Guardians(60)
“Sounds reasonable. Now, go and party.”
“If you’re done with studying, maybe you can come with?”
“Actually, I am done studying. But I have company.”
“Who?”
“Okay, don’t read too much into this, but it’s Julian.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, we’ve been talking about what my mom was like on the bridge. And I’ve been telling him stories about her that I haven’t really let myself remember until now. It was too painful, ya know?”
“Yeah, I do…”
“But you can come over if you want.”
“No, you two keep talking.”
“Okay, but remember - tomorrow, you, me, normal.”
“Got it.”
I stayed at the house and Rio returned an hour later.
“I was about to send a search party. Where were you?” I ask.
“Flying around.”
“Flying around where?”
“Um… I don’t know, Mom.”
“Look, I’m not trying to be a jerk but I was calling you all night.”
“What happened? Is Miku okay?”
“She’s fine. Everyone is fine.”
“Then what’s the problem?”
“I just like knowing where everyone is.”
“Look, I know I’m always getting on you about stuff, but in the end, you did a great job. We saved the world and have time to celebrate. You did it.”
“More of a team effort kind of thing.”
“Yeah, but you made sure we held it together. You can relax First Guardian. The battle is over. We have won.”
The battle is finally over. And yeah, we won…
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: THE QUESTION
It was a total waste of human money for Emmy and I to go to the movies. We never watched the screen. We took turns staring at each other. And when we weren’t doing that, we were kissing or laughing at nothing in particular. At some point in the movie, the guy tells the girl he’s going to have to save the world from a nuclear reaction plant.
“We saved the world and they didn’t put us in a fancy movie,” Emmy whispers.
“Yeah, but it took us a year. This guy saves the world in an hour and a half,” I remark.
She beams at me and I take her hand. I tell her it’s time to bail out of the movie. Emmy agrees. We head out of the movie theater. Once outside we’re surrounded by the bright lights of Times Square.
“I’m hungry,” she announces.
“We could get anything you want, anywhere in the world.”
“Hot dog from that guy,” she says, pointing to the hot dog vendor a few feet away.
“That’s all you want?”
“Yeah.”
“You’re a cheap date.”
“Not so fast, First Guardian. I also want a pretzel and drink.”
“That’s a lot of money.”
“A girl’s gotta eat.”
We head to the hot dog cart where my girl puts away three hot dogs, two pretzels, and soda. I look at her with total astonishment.
“What? My appetite’s back.”
“You ate enough for four people.”
She laughs and wipes her mouth. I shake my head and marvel at how easy it is to make her happy.
“So what do you want to do after our fine dining experience?” she asks.
“I was thinking we could have another experience,” I say, taking her hand in mine.
I pull her close to me and press my lips against hers. It still amazes me that anyone can feel this good. Kissing her always causes my wings to flutter uncontrollably. Her eyes are closed so she doesn’t notice just how much her touch affects me. It’s crazy; I should be able to kiss this girl and not completely lose control.
“I was thinking we could go to Bangkok, they have a hotel there with a spectacular view. Or maybe we could go to the mountains. Or maybe—”
“Marcus. Slow down.”
I laugh at the thought of Emmy
telling me to slow down.
“Sorry, look if you’re not ready, you know that’s fine with me. In fact it’s great. I mean I don’t really need to…I mean we don’t have to…I mean—”
I sound like a complete idiot.
“Marcus. I want to make love to you and I want it to be tonight. I was just thinking it would be nice to be together where I spent the most time thinking about us—my room. Is that okay?”
“As long as I get to be with you, yeah.”
“Can you give me a few minutes before you come over? I want to freshen up,” she says.
We head down an alley, I throw out a Port and she hops onto it.
“I will see you in a half hour,” she vows with quick kiss.
She disappears and I decide to walk to her place. By the time I get there she should be ready. I’ve played this moment over and over again in my mind. The thought of finally being with her causes my wings to go crazy, seriously.