Cresswell: The Lunar Chronicles

Chapter Twenty Three

Cress ran her fingers through her hair, still wavy from her shower last night, before pulling a chunky knit sweater over her head and tugging on the pair of leather boots Carswell had bought her. She loved the way the new leather smelled. His jacket still had faint traces of it and the smell reminded her of him. Plus, the deep clicking of the heel on the ground made her feel like someone important.

Cress made her way to the galley. Scarlet was already there, but Wolf must have been still asleep or doing jumping jacks somewhere. She reached for a freeze-dried meal packet and tossed it in the reviver, leaning against the counter and picking at her fingernails while she waited.

"So, you and Wolf are going back to France?"

Scarlet nodded, a cross between regret and excitement slipping onto her face. "I've been gone from the farm a long time, and I'm homesick to be honest. It's been a crazy year."

Cress nodded her agreement. It had been a crazy year. Her lips parted and she was about to say she was looking forward to things getting back to normal. The trouble was, she didn't know what normal looked like. Normal for her would have been returning to the satellite.

A smile lit up her face. She was excited to figure out what normal looked like. A chime from the reviver brought her out of her fantasy and she picked up the plate with a grin on her face. As she started down the corridor, a light clink made her pause.

She backtracked, peering down the metal stairwell into the cargo bay. Carswell was doing pull-ups at one of the overhead pipes, his shirt abandoned across a crate. Wolf was on the ground doing some variation of pushup that wiped Cress out just watching.

Carswell dropped to the ground and reached for a towel at the same time Wolf said he was finished and was going to take a shower.

Cress sighed dreamily, leaning her head against the doorframe. Her heart fluttered against her ribcage when he turned around and she could see his abs. It was all she could do not to audibly sigh.

A decent amount of time must have passed, though Cress wasn't sure how much. At some point, Carswell's gaze flickered up to hers and she grinned.

"What are you doing?"

"Enjoying the view."

Carswell winked at her. "Feel free to come closer so I can enjoy the view, too."

Cress laughed, skipping down the stairs. Carswell leaned down and gave her a careful kiss, laughing that he was sweaty.

"So where are we?" Cress asked, sinking down on the ground against the metal wall and peering up at the view shield high above them.

"We just entered the United Kingdom's border," Carswell said, jumping up and gripping the bar above his head.

Cress squealed. It seamed as if every new place was better than the last, yet she missed each place they left. She was both excited and nervous to be moving on to America alone. Excited because she and Carswell hadn't been alone in well, since the desert. But nervous because it would just be the two of them distributing the antidotes. She appreciated how Scarlet just took charge. Between her and Wolf, all Cress really had to do was run around and get them whatever it was they needed.

"What's wrong?" he asked, dropping back down to the ground and wiping his forehead off with the back of his hand.

Cress snapped out of her gaze, grinning sheepishly. "Hm?"

"You looked like you were thinking about something intense."

Cress giggled. "No, just wondering what it'll be like when we're doing antidotes on our own."