Belief in Miracles (completed)

Chapter 13: Summer

Sebastian shrugged out of his coat and hung it on the hooks to the left of the door, then offered to take mine as well. I shivered once I handed it over, and wrapped my arms around myself as goosebumps rose beneath my wet clothes.

"Um, let me get you some warm clothes. You want to take a shower or something?" He offered, seeming suddenly awkward.

I shook my head, and waited while he untied his snow boots and stepped out of them, bending low to pry the right one off his prosthetic. After, he started through the living room, and I followed him down the hall to the left. On the right, I could see an office through the open door, his laptop still open on the large desk before the window. I couldn't help the giddy excitement I felt at seeing where Bass Crawford wrote all of his books. He didn't stop, though. Passing the bathroom on the left, we entered his bedroom at the very end of the hall.

It was a room I remembered well, and blushed at the memory of rummaging through the drawers of his dresser. Across from the door was a queen-sized bed that I was surprised to see was made up and presentable. Mismatched night tables were on either side, with mismatched lamps atop each. Across from the bed was the dresser, standing six drawers tall, a collection of books and computer printouts resembling draft copies of his books littering the top. A smaller version of the living room TV was mounted above it.

To the right of the dresser was a smaller desk with a four-legged chair before it. A giant book of some sort was open atop it, and I crossed to it as Sebastian began rummaging through the dresser drawers.

"What is this?" I asked, and he paused his rummage to glance at me as I fingered the book. "It's huge."

"It's a concordance." He answered, and went back to rummaging.

"What's a concordance?"

Without looking up at me, he said, "It's an index of keywords in the bible."

"Which... does what?"

Pausing with his hands still in the middle drawer, he looked at me. "It's like... if you want to read more about miracles in the bible, say... healing." I nodded. "You look up the word 'healing', and it'll give you a list of references where the word is mentioned in the bible."

Glancing at the giant tome again, I frowned. "The internet serves the same purpose, and would be significantly faster."

He shrugged and went back to rummaging. "Yes, but the internet isn't always accurate. It's a tool simply devised by man."

"The bible is too."

He let out a long breath. "No, no it's not, but that will have to be a discussion for another time."

I pursed my lips as he opened another drawer before making a sound of relief, as though he'd found whatever he was looking for. Turning, he held out a pair of gray sweatpants and long-sleeved black sweatshirt.

"These might be a little big, but I know for a fact that my jeans wouldn't work for you."

Blushing just a little, I took them. "Thanks."

"Okay, then. I'll uh... I'm gonna go wait out there."

He stepped past me into the hallway and closed the door behind him. The moment he was gone, I sat on the edge of his bed and let out a long breath. I could tell I'd offended him with my beliefs about the Bible, which, like many things that day, hadn't been my intention. I was afraid that if I upset him enough, he'd no longer want to spend time with me, and I swallowed hard against the fear that rose in the back of my throat.

Sighing lightly to calm myself, I stood and shimmied out of my wet clothes. Sebastian's pants and shirt were indeed too big on me, and hung on me like a poncho, but they were warm, soft, and smelled like him. Nuzzling into them, I picked up my shoes from where I'd stepped out of them, and carried my wet clothes out into the living room. Sebastian was standing in the kitchen, his back to me as he stared at the slowly spinning microwave above the stove. The gray t-shirt he wore was loose over his back, his dark jeans tight on a butt that was admittedly fine.