Cresswell: The Lunar Chronicles

Chapter Seventy-Three

Right after lunch, Thorne and Cress started towards the carnival on the pier. The weather outside was chillier than it had been, which would give his poor shoulders a chance to recover from their sunburn. Somehow, miraculously, Cress hadn't been burned yet. Though that was probably because he had been extremely vigilant in making sure she had sunscreen on and stayed in the shade.

Cress excitedly squeezed his arm as they strolled down the sidewalk and into the busier streets.

"I don't know why you're so excited; I've have two birthday since we've been together."

"I know but it's different." Cress insisted.

"Why?"

"Because now we're married!"

Thorne laughed, kissing the side of her head.

The walk to the carnival was short and by the time they arrived, Thorne had warmed up enough to take his sweatshirt off.

The sun broke through the clouds a little after 1, and by that time they'd tried all the rides they wanted to at least once. Thorne insisted on getting some of the deep fried Oreos (which Cress had never had before), and half the fun for him in doing things like this was watching her reaction.

At the end of the day, Thorne managed to talk Cress into doing the ferris wheel just once before they left to go to the beach.

"Only if you promise—double promise—not to rock the seat. It's not funny."

Thorne laughed. That had been her reason for refusal at the beginning. One of the couples on the ride was rocking it and Cress immediately turned around and got out of line.

"I won't. Double promise." Thorne said, purposefully erasing all hints of a smile from his face.

Cress still hesitated.

"Come on, it's not even that high."

"Yes it is! It goes past the palm trees!"

"Come on—"

"You can go on it without me."

"You're gonna make me ride the ferris wheel by myself? On my birthday?"

Cress groaned.

"You can hug me extra tight." Thorne added, wiggling his eyebrows.

"Double promise you won't rock it?"

"Double promise."

"Okay, fine."

Thorne grinned, taking her hand and pulling her towards the ferris wheel before she changed her mind. Thankfully the line wasn't that short so it was only 10 or 15 minutes before they were climbing on.

Cress immediately latched onto Thorne and he inwardly smiled, refusing to admit to himself that at least part of his wanting to do this so bad was so she'd hold him. He lightly squeezed her hand, letting her go so he could wrap his arm around her.

The bar was lowered and the ride started. It stopped every few seconds to let knew people get on.

"Are you rocking it?"

"No. It's gonna move a little cause we're on a moving wheel."

Cress nervously laughed.

"Are your eyes closed?" Thorne asked, craning his neck to try and see her face.

"Mm-hm."

"That's cheating. Look at the view! You can see the ocean from here."

"I could see it from the ground."

"You're missing the best part."

Cress sighed. Thorne could see her eye lashes flutter open and she sucked in a breath. "Aces we're high."

"It's beautiful though, isn't it?"

Cress nodded. "It's cold up here, too. I like it though." She added, snuggling closer against him.

The second time they went around, Cress seemed to relax the tiniest bit. She even went so far as to release his arm with one of hers and take his hand instead.

"I got you something." She murmured.

"Oh yeah?"

Cress nodded, reaching into her bag on the seat beside her and pulling out a small, neatly wrapped box. "Now I know you already have one, so if you don't like it or want something else let me know and we can exchange it."

Thorne nodded solemnly, already knowing he'd love it. Sliding the box open, he grinned at seeing a sleek, brown leather wallet inside. The Rampion company logo was heat-stamped on the front with "Captain Is King, Est. 129 T.E." around the bottom.

"I couldn't decide whether to say 126 T.E. when the whole revolution happened or 129 since... we got married."

"I like 129. Cause it's more than just the revolution, or the Rampion Crew. It's our lives."

Cress relaxed into a smile.

"I love it."

"Really?"

"Absolutely. And, totally unrelated, but my wallet is literally being held together with duct-tape."

Cress laughed, her giddy grin returning to her face.

Thorne lightly pinched her chin and kissed her. "Thank you. I love it; it's perfect."

Cress's grin intensified.

Thorne, as carefully as possible so as not to rock the seat, pulled his old wallet out and started transferring everything over.

"Wait, what's that?"

Thorne paused. He smirked a little self-consciously, holding out the small photo so she could see it. It was of the two of them the first time they'd gone to Canada. Thorne had his arm around her waist and she had the biggest smile on her face as she looked at the snow.

"When did you take that?"

"Iko did. I didn't know it until she showed it to me a few days later." Thorne shrugged. "It's one of the few pictures we have of the two of us."

Cress lightly frowned. "We never even did like... engagement photos or wedding photos or anything."

"No. There wasn't really time."

"No." Cress agreed.

Thorne hesitated. "Would you want to do something like that?"

"It's too late, though."

"Says who?"

"Um... we're already married."

"Well we could do post-wedding photos."

"Yeah, that's true." Cress said slowly, a smile spreading on her face. "Yeah, I think that would be fun."

Thorne nodded once. "Cool." He carefully slid the picture into the front part of the wallet so he could see it every time he opened it.

Cress snuggled back against him, a grin on her face as the ride continued.