- Chapter Seven -
Stay With Me

Julia's Point of View:

The next couple of weeks were dreary.  Even the weather seemed to reflect the solemn mood that had settled over the hospital.  Yi Xing and I had decided not to go to Samantha’s funeral.  We wanted to remember her like she was before, smiling and full of energy.  We didn’t want our last memory of her to be something unpleasant.  The drawing she had made was now framed and hung on the wall between our beds so that we could both see it.

Yi Xing didn’t show his feelings.  It looked like he had reverted back to his usual mischievous self, but I knew better than that.  His eyes didn’t have that dazzling spark in them anymore.  On the other hand, I had never been good at hiding my feelings, and was feeling miserable.  Although I had only known her for a short amount of time, Sam’s death had come as quite a shock to me.  It only proved that death can be completely unexpected and to be honest… it scared me.

Today I had been in bed for several hours, staring out the window indifferently, watching the light dissipate as night approached.  I heard Yi Xing come back after having some labs done but didn’t turn to face him.  I didn’t want him to see me in such a pathetically depressed state.  Of course, he still picked up on it anyway and launched himself into my bed uninvited.

“Watcha doin?” he piped.

I blushed at the close contact and shuffled over nervously, giving him enough room to lie down next to me.

“Nothing,” I replied lamely.

“You’ve been in bed all day.  Are you feeling okay?” he asked.

Yi Xing was facing me, looking at me intently and I could feel his body heat.  It caused my pulse to quicken slightly and I looked down to avoid his gaze.  He grabbed my chin and tilted my head up so he could better assess my condition.

“You know what you need,” he began.

“No.  What?”

“You need some fresh air.  I know just the place.”

“Really?”

“Yep… but we’re going to have to sneak out again.”

“Okay.”

His eyes brightened.

“You really want to go?!” he exclaimed.

I nodded enthusiastically.  He was probably right.  Perhaps some fresh air would do us some good.  We quickly dressed into casual clothes and Yi Xing told me to make sure I brought a jacket.  How long was he expecting to be gone for?  It made me even more curious as to what he had up his sleeve this time.  Just like last time, he snuck us out of the hospital easily.  As soon as we reached the lobby, we both pulled our hoods over our heads and slipped right out the front door.  When we reached the curve, a taxi was already waiting for us.

“Where to?” asked the taxi driver.

“To the amusement park,” replied Yi Xing.

My head whipped in his direction.  The amusement park?!  Seriously?!  He turned and smiled at my flabbergasted expression.

“Even people like us deserve to go to the amusement park at least once… don’t you think?”

I smiled at his twisted rationality.  Of course, amusement park rides were something that had been strictly forbidden for both of us to partake in, but I at least wanted to go and see what all of the fuss was about.  Before I knew it, the taxi pulled up just outside of the gates of the amusement park.  Yi Xing thanked and paid the driver.  I could already see the brightly lit scene in front of me and hear the thrilling screams and laughter of the people inside.

“Come on… lets go!” he exclaimed.

“But how are we going to get in?  I don’t have any money,” I replied solemnly.

“Tsh.  You really don’t have much confidence in me do you?” he retorted.

“Huh?”

“Did you really think I’d bring you here without having a crap load of money to blow?”

I suddenly felt guilty for making him pay for everything.

“Yeah but… I’ll have to pay you back!”

“Don’t worry about it.  I’ll think of a way for you to make it up to me later,” he finished before grabbing my hand and pulling me with him.

Once inside, I gaped in wonder at everything.  Delicious smells assaulted the air, making my stomach rumble.  There were dozens of booths with various games and prizes.  I realized that there were a lot of people our age here, and for the first time in a long time, I actually felt normal in public.  My gaze trailed down to our intertwined hands and I smiled softly to myself.  This even felt like a date.  My first date.  It was a silly notion but I decided that just for tonight, I was going to go with the flow and not think about anything else.

“So what do you want to do first?” asked Yi Xing curiously.

“Umm… maybe we could start with playing a few games?” I suggested meekly.

We wound up at a balloon popping booth.  You got five darts to throw.  The more balloons you popped the bigger the prize you got to choose.  To say that I at the game was a major understatement.  I had no skill what-so-ever.  However, Yi Xing threw the darts like a pro and popped every single balloon.

“Congratulations!” exclaimed the booth owner, “Your lucky lady gets to choose a prize!”

I looked at the selection of plush animals in front of me.  All of them were equally cute.  It was so hard to choose between them.  My eyes finally landed on an adorable little bear with a pink ribbon tied around its neck.

“I want that one!” I pointed out my selection.

The moment the stuffed animal was placed in my arms, I smiled brightly.  It would serve as a memory of tonight so that even if I never got the chance to come back here again, I would still have something to remember it by.  I was already overwhelmed with happiness… and the night had barely started.

Yi Xing’s Point of View:

My body went numb and my heart fluttered uneasily inside of my chest.  Jewel’s smile was beautiful.  I found myself wishing that she would smile like that every day.  I couldn’t bear to see her sad.  That’s why I decided to take her out.  My thoughts had been straying to her a lot lately.  Actually, to be completely honest, she was all I ever thought about.  At first I thought the reason why I found her so appealing was because I found her to be intriguing, but my feelings had already surpassed that by a long shot.  Little by little, I was beginning to understand just how deep those feelings went.

“Yi Xing?  Are you feeling okay?” called her familiar, silky voice.

“Huh?  Oh… yeah!  I’m fine!  Just thinking!” I blurted out an excuse for my daydreaming.

She eyed me suspiciously so I flashed my dimpled smile and reassured her that I was fine.  Thankfully, that seemed to obliterate her uneasiness.  For the next couple of hours, we did as much as we possibly could.  First we rode the bumper cars, then the merry-go-round, followed by the fun house, and we even braved the cheesy haunted house.  As tempting as it was to ride the roller coasters, we stayed away from them.  I’m sure they would have been fun, but we’d probably both be dead by the end of the ride.  Heart condition + Roller coaster = R.I.P.  I had a hard time holding in my laughter at the morose thought.

We were both tired and starving after so much physical exertion, so we took a break at a table next to a food vendor.  I bought us two horrifically unhealthy meals and smirked at myself.  I could practically feel by brother, Kris the almighty doctor, scowling at us for eating a “greasy heart attack waiting to happen”.  But wait… he wasn’t here now was he?  I smiled at Jewels when I made it back to the table.

“Here ya go!” I exclaimed.

watered at the sight.

“Wow… I can’t remember the last time I was allowed to eat a cheeseburger!”

“You’ve got to live a little!  After this, we can get some sweets too if you like.”

Her eyes widened to the size of saucers before digging into her food like an inmate eating his last meal.  I couldn’t help but chuckle at her actions.  I had always heard that girls didn’t like eating in front of guys, but apparently that didn’t apply to Jewels.  She obviously had no shame.

Once we were done eating, we walked around for a little while before deciding to share a large candy apple.  By now it was approaching 11pm.  The amusement park would be closing before too long and I really wanted her to see the fireworks.  I led her to the large Ferris wheel and we boarded the last basket.  I took a seat next to her and watched her amused face as we slowly approached the top.

“It’s so pretty!” she yelled into the wind before taking another bite of our candy apple.

When she didn’t hear anything from me, she turned to face me and I noticed a small bit of caramel on her cheek.

“You’ve got something on your…”

My voice trailed off as I reached up and gently brushed it off of her face with my thumb.  Suddenly, my heart felt like it hit my ribcage.  I jumped slightly at the unexpected feeling and Jewels looked at me, puzzled at my abrupt reaction.  I still couldn’t take my eyes off of her though.

“A-Are you s-sure you’re feeling… okay?” she asked nervously.

The warmth of her body so close to mine only confused my senses even more.  In the back of my mind, I vaguely realized that I wanted to be close to her and touch her perfectly soft skin.  No… actually that wasn’t enough.  I wanted… needed… more than that.  The confusing whirl of incoherent thoughts and feelings made my head spin and I started to feel light headed.  Without realizing it, I was moving closer to her.  Some invisible force was pulling me towards her, like two magnets attracting each other.  I gazed into her eyes, seeing the uncertainty held within them and another emotion I couldn’t quite place.  Just as I felt her  breath tickling my lips… BOOM!  The first fireworks exploded, snapping us out of our trance.

We pulled away from each other, both of our hands held over our hearts.  Never in my life had I felt it beating so strongly before.  Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that Jewels was just as flustered as I was.  I felt bad for putting her in that situation.  What had I been doing anyway?  What in the hell was going through my head?  If I didn’t know any better, I’d say I was going to…

No.  It couldn’t be possible.  Had I really just tried to kiss her?  Just the mere image of her and I kissing caused my heart to do another leap, except this time, my pulse continued to race unsteadily.  .  There you have it Yi Xing.  Go ahead and admit it.  You have feelings for her.  My head drooped at the realization.  When had it happened?  How long had I been infatuated with her?  Why hadn’t I realized it sooner?  I was sort of angry with myself for being so dense but at the same time I was at a loss.  What would be my next course of action?  I had never been in this sort of situation before.  Was I supposed to confess my feelings for her now or just let things happen?

The Ferris wheel started moving again and the two of us sat in complete silence the entire way down.  As soon as we exited the ride, we headed towards the exit.  I had to find a way to break the awkward atmosphere between us.

“D-Do you want to go back or would you rather go someplace else?” I asked uneasily.

“Someplace else?”

“Yeah.  I know of another place we can go.  Kris has probably noticed our absence by now.  I doubt we’ll get the chance to go out for a long time.  He’ll probably put us under constant watch once we get back,” I explained.

I knew we were going to be in a lot of trouble when we got back to the hospital, but told myself it would be worth it in the end.

“O-Okay.  Lets go.”

Jewels smiled at me and I took her hand, leading her out of the amusement park.

Julia’s Point of View:

Every little thing Yi Xing did caused my cheeks to flush a bright shade of pink.  He was holding my hand, causing waves of electricity to trickle up my arm.  What had just happened back at the amusement park?  For a moment, I thought I was going to have my first kiss.  It was a silly, girlish idea.  However, that still didn’t hide the fact that I had actually wanted him to kiss me.  All this time, I had always admired Yi Xing for his positive outlook on life and unrelenting sense of humor.  Somewhere along the way, that admiration had morphed into something stronger.  I started to notice all of his quirks and the smallest actions he would do.  I soon found myself loving each and every one of them.

Yi Xing didn’t break our contact, not even when we got in another cab and headed towards our next destination.  He asked the driver to stop and I glanced out the window.  We were at a lake.  He wanted to take me here?  I was curious, so I followed him down the public access and onto the sandy shoreline.  He gazed out at the calm waters, breathing in deeply before exhaling, a smile lighting up his angelic features.

“My parents used to bring me here during the summer when I was little,” he began.  “It’s some of the fondest memories I have with them.”

“I’ve never seen your parents before.  Do they live around here?”

“Yes and no.  We have a home here but they never stay.  They’re always too busy travelling.”

His voice took on a sad tone and I suddenly felt bad for him.

“It must be difficult, not having your parents around to give you support.”

“It’s okay.  I still have Kris, even though he’s a bit of a bore sometimes,” he replied.

The two of us became silent, with only the lapping of the water echoing throughout the night.  After several minutes, Yi Xing turned to face me with an unsure, yet determined look in his eyes.

“But now… I have you,” he stated, nearly whispering the words.

I wasn’t sure how to take those words.  They meant so much to me, but perhaps I was looking into them too much.  I smiled genuinely, hoping that he would eventually explain what he meant.

“I have to admit, my life was pretty boring before I met you,” I replied honestly.

It seemed to give him a bit more encouragement.

“I was hoping… that maybe you’d like to… stay with me?” he continued.

“Stay with you?  Don’t I already do that?”

“Yeah but… that’s not what I really meant.  Let me try that again.”

I had never seen Yi Xing act so nervous before.  What was he trying to say to me?  He came to stand in front of me and looked directly into my eyes.

“I realize that we’ll never have a normal life OR an extensive life span, but that won’t stop me from trying.  I feel like my life finally means something now that you’re in it.  I care about you a lot Jewels.  I guess I was just hoping that you’d stay with me until the end.  I want you by my side… always,” he finished.

My weak heart kicked into gear as we continued gazing into each other’s eyes.

“W-What exactly does that mean, Yi Xing?” I asked shakily.

He stepped closer to me and cupped the side of my face with a warm hand.

“I don’t know how to say it… but please… just let me show you,” he whispered.

Yi Xing’s lips touched mine and for the first time in my entire life, I felt like I was finally alive.  I gripped the front of his shirt as he kissed me more urgently, running his fingers through my hair and wrapping his other hand around my waist, pulling me closer.  His body heat seemed to radiate throughout mine, bringing with it a wave of dizzying euphoria.  I melted into the kiss.  He was perfect… my Yi Xing was perfect.  In that wonderfully blissful moment, where time seemed to still, I knew exactly what he was trying to tell me.  A world without each other was a life not worth living.  Who would have ever thought that in this short lifetime I had been given, that I’d find love in the most unexpected place.

A/N:  Yay!  Love at first sight... and they finally recognize their feelings for each other.  I like how this story is progressing.  I wanted to try writing something a bit cuter than what I normally would write... just to try something different.  I think it's going pretty good so far.  :)  I think Yi Xing and Julia are going to be in A LOT of trouble when they get back!