NO TIME TO LIE - j.m.

part ii

Jonah is eating his way through a bowl of popcorn, watching the stars through the large window on one of the catwalks that crosses throughout the ship, when Aurora finds him.

"I know you're there," Jonah says.

Aurora sighs and walks towards him, dropping onto the catwalk on his left side. She twists so that she's laying on her back, propping her legs on the opposite handrail and tucking her arms under her head. She turns towards him, almost expectantly.

"I'm sorry."

"You have nothing to apologize for," Aurora says automatically, arm moving around the popcorn bowl to rub the exposed skin above Jonah's hip.

Jonah laughs bitterly. "Still feels like I should."

"You shouldn't apologize for feeling emotions, Jonah."

"But I shouldn't have taken it out on you." Jonah sets the popcorn aside.

He hasn't gotten to get a good look at Older Aurora, having been essentially –– running from her for almost twelve hours.

Her hair is lighter and her skin is tanner, maybe from the endless suns they visit. The crinkles and freckles around her eyes and mouth are more pronounced, the hollow of her cheeks and jaw sharper from the years. Her nose is slightly more crooked, the green in her eyes wiser and yet gleaming with the same amusement Jonah has known for eleven years.

Her body is more muscular, Jonah knows, structured and tall. Her lips are a darker mauve, and he wonders who kisses them.

He wonders who knows all of Aurora's scars, in the future. He wonders who she bares her heart to. He wonders––

"Are you happy?"

Aurora hums, the fingers on Jonah's hip now tracing circles. "Yes. Happier than I've ever been, I think."

Jonah swallows the lump rising in his throat. "Does....Does your spouse–– Are you happy, with them?"

Aurora's hand stills, and he sees that unidentifiable look in her eyes and realizes that it's heartbreak. "Yes, of course. Why do you ask?"

Jonah feels his jaw twitch. Tearing his gaze away from Aurora's feels like the hardest thing he's ever had to do, but it's too much. His heart is cracking open anew in his chest cavity, splitting jaggedly down the middle. "I just want. Want you to be happy. In the end."

"Jonah––"

"Don't tell me who it is," he adds belatedly. "I don't–don't want to know. Won't it disrupt the timeline?"

He hears Aurora's mouth click shut.

"My husband is one of the greatest people I've ever met."

Jonah's hand flexes, and he feels like kicking something.

"He's an amazing leader. He knows, intuitively, who's right for a mission and who wouldn't be. He knows when people need a kind word, or just someone to listen to. He knows when to take charge and when to go with the flow."

Jonah's vision blurs.

"He's the only person I know who I can love with my heart, and trust him with it. I have ever since the day I met him, and he has never let me down once."

"I get it," Jonah whispers, trying to squirm away from Aurora, but she holds on to him.

"No, you don't, Jonah!" Aurora scrambles onto her elbows to look him dead in the eyes. "You're my husband, Jonah."

Jonah just stares.

Then he shakes his head. "No, no way. You're joking with me."

(This has to be a joke, right? There's no way––)