Michael knocked on the door. It must have been way past curfew by how long they had been spending time in the upper district.
The door opened. Stefan peeked his head around. His auburn hair dropped down over his brow, curtaining his yawning eyes. He didn't style his hair whenever he was home.
Michael nervously laughed, not sure how to come up with an excuse.
Stefan studied him. "You're soaked."
"I know."
"What happened?" he noticed Michael holding his sword. "Is someone following you?"
"No—no, it's okay. I just…uhh—fell into a river trying to clean it."
Stefan furrowed his brow, imagining the random scenario Michael had come up with.
Michael gulped. He had no idea if anyone could believe that.
"Get in, kid," he opened the door. "You forgot to wash my dirty clothes."
"Right," Michael nodded as he entered. "Sorry."
After changing into new clothes and properly drying himself, he caught up on chores that he missed during the day. Mave wasn't particularly happy that he returned so late but Stefan made up a completely different story from what Michael told him. Michael even thought he was drunk by how many twists and turns he described that made Michael come home with all his clothes wet. Mave looked too tired to understand any of it so she only scolded him for leaving the house before he had finished his chore-work. Ellis was probably in his room sleeping by this hour but it seemed like Michael didn't really miss anything major.
Michael climbed back to the attic and slumped onto his bedding. After what happened today, he thought a good night's sleep could calm him down.
His sword hummed.
Michael turned his face over and contemplated his decision. He reached over and grabbed the handle.
The sword flashed. "I thought you were going to drown me with my own face kissing you."
Michael groaned and stuffed his face in his pillow.
She rubbed his back. "Was it really that bad?"
"No," he mumbled against his pillow. "It wasn't bad."
"Then are you going to keep reminding me of it every time we bond?"
Michael groaned again.
She softly giggled. "I guess that's a yes."
He felt someone press on the other side of his pillow. He turned and saw her face.
Evelyn smiled.
"What are you doing?"
"I can't lay next to you anymore?"
"Only as a sword."
"That's dumb." she frowned. "Who made that rule?"
"I did, and we can't sleep next to each other."
"But it's okay whenever I kiss you."
"That's different!" he sat up. "We're not supposed to sleep together!"
"Really?" she laid comfortably in his blanket. "I guess I'll have to sleep here by myself then."
Michael looked at her smug.
"All alone. By myself. With nobody else."
He hated how attractive her smug was.
"It's so cold," she continued. "If only I had someone else next to me, to shield me from his freezing—"
Michael laid back on his pillow. It was only meant for one person so she was only mere inches away from his face. For some reason, he wasn't as flustered as he thought.
She turned over to him. "Michael?"
He took a lot of courage to turn his face towards her. He lied to himself. He thought his face couldn't have been more red.
She tried so hard to hide her smile. She looked like she would burst out laughing in his face.
Michael sighed and backed away. "We're too close."
"And that's a bad thing?"
He crawled over and reached for his pack. He stuffed it with his clothes so it could substitute as a second pillow. Being the gentleman he was, he allowed Evelyn to have his comfortable and soft pillow while he slept on the uneven rough straps.
She moved her pillow closer, despite having her own space.
Michael felt her fingers poking his back. He didn't know what her problem was with teasing him.
"Michael," she said his name softly. "Michael, look at me."
He turned to face her, hearing the sound of her voice. Maybe he regretted the idea of having their backs turned so he could sleep. He always liked how close she was. His brain could have been going into overdrive and thinking of the most wrong scenarios, but it was like her eyes were calming him down.
Evelyn scooted closer to him. She moved her head just under his arms, ditching her pillow that he gave her.
Michael didn't know what to do. He completely froze as she pressed her body against his.
"It's warm," she said. "Does your heart normally beat this fast?"
He wished she could just turn back into a sword so she could read his mind. This was totally on a different level than just a kiss. He really wished he wasn't sweating because she could feel everything at this point.
Michael always enjoyed his personal space. And Evelyn also enjoyed his personal space.
He wanted to tell her to stop, he wanted to move his arms away, but he just couldn't. The other part of him that enjoyed this was taking over his mind.
Evelyn was softly breathing into his chest. Was she really sleeping? Though she was right, it really was warm. All the times that he fantasized about sleeping next to her was nothing like the real thing.
"Just…" he hesitated to speak. "Just turn back into a sword when you wake up, please?"
"Whatever you say," she wrapped her arms around him. "Shut up and hold me."
Michael didn't know where to place his hands but he didn't want to deny that request. Her head was pressed on his left arm so he decided to hold the other one on the back of her shoulder.
She pressed against his chest harder, trying to make herself comfortable.
There was just this sense of serenity that washed over him. The room was barely lit from the small window behind him. Everything just felt so right. He could feel his eyes growing heavy and his breaths snoozing off. Her embrace was so warm, he even thought this was a dream. If it was, he didn't want to fall asleep so early. He wanted to at least enjoy a few more minutes of holding her while she laid against his chest. Michael compared the feeling to whenever they were bonded but she was in her human form.
If she could still read his thoughts, he wanted her to know that he didn't want this moment to end.
He wanted her to sleep beside him forever, enjoying his warmth. But it was over, feeling himself drift into a heavy sleep. This was the best sleep that he's ever had in his life.