Terms and Conditions

Chapter 25

We ran down three blocks before stopping, huffing and puffing in front of a diner. Luis laughed as he leaned his body against a stop sign. I had to catch my breath before I could even laugh with him.

With my hands on my knees, I looked up at him. "How did you get all of that? How, how—"

"I told you." Luis closed his eyes as he took in one deep breath. "I have a way to get things. And Dragan... he knew." He shrugged. "I think that's why he picked me. I caught on right away."

I stood straight. Both of my hands sat on my hips. "You did..."

Luis pushed off the sign and wrapped his arms around me. I fell into his embrace and gripped his shirt tight. I smelled him; cologne mixed with a summer breeze. When I opened my eyes, I found myself staring at our reflection in the window of a parked car. "You were late," I whispered. "She had me cornered."

"I told you, I turned those papers over. I needed everything to be ready," Luis said, his chin on my head as he held me. "I needed to make sure I had the right course of attack. I couldn't just go in there without a plan." Looking down at me, Luis moved one hand to lift my chin, so I'd look up into his eyes. "You taught me that, Chari, remember?"

I held my breath. Was he bringing up the boss battle we fought? When I scolded him for just running in with no action? That was so long ago.

Playfully, I punched his arm. "That stuff is for games, not for real life."

"Yeah, but," his eyes searched mine, "you taught it to me in a game meant to help me with real life. I have to thank you for that."

Like this, I was lost in his gaze. For the first time, I didn't see stars in them, or anything bright. They were dark, deep, a golden deep bronze, like scarred armor. Shadows moved across them, smoke from a fire. His fire.

Wake me up...

"Luis..." I whispered his name because I wasn't sure what to say. In the game when this happened, we had some big, majestic quest under our belt. Experience points going off over our heads. Right now, we just stood outside of some crappy diner, in the middle of the sidewalk where it could possibly rain. Nothing was like the game. Nothing extravagant happened.

Yet, as he leaned closer and I looked into his eyes, I realized I was wrong. Something had happened. The quest to avenge those harmed by Bio-Lab was short, quickly accepted, yet finished. And Luis took the lead, dealing the final blow to Judith, who could've been the main boss within the game of life.

I can't wake up...

As his lips hovered over mine, I laughed. Not at him, but the moment.

Regardless, Luis didn't move back. "What's so funny, Chari?" he whispered against my lips.

I liked that he stayed, that he held me close. His strength was my rock; I wanted to stay here, lean on him, so I could stand strong. Like him.

"Nothing's funny," I whispered back, looking into his hooded eyes. "I just feel like everything is connected right now."

"Yeah?" He smirked.

And my heart melted. "Yeah."

"If it connected..." Luis slipped his hand to grab mine, easily linking our fingers together. His thumb brushed against my skin as I felt his heart hammer in his chest. "Would it be all right to kiss you? Here? Now?"

For a moment, I closed my eyes and imagined the waterfall after the Mulin Jewel quest. The way the whisps of water moved around us, how magic illuminated the moment. When I opened my eyes again, I found the same at the street corner. A bee buzzed over our heads. The streetlights flashed, broken, but the changing color was nice against the dimming sun.