Lyra's POV:
"I can take you to her. But you'll have to wait. If the mean lady knows you're gone, you'll get in trouble." The boy said. Billy said "what's your name?" "Zane. My brother is Arlo." He replied. Billy said "do you know where the sleeping quarters are? There's a huge vent there. And I'll be able to follow you to show me where Max is." Zane nodded and said "I know exactly where that is." Billy said "meet me there. Later tonight." Zane nodded and scurried away. I stood up and Billy did the same. I looked at his knuckles that were bleeding. "Your hand." I said as I took one of his hands in mine and held it. My back was to the wall and Billy pushed me up against it. I looked up at him and let go of his hand. My hand had the crimson liquid on it and  I gently touched Billy's cheek. He leaned in, his hot breath fanning against my face. I closed my eyes, feeling him press his lips to mine. Our lips moved in sync and he pulled away. I was still cupping his cheek. I pushed some of his hair out of his face. "Will you go get your hands fixed?" I asked. Billy shrugged and said "why can't you do it?" "Cause I'm not a nurse." I replied while chuckling. Billy nodded and pulled out a cigarette, lighting it and inhaling. He blew smoke out of his mouth, the smoke floating to the ceiling. Billy sighed and said "I'll get my hands fixed." "Thank you." I said. "Only if you kiss me again." Billy replied. "Ok and us kissing, what does that mean?" I asked him. Billy exhaled and said "well, I was thinking that it meant we were a thing." Now I did have a crush on the Hargrove boy. There was no doubt about that. "Can we take it slow?" I asked. Billy stepped closer to me and said "how slow?" My heart was beating rapidly in my chest. "I just don't want to go fast." I said while looking down. Billy put his cigarette out and said "Lyra, I'm not the kind of guy you think I am." "And what do I think you are?" I replied curiously. I wanted to know what he assumed. "You think I'm this guy who just fucks a girl and moves on right?" Billy asked. I nodded shamelessly. I did think that. He chuckled and said "you're not wrong. But I've been trying to stop that. I want a relationship. I want someone to love. And when I saw you, something happened. Something that I can't explain. But I don't want to treat you like a one time thing. I'm not saying I don't want to bang cause you do things to me." I interrupted him by giggling and he smirked. "Lyra, just act like you like me back at least." He said. "I do like you." I whispered. Billy put a strand of hair behind my ear and leaned in again. Our lips moved in sync and he held me gently as he kissed me. His tongue tasted of nicotine and his lips moved to my jaw. He left soft kisses along my jaw. "I'll see you later?" He asked. I nodded, not being able to speak. He walked away and my heart was beating so fast. I licked my lip and tasted the nicotine. "Wow." I whispered.

-

Billy's POV:
As everyone headed off to bed, I walked to the vent that I told Zane to meet me at. He was there. "How do I get in?" I asked. Zane opened it and stuck his head out. "Like this." Zane replied. He crawled in and then I grabbed the grate and closed the vent. "Make sure to whisper. You can hear anything in these vents." Zane said. The ventilation shaft was actually pretty big. It wasn't small and claustrophobic like you'd think. There was enough space inside to not make your neck hurt. If felt like we were crawling forever. Then Zane stopped. "She's here." He said. I crawled up next to him and looked down through the grates. There was a room with a bunch of cryotubes. I saw her inside one and I said "she's in there. Sleeping." "The mean lady locked her in there. She never took her to Sam." Zane said. "How do you know about that?" I asked. "I told you. You can hear everything in these vents." Zane replied. I looked around and nobody was in the room. "Where is this exactly? What room is this next to?" I said. Zane crawled a little bit up ahead and then said "the med lab." I nodded and began to open the grate. "What're you doing?" Zane asked. "Getting my sister back." I replied. I opened the grate and jumped down. Zane sat at the top, looking down nervously. I had never seen a cryotube up close. I've heard of them but never seen one. Max laid peacefully inside. I pushed a button and it popped open. Steam hissed and I gently shook Max. "Max. Hey. Wake up." I said. Max didn't move and I shook her again. "Max, please wake up." I said to her. I looked around the room for anything that could wake her up. "She's still in hyper sleep. Try some of the mint over there." Zane said as pointed to a counter. I grabbed a piece of mint and held it under her nose. Max's nose twitched and she shoved my hand away, stirring slowly. I stood above her and her eyes fluttered open. "B-Billy?" She asked. I nodded and she looked around, remembering everything. Max hugged me and I heard her sniffle. "What happened Max?" I asked her. "She took me away. And she said that she was taking me to Sam. She lied. She showed me this room and then locked me in a cryotube. She said that I would be safe here. I don't understand why she would do that. I didn't know what it was or I wouldn't of gotten in it." Max said. I picked her up and she clung to me. "Where's your board?" I asked. "Zane has it." She said. I looked up to the curly haired boy in the vent. "Get your stuff. I'm taking you to your brother. And Max is coming with me. Tina can't do anything to the two of you. But she can do whatever she wants to me." I said. Zane closed the grate and crawled through the vents. I carried Max out of the room and we passed the Med Lab. "Did you go in there?" I asked. Max shook her head and said "no. But Tina almost took me in." As I went to turn a corner Tina was walking by. I immediately got behind the wall and Max's eyes widened in fear. Her breath began to pick up and I could tell she was scared. "It's ok." I whispered. Max nodded and buried her face into my chest. Tina walked by and I waited until the coast was clear and then I quickly walked down the hall. Zane met me at the grate that him and I crawled into. He had a bag with him and Max's board. "Are you ok to walk?" I said to Max. She shook her head and said "I feel dizzy. Really dizzy." Zane closed the grate and held Max's skateboard in his hand. We walked down the hall towards the sleeping quarters and Zane said "I thought this was a military ship."

"It is. But there's also colonists on it. They plan to put us all in hypersleep. But I'm not sure when." I replied. I made Max wrap her legs around my waist and I knocked on Arlo's door. Max's head laid on my shoulder and I felt her drifting back off to sleep. I knocked on his door again and Arlo said "what?" "Hunter. Come here." I replied. He opened the door and huffed. "What do you want Hargrove?" He asked. Zane stepped toward him and said "Arlo." Arlo looked down and his eyes widened. "Zane?" He asked. He hugged the younger boy and then looked at me. "Thank you." He said. He ushered Zane into the room and Arlo said "they snuck on didn't they?" "Max said their ship was ransacked. Everyone is dead on it." I replied. Arlo ran a hand through his hair and said "Jesus. Well thanks for bringing him to me. What're we going to do about Tina?" "What the hell is she going to do? Sam is just going to overpower her and she can't do anything." I said. Arlo nodded and closed his door. I quickly went to the rec room and got Max's things and walked back to my room. There were other sleeping quarters but I was keeping Max with me, since Tina tried to take her away. I set her on my bed, covering her up with the covers. Max snuggled into the pillow and I smiled down at her. I put Max's things in the corner and laid down next to her.

-

Mother, the ships computer woke everyone up. "All military personnel please report to the training room. All military personnel please report to the training room." Max rolled over and I walked out of my room, closing the door. I walked to where we were supposed to go. Everyone piled into the room and Tina stood in the middle of the room. Roxy stood next to me, staring at the ground. "I know it's early but bare with me. Our next planetary mission is tomorrow." Tina began. "Shit." Blaze said as he interrupted her. She rolled her eyes and began to speak again. "The planet is called Acheron LV-426. Our point of interest will be a research mining facility called Hadley's Hope. We haven't heard anything from them in a while. So we're going to check on them." Roxy said "if you haven't heard from them in a while, why are just now reacting? They're probably dead because we didn't respond quick enough." Katarina didn't say anything but I could tell she agreed with Roxy. "Well it was my decision. I'm not going to put my soldiers in danger unless I have too." Tina replied. Blaze rolled his eyes and Lyra nudged him. "What the fuck is this?" Blaze asked, holding up his arm. Tina sighed and said "that was your fault, Blaze."

Blaze scoffed and said "yeah. Ok. You're the one who made me use a bat." Tina walked toward him and said "because you suck with a gun. A gun is not your specialty. If you shot a powerful gun, it'd knock you right on your ass." Blaze looked down at her and said "why don't I prove it?" Tina threw her hands up in the air and said "why don't you?" Blue smirked in the corner, not getting involved. "Blaze you've made you're point." Lyra said. Tina looked at the two of them and said "calm your boyfriend down. Before he proves that I'm right." Lyra's eyebrows raised and she said "he's not my boyfriend." "Oh please." Tina said as she rolled her eyes. Blaze went to say something but Lyra stopped him. "He's not my type." Lyra said. Tina tilted her head and she "oh?" I walked over and stood in front of Blaze who stormed out of the room. "Lyra wouldn't date Blaze cause he's an asshole. Plus she's already with me." I said. Lyra stared up at me and Tina didn't say anything. I grabbed Lyra by her waist and kissed her in front of everyone. "Is that enough proof for you?" I asked as I walked out of the room, pulling Lyra behind me.

Here's the update! Another long one🤷🏽‍♀️
~skylar✨☁️✨☁️