Dar

There immediately is a long and ringing silence as I shut off the television. "Oh, shit," I whisper, "Artemis, Jude is probably going to hear about this. Make it go away!" I finish in a slightly hysteric shriek.

"Is that seriously what you're worried about? The hillbilly?" Artemis scoffs, "This is a big thing. It requires a lot of power." He leans forward and I watch as his face scrunches up in thought.

"What do you mean?" I ask. Artemis's blue eyes looks up at me and I realize that for the first time ever, I see some fear.

"Hattie. Being a Giver requires some power. This announcement is very public. People have seen me on television. It's one thing to time travel here and there in private. It's a completely other thing to erase a memory, a fact from millions of minds. The Leaders will be angry."

"Leaders?"

He looks at me like I am dense. "Yes, Hattie. My bosses. I'm sure I'll be called for a tribunal any moment now." He glances down at his worn leather watch and I bite my lip. "There it is," Artemis murmurs and looks down at the watch that is now glowing white. "I'll be back in a minute." He pops out of sights with a tired and annoyed look.

Before I have time to really even adjust to him being gone, he pops back in with an expressionless face. "What happened? Are we okay?" I ask quickly. He looks down at his hands before looking up at me and saying, "I think you're gonna have to break things off with Jude. They're not going to let it go. It's too much power to rescind it. Apparently, two million, eight hundred thousand and ninety two people watched that episode this afternoon. The Leader said, 'I will have to reap what I sowed,' if that makes any damn sense."

I feel my heart drop and as if on some miserable cue, my phone rings and I cringe at the JUDE that flashes across the screen. "Oh crap," I mutter and answer.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Hattie? What the fuck is this about you being engaged?"

"I'm not. I'm not engaged! Artemis is just a friend!" I cry.

I feel the Giver stiffen at my side and I glance up to find him glaring at me. Jude makes an annoyed sound. "You know what, Hattie? I don't care. I just can't deal with this right now. I'll talk to you later." There is silence on the other end of the line and I feel a wave of crushing disappointment well up in my chest.

"I th-think he just broke up with me!" I say.

Artemis looks at me for a long moment and I know what he is going to do before it happens. There is moment of thought before he grabs my reaches behind my neck and pulls me close to him. "Don't call me 'just a friend' ever again," he murmurs very sternly before kissing me. He starts very gently and then there is a snapping shift. He begins to pull me closely to him by the waist and I cry out in longing when his lips touch my neck.

"Oh, Giver. What about our boundaries?" I sigh.

"Stop talking," he mutters and kisses me deeply once again.

Our embrace only divides when I push myself away from him and whisper, "Does this mean, Artemis, that you like me?"

He looks at me like I'm demented and mutters, "You're a clueless little girl sometimes, Hattie."

I take offense to this and open my mouth to protest, but he stops me with the sweetest of pecks and says, "Let's go on an adventure."

I nod my head quickly and there is the blinding sensation of time traveling in my heart as he holds me close. But who knows? It could have just been us.