Cresswell: The Lunar Chronicles

Chapter Four

"Hey, Damsel?"

Cress, sitting cross legged at her set up in the cockpit with a portscreen in her lap, glanced up as Thorne walked in, arms were loaded with blankets and protein rations.

"Come on," he said, cocking his head to the side.

A grin breaking her slight frown, Cress fairly leapt up and followed him through the corridors and down through the exit hatch. Stepping into the cold air and onto the sand, still warm from the baking sun, Thorne's hand grasped hers as he pulled her around the side of the ship. Flinging one of the blankets open and spreading it on the ground, he dropped the second one on top.

"Are we sleeping out here, tonight?"

"If you want." He shrugged. "But that's not what I wanted to show you." With a smirk, he pointed up to the sky and Cress followed his finger.

She couldn't formulate a reply, her gaze fixating on the thousands of twinkling stars above her. The first time she had set foot on Earth, the first time she had looked up and seen the thousands of stars above her, it made her dizzy to realize how big and vast everything really was. At the time it was borderline overwhelming.

It was still overwhelming, just in a different way. She sucked in a breath, almost loosing her balance at the same realization.

Thorne wrapped an arm around her waist, holding her against him.

"Star gazing," he murmured, gently pulling her down onto the blanket and flinging the second one on top of them. "There's no moon tonight, so the stars will be a little brighter than they normally are."

Cress swallowed, nodding dumbly and unable to speak aloud. Thorne's hand guided her head to lean on his shoulder and she sank onto her back, resting her hand on his chest.

"Recognize any of the constellations?"

"Yeah. Orion and Pegasus... they're so... beautiful and bright."

Thorne kissed the top of her hair as she nestled her head on his shoulder, peering at the sky above. He wrapped his arm around her waist and she played with his fingers.

"I love you."

Thorne smiled. He tightened his arm around her. "Good thing. 'Cause I love you to." He kissed her forehead again, keeping his lips on her skin for several seconds.

As the air continued to drop in temperature, Cress snuggled closer to him and he brought the blanket up around her neck. She felt as if she had shrunk even smaller as she curled up and stayed pressed against him.

The physical exertion from the past few weeks began to catch up with her as her eye lids started to close. Most nights she had barely managed to stumble through a shower and collapse onto her bed. Well, Thorne's bed.

With a contented sigh, she fell asleep and didn't wake up again until she felt the ground moving beneath her and a gush of cold air chase away the warmth. Blinking her eyes open, she realized Thorne was carrying her back inside the Rampion. Her teeth started chattering together at the sudden drop in temperature.

"Sorry; it started to get pretty cold," he whispered.

Cress managed a nod, leaning her head against his chest and already drifting back off.

*         *         *

Bright and early the next morning, the crew moved to another city and went through the same routine. If it was possible, the sun was hotter and drier than ever and the temperature continued to rise. Scarlet suggested she and Wolf take a hover and move around the area to get to people who were in the advanced stages of the disease, leaving Thorne and Cress to manage the medical tent—a task which proved to be much easier now that they both had a sense for what they were doing.