Fade Away

It's Sheila, it has to be her, he thought.

He took two more steps and slid onto his hood, not once blinking his eyelids. Aaron saw her going back inside while mouthing a very audible 'Fuck' and then leaving the exit once more, wearing a brown khaki coat and a chocolate brown handbag on her right shoulder.

Sheila was walking with her head held down, hair covering her face, as the coat did little to save her from the agonizing cold. She was supposedly walking towards her designated cab, that had a lean figure and wore a..police jacket?

Sheila was now two feet away from Aaron and had her face scrunched up in confusion. The car didn't resemble anything and anywhere near a cab and neither did the person sitting calmly with an amused expression on his face look like a cab driver to her.

Aaron, on the other hand, was waiting for her face to lit up in recognition, which not only lit up but exploded in realization and Sheila stumbled back.

"Aaron,"she breathed in, tightening her arms around herself.

Aaron found it astonishing how her voice still made shivers run down his spine. He straightened up, removing his jacket and handing it to her. Sheila extended her hand shakily, taking the jacket and draping it around her.

Finally, she breathed out, "Thank you."

"You're welcome, Sheila."

***

It had basically been the most awkward moment of Sheila's life. Her heart had skipped a bit and she had proceeded to hug Aaron while throwing her arms around him, but had stopped midair because Aaron was holding his hand forward. Both of them had glanced at each others hands and then their gazes had shifted to their eyes. Aaron had let out a chuckle but Sheila was standing frozen with her cheeks burning as if they had caught fire. He had noticed her red cheeks and had lifted his other hand making it look like a hug, at the same time Sheila had extended her hand.

This time both of them released a shaky breath while chuckling and had settled for a meek 'Hi'.

Of course, their conversation had not stopped there and that was how Sheila was sitting next to Aaron, both of them - in his car. He had noticed her delusional - drunk, as Aaron silently quoted - state and asked her if she wanted a ride home. Hesitatingly, she had nodded and sat in the passenger seat of his SUV.

On second thoughts, Sheila thought, "Take me to your place," she said out loud after turning her head to look at him putting the key in ignition. Aaron's head snapped in her direction with a confused look on his face. "It's the same place, right?"she asked with slight doubtfulness, that was clearly noticeable in her tone. Aaron just nodded and a full toothed grin made its way on his lips.

Not living in a city had its own perks. Daffidale was a small town in the middle of nowhere with peaceful nights and warm mornings. The heat wave hit it once in a while and did quite a number on people's moods. Not that anyone complained about watching people go insane.

Daffidale had a large lake, geometrically at the centre. The ground around it was raised by four or five feet and a road was constructed around it, which in turn spread out in rays - joining even the smallest house in the town. Aaron's house was on the opposite side from the road that joined the bar and the lake, which meant a semi-circle around the lake and then straight ahead to the end of the road.

Sheila had always loved the night. When the world would sleep, she would be wide awake, staring at the twinkling stars, counting them, memorizing them. By the time she was sixteen, it didn't matter that she couldn't focus on studies or couldn't gather up the courage to get up every morning. She had all her stars for her rescue. The sky mesmerized her. Around midnight, every ripple formed on the lake would stop still and you could see the moon amidst the sea of stars.