Even though Beck knew that Alice wouldn't be gone in the morning, he still held on to her tighter than he had expected. She was on her side, one arm underneath her head propping her up, and the other rested lighting upon the curve of his waist. The blanket draped over their lower bodies, their legs were slightly tangled together underneath. Beck had one arm underneath his pillow, his head rested on the pillow so he was not eye-level with Alice. His other hand was wrapped around her, tracing her spine with his fingertips. Back and forth, back and forth. She was exhausted, she wanted to fall asleep, but she somehow didn't want to close her eyes while he was here. She was going to be stuck with him for about another year, there was going to be no losing him, but in the moment it felt right to fight sleep and just be there with him.
As much as Beck wanted to lay there forever, and he did hope that she would stay until the morning, he also wanted to ask her something. If she was going to stay, the rest of the crew was certainly going to figure it out. Although, it didn't matter if the crew found out at this point, most of them believed that this had already happened. He closed his blue eyes just for a moment, and Alice wondered if he was going to fall asleep. She recalled the night nine years ago, he had fallen asleep rather quickly, and Alice had drifted off here and there, waking up a few hours later and sneaking out before he noticed. She felt a slight pulse of regret when she thought of her younger self, but when she looked at Beck laying next to her now, all she could do was smile.
"Hey," Beck whispered.
"Hey," she replied to show that she was awake, since his eyes were still closed.
"Are you up for something?" he whispered, opening his eyes.
Alice raised an eyebrow, which made her face look lopsided because she was lying on her side, her head rested against her hand. "I need a little more context than that."
He chuckled. "Nothing weird."
"Alright, what is it?"
Beck perked up. "Get dressed."
Alice groaned, she was tired and wanted to rest for a while. For the night, just to spend it next to Beck with his warmth wrapped around her like a cocoon and she could forget about everything just for a few hours of sleep. She shook her head, pulled her hand from holding up her head and let it rest against the pillow. "Nope. I'm not up for it."
Beck frowned. "Awe, come on. I promise, it will be worth it."
Despite how tired she was, she decided that it was for the best. Beck seemed eager to show her something, and being tired had never stopped her from doing anything before. She'd been tired for months it felt like, since Watney was left on Mars. But something made her heart skip a beat as she climbed out of the bed and reached for her clothing. As she grabbed one of the navy-blue shirts, she held it up and frowned. When she turned, she saw Beck holding hers and laughing lightly to himself.
"Don't even think about it." She reached for her shirt that would be way too small on someone as broad and muscular as Beck. Beck had a wicked smile on his face, but he handed her the shirt and took his own from her grasp. "Thank you."
Alice followed Beck as they walked down from the bedroom section of the Hermes. The whir and grumble of the space ship was familiar and almost calming, even though at any point something could break down and kill them all. When the gravity disappeared, they floated along the halls until Beck got into the Rec Room. It no longer had gravitational pull, and so they had to steady themselves as Beck came to a halt. Alice slowed, grabbing his shoulder to help herself stop, and then she reached up and grabbed one of the many bars that lined the entire spacecraft for this very reason. Beck pointed out the large window.
Outside was the vastness of space, black, perilous and unforgiving. It would kill them in an instant; one breach in the Hermes, one tether snapping, one suit tearing. And yet it was one of them most beautiful of sights that Alice had seen in a long time. They had been surrounded by it for so long that it was just something she saw, night or day, it didn't matter. All there was around them was space.
Beck then tapped her shoulder, just as she was beginning to appreciate how stunning it was once again, and they floated to the other side. Out that window was something more miraculous. The giant blue and green orb that was Earth, their home, where their families were waiting for them to come home safe with Mark Watney. She thought of Mark's parents, and how they must be feeling. She imagined the NASA building and how it was lit up 24/7, and how no one was getting any rest with the stress of Watney being out there still. It was amazing to think that one person being stranded on Mars, it made the whole entire world change it's pace; everyone wanted to save Mark.
"Alice, are you okay?" Beck whispered, placing his hand on her shoulder.
She realized that she was crying, only lightly, the tears only welled up in her eyes. She wiped them away, laughed a little, and smiled. "I'm just thinking about Watney. I just can't... I can't imagine..."
"It gets to me sometimes too." Beck sighed. "Every message we've gotten from him, he's been in the best of spirits."
"He talked about dying with me," Alice said, her voice slightly shuddery. "But you're right, he still sounded optimistic. And I think we all have to take a lesson from him, it's that Law of Attraction all over again."
Beck snickered.
"What?"
"I was going to say..." He laughed again, "I could teach you a lesson on attraction, but that sounded too corny."
"Well, the cat's out of the bag now." She laughed. "I'm glad you brought me out here."
"I knew you'd like it," he said. "I started coming out to look at the endless stars when you stopped coming to my room."
Alice blushed; how could this man still make her heart skips beats and her face turn cherry-red. "I'm terribly good at leaving."
"Hopefully not too good." He leaned in and kissed her cheek, feeling the warmth of her skin under his lips. "Let's go back to bed."
"A few more minutes." She took another look at Earth, and how miraculous and gigantic it looked from up here. Seeing it on such a large scale, it appeared as though everything was insignificant, except that everyone was tuning in to what the Ares 3 crew was doing. This mission was larger than life, larger than Earth, and that made Alice feel as though she'd made a big mark on the world. A smile overtook the sadness that she had felt, and she wanted nothing more than to lean her head on Beck's shoulder, only the lack of gravity prevented such cliché endings. So she took a deep breath, trying to burn the image of Earth into her mind, and then decided it was indeed time to go back to bed.
They crawled back into bed, Beck wrapping his arm around her tightly. His soft breath on her neck reminded her that she was not alone, out here or on Earth, she had so many people to love her and care about her. The strength of his arm around her body reminded her that he would look out for her when she needed it, and that created a warm feeling inside of her. She shut her green eyes and knew that she would sleep well throughout the night, nothing would wake her, nothing would bother her, because everything was exactly where it was supposed to be.
Except Mark.
He was still on Mars.