Sleeping With Ghosts

#7

Kurt:

18th of September

Layne leaned into the cold night, knuckles turning white as he gripped the doorframe. "Can you hand me that umbrella, please?" He said, not pointing in any direction, but still hanging off the door into the brittle black air.

I grabbed a pink umbrella from the hat stand beside the door. I didn't see any other non-garishly coloured umbrellas around so I held it over his shoulder, the curved handle next to his ear, "This one?"

He swung from the doorframe as he let go with one hand, taking the umbrella from me and stepping out onto the veranda in one fluid motion. I hopped out after him. Layne reached behind me to pull the door close, his breath clouding over my ear in a warm gush.

He opened the pink umbrella and headed into the rain at a slow pace, motioning for me to follow. I shuffled beside him, walking close to him so as not to get wet. Walking through puddles of water and puddles of light, we trod along in the rain, two blocks feeling like two miles.

The dark pressed in on all edges, the valiant streetlights barely fending it off. I tended to set my pace a touch faster in the dark patches between circles of yellow. Without knowing it, I drew in front of Layne and out from underneath the umbrella.

Layne hooked my arm through his, pulling me close. He must have spied my confused look because before I could say anything he said, "You keep walking ahead, or too far behind. Stay close or get wet."

I nodded, bunching my hands further into my pockets. Even if it was just so I wouldn't get wet, it was such a sweet gesture that I couldn't help but smile and lean into his warmth. But oh, how I wished it meant something more than keeping my clothes dry.

"Cross the road?" He asked.

"Yeah, then straight, another road, straight, then turn right and it's the third house on the right," I only just got the tail end of the sentence in before my teeth began to chatter violently. My tip of my nose had no sensation, and my eyes stung every time I blinked.

The biting cold and the foreboding dark wriggled deep beneath my skin and permeated my bones enough that I found myself burying my face in Layne's shoulder, making it awkward to walk. I wanted so badly to curl my arms around him and breathe his scent but that was where I drew the line, no matter how loudly my teeth were chattering.

"Are you really that cold?" He said, tightening his arm around mine even further, although we were already squished together along our sides as far as we could get.

I nodded, "I just want to get home. I have a heater in my room."

He chuckled.

"Shame you have to walk back home alone," I said.

"It's fine. It doesn't bother me much."

"Are you made of stone?" My voice was weak and barely audible over the wind.

"Yeah, sure," he said.

We crossed the second road and rounded the corner after what seemed like five years.
Once we'd changed directions the wind wasn't so bad and my teeth settled down marginally. I tugged his arm at my driveway, leading him up the stepping stone path to my front door.

"Not too shabby," Layne said, eyeing my house.

I shrugged self-consciously, "I just hope the water's hot."

He smiled, unlinking our arms. I grinned sheepishly in return. I wanted to hug him goodbye, like we'd gone for a weekly lunch at a local diner, and like this was a normal thing. But I'd only just met him today however much it felt like I'd known him three lifetimes.