Envelope Challenge

Chapter 13 - True emotions

I have 33 reads! Yeah, yeah, some people have, like, ten million but this is the first serious book I've written that others have read and it makes me so freakin' happy. Thanks! Do me a favor? Show your appreciation of my book by clicking that little vote sign or making a comment. An active reader makes a happy writer and more chapters!

By the time he got out of the shower, Polly had already changed into her pajamas and slipped under the covers and Maria was pulling on some socks from her suitcase she ran down to get from her car. Luckily, she left it parked a block away from the Starbucks so it wasn't damaged by the shooting earlier.

"Are you done?" Maria demanded irritably once she'd finished pulling on her socks. "Because I need to go to the bathroom really bad."

"It's all yours," he told her and stepped out of the way for her to go through. With the door closed between them, he went over and sat beside Polly. "Seriously, are you sure about her?"

"Yeah, I am. She hasn't done anything to betray us and helped us whenever she could. If it weren't for her, we'd be blown apart by that bomb right now after searching around the arch for an hour. We definitely wouldn't have found the instructions within that hour and six minutes the timer had left and you know that," she reasoned with him.

"I guess. She just seems so... I don't know, flighty, like she'll betray us if a better option comes up."

At that comment, she reached over and weaved her fingers through his. "We still have each other, right? Even if she does leave us, I'll stick with you."

"You're too trusting."

"I know." She smiled back at him. She glanced over at the clock quickly, checking the time. Inside of her mind, the red numbers displayed on the timer earlier that day flashed through her mind. "Six minutes," she whispered. "Sixty six minutes."

"Hey, are you ok?" Nathaniel pulled their clasped hands closer and felt her forehead, as if for a fever.

"Yeah, I just... I guess the reality of what really happened is finally settling in. We were an hour and six minutes – sixty six minutes – away from being blown to pieces, Nathaniel," she whispered hoarsely and tears made her vision swim and stung her eyes as they threatened to fall down her cheeks in rivers.

"It's ok," he whispered back and smoothed her hair down. Even the feeling of his hand on her stitches didn't bother her when compared to the warmth of his hand. "We're fine and saved tons of people. We're just fine."

"And I know that." Tears were now falling down her cheeks and snot was beginning to drip from her nose. She had always been jealous of women who cried beautifully in movies; she could never cry nicely. "It's just so... I used to barely leave my house and now someone's tried to kill me three times in three days. It seems so wrong, like a bad dream I just need to wake up from."

"If it is a dream, at least we're together for it. We can figure this out if we're together, you know."

"You're right. It's... I... I'm just scared I guess. I'll get over it soon enough." She started to pull her hand away from his as she wiped her nose with the hem of her shirt. Nathaniel didn't let go of her hand, but instead leaned closer.

His breath fanned her face, minty fresh from brushing his teeth in the bathroom. His fresh breath just made her even more aware of how she must look and the fact that she hadn't brushed her teeth after eating that steak. His eyes got rid of that fear. The brown bore into her own eyes intoxicatingly and the only thing she cared about was how far those two inches in between them was. When he finally leaned closer to close those inches, his lips gently pressed against her in a reassuring way. She could feel his heart through that kiss. She knew that he was just as freaked out as she was, but was overcoming his fear for her, so she could depend on him. It was wonderful knowing how he felt about it, but what lay deeper drew her attention even stronger than that. When he pulled away, she opened her eyes to stare at him still only an inch away from her.