ragnarok - rim of the world

Perfect Moment

"I shouldn't have hit you. It was my fault," Gabriel apologized as we munched on some food we found in the kitchen. We found a random green light to illuminate us, seeing as the power was out.

"No, no, you should have hit him," I added.

Dariush just looked at me like he was fed up with me, before ignoring me, "I don't know. I'm good bro. I mean...it doesn't hurt as much as seeing all this gunk on my new J's."

"How do you care about sneakers in a time like this?" Alex asked him, he seemed genuinely curious.

"How can he not?" I mumbled under my breath, taking another bite of my sandwich.

"You know what? You guys are lucky. You don't have friends." I held my head down, not wanting to think about the thought of having no friends, "It's hard out here for a pimp, you know? Gotta keep up with the flyest shit, you know, the dopest kicks. Tightest whip. Baddest chick. And my friends, they're like bears. Soon as they smell weakness, they're just coming straight at your neck. That's why I keep this on my neck. Diamonds." 

"Does Dariush mean "douchebag in Farsi?" Alex interjected.

"What's Farsi?"

"It's the language your mom was screaming when you were coming out of her ass." My eyebrows raised at Alex's remark, where did that come from? I quickly realized that it was my mom he was talking about so I lowered my hand which was about to go in for a high five. Instead, I gave him a playful slap.

"Hey, don't talk about my mom's ass, alright? You wish you were there."

"That's my mom's ass too, you know," I added.

"I mean, no offense dude, but those don't sound like friends," Gabriel chimed in, switching the subject.

Suddenly, a low whirring sound rang in our ears, causing us to look at the light that beamed into the house. After a couple of seconds, the sound died out, I released a breath I didn't even realize I was holding and inched back to the place I was sitting.

"How did you even end up in jail?" Dariush asked Gabriel, causing him to look up at him.

I furrowed my eyebrows, was that something you could just ask someone? 

"My dad left when I was about ten," Gabriel started, "I got a job as a bag boy, at a grocery store my mom worked at. To, you know...help her with money. One time she steps away, and I took over the cash register. I was helping a customer and, uh, he started to accuse me of stealing from him. I guess I gave him the wrong change. I get numbers, like, muddled in my head sometimes, unless I see them written down." That must explain why he had a hard time with the bike lock. "But he didn't believe me. And, um, I lost it. So I decked. Broke his nose. Mom got fired, and, uh, they sent me away. She never came around to visit me once."

Wow...I would have never guessed he went through so much. My heart ached for him, I just wanted to hug him. Instead I softly laid a hand on his, wanting him to know that I was there for him.

"You can't choose your family, but you can always make a new one." Zhenzhen smiled, "Come on." She pulled out a camera as we all huddled together for a photo.

"A young Yoda up in here?" Dariush remarked.

Big smiles grew on our faces as we posed for the old-fashioned camera. I looked at the ragtag group of teens around me and I knew then I had found a second family.

I turned around the corner, overhearing a conversation I didn't think I was supposed to.

"Then who does Hope sleep with?" I overheard Alex ask. I stopped in my tracks, wanting to hear this conversation.

"Well, I don't mind," I heard Gabriel say. He didn't mind? 

"Aw, hell, no! You're not sleeping with my sister," Dariush quickly added.

"You can't cock-block him though," Alex remarked. Cock-block?

"Yes, I can. Hope is my sister."

I walked out into their conversation, their heads turned towards me. 

"How long have you been there?" Gabriel inquired nervously.

"I'm sleeping with Gabriel," I said, putting my hands on my hips, "I'm never sharing a bed with you ever again, Dariush. You're on the floor."

"Come on, you didn't hit the ground that hard. You were being dramatic."

I rolled my eyes. I did hit the ground hard. Althought it was 2 years ago, I'm still mentally scarred.

"Plus, let's not cock-block, Gabriel. Come on." I motioned for them to follow me into the room. I could feel them looking at each other before hesitantly entering the room.

I got onto the bed, followed by Gabriel.

"Ah, crap! I forgot my sleep apnea mask. If I snore, I'm sorry," Dariush said as he started to crawl into the sleeping bag on the floor.

 "You have sleep apnea?" Gabriel asked, seemingly surprised, "Sleep apnea?"

"It's non-age-discriminate, Gabriel!" 

I noticed Alex hesitantly walking over to the second bed that Zhenzhen laid on. I tapped him on the back and gave him a thumbs up and a soft smile, then nodded for him to go on the bed.

However, my attention shifted to the boy who was now beside me, drowning everything out.

I didn't dare look at him, imagine how awkward that would be.

After some time, everyone seemed to be fast asleep. At least, Dariush was, his snoring being a big indicator. 

Gabriel started to toss and turn in the bed before he eventually got up with a sigh. I looked over to see him walk out of the room. I debated on following him, what if he needed someone to talk to? Maybe I shouldn't.

After a couple of seconds, I left the bed too, to find Gabriel in the kitchen, holding a bottle of water.

"Couldn't sleep?" I asked him, leaning against a countertop.

"Oh, yeah, no, I couldn't." He was obviously a little surprised to see me, putting his bottle down.

"Me neither. Actually, I'm kind of anxious, about this whole, you know, alien invasion thing and the fact we have to stop it." 

"Yeah, it's nerve-wracking, I'm...pretty anxious too, but I think we can do it."

"Really?" 

"Yeah, well, we're not the best fit for it but I think we can do it. We've made it this far."

"I hope some of your positivity rubs off on me. And your selflessness." I chuckled, looking straight at him. 

Our eyes locked into a gaze, a mesmerizing gaze. I don't think either of us could look away.

"You have beautiful eyes," I complimented him. They glistened, almost glowed, in the moonlight. They were anxious and nervous, I could see, but were hopeful and optimistic. Whether it was for the near future riddled with aliens or the next couple of unknown seconds, I couldn't stop looking at them, examining them. They held so much emotion, so much story, so much love to give.

All of my worries never existed at this moment. No aliens, no Dariush or whining, no fear of impending doom. Just us. This moment was...perfect. The moonlight peeked through the window, illuminating us in a spotlight as he inched closer and closer to my face.

I closed my eyes as our lips pressed against each other. I never wanted this moment to end.