Burning Slow

I drink strawberry milkshake and watch the guys get traumatized- then the bomb.

Astraea stomped up the stairs, James and Kenneth hot on her trail.

She turned right, stopping in front of Greyson's room.

"Woah, wait. Chill for a minute. Are you sure about this?" James placed a hand on Astraea's shoulder, stopping her from pushing open the door.

"Yes, James. It's just a couple of minutes, don't worry." James searched Astraea's eyes for a couple more seconds before nodding, opening the door for her.

The boys turned their heads to the opened door, expecting Kenneth, James or Rocco but instead, they saw a furious Astraea beside James and Kenneth stood in the background.

Nick pushed the bag of his chips off his lap, scattering everything on the floor.

"Hey, babe." His voice wavered as he tried to act casual.

Astraea's eyes drifted over to the TV, playing the game then back to the boys, her face impassive.

"I didn't know you like games like that, babe." The word of endearment didn't offer any comfort to Nick, it was as if the word pierced through his being, mocking him.

"Oh, you know... I was the last to come up, right? And the boys introduced the game to me. It looked... interesting."

"So you like something interesting?"

Nick unconsciously took a step back, the boys not missing this movement in the slightest. The sound of the TV was tuned out by the thick atmosphere. Kenneth, who was previously enjoying the upcoming demise of the other boys, felt a shiver creep up his spine.

A malicious aura seeped out of Astraea in waves, slowly engulfing the whole room.

"Just a few minutes."

A portal opened underneath Nick, Jacob, Alex and Greyson.

The malicious aura quickly disappearing once the boys fell in the portals.

"Remind me not to make Astraea angry." Kenneth whispered to James.

"How long is just a few minutes?" The three remaining people looked at the person who spoke, smirking upon seeing Ember in Rocco's arms.

"Probably after a cup of coffee." Astraea shrugged. "Oh, and they're in no danger. I know where they are, I can see them. No worries."

"I wasn't worried. I've got something new to tease Nathan with." Ember patted Rocco's chest, signaling him to put her down.

He obliged, carefully setting her down. "Do we get a cup of coffee outside or do we stay here?"

"I vote outside." Kenneth raised his hand, grinning.

"I prefer outside too. While we're out, we can plan on what to do." James second.

"Either is fine for me. Though I would prefer it if we went someplace private."

"Oh, I know a place. We can order coffee and go there. We can take Dad's car."

"Alright, we meet at the front door in five minutes?" Everybody nodded, the boys headed to their room and Astraea and Ember headed to theirs.

Astraea sat on her bed, staring at the empty bed in front of her. She tapped the edge of their bedside table, projecting the calendar on the wall. She didn't even have to stare at the calendar long to know that Grace hadn't slept on that bed for almost a month. She had gotten so used to seeing her and talking to her before they went to sleep.

"Grace, we need you. I, especially. How do I tell Nick now?" She mumbled.

*****

"That sucked. I had no idea how hard it was to find an open coffee shop." James complained, plopping his ass on the dried leaves, hearing a satisfying crunch.

"It's actually easier this time around. In my future, by the time the second month rolled around, all shops closed down- people immediately knew that we were going to be extinct."

"Well, that sucks." Astraea handed everybody their drinks before sitting down next to Ember.

"I'm curious," Rocco took a sip of his no cream and sugar coffee, "how will we make those connections that Kenneth is talking about? Do you think they'll listen to a bunch of teenagers?"

Kenneth stopped drinking and so did others, pondering over what Rocco just said.

"We can always threaten them." Kenneth mumbled, taking an innocent sips of his hot chocolate.

"If we threaten them, I'll be sitting out of that one." All heads turned Astraea's way.

"Seriously? You? Astraea?" James exaggerated.

Astraea looked down at her to-go cup of a medium strawberry milkshake. "I, uhm..."

"God, Nick's such an ass. Get them out. We need all the people here when you utter the news." Astraea's eyes bulged out of their sockets, almost making Ember laugh out loud.

"How did you..."

"Even if I don't try, I can feel all of you- within a distance of course. Except for Rocco, for some reason."

"We're pretty sure it's cause you have his blood." James answered.

"Plausible. Anyways, I knew even before you knew. I know your bodies, all the things going on with you- okay that sounds a bit lewd but you guys know what I mean. Going back to that, I am Earth; I am life."

"I sound like one of those people that give themselves too much credit, god." She breathed out. She looked down, placing her head in her hand, her long ebony hair shielding the rest of her face.

"Hold on a sec, you two. What are we talking about here?" Kenneth gestured to the two girls with his finger.

"Go on, get the boys out." Ember ordered. "It's way past a few minutes."

Astraea sighed, handing Kenneth her drink. "Don't you even think about drinking my drink, alright?" She warned.

"Don't worry. I won't risk getting on your bad side." He shuddered, the memory of the boys falling in the portals surfacing in his mind.

Astraea nodded, pushing herself off the ground. She opened up a huge violet portal with swirls of green in them above an empty patch of ground.

The boys fell down, whipping their heads right and left. They slowly got up, dusting themselves off.

"Was that interesting?" Astraea smirked.

"Definitely more interesting than socputen but never again, please." Alex begged.

"That's the last time we watch a game of socputen." Greyson said, weakly punching Alex's arm.

"You guys be serious in serious situations and it's a deal." Ember spoke up.

"That was a f*****g nightmare. It's a deal." Jacob shook his head, trying to get the memories in that dimension out of his head.

"That's good. Apparently we've got a serious situation on our hands right now." Astraea tensed at hearing Rocco.

Nick's brows drew together as he looked at Astraea.

"You guys might want to sit down for this one." Ember announced, taking a sip of her coffee that was opposite to Rocco's- with cream and sugar.

"What's wrong?" Nick asked, helping Astraea sit back down.

The rest of the boys sat with the group, forming an almost circle.

"What happened while we were gone?" Jacob leaned closer to his twin, grabbing his iced coffee and taking a sip.

"Not much. We just drove around town, trying to find an open coffee shop and now we're here. How 'bout you guys?"

"Complete nightmare." Greyson answered from behind the twins. He was a bit paranoid that he was out and he wasn't wearing a mask but his daughter probably had done something to this place, placing them out of the virus' way.

"Yeah, what he said. That dimension was absolute s**t and-"

"I, uh..." Astraea started, working up a bit more courage.

"We'll continue this later." Jacob whispered.

The two averted their gaze back to Astraea, wondering the same thing everybody is.

Nick placed his hand over Astraea's, getting worried now that whatever this serious thing is, it's getting his girlfriend worked up too much.

"I'm... I'm pregnant."