He lay down, a sigh escaping his lips. We both got under the covers, and I turned his way. The moon was shining in through the open window above us, the candlelight flickering and again, I felt vaguely like I was in a waking dream, the blurriness of the wine only enhancing the sensation. I let my gaze move over the beautiful proportions of his profile. I itched to reach out and run my finger over his brow and nose, down to his chin and jaw, outlining the movement of my gaze. He turned his head and looked at me, our gazes catching and though I felt plenty woozy, I still felt the charge that sparked in the air.

I got the sense that his muscles had tightened slightly but couldn’t say how I knew. A subtle shift maybe, or something else I was too tipsy to distinguish. What I did know was that the almost indiscernible movement of his body made my own respond. My nipples pebbled and a distant throbbing took up in my blood, made heavy and slow by the alcohol.

He blinked as if suddenly taken off guard, and then tipped his head back to look up at the moon. I did too, only able to see half of it from where we lay. “It seems like it’s peeking in at us,” I whispered.

He let out a soft chuckle and I smiled sleepily, my eyes already half-closed. The bed was so warm and comfortable and there was a roof and walls protecting us from harm. Tuck and I were so close, and I could smell the scent of his skin, making me feel equally comforted and excited. Candlelight flickered, and oh, how I wished I could stay in the moment for longer than a single night. Clouds floated past the moon, dimming its light, and I stared up at it again feeling a moment of uncertainty as if the laws of nature had changed and the moonlight might blink out like the rest of the world.

“The whole world feels different,” I whispered, my words slurring. “Not just the power, but everything seems so uncertain.” I lifted my arm and waved it toward the window. “I mean the planet itself. It’s like whatever catastrophe shut everything down also made the earth unstable. You know like it might just start crumbling all around us.” And it made me want to reach for him, to grab on and hold tight. Because I had this feeling that even if the world crumbled, somehow Tuck would figure out a way to survive. The comfort I’d just felt took on a shade of fear, and I scooted closer to him.

He turned toward me, so our faces were only inches apart. “No, Em. Whatever’s going on, the earth will be okay. This planet has survived shifting plates and ice ages, volcanoes, tsunamis. The earth will be fine and so will we.”

“Will we, Tuck?”