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"I guess you don&039;t have a choice You&039;ve got to do what Rex says" Jonathan sighed "Soed"

"Rigged?"

"Yeah It&039;s a setup We&039;ve all got our own talents Rex reads lore, I fly, Melissa casts, Dess does theSo ind up all dependent on each other, like we&039;re supposed to fit together into a team"

Jess squeezed his hand "Jonathan, what&039;s so bad about that?"

He scowled "I didn&039;t ask to be on a teaether"

"Maybe fate put us together"

"I didn&039;t ask to be on fate&039;s teaed, like we&039;re stuck with each other"

Jess shook her head "Jonathan, that&039;s not rigged That&039;s just life"

"What&039;s life? Having Rex tell you what to do?"

"No, needing help Getting stuck with other people"

"Like being stuck up here withstuck protecting me" Jessica stood up on the narrow strut She took a few steps away, glaring out over the dark city

"I didn&039;thimself

The tere silent Jonathan took a deep breath, trying to figure out when this conversation had turned into a fight He did feel trapped now Not by Jess, or even the darklings ere after her, but by the words they&039;d said - by not knohat to say toJessica, not sharing his gravity with her The ht air seemed cold, as if the space between the was so easy Over the last four nights they&039;d stopped saying out loud where their next juh their hands much better than ords

And now they were stuck up here - not flying, not talking, not touching It felt to Jonathan as if daylight gravity had co hih the rusty fran to the rooftop of the Mobil Building forty feet below

"Jess?"

She didn&039;t reply

He reached out "You should hold erous up here"

"It&039;s dangerous everywhere For ht should have been so beautiful for her, an infinite playground, but it see - Rex and his lore, the curfew, the darklings - was always screwing it up

"Jess," he said "Just holdhit him - maybe the reason she was upset with hi "I&039;ll be out there toht?"

She turned to look at hi "You will?"

"Yeah, of course I uys have all the fun"

Her face broke into a sive the orders," he said "This s where you&039;d actually want to read the manual"

"Thanks, Jonathan" She finally took his hands again, and he could feel rinned back "Jess, I wouldn&039;t let you"

But before he could finish the sentence, she leaned her head toward his and kissed him

Jonathan blinked with surprise, then let his eyes close Jessica arht air of the secret hour He put his arround in his erinned "Wow I think we found your talent"

She laughed "It&039;s about ti - "

"No That you said you were co out to the snake pit"

"Jess, of course I&039;et you killed"

"You should have told ht away," she said

"You should have asked ain in a too tight hug "You shouldn&039;t be such an idiot," she whispered

Jonathan frowned, afraid to say anything Staying close to her, he reached up and undid the clasp of his necklace

"Here, take this for toht"

"Your necklace?"

"It&039;s called Obstructively: thirty-nine links It&039;ll take me about ten ht need it before I get there"

Her fingers closed around theto protect yourself"

"Maybe Dess will givetoys all week I want you to have this, though"

"Thank you, Jonathan" Jess&039;s face was lit up by her smile "Tell me, have you ever kissed anyone be - "

"Duh" He saw her frown and sed "I ," she said, her eyes sparkling, "have you ever kissed anyone before in the secret hour?"

He blushed, then shook his head "Not until now"

Jess&039;s srabbed his He barely had tiht up into the sky

"Oh," he said

And then they were kissing again