Outer Space

Chapter 6 - What Used To Be (Flashback)

"We shouldn't be here Maddie!"  Jemma whisper yelled at the boy in front of her.

"We'll be fine Jemmy. You trust me, don't you?" The answer to that was yes, it was always yes. After everything that the two of them had been through in their short lives, they found each other. And now they cling to each other with everything they have.

"How did you even find this place?" Jemma said after she calmed down her nerves a little. She was still trailing behind the boy though. She was not about to have anything jump out and kill her without at least one line of defense for protection.

Jemma noticed that Maddox seemed almost shy as he thought up an answer. That was new, the Maddie she knew never shut up. When he was finally able to find his voice though, he said, "My dad used to bring me here. After my mom died." The last part of his answer was said in a low voice. It was almost to quiet for Jemma to hear.

With that answer, she was able to understand why Maddie seemed so sad and upset. He was thinking about his parents. Jemma recognized this now because she was the same way when she started thinking about her parents. In an attempt to comfort him the wise mind of thirteen-year-old Jemma decided that it would be best to just let him talk and listen to what he had to say without her usual interruptions.

Surprisingly enough though, it seemed as if Maddox had nothing to say, for the first time ever. He just silently led the way through the abandoned hallways. He had previously told Jemma that they were going to an abandoned train station. She can't say that what she saw was what she expected. There weren't spiderwebs lining the walls or on the doors. It wasn't pitch black either, the windows that lined the walls let in a steady stream of light from the full moon that was outside.

Maddox seemed to know where he was going, but since he had said something about coming here with his dad earlier, Jemma figured that he hadn't been here in a while. And if he had, he hadn't told her about it.

Maddox walked up to a door, pulling it open and holding it for Jemma and himself to walk through. When Jemma got inside she noticed that it was darker than the other rooms, but she watched as Maddox went over to flip a switch and fairy lights lit up around the room. "Woah," Jemma said as she watched the room transform around her.

She watched a smile slowly form on Maddie's face. "Dad put these up, he used to tell me that if we laid down and looked up, they looked like stars." As he talked he grabbed the pillows that were on the couch that resided in the corner of the room.

"That must have been a dream come true for a wannabe astronaut," Jemma said taking a seat on the pillows that Maddox had thrown to the ground. Taking a seat next to her he laid down and she followed suit. The two of them basked in the calmness of the silence for as long as they could.

Interrupting the quiet stillness in the atmosphere, Maddox announced, "I'm going to go to space one day."

Jemma turned to look at him to see if he was growing a third head, but instead, she found that he looked relaxed, with his eyes closed and mouth slightly agape. If she hadn't heard him speak just a second ago, she would almost think that he was dead.

"Oh yeah?" She asked not bothering to question him any further knowing that he was having fun with his imagination.

"Yeah," he confirmed. A smile began forming on his face yet again but the rest of his facial features were able to remain completely relaxed. "I'm gonna bring you with me too." He added. But he wasn't done there as he said, "Just you and me, we're gonna build a life on Mars away from all the bullshit on Earth."

Jemma had no trouble playing along with his impossible scenarios because she almost wished they were possible. She loved imagining a world that was different and as long as she was with him she didn't care where they went. Outer space just happened to be the farthest place from where they were now. Endless space for the two adventurers to dream of exploring.

"I can't wait, except I think I'd rather go to Neptune." Jemma wanted to keep this back and forth going as long as she could. She hadn't been this happy and calm in a while.

"Why Neptune?" He asked her. Finally turning his head to look at her and opening his eyes so that he could see what he was thinking.

"It's farther away than Mars." She answered simply, staring into his dark brown eyes.

"But you don't like the cold and Neptune is like one of the coldest planets." Manny was right when he said that Jemma didn't like the cold.

"You're right." She responded leaning in closer to him. "I guess Mars will have to do for now then." 

He looked into her eyes yet again to try to see what she was thinking and this time he saw something different. Jemma had always done her best to be closed off but around him, she had always been different. Every time he looked into her eyes before, he saw a girl that tried her best to be okay when she was falling apart inside, but now he saw what she had previously hidden. He saw a strong girl, that would do anything to make the people around her happy, to make the people around her feel what she thought she could never truly be.

"I'm going to make you the happiest girl in the whole galaxy." He declared before leaning in and closing the small gap between them.

..........

Thank you so much for reading! 

This is Jemma's flashback to the first time she went to a place that will become important to the story later on. Also, it gives you a little more background information about her and Maddox.

I hope you enjoyed!

-Claire