David squeezed her hand. "I'm glad I didn't."
Something made Tally say, "Me too." The words amazed her, because somehow they felt true. She looked at David closely, and the feeling was still there. She could see that his forehead was too high, that a small scar cut a white stroke through his eyebrow. And his smile was pretty crooked, really. But it was as if something had changed inside Tally's head, something that had turned his face pretty to her. The warmth of his body cut the autumn chill, and she moved closer.
"Shay's tried hard to make up for chickening out that first time, and for giving you directions when she promised me she wouldn't," he said. "Now she's decided the Smoke is the greatest place in the world.
And that I'm the best person in the world for bringing her here."
"She really likes you, David."
"And I really like her. But she's just not…"
"Not what?"
"Not serious. Not you."
Tally turned away, her head swimming. She knew she had to keep her promise now, or she never would. Her fingers went to the pendant. "David…"
"Yeah, I noticed that necklace. After your smile, it was the second thing I noticed about you."
"You know someone gave it to me."
"That's what I figured."
"And I…I told them about the Smoke."
He nodded. "I figured that, too."
"You're not mad at me?"
He shrugged. "You never promised me anything. I hadn't even met you."
"But you still…" David was gazing into her eyes, his face glowing again. Tally looked away, trying to drown her uncanny pretty feelings in the sea of white weeds.
David sighed softly. "You left a lot of things behind when you came here-your parents, your city, your whole life. And you are starting to like the Smoke, I can tell. You get what we're doing here in a way that most runaways don't."
"I like the way it feels here. But I might not…stay."
He smiled. "I know. Listen, I'm not rushing you. Maybe whoever gave you that heart is coming, maybe not. Maybe you'll go back to them. But in the meantime, could you do something for me?"
"Sure. I mean, what?"
He stood, offering her his hand. "I'd like you to meet my parents."
They descended the ridge on the far side, down a steep, narrow path. David led her quickly in the darkness, finding footing on the almost invisible trail without hesitation. It was all Tally could do to keep up.
The whole day had been one shock after another, and now to top it all off she was going to meet David's parents. That was the last thing she'd expected after showing him her pendant and telling him she hadn't kept the Smoke a secret. His reactions were different from those of anyone she'd ever met before. Maybe it was because he'd grown up out here, away from the customs of the city. Or maybe he was just…different.
They left the familiar ridge line far behind, and the mountain rose steeply to one side.
"Your parents don't live in the Smoke?"
"No. It's too dangerous."
"Dangerous how?"
"It's part of what I was telling you your first day here, in the railroad cave."
"About your secret? How you were raised in the wild?"
David stopped for a moment, turning back to face her in the darkness. "There's more to it than that."
"What?"
"I'll let them tell you. Come on."
A few minutes later, a small square filled with faint light appeared, hovering in the darkness of the mountainside. Tally saw that it was a window, a light inside glowing deep red through a closed curtain.
The house seemed half buried, as if it had been wedged into the mountain.
When they were still a stone's throw away, David stopped. "Don't want to surprise them.
They can be jumpy," he said, then shouted, "Hello!"
A moment later a doorway opened, letting out a shaft of light.
"David?" a woman's voice called. The door opened wider until the light spilled across them. "Az, it's David."
As they drew closer, Tally saw that she was an old ugly. Tally couldn't tell if she was younger or older than the Boss, but she certainly wasn't as terrifying to look at. Her eyes flashed liked a pretty's, and the lines of her face disappeared into a welcoming smile as she gathered her son into a hug.
"Hi, Mom."
"And you must be Tally."
"Nice to meet you." She wondered if she should shake hands or something. In the city, you never spent much time with other uglies' parents, except when you hung out at friends' houses during school breaks.
The house was much warmer than the bunkhouse, and the timber floors weren't nearly as rough, as if David's parents had lived there so long, their feet had worn them smooth. The house somehow felt more solid than any building in the Smoke. It was really cut into the mountain, she saw now. One of the walls was exposed stone, glistening with some kind of transparent sealant.
"Nice to meet you, too, Tally," David's mother said. Tally wondered what her name was.
David always referred to them as "Mom" and "Dad," words Tally hadn't used for Sol and Ellie since she was a littlie.
A man appeared, shaking David's hand before turning to her. "Good to meet you, Tally."
She blinked, her breath catching, for a moment unable to speak. David and his father somehow looked…alike.
It didn't make any sense. There had to be more than thirty years between them, if his father really had been a doctor when David was born. But their jaws, foreheads, even their slightly lopsided smiles were all so similar.