that gets me the most?’ Mason continues. ‘In this alternate world, where I wasn’t watching the grid as closely as I did?’ He wriggles a bit, and then repositions his head in one hand. ‘What if I never met you?’
I don’t want to think too hard about what he’s saying. Don’t want to imagine a world where we don’t know each other.
‘It’s thinking about stuff like that that’s helped me … accept, I guess,’ Mason keeps going. ‘It’s not about choosing one path over another. But I don’t want to miss out on the present because I keep obsessing about the past.’
We’re still lying side by side, Mason hitched up on one elbow. I shift around so that we’re facing each other. In the dim light I can make out the shapes of his face, only inches from mine: the angles of his high cheeks, the outline of his chin.
I don’t hide the fact I’m staring, drinking him in. We’ve been doing this all evening. There’s a pause, and all of time seems to still around us.
Just slightly Mason shifts closer, and our foreheads touch. Our skin is barely meeting, but it’s as if I can feel all of him. His head tilts, reaching closer, until we’re kissing.
It’s everything I want; and I want it so much that it scares me. Each glance, each word, each smile that we’ve already shared accelerates into now.
Mason presses a hand on the back of my neck and draws back from the kiss slightly. The park crashes into focus around me again and instantly thoughts of tomorrow tug at the edges of my mind. He’s older now and leaving with his folks soon. When will I see him again? Everything here is stretched out and hard to hold.
His head tilts to one side, as if he senses my anxiety. ‘Hey. It’ll be okay.’
‘Yeah. I know.’ Although I’m just saying the words we both want to hear.
I rest my head on his chest as Mason wraps one arm around my back. My thoughts rest inside each heartbeat.
‘You have to jump with your folks, same as planned,’ I say into his warmth. ‘Once I find Mum, it’s going to take a while for her to learn. But you can’t hang around. It’s not safe.’
There’s no sound at first, no movement. He lets out a breath and shifts his arm further around my waist.
‘We’ll see,’ he says.
‘I’ll catch up.’
Again, a pause. ‘Easier said than done.’
Yeah. I know. There’s no saying how long Mum might take to learn to time skip. Right now I don’t even know where she is, but I can’t let that hold Mason here. If he ends up caught because he waited for me, I don’t think I’d be able to keep breathing.
After a while, I lie back again, watching the wafts of cloud. Mason brushes my hand with the back of his fingers and I hook my fingers around his. We lie that way, shoulder to shoulder on a bed of cool polyturf, soothed by the infinite sky.
Soon I hear a change in Mason’s breathing and I realise he’s asleep. My eyes travel over the dips and curves of his face, the rise and fall of his chest. The sense of peace carries me deep until my eyelids refuse to stay open. I don’t want to let go, don’t want the night to end, but soon I can’t hold it back.
No idea what tomorrow holds, but we’re here now, together.
CHAPTER SEVEN
W E WAKE BEFORE dawn the next morning and gather the rest of our clothes, ducking back into the cave for water and splitting a nutrition bar between us for breakfast.
We don’t say much as we chew. I don’t feel like we need to anyway. Glances and smiles are enough. It’s as if our thoughts keep flitting backwards and forwards, between memories of last night and preparations for the day ahead.
We splash cool water on our faces, then head out on Mason’s bike together.
Before we’re even remotely close to Sunshine Hospital, we hit a mega crowd and have to climb off and walk. We track a path though the groups of vendors shouting out the stuff they’re selling: gel packs, barley sugars, even ice cubes. Every few minutes, sirens rise above the
I don’t want to think too hard about what he’s saying. Don’t want to imagine a world where we don’t know each other.
‘It’s thinking about stuff like that that’s helped me … accept, I guess,’ Mason keeps going. ‘It’s not about choosing one path over another. But I don’t want to miss out on the present because I keep obsessing about the past.’
We’re still lying side by side, Mason hitched up on one elbow. I shift around so that we’re facing each other. In the dim light I can make out the shapes of his face, only inches from mine: the angles of his high cheeks, the outline of his chin.
I don’t hide the fact I’m staring, drinking him in. We’ve been doing this all evening. There’s a pause, and all of time seems to still around us.
Just slightly Mason shifts closer, and our foreheads touch. Our skin is barely meeting, but it’s as if I can feel all of him. His head tilts, reaching closer, until we’re kissing.
It’s everything I want; and I want it so much that it scares me. Each glance, each word, each smile that we’ve already shared accelerates into now.
Mason presses a hand on the back of my neck and draws back from the kiss slightly. The park crashes into focus around me again and instantly thoughts of tomorrow tug at the edges of my mind. He’s older now and leaving with his folks soon. When will I see him again? Everything here is stretched out and hard to hold.
His head tilts to one side, as if he senses my anxiety. ‘Hey. It’ll be okay.’
‘Yeah. I know.’ Although I’m just saying the words we both want to hear.
I rest my head on his chest as Mason wraps one arm around my back. My thoughts rest inside each heartbeat.
‘You have to jump with your folks, same as planned,’ I say into his warmth. ‘Once I find Mum, it’s going to take a while for her to learn. But you can’t hang around. It’s not safe.’
There’s no sound at first, no movement. He lets out a breath and shifts his arm further around my waist.
‘We’ll see,’ he says.
‘I’ll catch up.’
Again, a pause. ‘Easier said than done.’
Yeah. I know. There’s no saying how long Mum might take to learn to time skip. Right now I don’t even know where she is, but I can’t let that hold Mason here. If he ends up caught because he waited for me, I don’t think I’d be able to keep breathing.
After a while, I lie back again, watching the wafts of cloud. Mason brushes my hand with the back of his fingers and I hook my fingers around his. We lie that way, shoulder to shoulder on a bed of cool polyturf, soothed by the infinite sky.
Soon I hear a change in Mason’s breathing and I realise he’s asleep. My eyes travel over the dips and curves of his face, the rise and fall of his chest. The sense of peace carries me deep until my eyelids refuse to stay open. I don’t want to let go, don’t want the night to end, but soon I can’t hold it back.
No idea what tomorrow holds, but we’re here now, together.
CHAPTER SEVEN
W E WAKE BEFORE dawn the next morning and gather the rest of our clothes, ducking back into the cave for water and splitting a nutrition bar between us for breakfast.
We don’t say much as we chew. I don’t feel like we need to anyway. Glances and smiles are enough. It’s as if our thoughts keep flitting backwards and forwards, between memories of last night and preparations for the day ahead.
We splash cool water on our faces, then head out on Mason’s bike together.
Before we’re even remotely close to Sunshine Hospital, we hit a mega crowd and have to climb off and walk. We track a path though the groups of vendors shouting out the stuff they’re selling: gel packs, barley sugars, even ice cubes. Every few minutes, sirens rise above the
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