I was lying down. I moved my body slightly and felt the earth beneath me. I was lying on the desert floor, the white silk still spilling around the middle of my body, leaving my shoulders and arms and legs free to bake in the sun. I could feel my hair splayed around my face, haloing my head. I could see the matted brightness of the sun through my eyelids. Feel its heat penetrating me. I opened my eyes, and even though I shouldn't have been surprised at anything unusual at this point, my breath caught in my throat when the second my eyelids opened I saw night.the sky was stained the deepest color of indigo I could imagine. Small breaks in the layer of atmosphere let small beams of light shoot through.stars, they were stars. And I wasn't consumed by the warmth of the sun, I was being cooled off by the tepid night breeze. I wanted to be lost in this feeling forever. It reminded me of innocent child summers, something I missed.

But when I heard Max breathing next to me at that moment, being a child again lost it's appeal. I turned to look at him. His eyes were still closed, he was taking in shallow breaths, lying on his back only a foot or so away from me. He was still in his black clothes. He would feel so much better if he would just look at me. And his clothes would be white like mine. He would feel so much better. I looked directly over to him.

"Max", I said. I barely said it above a whisper but it rang lightly in the breeze well after I had spoken.

"Max, look at me."

I saw his jaw clench and a tear come down from the corner of his eye and drip down his face. The dry land below us drank it up quickly. Maybe nothing in this world could physically hurt me, but seeing him cry. I couldn't choke down the tears. I gave up trying to fight the fact that this hurt. I gave up trying to hide the fact that 3 months ago I had died again by him letting me leave him, and he didn't save me that time. So, in my best ability, I choked out a small, "Max, *please*."

I reached out to touch him again. And immediately I pulled my body back when I felt the earth leave from underneath me. I gripped my hands tightly to anything I could. And then I looked next to me, in between the two of us. There was a crack in the ground. I looked down into it carefully. And I couldn't see a bottom.

He heard my small gasp and he came to full alert. He quickly propped himself up on his elbows, looking at me worriedly. Something about the way his eyes flickered into mine.he didn't even have to *ask* me what had happened. He already knew the crack was there.

"Your eyes were still closed, and I reached over to you." He began to blush and looked away from me immediately. "And I saw it then. So I laid back down and, and I.". He couldn't bear to admit to me he had been crying.

"Maybe the crack is there. Maybe it's there because you thought it would be there before you even opened your eyes." I said timidly. I was laying on my back again, ignoring the remaining tears, looking up at the sky. Every star was in a formation.in the shape of a "V".

"What do you mean?"

"Maybe you didn't give this, whatever we're in, a chance to keep you safe. Every time I tried to deny you, something happened. The sun burned me. My dress turned black. But when I let myself go to you, everything was safe."

"Explain it Liz. Help me understand." Oh God, the sound of my name, the way his voice inflected when he said it. A small part of my pain died. "You're fighting us, Max. Me. Don't think the crack will be there and it won't be. Turn to me and you won't feel so tired, you won't feel so much pain."

He took a deep breath, and waited for my words to sink in.

"All of those constellations, every one making the shape of where I come from. It's like when I was a kid. And I would sit out in the middle of the hottest summer nights, and pretend every star was my home. And now." he forced a small cordial laugh, "it's right here in front of me, times a million."

I reached my arm over and took a hold of his hand. He jumped slightly at first contact. Then he timidly, slowly, entangled his fingers within mine and held my hand tighter. Our eyes closed simultaneously and reopened to the sun. It came back, warm and welcoming. And I saw Max smile at the corner of his mouth when he realized the material he was wearing now matched mine.

Still not looking at me, he spoke softly. "How are we supposed to get rid of this crack, Liz?"

"Just hold my hand. And see where we're taken next. We'll leave it here. Just hold my hand.just for a while, Max."