Laura Thompson's POV (Present Year: 2023)

"What are you doing here, Love?" A distantly familiar voice echoes from outside my consciousness, followed by a light chuckle. "I sure hope you haven't been here all night..."

Confusion pricks my foggy, drifting thoughts as the voice fades away.

How could someone have gotten into my room? I mean, the lock can be a pain...

Too tired to even think, I snuggle deeper into the soft cushions beneath me, allowing myself to dive even deeper into sleep.

Though, that doesn't last long, as the sound of footsteps approaching pulls me closer to my consciousness than before.

Someone is beside me now, the sound of something being placed on a nearby table alerting me even more.

"I guess I'll just-" The person beside me mutters, cutting themselves off as the feeling of something rather warm begins to softly stroke my cheek.

My unconscious self leans into the person's touch as I slowly begin to realize just who exactly is beside me.

"Up you get, Sweetheart... We've got a busy day today..." The voice whispers, pulling me farther and farther away from sleep.

That voice...

That touch...

A sudden eruption of butterflies swells within me as my eyes begin to force themselves open.

Almost instantly, the touch against my cheek vanishes.

"E-Elon?" I croak, squinting at the rather bright lights all around me as I search for my Flight partner.

He's sitting beside me on the table, his gaze looking down at me, a hint of amusement shining within it.

"Morning." He grins as my gaze focuses on his features.

He looks tired today.

Then again, I likely look no better.

I did fall asleep on a couch still in my clothes, after all.

"Apparently you were tired last night," The man beside me chuckles, his trademark smirk following close behind.

The butterflies grow.

"Y-yeah..." I murmur, pulling myself to somewhat of a sitting position and quickly surveying the room.

Empty.

Flopping back down against the couch, I sigh, closing my eyes once again.

"Lori? You good?" Elon's concerned tone sounds from beside me, sending my heart into a tizzy.

"Never better," I reply, my tone sounding rather bland as my thoughts begin to race.

I struck out yesterday.

I can't have that happen again today.

It's now or never.

No one else is around.

I can do this...

I can do this...

Slowly, I bring myself to a sitting position once more, turning to face my Flight partner's worried features, our gazes even now.

"E," I begin, a sudden lump rising in my throat as I attempt to continue. "I think I'm-"

I stop myself, mid sentence, my voice going hoarse.

"You're what?" He urges, a playful look replacing his earlier one of concern, driving me even more crazy. "What are you, Laura?"

I stare at the man in front of me, my heart pounding in my chest, blood pounding in my ears.

"I..." I begin once more, sighing shakily as I shake my head with a small smile. "I'm a human who's in love with you, Elon Musk."

The feeling of butterflies grow even more as I watch him slowly process what he just heard, his expression unreadable.

"I mean, I could be wrong, I just-" I ramble, looking down.

My sentence is cut short as Elon gently grabs my chin, forcing me to look up at him.

"And I am a human who also just so happens to be in love with you, Laura Thompson." He smiles warmly, his eyes becoming alight with something I've never seen before.

My thoughts begin to slow as realization sweeps through me.

He... He does feel the same.

"Y-you are?" I murmur, still not quite believing what I had just heard.

Elon nods, stroking my chin with his thumb.

"I have been for awhile now, actually." He confesses, grinning once more. "I just was respecting your boundaries and-"

"Kiss me?" I cut him off, my voice barely above a whisper, my entire form beginning to tremble.

"I thought you'd never ask." He smirks, slowly inching towards me.

My eyes somehow flutter closed as I feel his lips on mine.

He tastes like coffee. Coffee, late nights, early mornings, hard work, determination and hope.

The same hope that has inspired millions... and me.

The same hope that we'll get to Mars and begin to make life multiplanetary.

The hope for a better future.

The hope that drives him, and all he does.

So much hope, it's contagiously addictive.

My breath hitches as we pull away, gasping for air, grinning like love-struck idiots.

"I've waited so long to do that..." Elon whispers as he joins me at my side on the couch, much closer than usual.

I lean against the man beside me, still battling my disbelief down.

I can't believe that just happened.

"Y-you have?" I question, my voice still a stuttering mess.

"Ever since that night in the rain," He explains, slinging an arm around my torso, pulling me even closer to him.

I can't help but blush as I snuggle closer into his side.

"You have no idea how much control I had to keep on myself to stop me from kissing you right then and there. In the pouring rain." Elon sighs with a light chuckle.

"Well, was it worth the wait?" I hum, my voice finally returning to me.

He leans down, pecking my cheek.

"Definitely." Comes the reply, no louder than a whisper.

The pair of us sit there in comfortable silence, simply enjoying the sense of each other's presence as time ticks by.

What now?

It feels so much better to get that off my chest, but what now?

"E," I muse aloud, sliding my hand under his, my thumb beginning to rub in small circles. "What does this make us now?"

The man beside me shifts slightly, his arm that was wrapped around me suddenly absent.

I was liking that...

"Whatever you want us to be," Elon murmurs in response, placing his other hand gently on my thigh. "But I think we should probably keep this all between us for now, don't you think?"

I nod in agreeance, smiling up at him.

"Especially with the Media already up in arms about your sudden disappearance. The last thing we need right now is a bunch of Journalists tracking both of us down."

"You can say that again." He sighs heavily, making his way to his feet before extending a hand out to help me up. "Why don't we get something to eat and then we can run through some of those worse case scenarios they gave us the other day?"

"Sounds fine to me." I beam, heading back towards the Pantry.

"I've gotta go grab my laptop bag. It has all the papers in it. I'll be back!" Elon's voice sounds from the living area, while I simply chuckle.

"And I'll be waiting!"

The sound of his footsteps receding sends a shiver up my spine as I begin to squeal excitedly.

I finally did it!

And he feels the same!!

"I can't believe that went over so well!" I breathe, my gaze scanning the overstocked shelves in the walk-in pantry, grimacing as the granola bar wrappers from last night come into view.

Those things were nasty!

Shaking my head and laughing at myself, I grab four protein bars from the shelf, double checking the flavors over.

They're the good ones.

"The texture isn't great, but at least they don't taste like garbage," I mutter once more, grabbing two bottles of water from the fridge on my way past.

Silently, I slip into the seat closest to me at the large table, beginning to unpackage the small bar, the constant hum of the air conditioner the only other sound keeping me company.

I wonder what else we could do this morning...

I know flight sims are cancelled for the day and we have that suit up practice after lunch...

"I'm back." The familiarly optimistic voice sounds from the main entrance, breaking me from my thoughts.

Indeed, Elon is back, an air of stress following him that I somehow hadn't noticed before.

"You okay?" I muse aloud as he stops behind the chair across from me, a slight frown on his features.

"Hm?" He mutters, his gaze quickly meeting mine.

I interrupted his thoughts again.

"I asked if you're okay... You seem awfully stressed all of a sudden?"

At this, he sighs, fidgeting with the zipper on the computer bag slung around his shoulder.

"It's that obvious, is it?" He chuckles lightly.

"Always has been."

"To answer your question though, I'm fine. Just a lot on my mind, that's all."

I smile softly, leaving my seat behind as I hand him over the two protein bars and a water.

"Let's go for a walk. It'll probably help clear your head."

"You're likely right," He agrees, shoving the items haphazardly into the his bag before gently grasping my much smaller hand in his.

Nothing can stop the blush that quickly arises to my face as he flashes me a broad grin.

"You're cute when you get all flustered." He teases quietly, making my face heat up even more as we leave the common area behind.

"Oh, shut up..." I murmur, stepping outside into the rather cool morning air of Houston, Texas.

Though, the warm and fuzzy feeling throughout my entire body says otherwise.

It feels so amazingly strange.

****

"So you're saying you don't like my idea?" I gasp, feigning offence. "How dare you, Sir!"

The man across the small picnic table raises his hands in defense, chuckling.

"It's not that I don't like it, it's just that it doesn't make sense!"

Elon and I had done our usual morning route in record time today, so now, it's back down to business.

"Okay, so," I start, focusing once more on the paper in front of me, placing my water bottle on the corner to stop it from blowing away in the breeze. "We have a problem and we need a solution."

"Yes. We're in our parking orbit, waiting for the tanker, when we receive multiple alerts from the Life Support System."

"Obviously, we should start by sifting through the alerts, figuring out what they're trying to tell us and then act on that." I muse, drumming my fingers against the table beneath them.

"Right," My Flight partner nods, continuing. "Let's go with option B here; gradual depressurization."

"Oh joy," I chuckle, rolling my eyes. "You choose the slow and painful way to go. How thrilling."

Elon simply ignores my comment, shaking his head with a small smile.

"We'll fan out, examining every inch of the interior thoroughly, looking for any sort of puncture or tear in the walls." He determines, his eyes darting back and fourth, almost as if he's running the actual scenario through in his mind. "Chang would inform Houston of the issue, and continue to monitor further communications."

"What about the readings? Shouldn't someone have stayed behind to monitor those?" I hum, propping my elbows up on the table, head between my arms, my gaze wandering over the man in front of me.

"No," He murmurs, "The personal computers on our EVA suits would have linked up to the main computer by then. We'd take those and monitor the levels remotely."

Smart.

"True. So, what's the culprit, Commander?"

He smirks, his gaze meeting mine, sending a shiver of happiness dancing down my spine.

Dang... Why is he like this...

"A small puncture in a weld seems possible, let's go with that."

I nod, shoving my thoughts aside and re-focusing.

"That's easy enough to fix, right? We'd just patch it up with that fancy epoxy Mark's been jabbering about for the past two weeks."

"Sure, but we have to get to the source of the leak first."

"Ah... Yeah. That could be tricky."

Elon frowns, seeming to not be completely satisfied with our solution.

"If the leak is slow enough, it might not be fatal. We could potentially just leave it alone until Control gives us a better idea."

Now it's my turn to frown.

"You'd leave a hole in the side of our ship?!"

The man across from me just rolls his eyes, chuckling softly.

"I said until Control gave us a better idea. Meaning that we wouldn't have to be as frantic as the warnings made it sound."

"Oh, yeah." I muse aloud, my gaze dropping from his as I laugh rather sheepishly.

A few moments of comfortable silence pass.

Well, other than the sounds of the Complex coming to life for the day.

"Whaddya say we check in on the other two? See how their training is coming along?" Elon hums, gently taking my hand in his, guiding me to my feet. "Unless you had something else in mind?"

"Sure," I reply, my voice lower than a whisper as he pulls me closer to him, leaning towards me slightly.

My heart begins to hammer in my chest as he nears, his warm breath tickling my cheek.

What is he doing...

"You've got an eyelash or something there." He murmurs, a playful tone to his voice as he brushes away whatever was on my cheek before pulling away, leaving me as yet another flustered mess.

"Elon!" I practically whine, as he begins to walk towards the Training building, a purposeful stride in his step. "That's not-"

He cuts me off, turning to face me, his trademark smirk clearly evident.

"Funny? It is for me."

I simply stand there as he continues on ahead, my disbelief melting into a warmth that's becoming oh so usual.

How can a singular person make me feel like this?

It's simple.

I already know the answer.

This is what it feels like to be in love.

"You coming or not?" His distant voice breaks me from my thoughts.

"Y-yeah! I am!"

****

"So this is what you've been doing all the way along." I muse aloud, examining the room I'm currently in.

The room is whitewashed, various lab tables and instruments neatly spread out on the surfaces, a few samples of items sitting in clear dishes, waiting to be examined.

"Yep!" My friend, Vivian, exclaims proudly from beside me, beaming. "Jessica has been a real help, showing me the ropes of everything I'll need to know!"

Jessica... That name sounds familiar...

"Is she here now? I'd be interested to meet her..." I trail off as the woman beside me nods, quickly dashing across the lab, rounding a corner and disappearing from my view, leaving me alone in the large room.

Elon and I had figured it would be better if we split up, that way we both could cover more ground, so to speak.

But now, I can't help but feel almost... lonely without him at my side.

We've spent so much time together in the sims everyday...

And now that we both finally set our emotions straight...

I shake my head as if to clear it.

"No sense in sulking..." I mutter softly, wandering over to the few samples I'd noticed earlier.

Dust, sand and rocks fill the containers, all sharing the same dull grayish hue.

These must be from the Moon!

Excitement swells within me as I carefully cradle one of the small transparent dishes in my hands, examining the object closer.

It's a small piece of rock, and, by the looks of it's exterior, it's had a pretty rough life.

"Maybe this is a loose piece from a asteroid impact on the surface..." I murmur, the sound of two sets of footsteps filling my ears.

"That assumption makes quite a bit of sense," An unfamiliar feminine voice from behind me sounds as I gently place the sample back down on the table before turning to face the source of the voice.

Vivi is standing idly next to a slightly older woman than both of us.

Mid-fourties, I'd say.

"You must be Jessica, then?" I smile, extending a hand towards her.

She wears standard NASA laboratory attire.

White jumpsuit, hair tied back in a bun, the same military grade boots as us.

"Indeed," Jessica replies neutrally, shaking my hand firmly, her rather intense gaze looking me over.

Why does she seem so stern?

"So, Miss. Thompson," She starts once more, eyeing the name tag on my Flightsuit warily. "What brings you to our neck of the woods, this morning?"

"Yeah... I was wondering the same thing, Lori..." My friend adds softly, her own gaze questioning.

Confusion fills my headspace.

We have a schedule in the living room! You walk past it every morning! And I talked to you last night!

"E," I stop myself, realizing my choice of words. "Elon and I don't have any sims this morning because we stayed quite a bit later last night, running them through, and it's our morning off."

At this, Vivian raises an eyebrow questioningly, though she says nothing of it.

"I still do not understand why he, of all people, would sign up of such a risky mission." The other woman in the room muses aloud, making her way over to another lab table, Vivian and I following close behind. "And I've also heard rumors Musk is Commanding as well."

Jessica shakes her head, turning to face both of us with a rather disappointed look on her features.

"I don't know about you two, but I feel like we're being discriminated against, yet again."

A sudden flame of aggression lights within me.

"You two are fine, capable young women, and yet they choose a man yet again to assume Command." Jessica rambles, not sensing my sudden shift in emotions. "And, let's be honest, Elon Musk is a lot of things, however, a qualified Commander of the first manned mission to Mars? I think not."

Geez! It's likely a good thing E went to see Mark instead!

However, that flame doesn't dull.

"What makes you assume these things?" I inquire, a hint of defensiveness creeping into my tone, as both woman eye me down rather quizzically, the tension in the large lab room spiking. "If you really must know, I was freely offered the role of Command."

"Why did you refuse it?" The older woman presses, stepping towards me slightly.

"Because, frankly, I'm not ready to be in charge of the lives of three other people!" I argue, my shoulders tensing as I begin to step backward as Jessica moves forward.

"And what makes you think he is?"

I don't know.

I don't even think he knows if he can handle it or not.

"Elon's never given up on anything before." I shoot back, purely defensive now. "I have a very difficult time seeing him throw in the towel on striving to become as qualified as he can be to Command."

At this, the woman in front of me snickers slightly, my own back now pressed up against the lab table behind me.

Nowhere to go.

"You talk like you know him personally... Do you?" Jessica presses once again, a rather smug expression on her face.

"We're Flight partners. I've had to get to know him, one way or another."

Rather frantically, I look towards my friend, who is simply watching the scene unfold in front of her with wide eyes.

"That's another thing. Time. It has a funny way of passing us by like we're standing still, does it not?"

I make no reply, still so riled up defending the man I've come to know so well over the past months, I can't trust my own voice to actually say much.

"Jessica, you've proved your point. Let's just get back to what we're actually supposed to be doing." Vivian urges, nodding at me.

"It does, it really does... We're only what? 369 days from launch?" The woman in front of me continues, leaning towards me slightly, her voice dropping to a whisper. "You're running out of time, Thompson... Better make every second you have, count."

My eyes widen in alarm as Jessica simply smiles at me, her eyes full of contentment that she managed to beat me to my current position.

"I better be going now," She smiles once more towards Vivian, though this time, she sounds genuine. "Have fun at your suit up class."

With that, she eyes me down once more before sharply turning on her heel, leaving Vivian and I alone in the now significantly less tense lab.

What the heck was that all about?

And what did she mean by 'make every second you have, count?'

Confused and shaken up slightly, I push myself off the counter behind me, heading towards the same way I'd came in.

"I have no idea what that was all about!" My friend instantly begins to ramble as I rather aggressively push the door in front of us open, continuing down the hallway. "She usually talks about woman being discriminated against and all that kind of stuff, but I've never seen her take it that far!"

I shrug.

"I was an opposition for her. She saw that and figured she'd trample all over me."

"Geez, I'm really sorry. I-"

"It's fine, Vivi."

Collecting myself, I sigh heavily, stepping out into the warm afternoon air, Vivian hot on my heels.

"Where to?" She muses aloud as we walk along, side by side.

"The same building with the NBL." I reply, my tone rather short.

"Right. We have suit up practice the rest of the afternoon."

"Yep."

"Oh, come on, Lori! It'll be fun! We finally get to see what those state of the art Martian EVA suits look like that everyone's been talking about!" My friend bubbles, a sudden spring to her step.

I can't help but smile wearily at Vivi's enthusiasm.

"I guess you're right," I murmur, shoving my thoughts of the encounter with Jessica aside.

I can ponder over what she said later, right now, I need to get my head screwed on right so I can learn how to use these fancy spacesuits!

****

"Now, these EVA suits are specifically designed for surface exploration." The old, rather overweight, man at the front of the room monotones, glancing up from his binder full of papers every once and awhile. "I wouldn't really suggest using them in vacuum, but they'd do in a pinch."

I can't help but look myself over.

I'm suited up in a surprisingly light Martian surface exploration spacesuit.

Made to fit specifically to my proportions, the suit feels extremely comfortable...

Minus the heavy helmet and life support backpack.

"These suits are also equipped with heating and cooling which are implemented through the first layer you put on before the actual outer shell." The instructor continues to cite off dully. "If something were to ever happen to the outer shell of the suit, a puncture for example, the life support system will alert you and automatically implement the right procedures to keep you alive for as long as it can."

I shiver slightly at the thought.

One of us getting hurt while on Mars... That would be freaky...

"Alright, that's all for now." He finishes as a handful of NASA employees are once again at each of our sides, helping us out of the suits.

"Thank you," I nod to the young woman who had just un-done the cuff around my wrist, removing my glove.

She simply nods in response as I watch her un-do the other one.

It's just a simple twist off and on.

"Oh! Before I forget!" The man who had been at the front of the room moments ago suddenly speaks, a sudden urgency to his tone. "Tomorrow is yous day in the NBL. Thompson and Musk, 9:00 AM, sharp. Chang and Myers, 4:00 PM. You'll be in for a late night, so be sure to rest up. Other than that, have a great rest of your evenings, everyone."

My thoughts slow to a halt.

Tomorrow morning, I'll be 40 ft underwater in a bulky EMU suit...

Quickly, I allow my gaze to wander over to Elon's.

They meet instantly.

He must've already been staring...

A small smile finds it's way to my lips, as does his.

'We'll be fine.' He seems to say with his eyes.

A slight wave of reassurance washes through me.

I sure hope he's right.

****

"Who knew Marko was such a great Chef!" I laugh, downing the last of my glass of water as everyone else at the dining room table laughs along with me.

"I've always been told I'm a man of many talents," He chuckles. "I guess making meals happens to be one of them."

"Hey, if it was my night to cook, ya'll would've likely been getting instant noodles or something." Vivian jokes, leaning back in her chair slightly.

"Well, I better go check up on my emails," Elon sighs, making his way to his feet, beginning to gather everyone's plates. "I'm sure it was yet another busy day back at HQ."

I nod, standing from my own seat as I gather everyone's cups.

"I'm absolutely exhausted... I'm thinking a nice long shower is in order." I yawn, following Elon into the kitchen.

He passes me a slight smirk as I gently place the four cups into the top rack of the dishwasher while he puts the plates beneath.

What was that look for?

He can't possibly be suggesting-

Realization washes over me as I blush madly, elbowing him in the ribs.

"Geez! Your elbows are sharp!" He laughs, his smirk not leaving.

"Good!" I huff, still blushing. "You deserved that."

"Oh did I, now?" He whispers as he closes the dishwasher, his smirk still plastered to his face.

"Yes. Yes you did." I murmur playfully.

Before he can say much more, I'm already gone, saying goodnight to both younger Crew members on my way past.

Alright... Shower, journal, TV and then sleep.

"He's such a goof." I chuckle lowly as I unlock the door to my room and step inside, kicking off my boots as I do so.

I guess that's part of the reason why I love him.

Humming to myself, I close the blind to the rather large window in the small room, flicking on the TV's music channel as some background noise.

"Watermelon Sugar... Such an annoyingly catchy tune." I laugh, stepping into the small bathroom.

Shedding my clothes, I step into the shower, keeping it cold in a vain attempt to keep myself awake.

"Watermelon sugar, high. Watermelon sugar, high!" I hum along with the chorus, my exhaustion continuing to creep it's way into my consciousness.

Chuckling to myself once again, I turn off the water, hastily wrapping myself in a towel as I stare at my reflection looking back at me in the mirror.

I wonder what he sees...

It's not like I'm attractive or anything.

Normal strawberry blonde hair, blue eyes... 

Pretty typical looking.

Sighing, I slip into my oversized NASA t-shirt and a pair of sweatpants, putting the towel back where it belongs before leaving the bathroom behind.

I just don't get it.

Why does a guy like him like a girl like me?

He could easily find someone else so much prettier, so much better off than I am.

I shrug, grabbing the small notebook and pen from where I'd hastily shoved it earlier as I flip down onto my bed.

Log Entry: T-369 Days

Well, I managed to tell Elon how I actually feel this morning!

Turns out, he feels the same!

I'm still in disbelief over it all, but

I stop scribbling, mid-sentence.

"I can see your light is still on, come let me in!" I muffled though familiar voice sounds from... outside my window?

"E?" I muse aloud, confusion and curiosity nagging at me.

Why the heck is he outside my window?

Cautiously, I slowly put up the blind I had put down earlier, coming face to face with an equally surprised Elon.

I simply stand there for awhile, confused and frankly pondering over the fact I could be hallucinating.

"You gonna let me in?"

I shake my head quickly, pulling myself back to the present.

"Yeah, yeah." I nod, quickly opening the large rectangular window and popping the screen out.

"Took you long enough," He smirks, carefully stepping through the open area and into my room, his gaze wandering around before once more falling on me.

"What are you doing here?" I question, followed by a yawn as the man in front of me chuckles lightly.

"Visiting you, Sweetheart."

"It's almost 11:30, Elon! You need some rest! You look exhausted!"

He shrugs.

"I couldn't sleep."

"So you decide to bother me?" I laugh tiredly, closing the window and setting the screen aside.

"Oh, so I'm just a bother now?"

"Eh... I don't really know..." I drawl as I hop back into bed, picking up the TV remote and beginning to aimlessly flip through channels. "Boring, boring, boring..."

I sigh in frustration, rather aggressively shutting the glowing screen off.

"Guess we're not watching TV, then."

"Guess not," Elon chuckles, sitting down on the end of my bed hesitantly.

The pair of us sit in silence for awhile, the hum of the air conditioner keeping us company.

However, the sound of the A/C slowly begins to lull me to sleep.

"Nuh-uh, Love."

As my eyes begin to flutter closed, I feel the mattress sink beside me, accompanied by a light nudge to my side.

"E...lon..." I whine, snuggling closer to the man now beside me, my eyes remaining firmly closed. "I'm tired and you're not helping..."

I hear a light, breathy chuckle from beside me as he pulls me closer to his side, my head finding a resting spot against his upper arm.

"Better?"

I nod groggily.

"Yeah..."

Soon enough, the room falls quiet once more.

The sound of the A/C now replaced by the steady breathing of the person I'm snuggled up against.

This is so nice...

I could stay like this forever...

"Laura," Elon's soft tone awakens me slightly, as the feeling of his arm around me vanishes.

"Hmph." I grumble, sliding down from where I had been sitting up and under my covers, wrapping them around me tightly as if to mimic his touch.

"You never gave me an answer of what we are now."

I can't help but smile sleepily.

"I wouldn't mind being your girl..." I slur, the smile falling from my face as yet another wave of tiredness washes over me. "That'd be really nice..."

I feel the mattress beside me shift once more, the weight that had previously been there now gone.

"I guess that makes me your guy, then." I hear him whisper, the grin behind his voice so evident even my half asleep mind picks it up.

"Guess so." I murmur once more, the soft hands of sleep beginning to grab at me, pulling me down into oblivion.

"Goodnight, Laura."