Here's another chappie.
Fourteen: The Plan's Eve
Mari was once again sitting on the rooftop, mulling things over. If things went badly tomorrow…
I shouldn't think about that, she thought to herself. I'll never get to sleep.
Ha, that's a laugh. Mari hadn't gotten a night's sleep since her parents were kidnapped.
If I had only gone out to help… stop. You know that was not your fault; you stayed in that basement because Mom said you had to no matter what.
She put her head in her hands.
"That doesn't make me feel better," she said out loud.
"Better about what?" said a voice behind her.
She turned and saw Jess walking towards her.
"Worried?" he asked, sitting next to her.
"How can I not be? You realize who's hands we're putting our lives in?"
"Well you shouldn't. At least not about that."
She sighed and looked away.
"What else is bothering you?"
"Nothing…"
She looked over at him; he was staring mindlessly into the dark ocean.
"What's bothering you?" she asked, repeating his question.
He glanced over the returned his focus.
"I'm just – scared."
"About what?" Dumb question.
He shrugged. "Today… tomorrow… I mean… I didn't know if I was ever going to see you alive again! I just… (sigh)… want to…"
C'mon, man! he thought to himself. This is why you came up here!
He took a deep breath and turned to her.
"Look," he said, "if we're gonna – die – or something – tomorrow – I just want you to know that – I mean, uh – wha-what I mean to say is – uh…"
SAY IT!
"Eyelubu!" He said hurriedly, fumbling.
"What?"
"I – I – oh what the hell? – I love you." He gulped and braced himself inwardly for harsh rejection.
She blinked.
"You – love me?"
"Well, yeah… I guess – I guess it's kinda more like puppy love… I probably shouldn't have used 'love' at all… I like you… have a crush on you… I mean… if you're not comfortable with 'love' per say, I could always, I – I." He stopped as soon as she put a finger to his mouth.
"I'm perfectly fine with it," she said with a smile.
"You – are? Really?"
She leaned in and gave him a small kiss on the lips.
"Yeah."
It was a bit of an awkward moment, but it soon began to smooth out and they found themselves in each others arms, watching the stars blink out their lights, one by one.
Ha! You thought I was gonna go right back into it, wern'tcha? Ha!... actually, I'm just pushing through writer's block… besides, I don't think it very wise to go from action scene to action scene without a brake. Review!
T.