Hannah stared at the ceiling, her mind racing. Her thoughts spun from Justin, whose blue-eyed smile was hundreds of miles away, to Chris, whose equally piercing blue eyes were approximately six inches from hers when she rolled over to face him.

"Good morning," he said cheerfully. Then he winced.

"A little hungover?" Hannah asked, perhaps a little too loudly.

"Hush, you. You drank just as much as I did. How are you feeling?"

"Slightly less than great, but at least I'm warm."

"Mmm," he agreed, pulling her into his arms. She wriggled, happily, then took a quick inventory: shirt, check; pants, check. So her memory of the previous night was intact; they had gone to bed and cuddled, talked, and fallen asleep. Hannah sighed into his chest, then peered over his shoulder to look at the clock.

"Hope you didn't have anything to do today," she said. "It's already almost two."

"Nothing to do but lie here in bed with you," he said brightly. "If," he added as an afterthought, "that's all right with you."

"I think it is," she replied. "I cleared my Saturday just for you." That wasn't true, of course, but she could feel his face getting warm where it pressed against hers. As though to hide it, he pulled back and kissed her, softly. His lips tasted like morning: slightly sour and not terribly pleasant.

"I really enjoyed last night," he said softly, not really meeting her eyes.

"I did too," she said, just as softly, licking her lips. Her mind flitted back to Justin, and then just as quickly back to the boy lying next to her, looking at her expectantly. They had talked about all sorts of things last night, particularly each other, and the concept of 'they'. They hadn't known each other long, but had grown into close friends surprisingly quickly. And now they were in bed. Hannah took a deep breath and considered how best to word her next question. She wanted him to lead the discussion that they both knew they had to have.

"Are you sure you want this?" That sounded good. Noncommittal, but necessitating a response.

"I think so." His response was slow in coming. "I mean, I'm scared, but that's normal."�

"What is there to be scared of?" This part she'd rehearsed in her head a dozen times. "Either I don't love you, which I don't now anyway, and we say good friends, and then I go away...or I do love you, which I don't right now, but I might, and then I go away." It was simple. She hoped he wouldn't pick up on the obvious flaw in her plan.

"So either things change, or they stay the same, but either way, at the end of it, you leave?"� It was a fact they both kind of avoided talking about; they were as far apart during the summer as she and Justin were during the school year.

Stop thinking about Justin, her mind told her firmly.

"Yep. That bit won't change. Not right now, anyhow."

Chris thought about this for a moment. His eyes were closed, and Hannah worried he'd fallen back asleep. She was about to say something else when he spoke again. "But you can't just divide this into those two categories. It doesn't work that way. There's more to it."

He'd found her flaw. "Like how?" she asked, guardedly.

"Well, we could end up hating each other. We could fight all the time. Never want to see each other again. I could celebrate your leaving."

That hadn't been what she'd expected. "Do you really think that will happen?"

He paused, considered. "No. But I've said that before - I bet you have too - and it's happened. We both have made enemies from people we love."

"But it's never lasted. The people I love - even the people I just care about - I forgive eventually. Nothing is so terrible that I can't get over it."

"Nothing?" It was a challenge.

"Well, nothing that's happened to me so far, anyway."

"Right."� Chris paused. Hannah was ready to lean in and kiss him again, move onto other things, perhaps suggest breakfast. Then he took a deep breath and said, softly, "and what if I fall in love with you?"

Hannah's brusque response belied the jump her stomach had done. "You won't. Or, at least, you really shouldn't. You can do much better than me."

He considered this, his blue eyes narrowed. "Maybe. But right now, I don't want to do better than you. And I don't care how much you tell me not to; I can't control who I fall in love with. I wish I could. I wish I could say 'Poof! Now I love you!' Or 'Poof! I will never have to worry about loving you.'"

"But that sure would take the fun out of everything, wouldn't it?"

"I don't know. You're the one calmly forbidding me to love you."

He made a good point. "True. But that's just practical. Remember, no matter who loves whom, at the end, I'm gone."

"So why should you risk falling in love with me? You'll just fly away."

This was a question she was prepared to answer. "Because I'm used to leaving the people I love. I've gotten quite a lot of practice. And if I truly do love you, and if, against my better judgment, you fall in love with me, well then, I'll just have to come back."� She winced. It sounded too rehearsed, and promised too much besides. She felt Chris' arms tighten around her. He had strong arms, confident. She felt safe in them.

"Would you really do that?"

If I love you enough. If I love you more than Justin. Stop thinking about him! "Maybe. If. But like you said, we could wind up loathing each other. We could become mortal enemies. We could."

"True." Another pause. "Why don't we just see?"

Hannah smiled and kissed him, not minding the unpleasant taste as much this time. "I like that."