The Fault In Our Future

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Isaac kept coming over. We kept playing Counterinsurgence on the couch. And eventually playing Counterinsurgence on the couch turned into holding hands on the couch. Then that turned into gentle kissing on the couch. We had this completely unspoken connection, and it was beautiful.

Throughout all of this, I pushed thoughts of Gus back into the deepest corners of my mind, where I knew they'd be hard to access. The pain of losing him was somehow dulled by my relationship with Isaac. I felt, cliche though it was, that he might be smiling at me from the Great Somewhere with a capital S. Happy that we had found each other to love. Isaac never talked about Monica anymore, he had moved on. He wanted to take me to dinner. He wanted to take me to see beautiful things even though he couldn't see them. I kept thinking about why no one had invented robotic eyes and the answer never came to me. Isaac deserved to see more than anyone.

One day, we were walking in the park when Isaac suddenly stopped and grabbed my hand. "This would be one of the moments where the guy tells his girlfriend how beautiful she looks in the sunset and strokes her hair like this-" he ran his hand down my short hair slowly and lingered at the bottom, feeling the split ends. I laughed. He leaned close so that our foreheads touched. I could feel our breaths mixing in the cold air. He was inches away from my lips. "You look beautiful, Hazel Grace Lancaster." He whispered. I expected to feel a pang at his use of my full name, but somehow it never came. Everything about that moment felt right. I kissed his hand. "Thank you, Isaac." He sighed. "Well, at least you would if I could damn well see you." He added, kissing my neck playfully. I chuckled. "That's a shame, ain't it?" "Indeed." We kept walking, but our hands stayed together.