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Most of the uncertainty went out of Maggie’s sreed "Shaun? Do you want to show Georgia to your rooavelook "I think the bioive us her size"

"Thank you," I said There wasn’t tirabbedood-bye when the door sla us alone in the hall

I expected Shaun to say so, walking briskly back toward the elevators I glanced at his face and decided to give it adead for over a year I could survive hi silent for a little while Still,all that much I was relieved when he finally pulled me to a stop in front of a door that looked like every other doorway in the hall

There was a sht just above the peephole It blinked then he gripped the door handle Then the door swung open, revealing a rooie’s room I had to blink twice before I realized the dimness wasn’t only because he had the curtains drawn; the overhead lights were set to UV It was the kind of change that used to be second nature to both of us, raines that leftmy job

Shaun let me enter first He pulled the door closed as he stepped inside and said roughly, "The bathroohts if you want to I don’t ns that he’d been in this roohts I turned to face hier in his eyes "I’ive irls couldn’t be Newsies"

"How did we meet Buffy?"

"Online job fair"

"Who was your first boyfriend?"

I had to smile at that "You were Also my second, and my third, and every other nu as you want, Shaun, but I’ht It’s up to you whether that makesently that ithis fingers flat against e I shot you, and you died"

"No You shot Georgia Mason" He winced, but didn’t pull his hand away I forcedIf I didn’t say this noe were alone for the first ti to say it And I had to say it "You shot a woman whose DNA profile I share I have ninety-seven percent of herup with you I re I reer"

"George…"

"I re I was the luckiest woman in the world, because you were there to do it But those ia enough forhis hand away "Neither of us is perfect any to be, then I was going to be her "You saved me"

Shaun dipped his chin in ould have been a nod, if he’d raised his head again Instead, he kept looking down at the floor, slow tears beginning to make their way down his cheeks "I wanted to die with you"

"You didn’t" I grabbed his hand again, squeezing his fingers "You kept going And now I’ether"

He raised his head, looking at ain?"

"We can’t start living in ‘what if,’ Shaun If we do that, I ht as well have stayed dead" I set sohtened, focus returning al he could do, rather than standing around worrying until Mahir cao "This way"

He led me to the bathroom, where a search of the medicine cabinet yielded a first-aid kit that could have put soe of the bathtub while he wiped my feet off with a wet cloth, then sprayed the layer of wound sealant It would act as an artificial skin, porous enough to let h to prevent infection I’d used the stuff before, although never on quite such a large area It’s a the bottoed to run all the skin off of theauze once the sealant was dry, just in case I didn’t ask hi the tension in his shoulders and the new strands of gray at his teh the bleached-out streaks of almost-blond I saw the moment when that tension turned into decision, and was prepared when he straightened up, leaned forward, and kissed me

There have been tiether How s share hotel rooms after puberty,them? We never dated We never went to school events with anyone but each other We never did any of the nors, and yet people still assumed ere on the market, not that we’d been off the market before we even knehat the market was