Cresswell: The Lunar Chronicles

Chapter Thirty-One

"I'm so sorry, Carswell." Cress sighed, leaning her head on his shoulder as he wrapped an arm around her.

"Stop, Cress. You have nothing to be sorry for—aces, I'm sorry. I knew that was coming and..." He sighed, drawing a hand through his hair and squeezing her tighter against him. He kissed her forehead. "I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault."

Thorne kissed the top of her head again, wishing there was something he could have said or done to undo the past few hours. He should have faked a cold or something. He ran a finger beneath her jaw and turned her face to look up at him, smiling. "You look beautiful."

Cress smiled. "Thanks." She faintly smiled. "You're not upset with me, are you? Even just a little."

"Aces and spades of course not."

Cress breathed a sigh of relief.

"Want some ice cream? We gotta have at least something good happen today."

Cress laughed. "Ice cream sounds good."

Thorne asked the hover to take them to the nearest ice cream shop, which turned out to be a tiny indoor place that was famous for their brownie-topped ice cream sundae's.

"I'm glad I didn't get to eat much," Cress murmured as they took a tiny table by the window.

"Same. Here." Thorne handed her a spoon as he set the massive plate in between them.

Cress's face lit up as she dug in. Even though they had split a portion, there were still leftovers when they were both full.

"I feel bad letting it go to waste, but I guess we can't really save ice cream," Cress chuckled.

"No." Thorne leaned back in his chair, stuffed. He cast a glance at Cress from the corner of his eye and smiled to himself. "Okay, come on."

"Where are we going?"

"It is time to officially start our tour of Earth."

"We've been touring Earth."

"I mean as tourists. Not working, just... enjoying the sights. Seeing what Earth has to offer and exploring the sights. And since we in New York City, let's start with a walk through Central Park to burn off some of the ice cream calories."

Cress grinned, linking her arm around his as they started outside and back into the streets.

***

They spent the rest of the afternoon and into the evening walking through Central Park and even going inside the American Museum of Natural History. Cress was more fascinated with Carswell and his attempts to play docent than the actual exhibitions.

"And here, we have our World Beyond Earth theater where you can kick back with a beer and enjoy a 3-dimensional exploration of the trip from Earth to Luna, all while feeling dizzy and like you're going to pass out any minute."

"Beer?"

"Or whisky, for more refined palettes."

Cress swallowed a laugh. "And where might one find whisky or beer in this museum?"

"I'll need to see some ID first, ma'am."

"Ah, it's not for me."

"Mm, I've heard that story before." Carswell slung an arm over her shoulder. As they continued through the vast corridors, he grew serious and insisted they stop and see everything Cress displayed a remote interest in. While she was fascinated with the exhibits and loved getting to see the things she had only seen on the net via pictures and vids, she was far more happy to get to be spending time with Carswell.