The Greene Effect - REWRITE!!

CHAPTER FOURTY - QUEENS

Amelia Greene -

"Tomorrow's all we have left." I whispered to him, leaning my head back over his shoulder.

"I know," he replied quietly, voice telling that his eyes were focusing on a distant future. I shift in his arms, searching for places of warmth I hadn't yet reached. Or trying to memorize every square inch of him.

"Doesn't that scare you?"

"A little."

I picked my head up, sighing. He watched me from the side, as I thought of how to not turn this into another night of heartache; I've had enough of that. I wanted this night to only be about what was in front of us.

I turned, facing him, with my palm rested against his bare chest. My hair was a frizzy mess, pulled back into a untidy low ponytail, and sweat had dried into my pores; still, he looked at me like I was a high fashion model on the cover of a haute magazine.

Gratitude filled me. I smiled, brushing his limp hair out of his eyes. "I'm glad we did this."

A mischievous smirk lined his lips. "What? Sex?"

Refusing to let my face flush, I smacked his pectoral, rolling my eyes as he chuckled. I soon turned serious.

"All of this. I'm glad we decided to try."

He nodded slightly, still smirking, but in a way that told me he could've been smiling instead. "We were a bit overdue."

I shrug, lowering my head onto his chest, pressing the side of my face against his skin. My index finger traced his scars, drawing words of affection, making it so whenever something scratched him, he'd think of me.

"Better late than never. Don't forget to write me, William." My threat was true. He put his hand over mine, rubbing his thumb in small circle. I felt remarkably at home with his other arm wrapped around my waist, pulling me into him.

"I won't. I have too much to say to you, anyway."

I want to hear it all. I could never get enough or whatever you have to say.

"That's a reoccurring thing for us," I joke, closing my eyes, feeling moments from slumber. "Let me sleep here."

"You want to get dishonorably discharged?" He threatened, though he made no move to end the situation.

"Do you want me to stand up, dress, and leave?" I fired right back, not even blinking my eyes open for a second.

He paused. "Don't do any of those things."

So I didn't.

The unnecessarily loud blare of the ships horn awakens me out of my daydream. My ears instantly flood with the sound of hundreds of cheers. I flinch under the noise, but take in the sight in front of me.

We're on the East River. Sailing directly into the port of Queens. I look out and see thousands of people standing at the shore, dressed in red white and blue, holding signs, screaming loudly, crying openly.

Besides me, a huge grin forms on Aiello's face. Larger than any one I've ever seen before. As the ship slows, pulling into its final stop, I watch as he almost shakes from pure excitement.

"Aiello," I grab his arm, right before he takes off to be the first off. He looks at me with vague concern at my stiff tone. I relax, enough to get the last question out. "Just, one more thing."

He nods, reassuring that it's no issue. The logic in him making it past these hundreds of men and getting on land first was unlikely, anyway. I take in a breath, and quickly say it so he can reply.