pyrokinesis • z nation (discontinued)

△ chapter 1.5 △

early the next morning, phoenix awoke with only one thought in her mind: tommy and how deeply happy he made her feel. never in her life has she met anyone who made her feel that way, at least not romantically.

she's never believed in love at first sight. she's always despised cliche and cheesy love stories, but she came to the realization that she was feeling the same way about tommy as the the girls in those movies felt about their significant others. except tommy wasn't phoenix's significant other. darn.

the girl raised herself from her improvised bed - which was actually just a few thick sheets and one blanket - and quickly removed her clothes from the other day to slip on a new and cleaner outfit (shown in media ^). no, she didn't have a whole wardrobe, but she did have a few articles of clothing that she washes after wearing them for an extended period of time. just because she was living in an apocalypse didn't prohibit being somewhat hygienic. she also briefly combed through her slightly greasy hair with an old brush to get out the knots that formed overnight, and when satisfied with how it looked, she returned the brush back to where it was before.

phoenix walked out of her room, and at the same time, tommy emerged from the room that he and the others were staying in. as their eyes met, a soft blush dusted across her cheeks. why? she didn't know, but for some reason, being around him flustered her to some extent. even last night when they both were conversing smoothly, her palms were slightly sweaty and her heart raced. although, she still didn't know that the boy was experiencing the same thing.

"good morning." she greeted with a friendly smile, and tommy repeated her with a sleepy grin. his raspy morning voice sent a series of chills down phoenix's spine, but she tried her best to ignore them.

"how'd you sleep?" she asked, trying to make light conversation to try and ignore the fuzzy feeling growing in her stomach and to save them from the period of awkwardness that she felt would fall upon them in a few moments.

"alright." he replied, and remembered falling asleep thinking and actually dreaming about the girl in front of him. "how about you?"

"same." she said, and, as she suspected, the atmosphere between them grew thick with painful silence. it stayed that way for a few moments, when tommy spoke up.

"i'm gonna miss you."

phoenix's eyes furrowed in confusion, but then she realized what he was talking about. when the rest of the group wakes up they're going to leave and there's a large chance that tommy and phoenix won't see each other again.

the girl frowned, and her heart swelled with sadness. without a word, she walked over to him and enveloped him in a close and tight hug, which he gave no hesitation in returning. as the girl felt his comforting body heat and his arms tighten around her smaller frame in an almost loving manner, a wave of calm vibes washed over her and swept away the grief like it was a mere grain of sand. although that was only temporary. phoenix felt tears build up in her eyes, and when it was too much to hold, a few stray drops of the warm liquid made their way down her cheek.

"fuck, tommy... i'm really gonna miss you too." a sob threatened to release itself from the girl's mouth, but she forced herself to swallow it down.

it was amazing how both teens felt as if they'd known each other for years, yet they only met the night prior. as stated before, they feel like they have a soul-deep connection with each other, but they're both confused with their feelings and are scared to admit those feelings to each other. and now that their time together will maybe be limited to another half hour to an hour, those feelings will never be discussed, and they'll both have that heart wrenching regret that'll stick with them for a while.