The Transfer ✔️

Chapter Forty-Two: Commencement

Chapter Song: Battle Cry - Imagine Dragons

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I wake up feeling happy. Warm, like sunshine is directly above me. It radiates in my chest, that much I'm aware of. The soft feeling of my sheets creeps into my senses as I stretch out. I only get so far, an arm around me stopping any movements. I sigh happily and open my eyes slowly, running my hand back and forth against Leonardo's arm. He grumbles behind me and rolls over, dragging me with him so he's on his back with me lying on top.

Shuffling until I'm just pressed to his side, I kiss his shoulder as his head turns to regard me with sleepy eyes.

"Good morning. You're happy." He comments like it's not a trait of mine to be a morning person.

I shrug and relax against him, my head on his shoulder – my favorite place to be apart from the Defense base. "Trying to be. It's our last chance anyway."

Last seems to gut-punch both of us. We fall silent for a while. I listen to him breathe whilst the deadline of today tries to get through my subconscious. Trying to fight it off is harder than you would think but I'm determined to. I have until sunset. Making the most of the time is the priority since we know nothing about what's happening.

"We're going to lie like this again," Leonardo scoffs, breaking the silence. He sounds incredulous, as if he's coming back to his own senses. "We're moving in together later. We're going to kick ass somewhere whilst you literally kick my ass about some household thing."

"I can take you down without the household excuse." I say, raising an eyebrow.

Leonardo grabs my arm and squeezes my bicep. I've never been a fan of the fact my muscles are bigger than what's stereotypically expected, even though they give me strength. Leonardo seems to be a big fan of my body regardless and has mentioned it more times than I can count. "You probably could. I would get too distracted by your body."

I laugh and turn my head towards his neck. He wraps both of his arms around me and squeezes me tight, unwilling to let go. We kiss until the sun and is almost too bright in the room and our bodies are exhausted. My lips feel swollen when I pull back and insist that we go for breakfast. Leonardo, unsurprisingly, is in a great mood and agrees.

My throat tightens when we walk into the canteen later. It's our last breakfast here. Our last day here. The Outside comes at sunset to pick all forty of us up and drive us away. To where? Undetermined. But I know that it's going to be the start of another period of my life whether I like it or not. Starting from square one. Again.

Evelyn seems to be coping worse than I am. Her eyes are bloodshot as she serves breakfast. I murmur it's okay to her but she waves her hand in a signal to stop. When we sit down to breakfast, I mention it to Robert and he takes off in search of her. I like that she's got someone there for her, regardless of the circumstances. I only hope she always has him. That they always have each other.

My thoughts make me grab Leonardos hand and I don't let go until we separate at the main entrance to go to our designated sectors. My emotions are stable and calm when I arrive and I promise myself to stay that way. There's no need to be unnecessarily dramatic.

I will be in control. I will not be scared. I will make it through.

Mantras are all that get me through. The three hours it takes to make it to lunch are too long. With both Matt and I leaving, the sector is at a loss. Who takes over? Obviously they'll all have another vote but the thought of this sector, the one weve both worked so hard on, out of our control is nearly enough to throw me over the edge.