american dream || pulisic

twenty-two

Nothing screams Christmas like sitting near the warm fire, snuggled up with your loved one on the couch.

Well, Ellie and Christian are snuggled up on the couch in front of a heater because he's scared of starting fires. And his parents are at work right now, so he can't really ask them how to start a fire unless he wants to get yelled at when they get home.

Not to mention that it's way past Christmas, and the magic's running off now. The big Christmas tree in the corner of the living room doesn't have the same pizzaz as before, and it's like some big, unnecessary thing in the middle of the room.

"Mark Watney is a mood," she said. They were watching The Martian and so far, it's pretty darn good if you ask her, and when she watches movies, she's like a critic.

"Would you ever get stuck on Mars with me?"

She looked at Christian like he had said the strangest question ever, but really, it was because she had never expected him to ask that. She felt like it would have been her. "To be honest, no—"

"Hey!" He ruffled her hair, messing the hairs from her ponytail. "I was kind of expecting a of course I would babe, I love you like a normal person."

Christian feels different. He's not sure why but it started when winter break began and he had flown out to Ellie's side of the country, being with her consistently for the first time in forever. It's a giddy feeling in his stomach that gets him so worked up, trying so hard he's actually not very sure of what he's doing.

You know, a normal Christian would be just laying there with Ellie in his arms, just enjoying life as it is but it seems now he's going even further.

"Okay, but honestly," she chuckled, "would you really be reliable in a time like this? When you're stranded on Mars?"

"Woooow, Ellie," Christian groaned, sarcastically. "My own girlfriend said that I wouldn't be able to survive Mars."

"So if you were stuck on Mars, what is the first thing you would do then?"

He scoffed. "Easy. In Watney's situation, I would try and find my teammates first and then—"

"And that is why I would rather be stuck with Mark Watney on Mars. Or maybe Felix—" Ew, Felix? She's rather be stuck on Mars with Felix but him, her boyfriend? "I feel like he knows what to do."

"Ellie, he's literally the same person who thought The Walking Dead was based on a true story." Christian remembers that because it was when he had just moved to Dortmund and someone was talking about the American TV show, and Felix asked so, when did this happen? When did the zombies take over? The 1500s? "Think about it, if we're stuck on Mars, we can build a new life."

"Yes, because living on a desolate planet where the air will literally kill you is fun."

"No—just listen!" he exclaimed, and Ellie turned to face him, her facial expression unsure of what this boy's planning to do. He's more of a Marvel kind of guy, and watching this movie has got him thinking all sorts of things. "We could colonize Mars, and we could be the best soccer players on Mars! We could...grow fruits and vegetables, we could have our own garden on Mars!"

"Uh oh," Dee walked by and plopped herself on to the couch right next to Ellie. "Is my little brother okay?"

Ellie shrugged. "I have no idea anymore. We started watching this movie, and now I think he's broken."

"No! Mars would be a great place to live," he went back right at it. "Wouldn't you agree, Dee?"

By the looks of it, Deedee had very little hope in her brother. Sure, he was great at football, but he could sometimes be very dumb.