Perish • Ben Parish

01

I gave him a small nod, just as Nugget burst out in song. 

"Canary and Zombie, sitting in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G-" 

"Nugget," I started. 

"First comes love-" 

I felt heat rush to my cheeks and my eyes widened slightly. Love.

"Hey Nugget," Zombie said. "Turn around." 

I let my scissors fall from his hair once again and Nugget turned around in his chair to face Zombie. 

"What?" he asked, a mischievous look on his face. 

Zombie took my face in his hands and kissed me hard. 

"Bleh!" Nugget said, sticking out his tongue. "Gross!" 

Zombie pulled away and smiled at me before turning to Nugget. "Now sit down and behave while Canary cuts your hair," he said. 

I bit my lip softly, trying to contain a smile. 

"Fine," Nugget huffed, crossing his arms and pouting his lips as he turned back around in his chair. 

Zombie ruffled his hair and then planted a soft kiss on my lips. "Tonight, ok?" he murmured. "It's important." 

I nodded. "mhmm," I said, pursing my lips. 

What could he possible want to talk about? We'd already had many conversations on how to defeat the Others, with little to no results. And our relationship was at an ok place. I guess. We hadn't talked about us in awhile, but we certainly weren't having any problems. 

"Are you going to cut my hair or what?" Nugget asked, swinging around again. 

I blinked twice and nodded. "Yeah, yeah," I said, bringing my hands up to his hair again. 

~*~*~*~

"So..." I said to Cassie, searching for something to say. "How are you and Evan doing?" 

We were both waiting in Grace's family room, in front of the fire. I was waiting for Zombie, who, at the moment, was reading Nugget a bedtime story. And Cassie was waiting for Evan, who was outside doing who knows what. 

Cassie shrugged, bringing her blanket up over her shoulders. "Good, I guess," she said. "I'm angry at him...I mean Sam can't even remember the alphabet...and I guess he's the only one around here I can really blame for that. But it pains me because I can't even stay mad at him for very long." 

I nodded slowly. "We'll work with Nugget, all of us," I said. "As for Evan, I get why you'd blame him." 

I stared into the fire, letting its moving twists and turns hold my attention. 

"But he's different than the rest of them, and you know that," I said, finally looking sideways at her. "I mean, he did turn on his entire kind. I wouldn't do that unless it was for someone I really cared about." 

"Like Ben," Cassie offered. 

I nodded, lowering my eyes to my own blanket, tracing its pattern with my finger. "Yeah, like Ben," I said, the word feeling foreign in my mouth. 

Zombie looked like Ben, but he wasn't Ben anymore to me. 

Cassie gave me a half smile. "You really like him, don't you?" she said. "Love him, even?" 

I dipped my head, uncomfortable. "I don't know about love," I said, "But I what I feel for him is different than anything I've felt for anyone before."