...oops (Independence Day Fanfic)

Homeward Bound?

I jumped out of my seat and threw myself towards the back of the space ship, landing ungracefully on my butt. Hard. That was definitely leave a bruise.

Steve and David flopped down next to me, David next to me and Steve on his other side, and we all sat in silence for a couple of seconds, trying to catch our breath and slow down our racing heartbeats.

I probably wouldn't have admitted it out loud, because I'm a stubborn ass, but I was terrified. I couldn't think of any logical way that we would make it out of here alive, and that realization made me want to be sick.

I could feel David's arm and shoulder rise and fall next to me as he breathed just as hard as I was. If this was any other situation, I would probably be redder than a tomato in the face and have butterflies in my stomach because of how close we were, but in this case the butterflies were from knowing I was going to die, and the red face was from trying not to cry.

I leaned my head back against the wall, closing my eyes for a second.

Well, at least this is a pretty epic way to go out. Who would have ever thought that I would die in outer space fighting aliens, while (hopefully) saving the world?

I smiled weakly at my thoughts, but the smile quickly vanished when I realized, once again, that if we couldn't pull this off, the whole world would die along with us.

I ran a hand through my hair and sighed quietly. Although I was petrified and didn't want to die, I wouldn't change the fact that I came up here with David and Steve even if I could. Like I had said to David, I wasn't going to just sit and wait for the world to either revive or burn; I wanted to do something. And in the end, I was glad that I did.

"What do you think?"

I turned my head to Steve when I heard him speak, and raised an eyebrow.

"Checkmate," I said simply, looking down at the ground solemnly.

Steve just nodded, then handed both me and David a cigar each. I was hesitant at first, then grabbed it and lit it along with the two men. Gonna die anyway, I suppose. 

David chuckled quietly as he put the cigar in between his lips. "It's funny, I always thought these things would kill me," he joked.

Steve smiled. "It's been a pleasure. Both of you," he said, looking over at me as well.

"Steve, you too," David said, smiling gently.

I nodded, and then my stomach dropped to my feet when I remembered something. 

I was going to die, and I still hadn't taken a bit of advice.

I saw Steve open his mouth to speak, but I cut him off.

"Before....before we nuke them...well, since we're about to die anyway, I feel like...there's something I should say?" I ended it like a question, fiddling with the cigar between my fingers. I looked up and saw both Steve and David looking at me expectantly.

I gulped. Now or never, I suppose.

I locked my eyes on my hands again, before taking a deep breath. "I...well, David...I, uh....I kinda..." I paused and took a deep breath again. This was just about as equally terrifying and being just about to die. "I...kind of...well, I have...feelings....for you," I finished, my face beet red.

I could almost smell Steve's smirk, even though I was still focused on my fingers and couldn't actually see him. I knew that jerk knew exactly what I was going to say, and I knew he was enjoying this.

I finally built up the courage to look up and at David.

Our eyes locked and I stopped breathing. I had always loved the color of his eyes, how they were kind of a brown, kind of a hazel, and how they shone when the sun was just right and when he smiled or got excited about something nerdy.