Blue Monday

Chapter 16 - Head Over Heels

***ALEX***

I think it might be the warmth of her super-strong hug. I think it might be mingled shock and relief at seeing her face again - for real this time, not just in a dream.

Either way, nothing stops me from crying with Fionna held tightly in my arms. It's all I can do not to totally break down right here and now, but I can't stop a few tears from dripping from my eyes.

"Did you miss me, Feathers?" Fionna says. She's trying to sound as sparky as usual, but her voice is shaking. And not just her voice - her entire body is trembling. It only makes me hold her harder. "I'll take that as a yes, then. But...Jesus, let me breathe, would you?"

I let Fionna back away from me while we've still got our hands on each other's arms. (Well, hers are on my arms, covering my tattoo and scars. Mine are on her shoulders.) I want to kiss her so badly, to feel her cheek heat up under my lips, but I hold myself back. For Juliet's sake. Still...

"It's really you," I whisper. "In the undead living flesh."

"Gross," Fionna laughs. "You make me sound like I'm some kind of zombie."

"Did I tell you about the time I dreamed you were a zombie?" I ask. Fionna really starts laughing, and Gideon joins in too. "What's so funny?"

"This must've been before we started sharing dreams," Fionna says, "otherwise I'd remember actually being that zombie."

I look over at Gideon, suddenly feeling more than a little bit awkward. This isn't really his moment, and she has to see it anyway because she's got nowhere else to go.

Things get a little better when Gabe comes out of the shower. I guess he found a hair dryer after all, because his shirt isn't wet anymore. He's clearly just put it on, because right as he opens the door, he's also busy tugging the shirt down.

I move aside so Fionna and Gabe can see each other properly. He runs up and gives her a hug, and a kiss on the cheek as well. "I promise, Fionna, neither of us are dead yet," he says.

"I didn't think so," Fionna says, punching him in the arm, then coming back to do the same to me (I end up getting two for flinching.) "You guys didn't puke coming to this 'verse, did you?"

"No," I say. "Were we supposed to?"

"Only if you died."

"Or got yourself cocooned in darkness," Gideon says.

Fionna looks around the room, then sits on the couch next to Gideon. "All right, boys," she says, tapping her boot heel against the edge of the coffee table. "I need to hear everything. How'd you get out of whatever prison you were in?"

"How'd you know we were locked up?" Gabe asks, sitting in front of Gideon.

I sit next to Gabe with an embarrassed laugh. "Did I tell you I've been seeing Fi in my dreams?"

"You call her 'Fi' now?"

"I've always called her that. Well, not always, but you know what I mean. And why is that the thing you asked me about first?"

"'Cause I think my brain is trying to process that, and it thinks you're joking." Gabe lets out a loud, fake laugh to emphasize his point. "You're not joking, though, are you?"

"Nope."

"It's actually really fun, sharing dreams with Feathers," Fionna says, more to Gabe than to Gideon. Maybe he'd heard that story already? From the sound of it, he's probably been here long enough to have heard it. "He can make some real crazy movie-like shit, if you know what I mean."