BREAKING into the waterpark at midnight was not an ideal date.

    "How do you even know how to unlock this?" she said, shifting back and forth on her heels. 

    The relaxed, self-assured shrug of Adrien's shoulder only made Muse more nervous. She seemed completely at ease with a lockpick, down on one knee. It took her only a minute. With a click, the lock released and she glanced back at Muse.

    Briefly, the sight of Adrien kneeling made Muse lose her breath. The pitch-black glitter of her eyes locked on Muse. For a moment, both of them only stared. The lamplight of the empty parking lot seemed to grow warmer, brighter. Nothing felt real. Kiss me, Muse wanted to say. Adrien on her knees was perfectly level with Muse's―

    Adrien cleared her throat. The wind stirred, gently blowing her black hair. "Ready? This is how we're supposed to fall in love, you know."

    The word love made Muse freeze. But Adrien was just referring to the story they'd fabricated about their relationship, weeks ago back at the Moth Cafe. According to what Muse had blurted out, they'd met here. Who would have thought there was actually a waterpark named Splish-Splash-Slide Deluxe in New York City? 

     Only an hour ago, Adrien had tossed a duffel bag on the kitchen table and asked her if she had a bathing suit.

    "Yeah, why?" Muse had said.

    "I've got towels, shampoo, and a change of clothes. We're going swimming."

    "Swimming . . . where? Now?" It had been a little past eleven then.

    "You'll never guess."

    And it was true: when the chauffeur had pulled up to a mile-long, deserted stretch of parking lot, Muse had been baffled. The building from the outside seemed cold, sterile. The only thing that gave it away were the words, shadowed in the lamplight, plastered on the front wall: Splish-Splash-Slide Deluxe in a big, bubbly font.

    "And you know how to pick locks how?" Muse asked Adrien currently, as Adrien rose to her full height―a couple inches taller than Muse. Enough to make her heart skip several beats.

     "Dear Old Dad got wasted at some Christmas party when I was twelve and asked me what the difference between a businessman and a thief is. I said I didn't know. He said one wears a suit. So, you know, I learned how to pick locks after that. As any normal person would."     

     "Naturally," Muse said faintly.

     Adrien pulled Muse in through the unlocked door and shut it behind them. The corridor of Splish-Splash-Slide Deluxe was dark and laced with the scent of chlorine. A sign, pointing right, read: Fun This Way! 

    It occurred to Muse this was their last night before the wedding.

    "There's something I have to tell you," she said.

    Adrien leaned over Muse, pressing her into the wall. Muse's breathing turned uneven. She felt pinned down, pierced, impaled by the weight of Adrien's gaze. Instead of scaring her, it made her feel on fire. She wanted to grab Adrien as fiercely as she could by the back of her neck and crush their lips together. God, she was so . . . 

    "Yeah?"

    "I'm . . ." 

     She wanted to tell Adrien about everything. Her childhood, the death of her parents, her aunt and uncle, her grandmother. Everything. It was better for Adrien to know, especially considering the wedding.

     The wedding, which was tomorrow night.

     In Greece.

     Hundreds of the richest people in the world would be there. Watching. Witnessing. Adrien and Muse would stand before them, probably on some platform on the beach, and say their vows. She wasn't ready to tell Adrien about her family and her past, but she needed to. 

     Now, only a breath away from Adrien, that familiar candy cane scent lingering in the air between them . . . "You're so hot. Christ."

     Something in Adrien's eyes flickered, like a match.

     "Come," she said, and then her hand was on Muse's, and they were running through the darkened corridor towards a set of double doors, breathless, the space between them electric, almost crackling―

     "What if there are security cameras?"

     "I'll pay whatever fine they want. Are you ready to go swimming?" 

     They paused outside of the doors. Through the glass, Muse could see the enormity of the waterpark, in all of its splish-splash-sliding glory. The entire structure, awash in moonlight from the glass dome ceiling, was a colourful tangle of slides that curved and spiralled and spilled in every direction. Closed tubes that looked like death traps and flat planes that took ninety-degree nosedives down into the large, circular pool. The entire contraption might very well have spanned a full kilometer. Muse would have never imagined waterparks could contain so much. Any one of these slides looked like certain death.

     Adrien pushed open the doors. The sound reverberated, it seemed, through the entire waterpark.

     "Do you want to be a widow before we're even married?" Muse said―her voice echoing, echoing, echoing.

     "Scared?"

     That was a challenge. "Never," said Muse, and stripped off her jacket and dress in almost one motion. Leaving her in her bikini, exposed in the chill air of the waterpark. 

     It was clear Adrien hadn't been expecting that, because Muse noticed the sharp incline of her chest. An inhale. Something sparked in her stare. 

     It made Muse feel warmer―braver. Without looking back, she ran. The waterpark pool had a slight slant. As soon as she touched the water, ripples blossomed. Thank God it was warm.

    "Catch up," she teased, once she was waist-deep next to a ladder.

    Adrien raised her eyebrows. The expression on her face, half amusement and half surprise, made Muse feel invincible in the cold moonlight. As soon as she started stripping, Muse began climbing the ladder. She had no idea to which slide it would lead. In fact, she grew increasingly more terrified as the ladder stretched on and on. Getting taller and taller. Taking her far away from the safety of the pool and closer to the glass dome ceiling.

   Luckily, the water was still running down the slides. Meaning it was possible to go down on them without getting scraped raw.

   Also meaning there was no way Muse could chicken out now.

   The ladder was attached to what had to be the world's worst slide. A black and grey, closed tube. From what Muse could see by standing on her tiptoes, it went in circles about a million times before plummeting back down into the pool. 

   She must have done something to spite God. Maybe it was her wedding tomorrow with a woman.

    Was it too late to back down on the slide, though? Yes. Definitely yes. Muse peered over the ladder, and Adrien was already following in her lead.     

   At least Adrien would go down the death trap slide with her.

   "There's a lifeguard tower," said Adrien offhandedly, reaching the top platform. "And no lifeguards. Could be dangerous."

   "Scared?"  Muse mocked.

    "Never," Adrien said. She reached out and grabbed Muse's hip. The touch sent Muse stumbling a half-step, right into her chest. Muse had no choice but to look up at her, trapped by Adrien's lean, muscled arm. 

    Trapped―as if she'd rather be anywhere else in the world. Anywhere at all.

    "Are we in love yet?" Adrien asked. 

    The story―the fake story. That was all she meant. But Muse couldn't help thinking, You have no idea. 

   "Hm," Muse whispered, glancing at Adrien's lips―then her eyes. She seemed less real in this moonlight, too beautiful to be human. "I think so."

   "You think so?"

   "I mean, my dad gets eaten by sharks here. It's kind of traumatic."

   "Oh, the Mafia sharks. Well, maybe I can help you forget about that."

   "Bloodthirsty sharks are no joke."

   "Believe me," Adrien said softly, so close Muse was breathing peppermint, tasting it on her tongue, imagining what it would be like for them to be kissing right here and right now―"I know."

    All thought of bloodthirsty sharks evaporated from Muse's mind as Adrien slid her hand along Muse's jaw. Thumb brushing her bottom lip, so gently Muse's eyes fluttered shut.

    "Fine, I'm in love," whispered Muse, and she had no idea what was real and what was fake, which part of this was still a lie―

    Adrien's mouth met hers. Lips parted, so soft and lush that a moan escaped Muse.

   Adrien tightened her hold. The heat of the water made Muse feel like she was burning all over. The platform, so high above the rest of the waterpark that the moon was unobscured, seemed untouchable in this moment. They were wholly alone. Invincible. Chlorine and peppermint and―

  "It can still be professional," Muse whispered into Adrien's mouth, "if we fuck."

  "Purely professional?"

  "Well, maybe not so purely anymore."

  Muse felt Adrien's smirk as she said, "I'm pretty sure any hope of that was gone the day we kissed in the church bathroom."

   "I think that may have been more of a kiss."

  "Are we really going to argue about the logistics of the purity right now?" 

   "You're right," Muse said. "Fuck me already."

   Adrien grinned. "Not like this, sweetheart. When I fuck you for the first time, it's going to be special."

***

Sex chapter? Sex chapter.

From the moon and back,
Sarai