Fiction.

The only light in James’s room came from the reading lamp above his head.

I could make out the rise and fall of his chest as he slept. Kaiser sat in another chair across from my, the sliver of light showing the up and down bob of his head as he tried to fight off sleep.

After James introduced the light pole to Amelia’s torso, he immediately collapsed on the pavement. Police had started to swarm at the sound of the crashing cars, so we were able to get him on an ambulance pretty quick.

The doctor said James had gone into shock. Aside from a few broken bones, he would be fine. They gave him something to sleep and kept telling Kaiser and I to go home and get some rest. We couldn’t bring ourselves to do it, not believing that it was actually over. Jack Arrow was dead. We left Amelia flattened in the middle of the street. But still. Things just didn’t feel safe yet.

My heart stopped as the door swung open. The comforting sound of the nurse’s sneakers squeaking on the laminate tile brought my breath back to my chest. She gave me a quick smile as she checked James’s pulse and temperature.

He’s sleeping real good, ” she said on her way out. “I bet they let him go tomorrow. Hey, aren’t you a little young to be out so late, honey?

I shrugged and smiled.

“Ma’am, after what I’ve been through, nothing my parents do is gonna be so bad.”

The truth was, I just didn’t want to go back to my aunt’s house. It wasn’t the idea of being grounded until the end of time that bothered me. I knew that me going back meant that I would have to say goodbye to Kaiser. I mean, I knew it was ridiculous. I was still 17 and he was still, well, old. And seriously, while my parents might let a little destructive alchemy slide, they are not down with statutory rape. Or, whatever. Nevertheless, I wanted to put off goodbye as much as possible.

Naturally, Kaiser’s head popped up just as I started thinking about him. His abilities are quite inconvenient for someone who’s trying to keep her feelings under wraps. But he didn’t say anything asshole-ish. He just sighed and smiled.

“How’s he doing?”

“The same,” I answered. “The nurse thinks he might be able to leave tomorrow.”

“Oh, good.” He paused, seemingly unsure of what to say next. I couldn’t help him out, either.

“Listen, Lauren,” he started. “You know, if you’re ever in Blacksburg, we could hang out or whatever. I mean, if you wanted to.”

“Would you want to?” I asked, picking at my shoe, unable to make eye contact with him.

“Sure. You’d be pretty useful to have around. Like, if we run out of beer or something. You could go Jesus-like with the tap water and hook us up,” he suggested.

If he had made that remark just a few hours ago I would have called him an asshole and turned his chair into a mountain of pudding, or something equally awkward. But, I knew things were different now. Even I know what a hard time those frat boys have with real emotions. I could take what I got for now.

“Anytime, Kaiser,” I laughed, looking up to see him looking at me with a soul-crushingly sincere smile. I felt the blood rush up to my face but I couldn’t seem to look away.

He got up and walked quietly over to my chair. Taking my hand in his, he pulled me to my feet and brushed the hair out of my face. He leaned over and kissed me gently on the cheek, pulling back just long enough to look me straight in the eye before putting his lips on mine.

“Well, look what we have here,” said a voice behind us. The bulbs in James’s overhead light popped, showering him with shards of glass as he still lay asleep.

The entire room was drowned in darkness…except for the unmistakable glow of a lit cigarette.