To Learn To Fall (Sequel to the Other Side)

Chapter Seventeen

For a while, I forgot everything around us. I forgot we were in the library of a rebel fortress. I forgot that Thomas was a ticking time bomb, slowly counting down until his inevitable permanent transformation or death. I forgot that there was nothing I could do to help him, no matter how much I tried. I forgot about the war and our friends and our enemies.

And for the time being, it was just me and Thomas, sitting together at the table and listening to the music playing from my phone.

"I think you've had way too much of that," I teased as he reached for his wine glass again.

"You know what I think?" he asked as he preceded to flip me off.

My grin was more or less permanent. I leaned my face against my hand and watched him. "Want to dance?"

He paused, his spoon clattering against the bowl of ice cream I had gotten for both of us. "What do you mean?" he asked after a second, watching me carefully.

"It's just, well...when you were invited to the ball thing a few months ago, I really wanted to go with you. Not just to keep you safe or whatever," I said, finding that I had a tough time trying to keep my thoughts together and words coherent. "I wanted to dance with you. So I thought, maybe if you'd...?"

He stood up abruptly. "Not the most romantic invitations to dance I've ever received, but I suppose it will have to do." Thomas held out his hand, and when I took it, he pulled me to my feet and dragged me to an open space. I swallowed as he turned to face me and smiled. "You're not going to die."

"What? I don't think I'm g—"

"You look like you think you're going to die."

"Are you drunk?" I asked.

"No!" He skipped a beat. "Maybe a little bit. There, stand like this."

When I copied the way he stood and carried himself, he nodded encouragingly and continued showing me 'the proper way to dance', as he referred to it. "I don't have much experience with this," I said after a while.

"You're not doing too bad!"

"Really?"

He stopped for a second, letting go of me. "No. You're pretty terrible at this," he said sheepishly. "But it just takes some practice, that's all. And maybe when we head back to Avionerra, you'll dance with me!"

I cocked my head. "When do you have plans to go back to Avionerra?"

"Well, I have to go back eventually," he said, without a noticeable change in expression. He was still smiling as he led me to the couch. "I don't want to, but I'm going to have to eventually."

I nodded, sitting down next to him. He rested his head against my shoulder, and it would have taken far too much not to smile. I kissed him lightly and relaxed as the warm night breeze drifted into the library. He snapped his fingers, and suddenly two wineglasses appeared before us, filled up.

"You have a problem," I said. I didn't mind. Let him be happy. "And why do you suddenly need to snap, huh?"

"Theatrics." Thomas took a big sip from his wine and leaned against me even more than he had been. I watched him happily, adoring the way the firelight from the candles accented his skin.

The night wore on slowly, and I couldn't have been more grateful for it. "Alexander?" he said lightly, yawning. "I have to ask you a serious question."

"What is it?" I asked. I always felt like I was in some sort of a trance whenever I was with him. I just felt so at ease. He smelled sweet, like those blue flowers he has hanging down in his room.

"Do you have a crush on me?"

I grinned and decided to play along. "Yeah, yeah. You got me."

"You do?"

"I do."

"Hah. I knew it." He was completely out of it by now, and Divinity, was he cute. He smiled almost the entire time, and I loved his smile. "Don't worry. I think I have a crush on you too."

"You think?" I teased, smiling down at him. His eyes were closed and he was using my body as a pillow, which I didn't mind in the slightest.

"Did I ever tell you about how I want my wedding?"

"I don't think so? I didn't know Peritum had weddings. Run it by me." I set my fingers against his back and scratched lightly, knowing how much he liked it when I did that.

"Well, I don't want something too big, of course. Something that'll completely break tradition. I don't want the entirety of Avionerra to be there. It's going to be small, and held in an open field, right?" He gesticulated by spreading his hands out wide. "And it's going to be dusk when the ceremony starts."

It may have been selfish, but I pictured the scene in my mind, and I saw myself standing on the other side of the altar. I chased the thoughts from my head and kept my eyes on Thomas.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. It can be simple and small. That's really all I want."

"Sounds great," I murmured, stroking his back gently.

"It does," he agreed. He let out a deep breath. "I'm going to go to sleep. Good night Alexander."

"Night, Thomas."

"I love you."

It didn't even hit me at first, the fullness of what he said. It seemed so natural that I didn't notice, but when I realized what he had said, I stopped completely.

He opened an eye at me. "You're supposed to say 'I love you too'," he whispered, smiling. He must not have realized what he had said himself.

"I—I love you too, Thomas," I murmured, and the words felt so right leaving my tongue. As if I had been waiting to say that for so long.

His smile was unmatched as he closed his eyes again. The rise and fall of his chest slowed minutes later, leaving me to ponder what had just happened in the candlelight.

A breath escaped my mouth, and I leaned back against the couch, grinning wildly.