“That makes twice in six hours,” I said.
Benji put his arm over the top of me and pulled me against him. “Must be my lucky day.”
I grinned and reached up to touch my fingers to his. He took my hand, lifted it to his mouth, and then touched his lips to the back of it.
“I’ve missed you,” he whispered.
I turned my head, touching my forehead to his chin. “Nothing will ever be the same again, will it?”
“I don’t know,” he said, sighing. “I guess it depends on what you’re referring to. If you mean our lives before we got mixed up with aliens…probably not. If you mean our friendship before you spent the night…probably not.”
“At least you’re honest.”
He touched his lips to my temple. “I don’t want to go back to the way it was. You would have never let me hold you like this before.”
“I don’t know. You were growing on me.”
“Yeah?” he said, looking down at me.
I rested my head back onto my folded arm. A few months before, being alone didn’t faze me. Having a boyfriend never crossed my mind.
“Cy will be leaving soon,” I said.
“Good riddance.”
I rolled my eyes.
Benji chuckled. “I’m only half serious.” I could feel his breath blowing my hair as he spoke. “Does that mean something? For us?”
“What do you mean?”
“When he leaves”—he hesitated—“am I just the one who’s left?”
I frowned. “No. It doesn’t mean anything, except that he’s leaving.”
Benji fidgeted. He clearly wanted to say something but didn’t.
I nestled against him. “I don’t know if you and I would ever work out, Benji. But what I do know is that, right now, I’m lying here in your arms, and it feels like we’re all where we should be.”
“So, why are you still here? We could leave, you know. You don’t have to put yourself in danger for him.”
I looked over at Cy and Apolonia, smiling at each other and stealing small touches every once in a while.
“He’s my friend, and I love him.”
“So, you’re saying you love him…as a friend?”
“I just love him. I thought it was something else, but I think helping him is just something I need to do.”
“Lucky guy,” he said. A combination of jealousy, hurt, and disappointment darkened his face.
I turned onto my back, looking up at him. “It’s different with you.” He tried to soften the tension around his eyes, but it was still there. I touched his cheek. “In a few hours, I’m going to tell Cy good-bye. But if I had to do that with you, I couldn’t do it, Benji. I couldn’t survive it if you left me.”
Benji leaned down, touching his lips to mine. It didn’t matter who else was in the room or what they thought. The right pair of arms was around me, and that was all that mattered.
Benji pulled away and began to make smooching noises with his lips. I looked up at him like he was crazy until I realized that he was trying to coax the cat into coming closer.
“What is your obsession with that cat?”
“I like a challenge,” he said.
“If you want him to snuggle with us, you should at least name him.”
“Okay. What do you suggest?”
“Oh no, I’ve never had a pet. This is your deal. You name him. Are we even sure it’s a him?”
“Good point. It should be something unisex. Snuggles?”
I frowned. “That is the lamest name ever.”
“Yes, but it fits the moment. Just go with it. C’mere, Snuggles. Here, boy…or girl.”
The cat was actually falling for it, and it came closer until Benji could pet it a few times.
“See? He doesn’t think it’s a lame name.”
“She does, too. And when she finds out you don’t have any food, she’s going to patiently wait to catch you in a weak moment, so she can scratch your eyes out.”
Snuggles found a cushy spot on the blanket at my feet and padded a few times with her front paws until she finally settled in. I wasn’t going to complain. She was warm.
“Yes. She looks vicious,” Benji said, his mouth just in front of my ear.
Before long, my body melted against Benji’s, and I felt myself drift off. But I didn’t dream. It was just a warm, sweet darkness, the kind I had sunk into when I died. All I wanted was to lie still, heavy and relaxed against Benji. In that moment, it felt okay to just slip away even if it was forever. Staying there was easy. It was the waking-up part that was hard. This time though was even harder.
My body lurched, and voices around me grew louder.
“Jesus! She was convulsing!” Benji cried, his hands hovering over me. “What…what do I do?”
“She needs water,” Cy said from somewhere close.
“I’ll go,” Benji said. “There’s a gas station a few miles away.”
“And what do we do if you’re caught?” Cy asked.
“We don’t have time to argue! I’m going!” Benji said. “Stay with her!”
The whole world seemed compressed into a tunnel. The only thing I could feel was nausea and pain. Every nerve screamed. Every muscle tightened. I knew that if I tried to walk, I would fall.
“Try to relax, Rory,” Dr. Z said.
Cy’s hands touched my arm. “It will be over soon.”
My body lurched again. For someone who was so dehydrated, I seemed to be vomiting buckets. My palms were flat on the concrete, covered in whatever my stomach was rejecting. Maybe my whole body was rejecting what Apolonia had done to me. Maybe she had done it on purpose. Maybe she had been trying to kill me. I found the strength to look up at her through the sweat pouring into my eyes. She was standing over me, next to Tsavi. Her expression was as empty as always.
“What did you…” I said, but I couldn’t finish.
Once Apolonia recognized what I was accusing her of, her face finally flashed an expression—anger.
“You think I did this to you?” She took a step, but Tsavi held her back. “I saved your life,” she spit out. She looked to Cy. “This is who you are so fond of? How could you care about someone so weak? Look at her! Sweat dripping from her like an epocshta.”
Tsavi pushed her back, out of sight. I could hear them arguing in their native language.
Cy put a gentle hand on my back. “She’s just upset. I told you she’s emotional.”