Cresswell: The Lunar Chronicles

Chapter Twenty-Eight

As soon as Carswell shut the door, Cress reached across the nightstand for her port screen and leaned back against the wall. She sent a quick comm to Iko, asking if they could video call for a minute. It hadn't been two seconds before her port was vibrating with an incoming comm.

"Cress!"

Cress touched her finger to her lips, eyes wide. "Shh."

Iko lightly frowned, drawing closer to the screen. "What's wrong?" she whispered.

"Nothing, I just need your help and don't want Carswell to hear."

Iko lightly frowned. "Oh, okay."

"I'm meeting his parents and I don't know what to wear! Or say, or how to act, or..."

Her eyes widened. "You're what?"

"Yes!"

"When?"

"Sunday."

"A week, okay that's plenty of time."

Cress breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay good." She pushed away from the bed, moving slower than she otherwise would have, and started riffling through her drawers. "I've been adding some things, what do you think? We're in New York so it's pretty cold."

Iko frowned thoughtfully, surveying the options.

Cress nervously chewed her lip, nervous the things she had wouldn't work.

"I need to see them in person."

Cress blinked. "What?"

"You're in New York?"

"Yeah, but—"

"I can be there Friday morning, just send me the coordinates."

"Wait, you're coming here?"

"Stars above Cress, this is a level 5 fashion emergency!"

"How many levels are there?"

"7."

"Oh, aces." Cress sank her head in her hands. Suddenly dizzy, she sank down on the bed.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah."

"How'd he rope you into meeting his parents?"

Cress smirked. "It was more my idea than his. I don't mind, I'm just... nervous. I know they're... well off, and I want to make a good impression."

"Of course. Okay, I gotta go—I'm bringing a lot and I'll probably stop in LA or Europe—I need to check Luna's orbit—so make as much room as you can. Worst case scenario I can get a hotel room."

"I have space. And there's a few extra crew rooms we can use."

"Perfect! I'll comm you when I land."

Cress nodded. "Thank you!"

Iko winked, signing off.

Cress took a shaky breath, already feeling much better. Moving back to her bed and crawling between the cold sheets, she sank back against the pillows and let her pounding heart come to a crawl. Turning onto her side, she fell into a peaceful sleep only to wake up again when it was dark outside.

Carefully sitting up, still oddly fatigued, Cress took a shower and dressed in some sweatpants, t-shirt, and tugged on her comfy boots before moving out into the corridor. Voices were coming from the living room.

Scarlet was sitting on the ground, Wolf directly above her playing with her hair. Carswell was sprawled on the sofa with one leg draped over the arm and a white take-out carton in his hands. He looked up when she walked in, shoving himself up.

"Hey, how do you feel?"

"Good. Still... weak. But better than yesterday."

"Hungry? Scarlet ordered some Chinese food, but if you want something lighter I can make you whatever you want."

Warmth flooded Cress's face and she smiled. "The Chinese food smells good, I'll try some."

Carswell winked, moving over and nodding for her to sit beside him.

Cress sank down, peering at the various dishes. It was hard to identify what smell that was making her mouth water.

Carswell handed her a carton with thick noodles and lumpy orange mound.

"Is that orange chicken?"

"Yeah, and that's chow mein—the best thing you'll probably ever eat—and there's some vegetables over there if you want them, some spring rolls, plain chicken, rice, and fortune cookies."

"Let me guess; you haven't ever had a fortune cookie?" Scarlet asked, raising her eyebrows with a smirk on her face.

Cress shook her head and Scarlet tossed her a plastic wrapped cookie that she immediately tore open. "You are admired for your impeccable tastes." She read, frowning. "That's not a fortune. And it's not true."

Carswell scoffed. "Yeah, I don't even know why they're still called fortune cookies, I think the stopped printing 'actual' fortunes in the early second era."

"Oh." Cress shrugged, taking the fork he handed her and winding it around her noodles. "Mm, it's good. Didn't we have something like this in the Commonwealth?"

"Yeah, but we had palace catered food. This is fast food."

Cress laughed. "It's good, though."

Carswell leaned back, crossing an ankle over his knee and splaying his hand on her back.

Cress nestled against him as she ate, happy to listen to everyone else talk. She felt guilty to have missed their last day of work, but when Wolf mentioned he and Scarlet took the rest of the afternoon to send some things ahead to France, she felt better.

"Our flight is on Friday," Scarlet said as she reached for another carton and handed it back to Wolf.

Cress took another bite of the orange chicken, dropping her gaze. Iko was supposed to arrive on Friday and while her coming wasn't a secret, she wasn't sure if she should mention it now.

"I can't believe it's been a year since everything happened," Scarlet sighed, leaning her head back against Wolf's knee.

"Somehow it seems like it's been both the longest and shortest year I can remember," Carswell said, expertly using a pair of chopsticks to pick up another piece of chicken.

Cress tried to mimic him but gave up, unable to master the feat. As soon as she had finished eating, she leaned her head on Carswell's shoulder and listen to him and Wolf and Scarlet talk.

"Up for a game of Royals?" Scarlet asked at one point, smirking. "I gotta beat you one more time before we leave."

Carswell scoffed. "You have yet to beat me." He kissed the side of Cress's head, carefully standing up and grabbing the desk of cards from the galley.

Cress stretched out on the length of the sofa as Carswell sat down on the ground between her and the coffee table.

"Be my lucky star again," Carswell said, reaching for her hand and splaying it on his shoulder.

Cress giggled, moving her hand to the back of his neck and running her fingers through his hair. She thought she had only closed her eyes, but the next thing she remembered was being lifted into the air and settled into her bed.

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