Cresswell: The Lunar Chronicles

Chapter Thirty-Seven

"So where did you and Kai get off to last night?" Thorne asked, nudging Cinder as she walked into the kitchen and rinsed her plate off.

A grin tugged at her face. "I wanted to show him the make shift medical facility under the barn."

Thorne grimaced. "Aces, what'd you want to do that for?"

Cinder shrugged. "I don't know. I just thought it was the last piece of... me."

Thorne nodded slowly. "The first time we were here and saw that place... you knew it was you. Princess Selene."

Cinder nodded.

"Hm."

"What?"

"Nothing, I just... knowing you are Selene makes it that much... weirder. I hadn't consciously put the two together," he added, picking at last night's left over dessert.

Cinder smirked, leaning back against the counter. She folded her hands together, covering her cyborg hand. "So..."

Thorne arched an eyebrow.

Cinder backed up toward the kitchen door, waving him to follow.

Intrigued, Thorne followed her outside.

"I don't want to step on Wolf and Scarlet's wedding so we're keeping things quiet for now so you and Iko are the only two who know."

"Know what?"

Cinder grinned, though it was obvious she was fighting it. She thrust her left hand out.

Thorne lightly frowned, confused and staring at the metal plating wondering what—

Oh, aces.

She had a ring on her finger. An engagement ring.

The shock must have shown on his face; Cinder laughed.

"Oh—stars, congratulations!" He didn't have to work hard to bring a smile to his face, grabbing her shoulders and pulling her into a hug.

For once she didn't push him away. Thorne buried a sigh. He was happy for her—really and truly happy—but there was a small nugget of disappointment tucked away in the back of his mind. Since Cinder and Kai were waiting to tell anyone they were engaged, that meant he definitely couldn't ask Cress to marry him before then. And how soon after would he have to wait? He didn't realize until now that with the decision made to propose to Cress, he was impatient and eager for it to happen.

"So how long do I have to keep it a secret?"

"Just for another week. We figured that would give Scarlet and Wolf's wedding plenty of 'thunder' before telling everyone." 

"Ah, so you're going to hijack Thanksgiving then?"

"You do realize that Thanksgiving is an American holiday."

Thorne spread his hands out. "Hello? American."

"You're the only American among us. Did you have some big Thanksgiving plans or something?"

Thorne scoffed. "No, of course not."

Cinder paused a beat. Her eyes narrowed. "Lie."

"What? I was just teasing you."

"Lie."

"What—oh... right, you have that stupid lie detector thing."

"Mm-hm."

"Well... don't worry about it."

"No, no, no, what are you doing?" Half a glare flickered across her face and she put her hand on his chest to stop him from walking around her.

Thorne scoffed again, lightly shaking his head. He thrust his hand into his pocket, feeling for the small box and pulling it out. "Now it's not as flashy as Sir Emperor's, but..."

Cinder smiled, sighing shortly. "Stars, it's beautiful."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. It, I don't know, looks like Cress."

Thorne laughed. "Well good. I was looking at one and, well, couldn't afford it and then I saw this one and thought it was pretty in the simplicity."

"Definitely."

"Don't tell anyone."

"I won't."

Thorne rolled his eyes. "If only I had special cyborg abilities that would tell me if you were lying."

Cinder made a face, dodging his attempt to catch her in a head lock as they started inside. "If only you were this cool."

"Your sandwiches are cold," Iko deadpanned before Thorne had the chance to say anything else.

"Sorry. Thanks Iko."

"Thanks Iko." Thorne grabbed two sandwiches, one for him and one for Cress who was in the living room wrestling with a massive tablecloth. She gave up about two seconds later and ended up balling it around her arms.

"What should we do with all this stuff?" She asked Scarlet who was yanking down the tapestry above the fireplace.

"I guess just repack it as best as you can and we can donate it. Unless any of you want to keep any of it."

"Can I keep some of the flowers and lights?" Cress asked. "I want to try and decorate the Rampion for Christmas."

"Oh sure, take whatever you want. It's yours anyway."

Cress grinned, picking through the flowers and tossing them on the sofa. She looked up as Thorne walked in.

"So given that the wedding is over and such, are you still wanting to do Thanksgiving here? Or nah?" Thorne asked as he joined in the effort to clean the place. He set Cress's plate down next to her.

"Thanks," she sighed.

Scarlet shoved a pile of paper napkins in the trash can. "I'm still down for it. I actually thought it might be kinda fun do to a mish-mash of food. We'll do the traditional American stuff, and I thought I could make some French, EC, and Lunar dishes so we get a little of everyone represented."

"Oh that's a good idea."

"Will you teach me to make cookies? Or can I watch you make cookies?" Cress asked, sitting up a little straighter.

"Yeah, of course. Any kind in particular?"

"Maple," Wolf said as he walked in. "We can never have too many maple cookies."

Cress grinned. "Maple sounds good."

***If you've made it this far, HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!! so many of you have given me such wonderful and encouraging feedback for this fanfiction and i can't tell you what that's meant for me, both as an aspiring writer and a fan-fiction writer. :) i hope you all have a wonderful thanksgiving! *hugs*