"You'd better not do anything in the dark," Beth says half-jokingly.

"What do you take me for?"

"Who knows."

Max has never made a move on Beth, but she keeps reiterating that Max should not do anything to her. He's always found that confusing, it is almost like Beth wants him to do something.

Beth walks to a wall and sits down against it. as well. Max follows her and sits down beside her.

"This feels unreal, you know," Max says.

"Yeah."

"I've finally achieved my dream. It now feels like I can do whatever I want."

"I get what you mean."

"But this is only the beginning, Beth. We have had very minimal contact with the outside world for centuries, whatever is out there will be completely strange to us."

"But that's what makes it exciting, right?"

"Definitely."

The two sit in silence for a while. The ship softly rocks back and forth from the gentle ocean waves. Moonlight seeps through the cracks in the ceiling. Max feels like it is the start of a new life.

"Beth, since we will have no one else to rely on but each other, I have something to tell you." Max breaks the silence.

He can hear a little gasp from Beth.

"W-What is it?" Beth is trying to sound indifferent but clearly failing.

"I want you by my side, forever-" Max is interrupted by the flustered Beth.

"W-What?! A-Are you proposing to me right now?"

"Please let me finish." Max tries to calm her down.

"O-Okay." She somehow sounds a little disappointed.

"I want you two, you and Mia, to stay with me because the outside world can be very dangerous. If we are together, we can share our experiences and live better lives." Max continues.

"Of course, I never intended on leaving you once we got to the other side."

"That's good." Max is reassured to hear that.

"What, did you expect me to just start my own life somewhere by myself? I can't do that even if I wanted to."

Max realizes what Beth is saying is true. She is much better off sticking with him. He now understands that he has an absolute advantage and he decides to exploit that.

"Well, you'd never know what could happen. What if you just run off with some rich brat? Now that I think about it, your suggestion is a really good idea." Max grins in the dark.

"What suggestion? Wait, you don't mean…"

"Yeah, let's get married." Max doesn't even know himself whether he is joking at this point or not, but he can't stop.

"W-What are you saying?!" Max could feel the heat coming from Beth's cheeks. "You can't just use marriage as a method of binding people! When a couple gets married, they will have to spend the rest of their lives together!"

"I don't mind spending the rest of my life with you." Max lightly shoves Beth on her arm with his elbow.

"You are so stu- I can't believe you. What about love? How can people get married without love?" Beth is breaking down.

Max finds the panicking Beth really cute. He looks at the girl in front of him and throws all of his thoughts out of his head. Max leans toward Beth, who is caught by surprise and freezes. He closes his eyes and lightly touches her lips with his, which is met with no resistance from Beth. Max stays like that for a second, taking in the softness and the warmth of Beth's lips. He then leans back and opens his eyes, only to find Beth's face completely dyed red.

Beth, who seems like she couldn't process what has just happened, pauses for a moment.

"W-What are you doing?!" Beth snaps out of her trance.

"Does that prove my love?" Max smiles.

"Why are you suddenly so aggressive?! You've never done anything like this before!"

"Well, you know, I have just completed a life goal. Strike the iron while it's hot, right? Why not just try to complete another one?" Max doesn't even know what he is saying. Words are just popping out of his mouth.

"I-I am your life goal?" There is a slight tone of ecstasy in her voice.

"Stop ignoring the question, Beth. Does that prove my love?" Max asks.

"S-Sure, I guess." Beth now seems to have a full understanding of the situation. "Now it's my turn."

Completely unexpectedly, Beth leans in for another kiss. Max makes no resistance. Beth is much more aggressive than Max. He feels like it has been pent up inside of her for a long time.

Her tongue reaches into Max's mouth as she searches for his. Their lips interlock and their tongues intertwine trading saliva. Max can taste Beth. She has a sweet taste. He feels like he has handed control over to Beth, but he doesn't mind as long as he could keep it going.

Beth doesn't look like she's had enough. She grabs onto Max's hand with their lips still together and places it on her chest. Max can feel the softness under the fabric. This time, it catches Max by surprise.

He pulls away from the kiss and stares at Beth. The usually fabricated hostility in her sapphire eyes has completely disappeared. They now look like the eyes of a maiden madly in love.

"Do you not want to keep going?" Beth asks sheepishly.

Max isn't sure what to do. He did not expect his little tease to go this far.

"A-Are you sure about this?" Max asks with his hand cupped over Beth's breast and her hand over his.

"I've been waiting so long for you to do this, Max." Beth now seems like a different person.

Max now just realizes how little of a girl's heart he understands. He is now determined.

"Me, too, Beth."

Max takes his left hand out of Beth's grasp and starts unbuttoning her corset. He can feel both his and Beth's hearts racing.

After the straps come loose on Beth's garment, he splits it open. Beth's small, perky breasts came into view. Her face is now even redder than before, but there is a newfound sense of anticipation on her face.

Max has sometimes stolen a glance at certain places of Beth's body. As an adolescent boy, he can't help but notice the developing body of an attractive girl his age. But this is on a different level.

Both of Beth's milky-colored breasts are completely exposed in front of him under the moonlight. Her pink nipples are erect. Max can not believe that this is happening.

"C-Can I?" Max looks up at Beth and asks for permission.

Beth nods.

Max cups his right hand over Beth's left breast. The softness is like nothing Max has felt before. He gently squeezes it, trying to imprint this feeling into his brain. Unable to stop himself from going further, Max uses his thumb and brushes Beth's warm, hard nipple, which triggers a light moan from her mouth.

This is too much stimulation for Max, but knowing that this will probably not be the last time he gets to do this, he decides to take things slowly.

He leans his face toward Beth's breast. A sweet scent came off of her skin. Max reaches his tongue out and lightly licks her nipple. The moan is getting louder.

As if her moan is a signal for Max to go on, he puts as much of Beth's breast as he could into his mouth and begins suckling on it like a baby.

Max can tell from the increasing volume in her moan that Beth is feeling euphoria from it as well.

Determined to take it to the next level, Max puts his other hand under Beth's dress and onto her right thigh. He gently caresses her skin and slowly moves his hand higher along her leg. Max can feel Beth's heart beat faster and faster.

He reaches the end between Beth's thighs with his hand and can feel the warmth and the moisture.

"I… I might not be ready…" Beth quietly whispers.

Max is a little disappointed to hear that, but he hasn't lost the ability to control himself.

Maybe some other day, he thinks.

As he begins to take his hand out from under Beth's dress, Mia's surprised shriek came from beside them.

"W-What are you two doing?!"