Page 33 of A Long Way Home

“Gern geschehen.”

I smile sadly, a small tear escaping. I might never be able to read it, and it was such a thoughtful gift.

He opens to the first page and chuckles to himself.

“What?” I lean forward, trying to read the first line.

“I am really happy I’m here with you. I wasn’t sure I’d ever see you again.”

I smile. “I am glad you’re here too, Matze.”

He clears his throat and begins to read aloud. I settle back against the hatch, close myeyes, and listen.

MATTHIAS

CHAPTER ELEVEN

I look up from the page, Alex’s soft snores my cue. She fell asleep to my voice, reading about love, romance, and lab work. That was my old life, at least the lab work part, and it all seems so very far away now.

These words on the page are the closest I have come to intimacy in the past three long years.

I skim a few pages ahead, quickly snapping the book closed when I spot the phrase ‘lines himself up with my entrance’.

A flicker of movement in my periphery - nothing but an overhead light blinking. I glance around, my throat tightening. Did anyone see me? Heat rises up my neck, into my cheeks. I scrub a hand over my face. Ridiculous. I am a grown man.

Reaching for my satchel, the worn leather having seen better days, I flick it open and deposit the novel. Remembering the crunched paper in my pocket, I grab it and throw that in the satchel too.

How embarrassing. Matthias ‘thinks of everything’ Müller and I forgot the damnQuittungin the book.

Smooth.

I crumple the receipt further, scrunching it tight and throwing it into the bottom of the bag. Stupid piece of paper is probably the most useless thing up here.

Well, perhaps the second most useless thing.

My eyes drift over to the entrance of the makeshift HQ set up in the dining module, picturing theGigolo, with his unkempt blonde hair, shooting everyone a charming smirk as he seduces them into more idiotic ideas that are just as likely to get Alex killed than to save her.

Unfortunately, he seems rather insistent on a spacewalk. Clayton too.

I can see the logic of collating a complete image of any damage to the exterior of the station. However, I fail to see how prodding around out there will help Alex.

As if she can sense my very thoughts returning to her, she lets out a deep exhale followed by another soft snore. At least like this she can conserve oxygen.

Luckily, Chelenko has spent most of his time unconscious, also reducing the burden on their precious air.

A clamour of voices spill out of the opening ahead, the vague noises slowly beginning to formulate whole sentences.

“Yuri, grab Matty too. Get him suited and booted, while….” The rest of the conversation grows indistinct. Clayton's deep voice muffled by the excess of supplies lining the walls.

Flipping my satchel shut, I stretch myself to full height. My hips and knees are stiff from folding myself into this little nook beside the sealed hatch to Columbus.

I’m getting too old for this.

Yuri slips into the corridor. His gaze roams the halls until it falls on me.

“Matty.” His smile spreads wide, “You don’t mind me calling you Matty, do you? Come, we go for walk outside.”

He glides down the hall towards me, quickly covering the distance between us, continuing passed.

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