It was when I was lying half naked on top of David's broad kitchen table that I realized that moment was an ending. Following my firm internal analysis system, I asked myself if I regretted something about the chapter of my life I was leaving behind. Lindsay kept walking around the table and observing me as if I was an object, like an artist wondering which perspective she should paint me from. She had assumed the responsibility to be the main person in charge. The weight of being the first to turn a mere mortal into something enduring showed on her tired face.

David had stayed in the living room, providing me with some intimacy for my moment. However, I missed his strong hand caressing my hair. I looked up at the ceiling. I didn't want David to see me half naked, because that would make him the second guy that evening, and I would feel slightly whorish, or at least slightly chaotic. I wondered if I regretted having slept with Luke. I didn't want to admit that I partly did. I had probably made it easier for him to feel rewarded and thus forget me quicker.

"Please, say something." I asked the girls, with my eyes still fixed on the grey ceiling. "I'm going mental."

Nobody responded to my plea. The whole house was decorated in rich dark colours, but it still transmitted a transparent, trustworthy vibe, the same that David let out. He was the only one in the family that had adopted that characteristic of the house, because the rest of his family seemed to be as dark and twisted as... Luke. Except for Lucy.

I was going to be immortal. I had conquered the unconquerable, and I had endless days before me as a prize, as long as I was prudent and lucky. I felt satisfied and relaxed, mostly because I was never going to stop being myself, but also because I had won. I shivered when I realized everything was always about winning for me, about achieving what I set my mind on. That's why I felt like I didn't want Luke anymore, because I had already succeeded at having him for a little while.

"Okay, I'm ready now." Lindsay said, and I silently thanked her for stopping the sick thoughts about my endless ambition.

"I'm ready too." I hesitantly whispered, and I tried to smile to lift some of the weight of her shoulders.

"Close your eyes, Tess, it'll be better for everyone that way."

I almost protested, because I wanted to be a witness, but I finally did as she said. I closed my eyes and tried to blank my mind. I had never achieved to do so, and it was one battle I didn't set myself to win, but I nearly managed that day. As I heard Lindsay load the syringes, accompanied by Alex's gasps, images started to play in my mind, like I was watching photographs using an old projector.

Lindsay wakes me up by climbing on top of me in her pink bathrobe. I don't want to get up. The sound of seagulls mixes with the crashing waves. I have a soft ice-cream at the pier while Nora climbs on the wall to get a better picture. I complain about the ice-cream being overly sweet. I walk into King's college and into Luke's deep eyes. I don't want to fall, so I turn around and shake Professor Abbey's hand. Professor Abbey. I should ask him what he knows about Hugh's ex-wife. But he's been so sweet that I don't want to be rude. He's been overly-.

Lindsay's voice saying it was over brought me back to reality. The time-suspension of my DNA had been successful. I opened my eyes and wondered whether they looked bluer. Brighter, younger. Never aging. And then I realized they must look wet, because I was soaked in tears.

Lindsay was crying too, and covering her mouth with her hand. Alex looked fascinated, like I was the most amazing science experiment she had ever seen. I heard Africa's voice telling David that everything was alright. Better than alright. I heard his victorious clap, and Africa's jump. Lindsay helped me get up.

"Well, how do you feel?" she asked me, trying to stop her tears.

"Really lucky." I answered without thinking, and we melted into a hug.

After thanking her a million times, I got up to grab my phone. I felt the same as before. Tiredness still affected my body. My newly acquired strength didn't show in any way.

"I'm going to text mum and dad!" I exclaimed, blissful.

"Don't!" David shouted, startling everyone of us, and he run to me from the other room. "Whenever they find the material is gone, the first thing they'll do will be check your phone, Tess. Don't give them what they're looking for."

Bliss abandoned my body when I remembered there was a battle I hadn't won yet. And I wasn't close.

"You're right." I said, and I walked to the couch, subconsciously looking for some more caresses in my hair.

But I immediately got up again.

"Who's next?" I asked.

They all looked at me eagerly. Then, Alex said:

"Lindsay should go. She's earned it."

"I agree." Africa said, nodding.

Lindsay stripped down without losing any more time. David walked back to the living room, and he stayed there throughout Alex's and Africa's treatments too, compulsively stirring the fire and biting his nails. He breathed deeply, relieved whenever he heard it was over. My hands were surprisingly firm during the procedures, but, contradictorily, once I knew everything was alright, I loosened the control I was exerting on myself, and they started to shake vigorously.

When that happened, I looked at my friends, and I noted all our faces acknowledged that magic was taking place at five in the morning next to Holland Park.

It was finally David's turn.

The rest of the girls left the kitchen, so it was only me and him. He took off his red polo shirt, and my breathing quickened as I tried not to Luke. Not to look, I corrected myself, and I blushed, embarrassed by my own thoughts. I could tell he didn't feel embarrassed. He was too nervous to think about the banal things that inundated my mind.

I turned around and pretended to organize things until he said he was ready. I was nervous too. Concentrating on sex was the way my mind had found to overcome the paralyzing anxiety that would otherwise take hold of me.

"I'm ready." he said.

"Okay." I whispered, and slowly started to turn around.

I looked at the wall while I prepared the syringes. I wanted to keep my mind cold and focused. I felt like I was trapped in a slow-motion video. My body was heavy, and my movements, retarded and clumsy.

But David was fast, and he grabbed my hand before the syringe reached the flask. So I looked at him. He was scared, and he was... beautiful. The boldness he usually showed was gone. He reminded me of Nora on her last days at her hospital bed. But Nora's grip had been weaker, almost as she was willing to let go.

David didn't want to let go.

"What did you think about? During your... treatment?" he inquired, impatiently.

"Mm..." I tried to speak. "I didn't really think... but images appeared before me."

"What images?"

"Lindsay waking me up, feeling lazy..." I started, and I decided not to mention Nora. "Eating overly sweet ice creams at the pier..."

He chuckled, and he slightly loosened his grasp.

"And Professor Abbey."

I realized Professor Abbey had led to thinking about his mother, so I bit my tongue after mentioning him.

But he just chuckled again.

"Professor Abbey? Why?"

He sounded more relaxed.

"I don't know. I told you, I didn't think. It just popped into my mind." I partly lied, and I caressed his hand with my thumb to help him unwind.

"You know what? I'll try to do the same. And, after it's over, I'll tell you what came into my mind."

I perfectly got what he was doing. He wanted to make a plan for after the treatment. He wanted to reassure that there would actually be an after. I did that every night since Nora passed away. I didn't let Africa or my sister go to bed before we told each other "See you tomorrow". Each time we didn't say it, paranoia built up and made me certain that there would be no tomorrow for one of us.

So I agreed.

"Okay, we'll do that after. It will just take five minutes."

He looked into my eyes, and I wondered how I had believed, even if it had just been for a little while, that he had betrayed me.

"This is the most important and intimate moment of my life." he said, still speaking through his enkindling hazel eyes.

"I know. I felt the exact same way."

I couldn't be even a bit cold anymore. My eyes watered. I put the syringes aside, and I hugged him, partly lying on his bare chest. He pulled me closer, and my heart raced so fast that I wondered if I would die one hour after becoming immortal.

It was very different to Luke's hugs. David held me tight, but he didn't absorb my soul. We supported each other.

"Look at me." he commanded, and he lifted my chin up.

He was crying too. I couldn't see him cry.

"Why do I want to be immortal, Tessa? Why should I refuse wrinkles and white hair and evolution just to have more time? More time for what?"

He couldn't be serious. Was he actually considering saying no to living forever? Or was he asking me to promise something I hadn't figured out yet?

"Because... you're curious and want to see every last corner of the world, and this is the only way you'll have time to do so. And because after riding the rollercoaster at the pier you'll want to try every other rollercoaster on the planet."

He laughed, and my heart warmed up again.

"And mostly because... we tried being young for one night and it was so good that it scared me. And I run away from it. And it was a mistake. So don't be like me, and don't run away from this chance to have, and be, and do everything you ever wanted."

He didn't cry or laugh this time.

He grabbed my chin again and brought my lips to his. I opened his mouth with my tongue and my insides boiled. I jumped on top of him and caressed his perfect torso, and kissed it, and tasted his tan skin, and opened my robe...

And he closed it. I wanted him so badly. I could see that he wanted me too, but his face didn't transmit that.

"This doesn't feel right, Tess. Not today." he said, panting.

I knew he was right, but I still couldn't hide the mixture of disappointment and regret that I was feeling.

"But you convinced me. I do want to live forever."

My cloudy feelings blurred out at his confession.

"Oh, look at that. I got around a headstrong lawyer once again." I said, remembering the night of The Bridge again.

He grinned; he remembered too.

I picked up the syringes without sparing another second, afraid that he may change his mind again. While I started to inject him the DNA-protecting macrophages and the enzyme-containing viruses, I thought about how similar we were in that aspect. We both changed our minds constantly, but we were stubborn and perseverant and too faithful at the same time. We were very similar but also contradictory, because we were also conflicting within ourselves.

While David got dressed, I run up the stairs to the bathroom. I needed some intimacy. I looked at myself in the floral framed mirror, trying to find more information about myself: Pale skin, matching the beige marble wall behind me. Tired, disoriented eyes, showing glimpses of never fading enthusiasm.

Could I still feel?

Downstairs, I could hear David popping the champagne, followed by Lindsay's laughter and Alex's cheers. It seemed distant. Before I could celebrate what we had just gained, I needed to comprehend myself. I had to become familiar with the features that would accompany me forever. I slowly touched my cheek, almost scared. I had always marvelled at the smoothness of my skin, already missing it before it had even changed. And now it wouldn't.

"Hey." Africa said, startling me. "I don't feel like partying either."

"We should go back to Brighton. And swim in the sea, even if it's freezing. Feel the saltiness on our permanent body." I said, knowing she was the only one that would really understand what I meant. "And then just sit on the beach and... rest."

Africa didn't answer to my suggestion. She never spoke much when something meant a lot to her. She needed time to process things, just like me. A big part of our friendship consisted on being quiet together. Thinking together was easier. We both needed space, and, paradoxically, that made us closer, and hurt us more when we closed each other off.

"Sorry for leaving you out yesterday. I figured that your worry for my health would make you stop me. And I just had to carry on."

"I get it." she said, shrugging, and I knew she meant it.

I told her about Luke, and about David's mother.

"Oh my God." was all she blurted, and then she repeated it: "Oh my God."

"What?"

What did you think of this chapter? Do you think Tessa and David are meant for each other? What do you think will happen next? Let me know in the comments! I am entering the Wattys 2016, so, if you enjoyed it, please don't forget to vote :)

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