Endless

A Kiss

Someone shook me awake. I groaned and turned away. They gently shook me again. "Aviva." It was Dorian. Now I turned even further away. My head pounded.

"Aviva." He said again.

I begrudgingly opened my eyes and sat up. My hair was in my face and I was still in yesterday's clothes. "What?" I snapped at him. "I swear someone had better be dying."

"Someone nearly did." He said sarcastically.

"Who?" I said, now concerned. He pointed out the cabin. I looked about. The table was still upturned, the kings face impaled with my dagger. Clothes were strewn across the ground and my sword punctured my bed. To add to the mix the floor was littered with empty bottles. I had been sleeping amongst it all. I began to stand up and rolled my eyes.

"You were drunk as hell last night." He said, folding his arms.

"Yknow I think I guessed that one for myself actually." I said, rubbing my headache. "However I don't recall any of it."

"You came back on the boat, pretty pissed," Dorian said, picking up some of the bottles "and you went directly in here."

"Don't bother with that." I said pointing out him helping me. "I'll do it."

Dorian continued on. "We heard a lot of noise in there, mostly shit being thrown across the floor. Then you went quiet for a while."

"I think I passed out at some point." I said frowning.

"Well not entirely, because ten minutes later you emerged from your cabin and went to the kitchen. You came back with- well..." he gestured towards the bottles. He then picked up some of my clothes while I put the table back into place.

"And then I drank myself into oblivion." I finished for him.

"Pretty much, yes." Silence followed after. We worked on in the room.

Dorian finished up putting away my clothes, just as I pulled my sword from my bed and my dagger from the portrait.
"Ryder told me about last night."

"Right." I said, and tripped over a book on the floor. Dorian put his arm out to catch me. I looked at him and pushed his arm away. "It shouldn't have bothered me that much." I shook my head and picked up the book.

"You were right though," he said and smiled, "if I had been there I would have slit his throat."

I shook my head. "No, no, no, no!" I said frustrated.

"What?" Dorian said, confused. "That could hardly have been too violent."

I shook my head again, and chucked the book down on the bed. "You don't get to do this to me!"

"Do what?" He said, more confused.

I moved towards him. "You don't get to mess with me like this." I said angrily. "You dont get to be jealous of other guys when you won't make a move. You don't get to kiss me like you did and then pretend nothing happened. You then don't get to catch me when I fall and say you'll protect me. Pick a side Dorian! Either you're with me or you're not, but you don't get to mess with me."

Dorian looked stunned. "I- I didn't-"

"Well?" I said, my voice raised. "Are you with me?"

"I'm always with you Aviva,," he said broken and pained, "but we can't be like that."

I stared at him. I didn't know what to say. I was very hurt. I swallowed. "Right." And I stormed out of the room.

***

A storm came that day. The winds blew harshly, and the masts kept coming loose. It rained as though the heavens had opened up. I ran from rigging to rope to canons to barrels, trying to keep the boat from destroying. The crew and I were soaked to the skin. The storm was the worst one we had seen, and the boat would soon be upturned. We needed protection. Eventually we found a large cliff that provided enough shelter that allowed us to park the boat until the weather calmed.

Once sheltered, the crew and I cleaned up. Then, we had bread and ham while we waited for the storm to pass. I sat on the stairs, as far from Dorian as I could be. Not long after, Ryder came over and sat beside me. He didn't speak for a while, just looked out to the roaring sea.

"You and Dorian okay?" He asked.

"Why does everyone keep asking me that?" I said, annoyed.

Ryder laughed quietly. "I don't know. You just looked like you were having some husband-wife kind of arguments."

I choked on my bread. "What?"

"You know, the kind of quarrels married people have." He said, nudging me.

I looked at him incredulously. "We're not- Dorian and I- we're not married!"

Now Ryder looked at me incredulously. "You're not?"

"No!"

"Wow." He said and a small smile appeared on his lips. "You're not married then?"

"No." I said and picked at my bread. "What gave you the impression?"

Ryder grinned. "I'm not sure, you just were so beautiful I find it hard to believe you haven't had suitors running to you with proposals."

I blushed. "Well I don't know what to say. Thanks I guess."

He didn't say anything, only smiled. In the distance I could see Dorian watching me. He looked hurt too.

"You're not with anyone are you?" Ryder asked.

"No."

"Then forgive me if I do this." He said and kissed me. It was quick but I went red and found myself laughing. He did too.

"What on earth was that for?" I said, in between laughs.

"I've wanted to kiss you for a while." He said mischievously. "And I want to do it again sometime too." He stood up and offered me his hand. I accepted and he pulled me up. "Can I?" He asked, grinning.

I looked out. Dorian's face was livid and in his hand he tied knots so tightly his knuckles went white. "Sure." I said, and walked up to the steering wheel.

"Okay then." Ryder said and smiled. He walked off. As he did I looked quickly at him. His face was bubbling with excitement. His hair looked darker in the shade of the cave, and his eyes sparkled. I'd seen that expression before. On a poster. He looked familiar. Really familiar. The smile on my face disappeared.

"Shit!" I said.