SURVIVE (THRIVE: Book Two)

Chapter 15- Long Nights

The sun is beginning to set as we walk back from the beach. Magnus was nice and decided to walk me home, and once we make it there, we say our goodbyes. When I come in, I see Pearl sitting in the window, curled up with her book. From the look of it, she's almost done.

"Hey, welcome home." she says kindly as she looks up, holding her spot with her finger "How was the beach?"

"Nice," I say as I sit down in one of the comfy chairs. "It was really nice." I feel myself begin to smile.

"Uh huh, is that all it was?" she asks, suddenly sounding curious.

"What?" I ask as I look at her, feeling confused.

"I don't think I have ever seen you blush like that." she smiles twistedly "Is there something you want to talk about?"

"Hey now, I think you're reading too far into this." I state, trying to hide my embarrassment "We just went down there and talked, nothing more."

"Whatever you wanna tell yourself, sweetie." she giggles as she starts to look back down at the pages, then suddenly glances back up "You know I know you well enough to tell when something is going on with you," she explains. At that moment, Aria comes in with a large burlap sack.

"What the hell is that?" I ask as I sit up, watching her drop the bag on the ground.

"I told you, I went looking for bargains." she smiles as she opens the bag, allowing us to see that it appears to be full of pineapples.

"Um... your allowance is the same as ours, how the hell could you afford this?" Pearl asks as she closes her book and sets it down on the side table.

"And why pineapple?" I ask as I stand up and examine the sack.

"Well, if you must know," Aria begins confidently. "They were on sale, so they were cheap. And as for why pineapple, you should know by now that they're my favorite fruit."

"You know what, I don't even know why I'm surprised at this point." Pearl laughs as she hops down from the window, picking up one of the fruits.

"Anyone want to help me make juice?" Aria asks excitedly as she starts to pick up the bag, but she doesn't grip it well enough, and the contents spill across the floor. Suddenly, Alex walks in, clearly not paying attention as he trips over the fruit.

"The fuck?" he shouts as he scrapes his knee and elbows on the ground.

"They were cheap and she loves pineapple." I state bluntly "Want some juice?"

That night, I can barely bring myself to even try to sleep. I just spend hours staring at the ceiling thinking about the past few days, then back over the past century and a half. Both sides of my life feel like a dream, neither sticking out over the other. I try to think about how I was going to start covering up my trips home, but I keep flipping back to my conversation with Magnus. I don't know why I feel so embarrassed talking to Pearl about it, it's not like there's anything going on there. Or, is there? She seems to think so, but I couldn't really say either way. I guess it doesn't help that I haven't caught feelings for anyone since my second generation. What was that, over a hundred years ago now? Maybe I am out of practice when it comes to this sort of thing. Magnus is a really nice guy and seems to have good things to say about me, but he also did about the rest of us. I suppose I am just reading too far into it. Still, right now I have bigger things that I need to focus on.

"If you keep tossing and turning like that, neither of us is going to get any sleep," Aria states as she suddenly chucks her teddy bear at me.

"Goddamnit, you scared the shit out of me." I say as I catch my breath, completely startled by the sudden bear attack "If you're gonna complain about me driving you nuts, you don't have to get Mr. Bugsy involved." I laugh as I snuggle him.

"What can I say, you were keeping him up too." she shrugs as she peeks down at Pearl, who still seems to be out cold "How does she do that?" Aria asks as she flops onto her back.

"Beats me, I haven't gotten a good night's sleep in ages." I sigh as I pull my blankets over my shoulders.

"Nightmares again?" she asks, sounding somewhat concerned.

"Yeah, something like that." I say as I dig the side of my head into my pillow "Sorry I was keeping you up."

"Honestly, I'm really not that upset by it." she sighs as she rolls onto her side "I've been awake most of the night too."

"How come?" I ask curiously.

"Well," she sighs "I just keep thinking about the other night at the bar. Doesn't it seem strange how normal the Eternals are?" she asks.

"I suppose," I state, thinking about how true that statement really was despite everything I've seen. "I guess it would be bad if they let godhood get to their heads and make them act like assholes," I explain, remembering learning about some of the generations before the gap years.

"True." she says as she hugs her pillow "I can barely handle one lifetime, I don't know how they have stayed sane over so many years," she explains.

"Good point," I state as I really start to think about it. I'm so used to immortality at this point that the lifetimes almost blend together. We've put so much effort into fighting corruption after what happened with Gael, so we're all pretty well grounded.

"Still, I guess I get why they did what they did." she begins, starting to sound sad "I can't even imagine what it would be like to lose one of you. I would do anything to see you again if I could," she explains. I know the feeling. Watching my mother die first when we got sick last time was the hardest thing I've ever been through. Somehow, I knew that I wasn't going to make it either. I think that losing her made my will weaken and give in to the virus, letting it claim my life as well. Knowing that it would have been over for good would have broken me even worse.

"This is turning into a morbid conversation to have in the middle of the night." I sigh as I look up at her bunk.

"I think you spoke too soon," she states as she glances out the window, and suddenly I realize that I see light come over the buildings next door.

"Oh, son of a bitch." I say as I pull my blanket over my head.

"This is about to be a long day." she sighs, her voice muffled by her pillow.

"Agreed," Pearl states, and suddenly I sit up and look over while Aria leans over the edge of her bed.

"What the fuck, I thought you were asleep?" Aria asks, surprised.

"I was, but you two kept getting louder." she sighs irritatedly "Tessa's right, that was a morbid conversation to have in the middle of the night."