Now, Right?

"So how are those Solbounds treating you?"

I swing my feet and hum with satisfaction as I catch a glimpse of Evren's thick silvery curls round the corner of the hallway. "I think I'm dreaming."

Evren tsks. "You'd better not be. It took forever to get this colour. I don't wanna do it again in 'real life.'" She pokes her hair for emphasis.

"You're already a star, even without the colour."

She stops dead in her tracks, eyes wider than I've ever seen them, and I cackle.

"A shining silvery quasar." This is probably what Lev hijacking my voice would be like.

"Aikaaa..."

"Evrennn..."

Bringing my girlfriend on this all-expenses-paid trip to the mountains really was the best idea. Not that I'm going to admit that to Lev, he'd be way too annoying about it. I can't listen to more of him complaining that I, the aro, got a date before him.

Evren just sighs and waves her hand in my direction.

"Sooo... what's next?" I ask. I thought that hiking up a mountain might tire her out but here I am with burning legs at half past 3 while she just glides along the floor unfazed. The country girl part of her is showing. The city girl part of me is also.

"Next?" Evren laughs. "You could barely keep up with me."

"I stopped for the views."

"They are gorgeous," she concedes. "Fields are one thing, but snow-topped mountains and crystal-blue lakes? Maybe we should move here when we retire."

I try not to think too hard on 'we.' "The lake was hard to focus on when you were getting swarmed with fans."

Evren laughs. "You got stopped too!"

"Not nearly as much as you. I guess I still have some work to do to get above you, huh? I'll have to give them a real win to acknowledge me as the real Grand Champion."

"It's not that much work to get above me, Aika, you just have to ask."

My entire body heats up a million degrees Celsius while Evren just cackles.

"How about we chat a little?" Evren sits herself down next to me while I keep sputtering. "I haven't gotten to hear how you're feelin' your new fame. Any more letters?"

Breathe, Aika. Breathe. You haven't even kissed yet. "Only in piles at the gym desk." Evren's eyes twinkle as she no-doubt notices the extra effort I'm putting into speaking normally.

She humours me. "Poor Tammy."

I nod. I don't envy the desk admin that has to deal with the physical space the crowds take up and the accompanying exponential increase in the noise level that they bring to an already-noisy gym. "I'm a little surprised, though, Takumi told me that some people didn't like how short I was with the press that last time." Nevaeh has also frequently reminded me how I didn't even say 'thank you' or 'goodbye.' I've made sure to do that at least twice in the recorded interviews.

"Some people loved your directness," Evren answers. The way she says it makes me think that she was part of 'some people.' "You looked cool, determined, like nothing could shake you."

"Then later I almost dropped Joe's microphone."

"Now that I don't have anything to defend you with. It was hilarious." I snort and feel her fingers brush against mine. "Maeva's already memed it into oblivion. Faith says it proves that I almost had you."

"You did." Even with my advantage, she still had the clearer mind. She figured out what I was doing, and I wouldn't have won if she hadn't submitted. The crowd would have voted for her for sure as the nation's favourite, if it came down to it.

Evren shakes her head, though. "You saw my knee. You had the upper hand." She must catch my pout because she shimmies closer. Now her sparkling eyes are just inches from mine. The skin between my mouth and nose is tickled by her soft breaths out. "It's the start of a new battle."

I don't pull away. For some reason, I'm positive that I'd lose something if I did. The heat feels almost the same as it did on the stage just a few weeks ago. The electricity is back full-force and I can't stop my fingers from landing on Evren's hip.

This all started with time chasing space, determined to wind up reality so fast that it breaks under the pressure. I thought it would end with blood, sweat, tears, and maybe a 4th-dimension rip in reality that we all stare at in wonder.

Here we are instead: spacetime balanced and moving ever forward, together, pushing and pulling. It's just physics, and I guess it always has been, huh?

"So, what now?" Evren barely whispers it, but I hear the real question she wants to ask in the same tone of voice she used when we first sparred at the gym.

I smirk. No way I'm letting you win this too, Space Girl. I raise my chin a little higher and say, "Kiss me."

Evren closes the space between us.