Shutdown (Glitch)

the last few dishes. I watched him in silence.
    “If you need the sink,” he said, not looking at me, “I’ll be done in a few minutes.”
    “I don’t need the sink.” I took a step closer. “I want to talk to you.”
    He glanced up in surprise, then tensed his jaw and went back to scrubbing the last plate in the sink. “I’m busy. I told the others I’d gather up another round of laundry when I’m done here.”
    He dropped the dish in the drying rack and turned to go. I shot out a hand and grabbed his wrist. “I need to talk to you now.” And then, even though I’d sworn to myself not to give away my plan, I couldn’t help more words spilling out. “Look, after tomorrow you won’t have to worry about seeing my face again.” It wouldn’t matter to him anyway. He wouldn’t care enough to try to stop me.
    His mouth dropped open in confusion, and he let me tug him toward the entryway room. It was as alone as we’d get in the packed bunker.
    “What do you mean, I won’t see your face after tomorrow?” he asked. Only a dim light-cell flickered overhead. Even though I could hear the hum of voices from the adjoining room, it felt quiet in the small entryway.
    “I talked to Henk about dropping me somewhere away from you all. I don’t want another earthquake leading the Chancellor here.”
    “Zoe, you can’t!” His face took on a look of horror. “We didn’t work so hard keeping you alive in the wilderness so you could go get yourself killed now—”
    “I’ll be fine,” I interrupted him. Stupid , I chided myself. I shouldn’t have said anything. “I’ll have the portable med container, so I’ll be able to sleep. I’ll find somewhere safe to hole up.” I hoped he couldn’t read the lie in my face. I had far clearer plans about what I’d do once Henk dropped me off, but considering how upset Adrien was getting, I knew it was better he didn’t know. “I just wanted to say good-bye.” I looked down. “And that I love you. I’m so sorry everything turned out the way it did, but I couldn’t leave without saying it this one last time. I love you.”
    I finally looked up, bracing myself for his mask of indifference. Instead what I saw shocked me. Anger. Fury even. “Stop saying that,” he seethed through gritted teeth. He turned away from me suddenly, his chest heaving. “You don’t love me. You loved him . How many times have I told you that he’s gone!”
    “Adrien.” I reached out a hand to touch his shoulder, but he spun away as if my touch was charged with an electric shock.
    I dropped my hands to my sides, balling them into fists to help myself keep it together. This was so much harder than I expected it to be. “I know that, Adrien. I know you’re not the same as you used to be. I’ve gotten to know you as you are now. You , Adrien. And I love you.”
    He swung back around to me with tears that he kept violently trying to blink back. “It’s not true. You look at me and see him.”
    I put a hand to his face with trembling fingers, knowing this might be the last time I touched him. “I see all of you,” I whispered, meeting his eyes. “I know you don’t feel it back, but it doesn’t change how I feel. I love you.”
    His mouth opened and his eyebrows cinched together, as if he was somehow scared of me. “It can’t be true.” His voice was the barest of whispers. “Can it?”
    Then, before I could respond, he’d pushed me back against the nearby wall and was kissing me. I was so stunned, I barely responded for a moment. But then I started kissing him just as fervently. My hands rose to his chest. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to push him away or draw him closer. Questions tumbled over themselves in my mind. Was this really happening? Was it only hormones, his body reacting to mine somehow? Could I bear the pain of his indifference if it meant nothing to him?
    But then he tangled his fingers in my hair, keeping my face close to his. He nestled his cheek against mine. “I don’t know if I can believe it that you care for me, the real me I am now. But I love you, Zoe. I’ve loved you for so long.”
    I froze and he must have sensed me tense up from shock at his words.
    He pulled back a few inches, his bright gray eyes searching mine. “Yours was the first face I saw when I began to come out of the fog. When I began to feel again. It was your hand clasped on mine. Your voice reverberating through my dreams, whispering soothing words.”
    My mouth dropped