Then I'm coming with you."

"No."

"Yes and don't you dare argue!"

"I don't understand why you're…"

"Yes because you don't understand anything!" She was yelling again, "You don't understand how I feel! You don't understand anything about me or you or humans!"

"I thought you didn't want to have this conversation?" the softness of his voice upset her even more.

"We're not! We're not having this conversation, especially not right now. But I'm trying to make you see! I'm trying to make you understand that I have feelings… for you, in any form and you have to understand that I hurt! I hurt when you're not here, or when you get hurt and God, if you got killed, I don't even know how I'd feel. You do not understand how pissed I am at you right now!"

"Sophie please…"

"Just shut up!" she turned her back and put her head in her hands, holding back the tears. She dropped her hands and rolled her head back up but kept her eyes shut, this was the only way she thought she could stop the tears. There was a moment of chilled silence before she felt a touch on her shoulders, Klaatu's fingers trailed down her upper arms before wrapping around her waist from behind. "What are you doing?" she whispered, opening her eyes and a solitary tear escaped her control.

"I'm trying to understand," he whispered into her ear and she felt shivers go down her spine. He held her close and buried his face in her shoulder, she put her arms over his and melted back into him, enjoying the sensation of him holding her far too much than she probably should.

"Finally!" came a voice from behind them and they came apart, looking back to find Jacob and Helen stood in the doorway. Jacob has been the one to speak.

"Shut up." Sophie said, her cheeks burning red.