At some point I dropped my hand from my mouth, my arms hanging limply at my sides, but he never let me go. And the beating in his chest lulled me until my eyes grew too heavy to keep open anymore.
Exhaustion took over, and before I knew it, I was lost in it.
In his warmth. In his arms. In the thunder of his heartbeat.
The next morning, I woke up, slowly blinking my eyes awake and my body feeling like it weighed a ton.
Why did—?
But then my eyes popped open wide, and I shot up in bed, remembering last night.
“Hello?” I called out. “Is there anyone there?”
There was no answer, and I reached over, hitting my alarm clock.
“Nine-thirty a.m.,” the clock said.
It was morning. Late morning. I never slept this late.
I plastered my hands to my body, inventorying my clothes. I still wore my jeans and tank top, and I still had on my bra and my ballet slippers.
I darted my hand to my jeans zipper, wincing just in case.
But my jeans were buttoned and zipped, and my body, although tired, felt fine. I didn’t think he’d touched me. At least not in that way.
Throwing off my covers, I swung my legs over the side and rubbed the sleep from my eyes. How did I get in bed? I wasn’t sure which was the least mortifying option. Actually falling asleep after he’d scared me half to death and then him putting me to bed or my parents finding me passed out in the closet and discovering I’d been there the whole time. And them putting me to bed. I almost didn’t want to leave the room to find out the answer.
But I needed to face the music.
Standing up, I walked alongside my bed, toward the door, but I accidently kicked something in my way and stopped.
I held out my hands, finding a cardboard box.
No, actually… Two cardboard boxes, stacked on top of each other.
I opened the top one and reached hesitantly inside, feeling wood, ceramic, glass, and clay. There were miniature trees, glitter-capped roofs, and models of houses, buildings, and a clock tower.
Then my hand knocked a model, and Carol of the Bells began playing, and I knew it was the ice rink adorned with little trees and ice skaters.
I almost smiled. It was the Christmas village. Two boxes of components.
How did…
Footsteps pounded down the hallway, and I heard my mother call down to Arion, sounding completely different than she did last night. I veered around the boxes and opened the door, peeking my head out.
“Ari, is that you?”
“I’m getting my shower,” she said as she passed me.
“Did you get the snow village for me?” I inquired. I wanted to thank her if she did.
But she just barked back at me. “I said ask Mom. I have no idea where it is.”
Okay. Wasn’t her then. I ducked back into my room, scratching my head.
What the hell was going on?
“Hey, sweetie,” my mom greeted, entering my room. “Did you have a good night?”