LONG TIME NO SEE!

Whew, a lot has happened in the last few of months. Well for starters I am in college now! I'll be majoring in English because I really enjoy reading and writing-as I'm sure most of you can tell-and would like to make a carrier out of something like that.

It's so crazy to see that this story is already two years old! I still have every intention of finishing it because I have come so far into writing it.

I'm currently in the process of writing a new novel and I'll keep you posted on it when it is done!

My deepest apologies for not updating so long. :(

Any who, hope you enjoy!

I DO NOT OWN FALLEN!

Thirteen: Wonder

Fractured rays of light pierced through a small crevice in the curtains and shone directly over my eye lids. I shifted higher above Jack's bare chest to avoid the light's glare and settled back in his warmth, cradled by the steady rhythm of his chest rising and falling with each breath.

I moved slightly back so that the first thing I would see was him. Could it be humanly possible for someone to be so beautiful. If his body had remained motionless it would have appeared to have been carved out of stone that had matched perfectly tanned olive skin.

I placed my hand over his chest and pressed lightly down. His heartbeat with mine would have been the perfectly melody to dance with on a formal occasion.

Still captivated by his warmth that I was now losing I nestled back in to him and twirled the hairs on his chest, only to cause him to stir and wake to full consciousness.

He gave a long stretch turning to face me and bringing me closer with his arm.

His thumb trailed the shape of my jaw with a well rested look on his face and for a long while we simply held each others eyes. I never noticed that there were small specks of gold and amber around the outer rim of his iris. Would I ever find more new things about him if we stayed like this?

"Morning," he muttered.

"Morning."

"Did you sleep good?"

"Yeah. The best I've ever had I think."

"That's good to hear," he said.

"Last night..."

His hand ran through my hair. "Was the best thing I could have ever have asked for. I'm very glad my first time experiencing that was with you Lucian."

"As am I," I said burring my face in his neck. "I don't ever want to leave this moment with you. I wish I could stay like this forever. I wish I could stay with you forever."

He massaged the back of my head. "Who says that you can't Luke?"

"Because Jack, for all we know this could be the last experience we have with one another, or maybe even the last time we see each other. We never know how long we have together, and that's what I'm afraid of."

A low exhale escaped his lips. "I guess that is true. But even so, we've only been this close to a very short time compared to how long I've known you. But I still love you as much as I did then, and I know you loved me as much as you could despite not feeling what I had for you then. If I die today Lucian Price, I'll gladly go to wherever I have to next, because one hour of the love you've now given me can keep my spirit afloat until the sea of death runs dry."

I pulled back and placed a hand over his face, feeling the abrasiveness of his stubble and looked deep into his eyes. I never really noticed the small specks of gold and amber that scattered the outer rim of his iris. "What could I have possibly done to deserve someone like you Jack?"

He smiled back at me and placed his larger hand over mine. "I think I should be asking that question."

We stayed close to each other and basked in the silence, appreciating the warmth and presence of one another. His hand running along my skin and mine on his. Time it had seem was no more in that brief moment.

There was a part of me that had felt somewhat complete. As if the emotions I was now feeling were what I had always wanted to feel but was never granted the chance to because something had always prevented it.

I immediately built a wall in the back of mind around that ominous thought and looked back up to Jack's eyes. Even if this were the last day we would ever spend with each other no one could take the experience we had last night away, even this single moment.

I leaned forward and placed my lips gently over his warm ones and held them.

Warm water slowly trailed down my back to the white floor. Hunger had eventually driven both of us out of bed, that and the need for a shower. Jack was right behind me, lathering himself in soap. Once he had finished with whole front of his body I had helped with his back slowing down as my hands ran over the muscles that formed ridges along his upper back.

Once all the soap had washed away with the falling water I wrapped my arms over his soaked body and drew him into a passionate kiss. It was strange how natural it was being with him like this, given that this was the first time we showered together. I felt his hands wandering all over my body as he drew us closer together, the water making his stokes against my skin more smooth and slick.

When our lips had parted we stayed holding one another basking in the water that continued to fall around us.

"I'd love to stay like this longer," Jack finally spoke. "But I'm afraid we'd waste a lot of water."

"Yeah, we should get out now so I can enjoy you fully clothed again. Who knows, we might need another shower later."

He raised an eyebrow while grunting a laugh.

I turned the glass knob and the water flow had ceased. The cold air now free to rob the warmth that the water gave us. A towel had immediately been thrown over my body followed by gentle strokes that took away some of the cold. Once the top half of my body was mostly dry I turn with the towel in hand and began drying Jack's.

The water had left his skin more lustrous and the hairs on his chest falling downwards and were both soft to the touch once they were dry. I marveled again at his bronze skin. It was a trait that he received from his South Asian heritage that he very rarely brought up, but was the one thing I admired most about him; apart from his eyes. I had always longed to have skin that flourished in color such as this. It was as rich as freshly made caramel, the tip of my tongue had ached just to caress it's surface. Instead I raised my pale hand and placed it on his shoulder wandering down his chest with his hairs following my touch.

"Beautiful."

His larger one came to rest on my cheek. "Clearly you haven't seen yourself in a mirror," he said.

"I'd much rather keep my eyes on you."

He smiled at me and leaned down to kissed my forehead. "C'mon," he said. "Let's get dressed."

We sat comfortably on the couch in the warmth of his living room while watching the next few episodes of 6teen he had recorded. My head rested right against his chest and kept track of the rhythm of his heart beat and breaths.

I reached forward and took hold of his hand. "Remember when we first started watching this?"

"Yeah," he grunted. "The summer break before freshman year. We thought it was the coolest thing on TV since Teen Titans, and couldn't wait to be sixteen ourselves and do things on our own."

"Was being sixteen as great as you thought it was?"

"Well... not really." We both laughed aloud to his remark.

My mind had wandered and began focusing less on the screen and more on our entwined hands. "Nothing's changed."

"Huh?" he turned to face me.

"I just, I thought that things would be really different between the two of us now that we're together like this. I mean here we are now just together as we used to be when last night we..."

He raised an eyebrow with a smirk causing my face to heat up.

"You know what I mean," I exclaimed as he muttered a laugh.

"Well Luke, in some way things have changed," he said.

"How?" I asked.

He reached for my hand and placed it over his chest. His heart was beating almost a fast as mine was. "You do this to me almost every time I touch or kiss you. I try to repress it as much as I can but sometimes it just won't listen to me."

It amazed me to think that I was the one making him lose this much control over his body and a relief to think I was not the only one that fell prey to our intimacy.

"It's nice to know how much control I have over you," I began making small strokes across his chest and upper abdomen.

"Better watch yourself, there's no telling how much control I'll have before the big bad wolf inside me get's loose."

I leaned in closer to his neck. "If that was control you had last night I'd really like to see what that big bad wolf has in stock for me." And trailed my tongue on the lobe of his ear.

"You're really asking for it Lucian." I could hear a tremble in his voice.

"Huh, alright," I complied and rested my head back on his chest.

I heard him groan in disappointment but still pulled me closer to him. Once the last episode of 6teen had ended Jack had flipped to regular playing channels but stopped once the trailer for The Lovely Bones movie had started playing on a different channel.

"Gosh, I can't wait to see this."

"Think it'll be as good as the book?"

"Of course it won't," I laughed. "But I've been waiting years for something like this to come out for it. And it's directed by Peter Jackson, the genius behind Lord of the Rings."

"Well at least we know it's in good hands."

"Yeah."

Once the trailer was over he switched to a channel that was playing Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. "Now this takes me back."

"I remember reading the series twice in one year before the Deathly Hallows came out."

"Yeah, I was there with you, you were already on the Half Blood Prince when I was still on the Goblet of Fire."

I grunted. "And we camped out for the Deathly Hallows the day before it came out."

"Gosh," he sulked. "Has it already been two years."

"I guess it has been."

"Who knew that in just a couple years from then that we would be together like this?"

"If I did, I would have been with you sooner."

He shifted and turned to face me. "Would you?"

"Of course I would. I love you Jack, as much as I loved you back then."

He leaned forward and kissed me then rested his forehead against mine. "I would have accepted you without a moment's thought."

I turned away slightly.

"Luke? What's wrong?"

"Do you ever wonder what the future will hold for us now?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I was thinking that maybe after high school I would just get a college degree and become an English teacher with a hobby for music. You know, just start doing something that would make me happy."

"Yeah?"

"But, I don't know, things just seem so...out of place right now. I remember being a kid and thinking that I had my whole life ahead of me and now I don't even know what I would want to do with my life in the next few years."

"Luke, you are still a kid," he grunted. "Geeze what's gotten into you all of a sudden?" His hand ran through my hair.

"I just hope I can have a really happy future, with all of you," I said looking back at him.

"Your future is whatever you make it to be, Luke. If you want a happy future, then go after one." He smiled.

I trailed my hand up his shoulder and to the nape of his neck. "I can see now that I already have one."

So sorry that this chapter is a little short, but I'm really caught up with assignments from school and hardly have free time to spare for writing.

I'm grateful to those of you who are still reading and hope you read through to the very end.

Farwell for now Fallenatics! 3