But he was.
Now the alien was graduating with honors. He gained entry to a high-level research institution, where he posed as a grad student and combed the facilities for the cure to his illness. One day, he chanced upon F in a physics lab, now a scientist herself, and they decided to combine research.
As their characters reconnected onstage, AJ could feel the minutes slipping past them, but the flight path could not be altered. She was bound to it by the laws of their bond. It had been done long ago, and she was powerless to undo it.
F and W were taking a walk now, maybe fifteen minutes from the blackout. Fifteen minutes was nothing. A frozen dinner. A loading zone. A rosary.
This isn’t real.
AJ wanted to tell Noah he was forbidden to leave. Instead, she said, “You are so wet.”
There it was, the smile she loved so well. “Tell me something I don’t know,” he said, pulling her out of the imaginary downpour under an imaginary awning.
AJ looked up at him, silently mapping every freckle on his face. “The first book you ever lent me, the one I said that I forgot?” she said. “I lied. I still know every word you wrote in it. I used to sleep with it at night.”
Noah’s breath caught.
“Tell me something I don’t know,” said AJ.
Noah cleared his throat. “The first scene we ever did, the one that made you run away?” he said, his eyes shining. “I wasn’t acting at all. I really was that in love with you. I still am.”
Then he kissed her.
They lived happily for a time, their research prospering thanks to W’s otherworldly technology. When F got sick, he defied fate and used their findings to save her.
But he could not save himself. The same symptoms that had plagued his mother were beginning, and he had been so preoccupied with saving F that his own clock had run out.
“I have to go now,” said Noah. He advanced, and AJ realized he was about to kiss her goodbye.
She shook her head, stepping back. “I cannot believe you are doing this.”
Noah’s jaw clenched. He took another step toward her. “Age,” he breathed.
AJ was still shaking her head, but she could not pull away as he drew near. He cupped her cheeks in both his hands and nudged her nose with his. She was already crying when their lips met. As they clutched at each other, she tasted salt and metal.
Noah’s emotions were a coastal storm, the audience’s a riptide. They were standing in a hurricane, and this was the eye. He was squeezing her so tight she couldn’t breathe.Yes,thought AJ.Just let it end here.
Then he broke the kiss. He took a breath. His dark eyes swept hers. “I willalwayslove you.”
Then he let her go.
AJ’s face contorted as he took a step back. “Do not. Do. This.”
For an instant he paused. “I have to,” he said, his voice breaking.
AJ shook her head. “Do not.”
He was crying now, his chest spasming. “Ihaveto.”
AJ’s lips parted, but no sound came out.
This isn’t real.
He was backing away now, his hands balled at his sides. “I love you.”
The blackout fell like an executioner’s axe.
As the audience erupted, AJ could hear Noah’s footfalls growing faint.
