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It was a stormy night, deafening claps of lightning and thunder cast an evil glow on the bleak sky. Daphne and Levi's day was cut short because of the weather, they drove together to Daphne's house—as it was closest and her parents weren't home—they rarely were. Being full-time scientists was a demanding job.
One thing about Levi: he hates the rain. The constant pitter-patter, the unexpected sounds of booming thunder, and it was wet. Ever so wet, just like that night.
"Here, sleep." Daphne said to Levi. Aware of his fear of the rain. "It'll help you pass the time." She smiled as she set a blanket down on the couch and turned to start the fireplace.
"What will you do?" He asked, not really wanting to refuse the offer. Anything to block out that dreaded pitter-patter.
"I'm pretty wiped, I'll probably sit and take a nap with you." Her back was still turned to him as she prodded the flaming logs with the fire poker. "Alright I think that does it." She got up, clapped the soot off her hands, walked towards the biggest couch and chose a side to sit on, tucking her legs up in a sort of side swept motion. Her cheek resting on the hand propped up on the couch arm for support. With her other hand she patted the vacant side next to her, indicating that he could lay here. He walked over and laid down comfortably, his head near her lap.
"Thanks, sorry." He mumbled as he drifted off slowly.
"Don't apologize, enjoy your nap, call out if you need anything." Hoping it would help him relax, she began humming a little tune.
Daphne and Levi have been best friends since they could remember. They bonded over the fact that they were mixed children and struggled over their own identity crises. Daphne was black and Chinese while Levi was Indian and German. Each culture seemed to be on opposite sides of the spectrum to their corresponding pair, but they made it work- and that was what made it beautiful. Sometimes they'd get teased about it when they were little, but nothing like that mattered as long as they were together.
Daphne stroked his dark brown hair that framed his face in loose waves, as she continued her train of thought, tracing tiny circles on his forehead while collecting the few droplets of rain that managed to fall on him as they were running from the car into the house. Even though his eyes were shut, she could still imagine the perfect shade of sea green that laid beneath his closed lids. Rose petals, his lips reminded Daphne of pink rose petals—she couldn't remember when she began seeing Levi in such ways, all of a sudden he just looked so... different. Thunder boomed outside and she instinctively covered his ears, afraid he'd wake up because of it. They both had one more year of high school left, she wondered what would become of them after... She knew it'd take more than that to separate the inseparable duo- her thoughts were interrupted by Levi shuffling around under the blanket in discomfort, beads of sweat started forming on his temples and the nape of his neck dampened. There were loud incoherent mumbles from him:
"N-no..." "Don't go there..." "Stay Home!!! PLEASE-"
With the final word he had jolted upwards, nearly falling off the couch. He couldn't think, couldn't breathe, his eyes were open but he couldn't see. Darkness.
"H-help me..." He sobbed. "Make it stop- make the rain stop!"
Suddenly he felt something grip his hands, pulling them down from his face.
"Hey," a soft voice said. "It's gonna be alright, I'm right here. I won't let anything happen to you."
All he could do was nod, his throat was closing up and his eyes were now screwed shut- too afraid to open them, too afraid of the darkness. He knew that voice though... soft, calming, familiar... Daphne.
"We're gonna do something called the countdown method, okay? Just listen to my voice, I'll walk you through it."
He nodded once more, his eyes loosening.
"Alright, I need you to open your eyes slowly, okay? Tell me 5 things you see."
He was hesitant but complied, he slowly unscrewed his eyes and lifted his head to face her. Her slanted, deep brown almond eyes watching him in concern, her plump cheeks, her sand brown skin, her dark curly hair that sat neatly over her shoulders. Her.
His frantic breathing slowed, he was collecting himself, good. Let's just get through this, I have her, I can do this. He thought to himself.
He swallowed and began:
"The blanket..."
"Good, keep going." She responded, sighing in relief.
"The photo of you and your parents on the wall," He stated while slowly surveying the room. "The glow of the fire on the room,"
He looked down.
"Your hands holding mine," He breathed out as she lightly squeezed back.
He looked up.
"Your lion-like hair." Letting out a weak chuckle.
He was still breathing heavily, but at least he knew where he was now. He was safe, things were going to be okay.
She continued, "That was great! Okay, now tell me 4 things you can feel."
"The way I'm sinking into the couch, the heat of the flames, your hands, and how fast my heart is beating."
She placed her hand on his chest, "It is going a little fast... but that's okay, you're probably still in shock. Let's continue."
Levi couldn't understand why his heart was still beating so fast, wasn't this exercise meant to calm him down?
The next exercise came, "Good, good. You're doing good, now tell me 3 things you can hear."
Levi pushed the thought away from his mind and tried focusing again on the exercise. His nausea had settled down a bit by now.
"The crackle from the fire..." He was resisting the urge to mention the pitter-pattering of the rain, he licked his lips and swallowed. "My voice..." He breathed in, "our breaths."
"Almost there, are you feeling okay? A little better at least?" She tilted her head to look directly into his eyes since he turned away.
He nodded, "Y-yeah, thank you. Let's keep going." He felt a heat rush up his face.
Were they always sitting this close? Suddenly the room felt much more warm, and a lot smaller.
"2 things... you smell..." She said, swallowing.
He suddenly felt a little parched as he caught her swallow.
"The burning wood..."
Their eyes were getting heavy lidded, without noticing, the pair had shifted closer and closer to each other.
"...Your perfume."
The atmosphere had changed, there was a static in the air, one of uncertainty and longing...
"Almost there." Daphne whispered. "...one thing you... taste."
A kiss. A slow, tender kiss. A kiss that felt like love and nerves. Confusion, yet a new certainty. They moved carefully yet nervously, their noses bumping and their faces flushed. Levi's eyelids slowly fell, but kept open just enough to gaze at Daphne—who was holding the same half-lidded look. A look that made his heart swell.
Daphne could taste her coconut and pear lip chap on him, and it made the butterflies in her stomach erupt. She could feel the tension melt away from the both of them as they moved in closer together. His hands found way to her hips as he pulled her in, and she reciprocated by positioning herself to fit more perfectly into his arms. In doing so, she felt the fast pounding of his heartbeat, a beat that was in sync to hers. Daphne noticed Levi's ears burning like fire, and she chuckled into the kiss, Levi responded in kind by hugging her closer. It took a lot to get him flustered, and- to her knowledge- she was the only one who could accomplish this.
Levi's eyes never closed, they were locked on Daphne the entire time- and when he felt the soft breath from Daphne's chuckle, he breathed it in. Could she be any more perfect? He mused.
Would this ruin things? Could they ever go back? It didn't matter, none of that mattered, all that was important right now was this moment.
His hand found Daphne's and they interlaced their fingers, squeezing each other's hands in both excitement and assurance.
...Slowly, their lips parted. Their foreheads leaned against each other as they both looked into each other's eyes filled with confusing swirls of emotion.
"You." He replied to her question. She giggled in response, biting her lip and looking away, her face was flushed in red but she was smiling nonetheless. The boy was blushing too. Had he done it right? Was this okay? She's smiling, isn't she? He thought.
He cleared his throat, "I'm sorry, I should've asked."
"I kissed you back, didn't I?" She laughed as she finally looked him in the eyes again. "It's okay," she said in a whisper this time.
"Does this... ruin anything?" The tone of fear in his voice couldn't be masked.
"I mean, I guess things might change... in a good way. Mind if I ask something?"
"Shoot."
"When did you start having feelings like this for me?"
He laughed, a low embarrassed laugh, "4th grade..." If it were any more possible for his red face to deepen shades... "What about you?" He questioned, steering the topic of conversation away from himself .
"I'm not sure...I think it was always there, my love for you, somewhere along the line one thing turned to another I guess."
"Cool," He smiled an uncontrollable, bright smile. Those words made him happier than anything.
She giggled again, then she gently held his face with both her hands and slowly brought it down, and gave a peck on the tip of his nose. Another on his eyelid. And another on his cheek bone. And one more on his jaw. Then she pulled back—
"I love you, Levi Müller."
Shocked by her sudden boldness and outright confession, he froze for a moment before he lifted both her hands to his lips and laid a kiss on her knuckles.
"I love you too, Daphne Jiǎng."
~The End~
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