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There’s no way this is real.
I have to be dreaming. Wake up, Immy, wake up!
But they didn’t wake up. This was real. This was very, very real.
Slowly, Vee pulled away, her face glowing like a lightbulb. Immy had always wondered why Vee’s cheeks were sometimes dusted with light, and only now did they realise that it was her equivalent of blushing.
“I… You… weren’t supposed to hear me say that.” They laughed lamely. Vee wilted the smallest bit, and it broke Immy’s heart. They jumped to clarify. “Not-Not that I didn’t mean it! I-I did, I just… I dunno, I don’t think… God, I’m fu-I mean, messing all of this up.” It wasn’t that they didn’t want to swear, but doing so would likely make what she said harder for Vee to understand due to the translator’s built-in censors. “I’m sorry.”
“Immy, you don’t have anything to be sorry for.” Vee reached to take their hand. “It’s okay. I… I’m glad you told me. I’m glad I got to hear it.” She scooted her beanbag closer to Immy, so that their legs rested against the shirts that made up the chair.
“Immy, I love you too.”
“Really? I-I mean, obviously, I-I know that now, why else would you—?” Immy clamped their mouth shut. This wasn’t the time for them to ramble like they tended to do. “Sorry. I know I do that a lot.”
“It’s okay!” Vee giggled. “It’s cute.”
Immy felt all the air leave their lungs. “Wh-You think so?”
Vee nodded emphatically. “Yeah! You’re really cute, Immy.”
“I am?!” they squawked, voice breaking horribly. This made Vee giggle again, and Immy’s heart soared.
“Yeah! I mean, I think so. I can’t speak for anyone else, but I think you’re cute. I think you’re amazing, actually.”
“That-That can’t be right. I’m nothing special, Vee, really.”
“I disagree! You’re… Immy, you’re so special. To me, at least. I’ve never felt so connected to someone the way I feel with you. Like… you know, obviously this whole situation sucks, but you… getting to know you, and spend time with you… In a weird way, I’m almost happy I ended up here. I never would’ve met you if I didn’t.”
Immy wasn’t immediately sure how to respond to that. “I… Vee, I’m not worth all of this. I’m not worth being stuck here.”
“Don’t say that. Immy, please don’t say that.” Vee gathered their hands in hers. “You don’t have to think you are, but you can at least let me think so. You’re worth so much more than you give yourself credit for.”
Immy swallowed, attempting to alleviate the dryness in their mouth. “O-Okay. I think-I-I think you’re amazing too, Vee. Seriously, I-I still can’t really wrap my head around you-you feeling the same way about me.”
“Well, I do. I really do, Immy. That’s okay, right?” Vee’s eyes searched theirs, as if checking for any discomfort.
“Are-Are you kidding? Of course it’s okay!” Immy laughed, feeling a little delirious. They’d almost forgotten what this level of joy felt like. Actually, they didn’t know if they’d ever been this happy.
“Okay!” Vee beamed. “Great!”
They giggled again. “Great!”
She looked Immy up and down. “You’re really tense. C’mere.” Vee spread her arms. Immy just stared at her for a moment.
It’s okay. There’s nothing to lose.
She loves me too.
Only a little hesitant, Immy went from their chair to Vee’s, embracing her. Vee’s body was colder than theirs—something Immy knew from the limited physical contact the two had prior—but they couldn’t care less. It had been months since they’d last hugged someone, and this might have been the best one they’d ever had. Vee held Immy like she wanted them, like she needed them close to her. It made their heart hammer.
Immy shifted until they were comfortable, the two of them snuggled close together on Vee’s makeshift seat. Her eyes were blissfully closed—Immy guessed the cold-blooded alien was relishing in their body heat. Her antennae, though, were pointed right at Immy. As if wanting to see them without seeing, wanting to look at them without looking.
“So… what now?” Immy asked after a minute or two.
“We can just stay here, if you want. Not like DeeDee knows where to look.”
“That sounds nice. Uh, but I actually meant, like… where do we go from here? Are-Are we dating? I-I-I’d be happy with that, but if-y’know, if you don’t want to—”
“No, no, I’d like that a lot.”
“Ye-Yeah?”
“Yeah! It’ll probably be kinda hard to, like, go on dates and stuff, but we can make it work. We can figure things out together. It’ll be fun!”
Her enthusiasm was contagious. “That does sound really nice…” However, Immy couldn’t keep their anxiety from coming up with objections. “But don’t we have to work?”
“We can still do work. It’s not like we don’t have free time after the store closes.”
“Yeah, but is that really enough time?”
“Maybe not,” Vee considered. “But we’re not always busy at the register. It’s not against the rules to mess around a little. What are they gonna do?”
“Add onto our sentences? DeeDee can do that now…”
“Well, yeah, but it’s not technically against the rules he set.”
“Huh. I guess not.”
After a few seconds, Immy had another thought. “Are we… telling the others?”
“Do you want to?”
“I dunno. I think we might have to, if we’re gonna, like, go on dates and stuff. I don’t thiiiink they’ll mind it too much.” Immy was fairly sure at least Bucket knew about their feelings for Vee, if not everyone else. “They can help keep DeeDee distracted, too.”
“Ooh, good point.”
“But… maybe not yet? I-I kinda like it being just between us right now. And Beep.” The Ping Pong ball-shaped alien had hopped over to them, their big eyes curious as they gazed at the couple. Immy wondered how much Beep had understood from when they’d ramble to them about Vee. Probably nothing, since Beep didn’t have a translator. Then again, neither did any of the customers, and they seemed to understand. But Beep was more animal-like than the store patrons.
Vee’s small laugh brought Immy out of their thoughts. “Yeah, I like it too. I wasn’t gonna say we get up right now and announce it to the others or anything. We can wait a few days, if you want.”
“As long as that’s okay with you, then yeah.”
“It’s more than okay.” Vee’s fingers started to gently comb through the hair in Immy’s ponytail. They sighed contentedly at the contact. It was like Vee knew exactly how to make them feel comfortable—more than that, loved. Cherished. Cared for.
“Man,” Vee said a few minutes later, breaking through the quiet. “I wish we could stay like this forever. Never have to deal with rude customers or long shifts or annoying DeeDee’s ever again.”
“Or Kip.”
“Or Kip!” She laughed, and Immy laughed with her. “We could just… stay here, you know? Together. Just you and me, and Beep, and the stars.”
Immy hummed in agreement. “I wish we could.” They scanned the window, hoping to see a shooting star that could carry their wish. No luck.
“We’ve got right now, at least, don’t we?”
They smiled. “Yeah. We’ve got right now.”
For what was probably the first time since they’d been detained, Immy let themself relax, let themself feel totally calm and content. They’d finally told Vee how they felt about her, and she returned their affections.
In this moment, Immy was happy. In this moment, Immy was safe.
In this moment, Immy was with Vee.
And that was all they wanted.