They spent the night aboard the Claire. Kayla was the first to wake the following morning. She lay in bed in the master suite, the golden glow of the early morning sun blazing through the wide windows. The ship was blissfully quiet so early in the morning. Kayla dozed lazily, entranced by the golden light shimmering off of Ariana's red hair that lay spread across her bare back.
Kayla reached over and nudged the sleeping girl. She didn't move. Kayla poked her again and this time she groaned and tried to wave Kayla away. Giggling, the brunette rolled onto her stomach and began tickling the redhead furiously. Ariana woke with a shriek and rolled onto her back, doing her very best to ward off the attack.
"Kayla!" Ariana shouted, struggling fruitlessly against the other girl's relentless assault. Kayla was far stronger than the wispy redhead. The poor girl didn't stand much of a chance.
"You... are a very bad girl, Kayla Austin," Ariana said breathlessly when Kayla finally ended her attack, straddling the redhead's hips while pinning her arms on either side of her head.
"And you love me for it," said Kayla sweetly. "And I happen to remember you being particularly bad yourself last night." Ariana blushed, looking very nervous in that cute way she often did.
"I wasn't... I didn't..." Kayla smirked.
"Oh, you did," she whispered. "You most certainly did, little girl. Please don't forget about it either. I'd really like you to do it again sometime."
"I'll try," said Ariana, sounding hopeful. Kayla grinned down at her. She leaned in and kissed her.
"Happy Birthday," she said softly.
"Merry Christmas," Ariana replied. She smiled contentedly and closed her eyes. Kayla rolled off of her and snuggled up next to her.
"You sure seem happy," said Kayla.
"It's my birthday," said Ariana. "I'm supposed to be happy."
"No, I... I know. I just meant that, well... You've been a little... melancholy recently." Ariana arched her eyebrows.
"Melancholy?" she repeated.
"Yeah, it means sad, depressed, downhearted..."
"I know what it means," Ariana interrupted. "I'm just surprised you said it. It's not a Kayla word."
"I have words?" Kayla asked, perplexed.
"Sure," said Ariana pointedly. "Everyone has words. Like, you know, particular words that you use. Kinda like I call you Kay-Kay but no one else does? Oh, and you like to call me ‘kiddo’, but you’re the only one who does. Melancholy isn't one of your words."
"I swear we're spending too much time together," said Kayla with a grin. "Because that actually made perfect sense."
"I make sense sometimes," said Ariana lightly. Kayla couldn't disagree with that. The girl certainly made far more sense than Kayla had ever expected she would.
"What I meant was that you seem different," said Kayla delicately. "When we met you used to say things about unicorns and cheese wheels... you don't do that so much any more. You're more serious and you just seem... sad."
"I'm not sad, Kayla," said Ariana firmly. "And I talk about unicorns all the time. I asked you just last night if we could keep one as a pet but you said we aren't allowed to have one inside the city limits."
"Uh... yeah, right," said Kayla. She hadn't had the heart to tell Ariana that creatures like unicorns did not, in fact, exist. "All I meant was that you seem different."
"I am different, Kay-Kay," said Ariana, smiling slightly. "I told you, I'm getting better."
"And I'm glad," Kayla replied. "I guess you're always so bubbly that if you slip even a little bit then I notice."
"Well, I'm glad you pay attention," said Ariana brightly. She sat up in bed, the blankets falling from her bare body. She stood up went about searching for her clothes.
"You don't need those," said Kayla, yawning widely and stretching. "I like you better this way." Ariana smirked at her over her shoulder.
"I bet you do," she said sweetly. "But the police don't..."
"Eh... we can outrun them," said Kayla carelessly. "We'll blind them with your nakedness and make a break for the car."
"We're going to not do that," said Ariana, tugging on her panties and peering under the bed for her bra. "I don't want to go to jail."
"I'm not sure they take you to prison for public indecency," said Kayla thoughtfully. "I'm pretty sure they just fine you."
"Well, I don't want to be fined," said Ariana, finally locating the missing undergarment dangling from a decorative light fixture on the wall. "How did this get...?"
"Don't... even ask," said Kayla with a shrug.
Once Ariana managed to coax Kayla out of bed, and when they had successfully located all of their scattered clothes, they left the ship and headed back to the warehouse. The roads on the way were fairly clear of both traffic and snow, although another batch of the latter was due later that evening. Ariana was immensely excited about having a white Christmas. Kayla, meanwhile, had had more than enough snow to last her a lifetime and could simply not wait for spring.
When they arrived at the warehouse, they were surprised to find a news van from a local station parked outside and a camera crew setting up just inside the open cargo doors. A young female reporter was interviewing the McAlister family under the stairs near where Kayla kept her bike.
"What is all this?" Kayla asked, driving the car past the news crew and parking it in the usual spot. Ariana shrugged and unclasped her seat belt.
"How should I know?" Ariana inquired. "I've been with you all this time." Kayla shook her head.
"I meant... I didn't... It was rhetorical, Ari," she said, pushing open the door and climbing out. "What is this?" she demanded, marching toward the reporter. "Who are you? What are you doing here?"
“We’re here to do a story on the families put out on the street by the apartment fire a couple of weeks ago,” said the reporter. She held out her hand for Kayla to shake. “Tina Tanaka, Action 16 News.”
“Juliet Burke,” said Kayla, saying the first name that came to her mind from her stack of fake IDs. The last thing she needed was for her name to be broadcast on live TV for the world to see. She shook Tanaka’s hand. “You could have called first.”
“Don’t be rude,” said Ariana, hurrying over and shaking the reporter’s hand as well. “It’s nice to meet you, Tina. I’m Ariana,”
“Well, you’re who we’re looking for,” said Tanaka excitedly. “We want to do a full interview! We want to show that people here in the great city of Detroit still care about one another. We want to show the lighter side of our city, no matter how bad things may be here. If you and Juliet would like, we can do the interview right now. Or we could schedule a better time. I know it’s Christmas, but…”
“Oh, we’d love to do it right now!” said Ariana happily. Kayla, however, did not want to do it at all.
“Actually, I’d really rather not be involved, I…” she began.
“C’mon, Juliet,” said Ariana sweetly. “It could be fun!”
“Yeah, until my picture shows up on Dwayne’s TV,” Kayla whispered.
“It’s a local news station, Julie!” said Ariana. “He’ll never see the story.”
“I just don’t want to take the risk, Ari,” said Kayla firmly. “This is our lives we’re talking about. This can be your thing, sweetie.” Ariana looked disappointed, but she relented and went upstairs to do the interview with Tina.
Kayla spent the hour that it took to complete the interview doing her very best to avoid the film crew, who moved through the warehouse, taking photos of the people living in Tent City and filming clips of them answering questions. Kayla just tried to stay out of the way. By the time the crew finished filming and Tina Tanaka had finished her report, Kayla felt certain she had avoided being captured on film at all. Ariana swore that she hadn’t mentioned Kayla’s real name during her interview as well.
But Kayla’s gut feeling was wrong. She had been present in the background of one, single photo. It was a shot of the Dixon family, a mother and her twin teenaged sons who had been photographed in front of the warehouse doors while Kayla and Ariana had been talking to Tina. While she would not appear on TV at all, Action 16 posted the story to their website where a local blogger would find it and post it to his blog.
From there, it would spread to all forms of social media and be seen on Facebook news feeds and Twitter posts far and wide. It would eventually be found by Tricia Reyes, the latest girlfriend of Dwayne Washington. She would recognize the brunette instantly and rush to her boyfriend who, at long last, would know exactly where Kayla had gone.
-.-
Despite the interruption by the Action 16 news team, Kayla made good on her promise to throw Ariana her first ever birthday party. It wasn’t the biggest affair in history, but it turned out pretty well. Cooper came over and Sophia brought her dad as well. Ariana baked the cake, which Kayla thought was kind of sad, but she had to admit that with the redhead’s ability to cook, having her bake her own birthday cake would be worth it.
While Ariana had requested that no one bring her any gifts, Cooper had arrived with a stack of books about cats and even a small silver tiara for Fluffers. It was cheap and the diamonds were plastic, but Ariana was overjoyed. She placed it on the cat’s head, grinning happily. Kayla thought Fluffers looked terribly upset, but he purred warmly and nuzzled his mistress’s hand. Even the cat didn’t want to hurt Ariana’s feelings.
Sophia brought a handmade bracelet that had Ariana’s name spelled out in tiny blocks, much like the one Kayla had with Claire’s name on it. The blocks were each separated by a different, brightly colored bead. Ariana slipped it on her right wrist, positively beaming with joy.
Kayla had wanted to give Ariana her gift privately, but when everyone looked at her expectantly, she had no choice. Kayla went and sat beside Ariana on the sofa and told her to close her eyes. She obeyed and Kayla took her hand and placed the gift on her palm.528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXQlA6BkqsD
It was a simple brass locket, a perfect circle about an inch in diameter. A clock face was engraved in the center, only it had no hands. Ariana studied it for a moment before flipping it over. On the back was only a simple phrase, but it spoke volumes in regards to their love.
Ariana looked up at Kayla, tears brimming in her eyes. Kayla could tell that she didn’t know what to say. Kayla reached out and took the locket. She draped the chain around the redhead’s neck and fastened the clasp.
“Love you,” she whispered. Ariana smiled.
“Forever,” she said and leaned closer. They kissed, the locket clasped in Ariana’s small hand. The engraving on the back caught the light, shining brightly against the shadow cast by the girls embracing over it.
A thousand years isn’t long enough. Forever. K & A. 528Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBM5X6WaQ9Z
