The Red Song

Chapter 17 - Part Two

Did I leave the window opened?

I feel a cold breeze coming through the big window at the room and open my eyes slightly. It's still night time and I see the long curtains moving indistinctly, dancing through the night. I have no idea what time it is, but I know it's still the middle of the night and my eyes are too heavy to stay opened. As they begin to close again, I hear a noise coming through the chair next to my bed and I can see a figure seating on it.

I stand up quickly on the bed, turning the lamp on the bed side table as my heart beats uncontrollably fast.

"Ian?" I force my eyes opened and see Ian seating on the chair next to my bed.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to wake you." He says, trying to hide the fact that he's feeling ashamed.

"What are you doing here?" I ask, scratching my eyes, still trying to make it focus.

"I... I couldn't sleep, so... I came here... to check on you." He stutters. "I'm sorry, I... I lost track of time and... I guess I just didn't want to be alone tonight."

I feel sorry for him. "It's okay."

"I'll let you go back to sleep, I'm sorry." He begins to rise from the chair and heads towards the door to leave the room.

"Hey..." I stop him and bite my lip. "Do you wanna sleep here tonight?"

"Are you sure? I don't wanna bother you, you wanted to be alone."

"No..." I pause. "I guess I don't wanna be alone tonight either." I turn a blanket to the side, making room for him to lie down on the bed.

He hesitates for a while, but comes silently to join me on it. He lies by my side without touching me or being too close. He puts both his hands under his head and I can see the beautiful shapes of the muscles in his arms. It's almost painful to turn down the light on the bed side table and let this image go. But I still do it anyway.

I lay in the exact same place where I was before, but seeing Ian lying there, by my side, even in the dark, where I can hardly see him... It just seems impossible for me to stay away and not touch him.

I come closer to him, slowly, and lie my head on top of his chest. For a while, he doesn't move, he doesn't remove his hands from his head. Until he sighs and turns his arms down to hold me... and he holds me close and really hard, until finally placing a kiss at the top of my head.

"Thank you." He whispers.

And that's the last thing I heard him saying before falling back to sleep.

It's day time.

I know it because the big window is still opened and there's sunlight coming into the room. I open my eyes and slowly recognize the room I'm in. I turn my head to the side... and can't help but smile. For the first time, since we began sleeping together, I got to wake up and still have Ian by my side. It's the first time I don't wake up alone on the bed. His face is turned on my direction, so I'm facing him directly. Our faces are so closed from each other, I can actually see every detail of his face. The shape of his mouth, of his thin noise, his thin beard. His face seems too perfect to be true. His eyes are still closed, he's still sleeping profoundly, and even though I can't see its color, I remember every detail of his amber eyes perfectly.

I could stay all day looking at his face, admiring him, how his hair falls down gracefully on his face... But we have a flight to catch.

As much as it hurts to move my eyes from him, I get up and head towards the bathroom to take a shower. I shower quickly, remembering that Ian told me last night that our flight would be before noon, which means we have little time to get to the airport.