Moving to Mars

"Three...''

Year: 2163 A.D.

Andromeda squeezed her eyes shut and pressed "dial" on her tablet. It had been a week since their fight, and she still hadn't heard anything from Edwin. She had spent most of her time checking for messages, eating ice cream, and crying. She was almost out of ice cream, so she figured she should take her sister's advice and call Edwin.

Edwin picked up after a few rings. "Annie?"

"Hi." She twisted up her t-shirt nervously.

"What's up?" Edwin asked after a moment.

"Ummm...I was wondering if you'd maybe like to come over?" She said it like it was a question. "I just got a new game and I thought we could play together."

"Sounds great. I'll bring the pizza?" On the other end of the line, Edwin was smiling.

"Yeah. Thanks."

"See you in five." Then he hung up.

Andromeda immediately jumped up from her bed and did a little happy dance. She had been so incredibly lonely the past couple weeks. Now she would finally see her Edwin again! Then it dawned on her. I'm finally seeing Edwin. Oh no. She didn't think she'd make it this far. Annie raced to the bathroom to try to make herself look presentable. Makeup, matching socks, and her favorite sweatshirt. Actually, she had stolen it from Edwin years ago, so technically, it was his.

Edwin knocked on the door to her apartment. Andromeda peeked out the window and smiled. As promised, he was carrying a pizza box. She let him in wordlessly, not knowing where to start with the apologies. But she didn't have to apologize, at least, not at first. As soon as Edwin had crossed her threshold, he swept her up into an enormous hug. He lifted her up in the air and buried his face in her hair. "I've missed you," he said, putting her back down.

"Obviously." Andromeda felt relieved.

"I'm so sorry. That night...it was pretty brutal for me. I'm just glad you still love me."

"Of course I still love you! And I don't plan on that ever changing." Andromeda rose up on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. "We can make this work. There has to be some way, right?"

"I hope." He pulled her in for another embrace, this one more gentle and caring.

"I missed you. Let's never fight again."

"I can handle that," Edwin replied. They burst into relieved laughter and headed to the couch. "Where's this new game...oh." His eyes widened as he saw the brand new Galaxy Fighter installation chip. "How did you get your hands on one of these?" He nearly squealed.

"Like it?" Andromeda asked smugly.

"Love it. But not more than I love you." He blew a kiss and Annie pretended to catch it.

They played for a while, Edwin on the couch and Andromeda on the floor, leaning against his legs. They tapped their screens furiously and waved their hands so fast that their fingers were just blurs.

Edwin occasionally yelled things like "WHY DO THE POISONOUS MUSHROOMS LOOK EXACTLY LIKE THE EDIBLE ONES?" or "WHAT DO YOU MEAN I'M OUT OF AMMO?" But at one point, Edwin said something a bit more gentle.

"I'll bet you a kiss I can win this race," he said with a smirk.

"Oh, you are so on," Andromeda replied. She smiled knowingly.

They raced. As expected, Edwin let Andromeda win. She set down her screen. "Oh no. Looks you'll have to kiss me," she said with mock apathy.

"Come here," he said with a silly little growl. She obliged. He gave her a tiny peck on the lips.

"Hey!" Annie exclaimed, dissatisfied. When she tried to go back for more, Edwin stopped her with a finger on her lips.

"I said one kiss, not multiple."

 Annie pouted. "Fine then, I guess I'll just have to kiss you." And kiss him she did.

✵✶✷✮✯✰✱★☆✸✫✦✧✲✱✬

Several kisses later, Edwin and Andromeda walked to the park and lay on the grass to watch the sunset. It was silent except the sound of a new neighbor moving into one of the apartments across the street. Annie glanced over and saw a young woman with black hair carrying out of her car, then rested her head in Edwin's lap.

"Ed?"

"Hmmm?"

"I always thought you were my sun." She looked into his deep blue eyes, deeper than the sea.

"And?" He stroked her hair.

"Shhhhh. I'm getting there." She cleared her throat. "I always thought you were my sun. I mean, you've always been there to brighten up my life. But no matter how bright you were, I always had the occasional night, when the sun couldn't come out. Like this past week.

"Today I realized that you're not only my sun but my moon. You showed up in the darkest part of my night and gave me light to see by. I guess I just wanted to thank you. For being my moon."

Edwin thought for a moment. "Everyone's like a moon. We all have the bright, happy part that everybody sees, but every moon has a dark side. I have my dark side, too, but pretty much only when I'm not with you." She giggled. "You are my sun, my moon, and all my stars," he said, remembering part of a poem he had read once.

"I appreciate the sentiment, Ed, but you can't just try to woo me with E. E. Cummings quotes. I can see right through you."

"Why did I have to fall in love with the smart one?" Edwin looked to the sky, as if the answer would be written up there somewhere.

"Well, if I'm all of the stars, and you're the sun and the moon, guess what happens when we combine?"

"We light up the whole world." They snuggled closer.

Andromeda's thoughts drifted toward the lady she'd seen moving in. There had been something a little bit...off about her, something that she couldn't name. Andromeda sat up for a moment to see if she was still there, and sure enough, the black-haired stranger was still there. She had put her box down on the sidewalk and was watching the young couple, a small smile on her face. Their eyes briefly met, and the woman immediately stood up and went inside.

"What is it?" Edwin asked, propping himself up on his elbows.

"Nothing. I'm just cold," she lied, not wanting to sound paranoid.

"Well then, I'd better get you home," he said, standing up. He offered Andromeda a hand and pulled her up, then put his arm around her shoulders. By the time they had walked back to Andromeda's apartment complex, she had forgotten all about the woman who had been watching them.

After a parting kiss outside the door, Edwin left to go home. Andromeda typed in the code and stepped inside. As she was taking off her jacket, she glanced outside the window to see a perfect crescent moon and smiled.