Chapter 3 – Starting Fresh

Tally woke up the next morning and heard David's slow, steady breath in her ear. She had rolled over some time in the night was now turned away from him but he was still nestled up behind her, his arms wrapped tightly around, her making her feel protected. Tally slowly turned over to face him and watched him as he slept.

Tally had been alone with him before but she had never been this close him when they slept. She liked the feeling of having him so close to her. It made her feel safe. She took in his face. Rememorizing ever scratch, every line and every pore on his face. She took her delicate hand and brought it to his face gently. She used her thumb to wipe away some dirt on his cheek from being in the wilderness for so long and for going so long without bathing. He stirred slightly and held her even tighter against him.

Tally brought her face up to his and leaned her forehead in and rested against his for a moment, trying to decide if she would wake him up or not. But she didn't have to. His eyelids fluttered open and Tally gave him a sweet kiss on the cheek and whispered, "Morning." in his ear.

David grinned and leaned in to kiss her ever so softly before he finally murmured, "Morning Tally." to her in a rough voice from being asleep for so long. Tally liked his voice like that. It suited him, she thought.

Reluctantly Tally started to sit up but David held his arms tighter around her. Tally giggled and plopped back down next to him.

"David…" she said.

"Hmmm?" he asked.

"I'm hungry." she said.

"Okay. Well lets get up and make us some…SpagBol!" he taunted.

Tally pretended to gag and he chucked. "No SpagBol. Anything but that." she said.

David grinned and took out two packets of EggSal. "Is this okay?" he asked.

"Anything but SpagBol." Tally laughed and he chuckled along with her.

"Of course." David said.

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Tally and David were racing their hoverboards against eachother through the ruins. Tally loved spending all this free time with him. It was like back when she was ugly when they made their way to the city, just the two of them. She almost preferred it that way. But she did miss Shay, Fausto and Peris. She even missed Zane but she tried not to think about it because thinking about Zane made her depressed and she hated being depressed. So she started to concentrate on zipping through the buildings and cars in the Ruins with David.

David suddenly zoomed in beside her and brushed their fingers together. He signaled Tally to stop and they landed near the edge of the Ruins.

As soon as she landed David jumped off his board and raced to her, "You okay?" he asked tangling one of his hands in her hair and pulling his other arm around her waist, wrapping her in his embrace.

"Yeah. I'm fine." Tally said looking up into his face, giving him a smile.

"Well what are the plans Tally? Or are we just going to stay in the tower all cuddled up all the time." he said raising an eyebrow playfully.

Tally laughed at his suggestion and pushed on his chest jokingly. "Well I know whats what you would like to do all day but we need to start traveling back." Tally said.

"Back?" David asked.

"Yeah back to Diego. I need to make sure everything and everyone is okay first." Tally said.

"Shay?" David asked.

"Yeah. We haven't been apart longer than those few weeks when I was taking the Crims to Diego. And Fausto too… I just need to make sure they are okay." Tally told him.

"Okay well do you want to start today or tomorrow?" David asked.

"Tomorrow. We only have a few hours of darkness left now. We couldn't get very far and you look like you need to rest." Tally told him.

"Okay we can go back and start back to Diego as soon as I get up when it gets dark." David said.

Tally nodded and they jumped back on their hoverboards and raced eachother back to the tower.

David thought it might be better to bring their hoverboards up with them instead of leaving them all alone. He said that now everyone was going to be ugly-minded some might come and think it's a neat little trick to steal their hoverboards.

Tally and David climbed the stairs together in complete silence. When they reached the top David sat their hoverboards down by all of their supplies and snuggled in the sleeping bag and fell asleep in no time. Tally on the other hand wasn't tired. She had slept more than enough the past few nights and she was fully awake. But David wasn't a Special; he couldn't handle not sleeping for so long.

Tally crouched down by the sleeping bag and watched David's chest slowly move up and down in a normal pattern. She thought he looked extremely peaceful when he slept. But so did a lot of people. Tally took her hand and brushed it against his cheek and started playing softly with his now longer hair.

Suddenly Tally heard a crackle from outside the tower. Tally turned into defense mode running swiftly to the window and looking down. She turned on her sneak suit and crouched by the window searching the area for anything abnormal. Her eyes scanned the woods and she saw a lone figure couched by a bush a few yards away from the tower. The figure didn't look but Tally could tell it was a human. She turned on her infrared vision and she could tell by the heat of his body that he wasn't a Cutter or a Special. The figure stepped out into the darkness but Tally still couldn't see the face. It was a male; she could tell that much, but other than that she had no idea who the figure was. Tally slowly crept down the stairs staying close to the wall with her hood on, making herself invisible to the naked eye. The figure walked towards the tower and went though the door close to where Tally was perched.

Tally silently made her way over to the figure that still had his face covered. She was ready to attack. Nobody was going to sneak up on David while he was asleep if she had anything to do about it.

The figure stopped when they got close to her, like they felt her presence. They turned straight toward her and stared. Or at least she thought they were.

The figure reached up and took off the mask, revealing another familiar face………Croy.