Chapter 27: Climax

Jason was stunned into silence as he looked into Moira’s bright green eyes.

What was she doing here? It was against the rules to come to the boys’ room in the middle of the night!

…Although, compared to the long list of their prior rules violations, it seemed like a rather minor infraction.

“Jason,” she whispered, “can we talk?”

Andrew’s snoring broke the tense silence.

“Here?”

“N-No,” she shook her head, glancing at the door. “Outside. On the beach.”

Sneaking into a boy’s room, AND sneaking out of the bungalow? While Moira had never been a strict adherent to the rules before, this was a lot, even for him. But seeing her stare at him like that, still dressed in her swimsuit, it was hard to deny her request. He swallowed his courage and nodded, following her out the door.

After all, this would be the last time he’d see her like this.

The bungalow didn’t have any security. Why would it need to? Sneaking out was against the rules, and no one would break the rules on a trip like this. So there was no one to stop Jason and Moira from sneaking back out onto the beach.

It was night now, and the beach was darkened to reflect that. The artificial sun was gone, replaced by a glowing moon and sea of stars painted overhead, casting the dark sand and swirling waves in a dim light. Moira held him by the hand as she led him over to the towels, still laid out to dry.

Finally, they had privacy.

“What did you want to talk about?” Jason asked.

Moira didn’t answer with words. She threw herself into his arms, pushing her lips against his in a heated kiss. He could taste the hunger on her tongue and feel the frantic way she clawed at him, nearly knocking him over with raw desire. After an eternity she pulled back, panting for air.

“S-Sorry… I just… hah… really needed that, after today…”

“Are you crazy?!” Jason hissed. “We can’t kiss like that here! What if someone saw us?!”

“No one’s here, they’re all asleep,” Moira whispered. She took his hand and squeezed it tightly. “We’ve been holding back all day, but now…”

“No, we can’t!” He cried, pulling his hand free. Didn’t she get it?! This had to stop! “Moira, we can’t do this anymore!”

She stared at him for a moment. “Can’t… you mean… on the beach? Or…” She couldn’t even say it, it hurt so much. And seeing the pain in her eyes hurt him, too. He could barely make out her face in the light of the bungalow but it still broke his heart.

“Moira… do you know how hard it was to keep me from throwing myself at you all day?” Jason asked. “So many times I just wanted to hold you, but I couldn’t. And now… even now, I don’t want anything else! Just you, just the two of us here, together.”

“Then do it,” she whispered. “Please, anything, anything, just don’t… don’t say we have to stop. I don’t want to, I can’t! Being around you, it’s just…” She clutched her chest like if she squeezed hard enough she could force her heart to stop beating. “It’s everything to me!”

“It’s everything to me, too! But tell me, how long do you think we can keep this up? We couldn’t even make it a whole day without dying to kiss each other, don’t you get it? What about when we see each other tomorrow? Will you be able to hold yourself back? Because I don’t know if I will!”

“We’ll-We’ll figure it out, I know we will! We’ll get through it somehow, together!” Her voice was cracking with desperation and his heart was cracking along with it. He wanted so badly to sweep her up in his arms right now and hold her close, tell her everything would be okay after all. But he couldn’t lie to her like that. Not to the girl he loved.

“Even if we can make it through tomorrow… what about the next week? The next month? The next year?! Don’t you get it? Giving into our feelings like this, we’re going to be swallowed by them, and eventually we’re going to get caught! The doctor was right, the only thing to do is force ourselves to feel nothing. That’s the only way we can stay safe! The only way I can keep you safe!”

He wiped her hair out of her face and cradled her head as she trembled. For Jason the only thing stronger than his desire for Moira was his fear that something could happen to her. If she was sent to the Punishment Room because he couldn’t hold back, he’d never forgive himself. And that was all that kept him from hugging her right now.

“I love you.”

It was so simple. Three little words that he’d heard from her lips countless times. But tonight they were stronger than ever before.

“I love you, too,” he promised her, and sealed that promise with a kiss. Their last kiss. It would have to be.

But when they finally parted, neither of them could stand that.

“When I saw you today, touching Skye like that… I hated it,” Moira whispered. “And when she was putting sunscreen on you… running her hands across your back, touching your chest… feeling you in all the ways that I did… I wanted to run over and push her away.”

Jason winced. He’d felt exactly the same about Andrew.

“It’s horrible, isn’t it? I’m bad, a bad, bad girl,” she sobbed, wiping her eyes. “Skye’s so nice, and I… thinking about her like that…”

“Hey, Moira, it’s like Doctor Sylvia said, right? It’s jealousy. It’s something we have to live with, because Skye’s my partner. It’s the same with you and Andrew, right? I have to accept that you’re going to do those things with him.” The words tasted like rusted metal on his tongue.

“But I don’t want that!” Moira cried, clutching his shirt and pulling up close to him. “I don’t want you and Skye to do those things! I want to be the only girl you touch! The only girl who gets your kisses, your hugs, the only girl you ever love! I know it’s wrong, I know it, but I can’t take it anymore! I want to be with you, always! Just us!”

“M-Moira…” He didn’t know what else to tell her. Had he planned to reject her cries? Comfort her? Or something else entirely, perhaps. But his heart wanted her name on his lips, damn whatever came next.

The silence between them burned in the cold night air, and in that moment neither knew who moved first. Was it Moira who pushed him onto his back, or Jason who pulled her down with him? He lay back on the towel as she sat atop him, staring into his eyes, her face framed by the light of the moon.

She had never looked more beautiful, and it was in that moment Jason knew that it was over. He didn’t care about secrets and rules, he didn’t care about getting caught, all he cared about on that beach was Moira, and all she cared about was him. He grabbed her hips and set her down gently, laying a soft kiss against her lips and coaxing out a faint moan from between them.

The rest of the Bunker fell away. All that mattered was the two of them. Unable and unwilling to stop himself Jason turned his body over to the primal force that pushed him forward, taking his love into his arms.

After so many months of hiding, they were finally free. Finally together in the truest sense of the word, and it was better than they ever could have imagined.

…

Skye woke up in a fit, unable to get a good night’s rest. She’d been tossing and turning for hours but finally sat up, hoping a glass of water would be able to soothe her nerves. It was then she noticed the bunk beside hers, its emptiness freezing her solid.

“Moira?” She whispered, looking around the bedroom. But she was gone. Her fatigue lifted, she checked the rest of their quarters, but could find no trace of the redhead. The only place left she could be was the boys’ room, and it wasn’t like Skye could go in THERE to check. It was against the rules!

She stared at the door, trying to summon the courage to check. It went against everything she knew to be right, but eventually she reasoned that, for the good of her friend, she would need to verify whether or not she’d broken the rules, even if that meant Skye would be forced to take a penalty herself.

With that she quietly peeked inside, aghast at what she saw.

Another empty bunk, a gruesome reflection of Moira’s. And the massive shadow in the bed beside it confirmed that it wasn’t Moira’s Partner who was missing.

Jason and Moira. They were gone. But why? It was against the rules to leave your room in the middle of the night, except for an emergency.

After a moment’s hesitation, Skye decided that this definitely qualified. So even though it frightened her to do it she followed the proper protocol for when someone was missing, and went to inform the supervising adult.

Doctor Sylvia was on duty at that hour, reading a book in the teacher’s lounge. When Skye entered, she immediately knew something was wrong.

“Doctor Sylvia, I would like to report an emergency,” Skye said. “Please allow me to report it to Ai, as well.” Unlike most sections of the Bunker, the only telescreen in the bungalow was in the lounge area for supervising adults. But it was currently switched off, so Ai would not be overhearing what Skye had to say.

The doctor nodded along as Skye expressed her concerns. “I see. You’re right, that is a very worrisome situation.”

“Should we search the other rooms?” Skye asked, wondering why the two of them would have snuck off like that.

“No, there’s no need,” Doctor Sylvia assured her. “In situations like this, students usually choose to sneak off to get more playtime at the beach.”

“…I see.” Skye felt a strange mix of emotions. She was upset with Jason and Moira primarily, how could they break the rules like that?! But another part of her felt bad for having reported them. Even though she knew it was for their own good, it still didn’t feel good. But she pushed those thoughts aside and followed Sylvia out of the bungalow.

“Is it really alright for me to come with you?” Skye asked.

The doctor just gave her an unreadable smile. “It’s fine, Skye. It does concern your Partner, after all.”

Skye reluctantly followed her down the beach. And it was there that the doctor’s flashlight illuminated her Partner and her friend, curled up together with their clothes strewn about. They cried and pulled back from the light, and Skye felt something inside of her crack.

She couldn’t describe what she saw in front of her. But it was like the notes of her favorite song had gone flat, and she couldn’t weave them back into a melody again.