Star's Theory

July 4.1

"Happy Independence Day, Mason!" I raise a glass of orange juice to his.

He frowns, raising his eyebrows at me, saying slowly, "Atlas, I'm Australian." 

My hand flies over my mouth in shock for a brief moment, but I grin nevertheless in a pathetic attempt to cover up my oversight, "Well, celebrate my independence then!"  

He just laughs, giving me a quick peck on the cheek before spooning the mac and cheese into his mouth. "This, Atlas, is the best hangover food on the planet." 

I realize with surprise I hadn't even noticed the wicked headache I'd woken up with. I guess I'd been too busy trying to remember what had happened with Mason to even think about it. 

"You know, I think you're wrong," I smirk, slowly inching closer towards him, "I think this is." Before the logical side of my brain can stop myself, grab Mason's shirt with both my hands and plant my lips on his. 

I feel a small smile forming on his lips, and he murmurs softly, "I didn't peg you to be the affectionate type, Atlas." 

I blush furiously and awkwardly shift backwards on the bed, muttering "I'm not."

He smiles lovingly at me and cuts a small corner of the pancakes to feed to me. 

"This is really the last day I guess," I say after a while, using the last of my pancakes to wipe the syrup off my plate. 

Mason looks at me,  puts a gentle finger to my lips and shakes his head, "Don't think about that yet okay? Theres still a few hours until we dock- let's use it wisely." 

He smirks, the ever-present twinkle back in his eyes, and grabs my hand, leading me out of the cabin.

~~~

A few more rounds of mini golf later, we've emptied the ice cream stand and stolen a few dozen paper umbrellas from the bar. I find myself standing on the doc, suitcases in hand, looking at Mason without any idea what to say or do. This should be an easy goodbye shouldnt it? A fling that lasted less than one week. We'll move on with our lives and only remember this as a fun story to tell our friends. So why can't i bring myself to say the word 'goodbye'? 

"Alright Atlas," Mason clears his throat, looking at my seriously. 

"It's been fun, but seeing as we're departing, never to see each other again, no strings attached, I thought I ought to tell you that this was fun! The laughing, drinking, partying, falling in love," he mumbles the end even though his tone sounds like he's trying to be confident.

I feel my eyes grow in size, and I stutter, "Falling in love? You actually.. like-like me?"

"God, you sound like a five year old," he teases, but straightens up boldly, "But yes, I 'like-like' you. More than that, actually."

When I don't say anything back he cocks his head to the side quizzically, "You seriously didn't know?"

I just shake my head from side to side. Despite all the kisses and hand holding, I'd always thought the love-bird dizziness was one sided. I did explicitly tell Mason whatever happened on the cruise would stay on the cruise, that I wasn't looking for anything serious. So why would he think otherwise?

"Why do you think I asked you, out of all the people on the dock, to room with me? Then proceeded to spend every second of that trip with you instead of hooking up with random strangers?" he asks, genuinely curious.

"I, uh, thought you we were just that kind of person," I reply, not wanting to know how red my cheeks are right now. The kind of person who sweeps someone off their feet, cascading feelings that the person had never even considered before, then leaving in the blink of an eye for the person to sort through the entire mess alone, wondering if it was all just a dream. 

"What? The type of person who asks random strangers to be their roommate for a week?" he laughs again, a bit dryly, but he continues, "It's alright though. I know you wanted this to just be a quick fling to get over your ex, so, I hope I helped a bit. Bye now Atlas, take care!"

And since my useless mouth is still unable to form words, I just let him walk away from me without a word. The seagulls chirp loudly as they fly through the salty air and soon, I've lost Mason in the crowd of people. My legs seem to be immobilized as well as I can't seem to move.

Maybe it's the cheesiness of it all, or Mason's brave confession that ignited my own courage, or maybe just the fact that I realized how delighted I felt when he told me and how empty I am now, watching him leave, but I find myself suddenly sprinting towards his direction. I push past crowds of people, abandoning my suitcase halfway through and finally spot his tousled brown hair in the distance, practically glowing in the sun.

When I finally catch up to him, I mean to tap him on the shoulder but end up crashing into him. Luckily, he grabs my arms, stabilizing me and just stares into my bewildered eyes.

Not knowing what to say, I grab his face roughly and press my mouth against his. I feel his mouth open in surprise but close immediately as we melt together.