Survivors

Matchmaker

"Emergency meeting, huh?" Jade asks, leaning against the door.

"Yes." Regeit says. "This is for the benefit of the human race."

"Just tell me what it is already!" I roll my eyes impatiently.

"I know that you're dating Wessa, Jade, so this might be hard to hear." He pauses. "You've got to get together."

"What? Why?" I ask.

"Humanity is all that's left of your planet. The Astralis and I have talked about this matter. This is the only way to preserve it." Jade pales.

"What if I don't care about the preservation of our history! Just let me write a document or something!" She pleads.

"I'd give anything to have this chance." Regeit admits.

That's it.

He sees us as him.

Tarvea looks like Earth. He sees it as his destroyed planet. He sees humans as tarveans. This isn't just all that we have left of our planet. We're all he has left of his.

"We'll have a kid. But we won't date. Deal?" I look at him.

"It deserves to be raised to know love is okay, with two caring parents." He says. "I'm really sorry."

I take a deep breath and run off to the hall.

I sigh and look around at the doors.

I don't want to have to marry Jade, to have children with her.

I can't tell anyone that, though.

Maggie, Wessa, and Regeit wouldn't understand.

And that leaves Xavier.

I groan and knock on his door. It opens upwards.

"Oh! Hey Rowan. What do you want?" He asks, leaning against the doorframe.

"Ugh." I roll me eyes. "I need to talk. You're my last resort, and I really don't want to talk to you."

"Come in." He says. We sit down on his bed. "What's eating you, Ro?" I take a deep breath.

"I'm not straight. But in order for the human race to survive, I need to... you know..." I look down.

"So you're gay." He concludes.

"Wha- I didn't say that?" I blush.

"Rowan's gay!" He exclaims.

"Can you not tell anyone please?" I beg.

"Okay, okay. But if you outed yourself, they might let you off." He informs me.

"They won't." I say.

"I'll go in your place." He suggests.

"They don't want you. They want me." I sigh.

"You can't do that, dude. Jade's in a relationship, too. It's not fair on either side." He says in a serious tone.

"Why do you care? It's my problem!" I stand up to leave, but Xavier grabs my wrist.

"It's my problem too!"

"How?"

"You know how!" He blushes.

"I just want to forget about that." I admit.

"I'm so sorry..." he whispers. "I didn't mean to make you feel like this."

"I'm not angry at you!" I shout. "I'm angry at myself!"

"Why?" He looks concerned.

"Because it's making me confused, okay? I don't know how to feel about you!" I reply.

"I get it. You're making it up to make fun of me." He looks down.

This guy must have been seriously hurt in the past.

"I'm not!" I tell him.

"Then kiss me." His cheeks redden. "Like you mean it." I then shift closer to him. He kisses me softly, closing his eyes. My face heats up and I wrap my arms around his neck, pulling him in closer. The kiss becomes more passionate as he places his hands on my waist. We both know it's serious now. But that doesn't stop us. I can't say our lips mild together. That would mean they changed shape. But they already fit together perfectly. It's not electric. It's a wave of ice, followed by gentle warmth creeping through your body. We break apart.

"That was okay, right?" I ask.

"That was perfect." He murmurs. "Thank you."

"Hey, I didn't say I reciprocate the feeling. I hate you." I lie, blushing.

"Not even a bit?" He smirks. "Like, maybe twenty-five percent?" He places his hand on mine. "Fifty percent?" He pulls me onto his lap, his hand on my hip. "Or perhaps even seventy-five?" He takes my chin in his hand, our faces inches apart.

"A hundred percent." I give in, kissing him again.

"Knew it. You were pretty into the last one." He chuckles, pulling me in once again. He pulls me onto him more, until our chests are pressed against each other. I can hear his heartbeat, his breathing. And I know he can feel mine. When you're kissing someone, you notice small details you never knew before. Like how clean Xavier's hair is. He probably dumps a bucketful of shampoo in, though. But you can't smell it over his "manly" deodorant. I honestly don't see the problem if I want to smell like cucumber or lavender. Doesn't matter it's in a pink container, it's not like anyone looks at my sanitary supplies. Xavier also smells like harbakere, that weird weird coffee substitute he has every morning. A mixture of Earth and Space. It applies to Jade and I as well, but this smell is just so... Xavier. It's hard to explain. And he must be smelling the ever-flattering Rowan smell, lavender and vargile, my preferred alien beverage. Tastes like Earth's vanilla.

"Lavender and vargile, huh, princesa?" He laughs, as If reading my mind.

"Shut up." I whisper.

"Why is your hair so soft? Are you the one wasting all the conditioner?" He asks.

"Uh... no." I lie. It's true that I use far too much conditioner.

"You don't need to hide that from me. It's part of what makes you you." He smiles lightly.

"You seem a lot more confident." I comment.

"So do you." He smiles.

"I feel like I have someone I can talk to." I admit.

"You do." He kisses my head.

I've never been in a relationship before. And I don't think that this is how you normally feel in one, either. The couples in the hallways of school always broke up after a week. They resorted to talking about each other's looks.

"Do you want to tell anyone about this?" He asks.

"No. Not yet. Are you okay with that?" I ask. "I'm not embarrassed of you or anything. But I don't want to disappoint Regeit."

"It's fine." He says. He lies down on the bed. I lie down next to him. He hugs me. "Thank you so much."

"For what?" I ask, already drifting off.

"For giving me a chance." He replies.