A/N- *sings* how the hell do I continue off of this chapter I hate this I never write chapters in order oops this is gonna suck!1!1 ok I'm gonna leave now just read it
(9's POV)
Laying awake, I stared at the ceiling. I couldn't get the images of the fabrication machine out of my head. Every time I heard even the smallest noise, I feared the worst. I jumped at the sound of footsteps and pretended to be asleep. To my surprise, those footsteps came towards me- and I was even more surprised when I felt someone climb into the bed next to me. I opened my eyes and turned around to see 5. I quietly laughed out of relief.
"Couldn't sleep?"
"Nope."
"It's okay, I can't either." My hand lingered on 5's shoulder. He glanced in that direction, and I awkwardly pulled away.
"9, can I ask you something?" For some reason, I was scared of what his question might be, but I nodded.
"Yeah, anything."
"The other day, the machine, did it... did it kill me?" I sighed.
"How much do you remember?"
"Most of it. It had us in its claws, and then there was this bright green light... and then somehow we made it home. You seemed so scared. How did you bring us back?"
"It captured your soul, took it away from your body. We followed some instructions from this weird video, and that's about it. I really don't even know how we figured it out, but I'm glad we did. I... I didn't want to lose you."
"If there's anyone I trusted to save us, 9, it would be you." awkward silence followed.
"We should probably try to get some sleep." 5 remarked as he attempted to go back to his own bed; I found my hand around his wrist, pulling him back to where I was.
"5, wait. Stay here with me?" He laughed.
"Alright, but only for tonight. It's okay, 9. We're okay. I'm still here. Remember that." All of my short life, I had been longing to feel something besides fear; something that was real. Laying next to someone I cared about, someone who somehow made his way back to me from inside that machine? That was real. And a few minutes later, the feeling of 5's lips on mine? That was real too.