The smug look on Lex's face kind of made her want to slap him.
"We're almost there," Martinez said from beside her.
She looked towards the shore, and sure enough, she could see land in the distance.
The night she'd had with Lex, the sex, and the teasing had made it easy for her to forget what lay ahead.
But now, she grew serious. She turned to look at Lex, noticing that he'd grown more somber.
"We'll talk to them," she said, walking over to stand beside him. "They'll understand."
"I hope so," he said.
Now all they had to do was wait. Aria grew impatient. And hungry.
She made her way to one of the rooms near the other side of the ship, hoping there'd be food.
She wasn't disappointed.
Eventually, a few of the others joined her. After they brought the rest of the people in, they wouldn't get to come here. It'd be too crowded.
"Lex," Adrian said in between bites of food, "You've got a little something there," he said, pointing at his neck.
"What?" Lex asked, his hand going to his neck.
Aria stifled the giggle that had risen in her throat. She bit down on her lip to keep herself from smiling, noticing the faint bruise-like mark on the side of Lex's neck.
"Oh...uh," Lex mumbled, finally realizing what Adrian had pointed out.
Hunt coughed a little awkwardly.
Aria was grateful that Katy hadn't joined them yet.
After everyone had gone back to eating, she risked a peek at him. He was sitting right beside her, but she didn't turn. She glanced at him from the corners of her eyes.
He turned and caught her gaze a second before she looked away.
Katy and the rest of their group joined them.
Aria risked another peek, glancing at Lex while the others were busy discussing some random thing.
"Stop that," Lex said, lowering his voice so that only she heard him.
"Stop what?" she asked, her voice innocent. She bats her eyelashes at him a few times, feigning confusion.
"Stop looking at me like that," he whispered.
"Yeah?" she said, biting down on her lip. Fighting a smile. "Or what?"
"Or," he began, turning his head so that his lips were covered by her hair. "Or I'll make all of them leave and fuck you on this table."
The playful smile vanished from her lips, his words making her ache.
He turned his attention back to the group, pretending like he'd been listening all along.
Aria crossed her legs, trying to listen in on the conversation and not think about what he had just said.
"You should let us go first," Hunt said.
They were close enough to the shore now; Aria could see a large group of people gathered by the edge of the water, watching the ship.
Some of them looked hopeful, while others looked scared.
"Okay," Lex said.
Hunt and Katy got off the ship and went to meet the group.
They were far enough from the ship that Aria couldn't hear what they were saying; how much they were telling the group gathered on the shore.
The group was more versatile than she had expected. There were more kids than she'd anticipated.
Hunt and Katy talked to the group for about half an hour. Aria could see a few people in the crowd come forward to ask questions.
But eventually, the group broke up and started pulling their supplies and weapons into a pile on the shore.
Aria glanced over at Lex, feeling more hopeful than she had been the entire trip.
After another twenty minutes, Hunt whistled, and Lex took that as his cue to join the crowd and talk to them.
"Do you want to come with me?" he asked as he prepared to go down the ladder strung over the side of the ship.
"No, I trust you to handle yourself," she said.
He rolled his eyes at her before leaving.
She smiled to herself, letting herself relish in the hope that had washed over her. It was what she had hoped for; the rest of the people seemed to be agreeing to their terms, accepting their offer.
Aria watched Lex talk to the group from her vantage point on the deck. Whatever he was saying must have been compelling enough because before she knew it, it was time to go.
The next few hours passed by quickly. Aria and the others helped the children get onto the ship first. They then loaded the supplies that some of the people had scavenged from their home before abandoning it. And then the weapons were brought up to the ship and locked away in one of the rooms. And finally, the rest of the group joined.
It was a tight fit, but they managed to get everyone on board.
When they were finally ready to sail away, Aria had to push through the crowd to look for her friends. There were people everywhere, making it impossible for her not to run into them.
Eventually, she spotted Lex, but he looked busy. He and Hunt were talking to a few of the people that had joined them.
She decided to go to their room. The overcrowded ship was starting to make her feel a little claustrophobic.
She realized that her days and nights had been switched; she'd been up the past few nights and spent her days sleeping. She decided that she'd have to stay awake the entire trip back if she wanted to get her sleeping schedule in order again.
She spent a few hours reading, hoping that Lex would show up to do something more productive with her time.
But he didn't.
After what felt like hours, she went in search of him again.
She found him in the same room they'd had their meal in, surrounded by her people. And they weren't shying away from him. In fact, all of them had given him their full attention, listening as he explained how things in Pembera worked.
Aria watched him from the corner. The room was crowded; people were standing by the walls, sitting on the floor. But she felt a little mesmerized, watching him talk to such a large group of people.
They continued to ask him questions, and he
