Jayce returned to his seat, downed what remained in his glass (not for courage, he told himself) and leaned toward Ellie. ‘Hey. Wanna get out of here?’

Ellie grinned into her glass. She glanced around, feeling suddenly guilty, but thankfully Tila was nowhere in sight.

Ellie nodded and set her glass down. ‘Where are we going?’

‘Let’s go for a ride. We can get out of here for a couple of hours. No one will notice. We can take my cruiser.’

‘What about your friends?’

‘Chrissy and the others know how to stay out of Blake’s way. I don’t think Blake’s guests will be a problem. The staff can handle things. If someone doesn’t have a good time, I guess they can blame Blake. It’s his place, you know?’

‘And, um, what about my friends?’

‘They’re not going anywhere. Malachi’s gone to cool off and Tila’s looking for him. We don’t have to be away for long. If you don’t want to…’

Ellie thought this over, then nodded again. ‘Okay.’ She didn’t know if she was nervous about leaving with Jayce or excited to see what his cruiser could do on the open road. A drive through the countryside at night sounded exciting. Maybe even… romantic?

It helped that the cruisers here were nothing like the tiny spacecraft back home. They weren’t held together with spare parts and wishes. And a slow drive would be a novel experience.

They slipped off their chairs and into the night. Jayce led them toward the garage’s garden entrance. Ellie felt Jayce’s fingers brush against the back of her hand, but she kept her eyes forward and her hands to herself. There was still no sign of Malachi, which was beginning to worry her. She couldn’t see Tila either, although that was a relief more than a concern. Tila had been more prickly than usual tonight, if such a thing were possible, and she had already made it perfectly plain she had no interest in making new friends on Parador.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

But that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t, Ellie thought.

They passed through a stone archway, artfully built to appear far older than it really was, and entered the gardens proper. By now, the crowds had begun to disperse throughout the grounds and into the house, and Ellie could finally appreciate just how much space there was within the perimeter wall. Jayce (or Blake, she thought, making a face in the dark) certainly had a lot of up to call his own.

The trees and plants surrounded them in a way which suggested careful planning, not wild growth. They crunched along a path of bleached gravel which curved through the garden, around flower beds, under green canopies, and over a small bridge which spanned a little stream. The water bubbled and splashed happily over the rocks below them. The liquid music drowned the background noise of chatter and laughter until it seemed the whole garden was only for them.

‘You get to live here? It’s amazing. Everything is so… so alive.’

‘There're limits to what we can do with the place, you know, ’cos it’s owned by the company, but sure, it’s not a bad little house.’

Ellie dismissed the technicality with a wave. ‘But you get to live here.’

Jayce nodded. He caught Ellie’s eye and said, ‘I guess it’s good to be surrounded by beautiful things.’

Ellie nodded too, still looking around at the garden in wonder. Then she realised that Jayce was looking at her, and what he really meant. She blushed, grateful for the shadows.

‘Is that the garage?’ she asked, changing the subject, and turned toward a low building near the brick wall.

Jayce kicked an unfortunate pebble from the path as soon as her back was turned and followed.

‘Yeah. One of them.’ He hoped Ellie couldn’t hear the disappointment in his voice.

Ellie kept up a brisk pace to reach the door to the garage, forcing Jayce to keep up with her. She looked back at the house, a little puzzled.

‘I thought we arrived on the other side.’

‘We did. That was the main garage. This is where the guests park. Wanna see?’

He touched the door control with one hand while the other again, optimistically, reached for Ellie’s.

The door slid open and there stood Tila with her hand on the internal door control.

She looked as surprised as they. Her eyes darted around the scene, first to Ellie, then to Jayce, then to their hands, touching, then back at Jayce.

Tila frowned, snatched Ellie’s hand away from Jayce’s and pulled her into the garage.

‘What—’ began an indignant Ellie before Tila cut her short.

‘Malachi’s gone.’