Cinnyris

Artificial Stars

I can't sleep.

Almost two hours passed, of me rolling back and forth in one of these strange half asleep yet half awake cases. I am terribly disturbed, but fortunately, Venice isn't. She is lying on the bed and sleeping ever so calmly that you might think the bed is a cloud. I sigh. I cautiously rise from the bed, as if getting of the bed will disturb Venice, as if who's sleeping next to me is an ordinary person and not a hibernating baby bear. I squish my feet into a pair of warm Uggs. After I'm done, I head to the place where I know I will find comfort, where I can fetch my lost tranquility and stuff it right back in my heart.

The kitchen.

My feet hiss on the soft, polished surface of the stairs, then, in no time, they shuffle on the cool marble of the kitchen. I open the refrigerator, and all the cabinets, then close them back. I have no desire in eating or drinking. So I take a twirl around the kitchen, open the microwave, the oven, the waffle maker and i pull a magnet off the fridge then stick it to another magnet. After I have touched almost every kitchenware present, I realize that I must stop because someone might wake me up and report me to the kitchen staff or something . So, and as bizarre as this may seem, I lay down on the stiff counter with one leg hunched over the other, my hair sliding against the slippery matter, and my butt rigid and cold. i hope no one will wake up thirsty.

And there I lay,doing nothing but staring at the tiny spotlights which have been carved to the ceiling as they twinkle, like artificial stars.

Loud and grumpy footsteps howl on the stair, forcing me to take a seat on a stool (for the sake of my dignity) and even coaxing a cringe out of me.

A sweet scent finds its way to me, confirming that the loud person is no one but Luke. He stands by the door of the kitchen, looking as sleepy as ever.

"Aren't you graceful?" I state with obvious sarcasm, not wanting us to stay silent for so long, and, after all, lack of sleep did severely damage my ego , which is a good thing, I guess.

"Not as graceful as you are though." He says, lazily pointing at my leg that I ever so carelessly left in my table in my 'keeping the dignity' mission. As I mentioned earlier, lack of sleep did its thing.

As a reaction to his rather sly comment I groan then inch the rest of my body to the counter, allowing him to occupy the squishy stool.

"May I ask you why are you laying on the kitchen counter at 3 am?" He asks, rubbing his eyes sleepily with the back of his hand and tempting me with his adorableness.

"You may." I respond, resting my eyes on the dim light of the artificial star. I look back at my response, too late to pull it back now. I think it might piss him off, get him back on his feet and back to his room, detach me from him. I can feel slight regret nibbling on my stomach.

He sighs then speaks with an amused tone " Why are you laying on the kitchen counter at 3 am? " He asks, again. Knowing that the only way to receive an answer is by going along with my silly attitude. the awful feeling of regret departs me.

"Because I can't sleep." I whine.

" So you decide that the kitchen will make it easier for you to fall asleep, and not my room. Disappointing." He says, shaking his head in a dramatical manner, and making my blush.

I say nothing.

"Get up," he starts, lifting himself off the stool "this will cause you nothing but, at least, a stiff back the next day."

I slowly stretch and compress my body until I am on both of my feet on the floor, my knuckles and toes and knees crack, and Luke can barel stifle his laugh. Never said that I am the queen of flexibility, and it happens to the best of us.

"There, better?" I ask, walking towards him and acting like nothing happened.

He looks at me for a while, studying my sleep deprived features, my mush of hair, and my rolled up sweat pants, and then he finally speaks, liberating me from my embarrassment.

"Not yet." He says, making me go angry. Does he think that it is easy for me? my never ending fights with him and my desire to fix it all at the same time? and all he can do is to criticize me for how terrible I look and tease me about my actions?

So, while I rearrange myself a set of loathing vocabulary in into a venomous sentence, his arms, ever so tenderly wrap around my waist, crawling gently over my thin shirt, burning fames into my skin , and lifting my spirit in no time.

I quickly hug him back, longing. I burry my face on his chest, tightening my grip by the second, therefore, making him do the same. It's like he left me for a whole decade , and not just three days.

Eventually, I am fully aware of his presence, that he won't let go and that he just won't dissappear. so I  slowly loosen my grip, but never managing to stay completely away from him, so I left my head where it was most comfortable, on his muscular chest, and my fingers on the soft fabric of his shirt.

And I felt peace, because he, on the other hand, didn't take his arms of my waist.

His hands slowly traveled to stroke my short hair, being the first and only thing in this night that makes me long for my bed.

Or his, maybe. It's just a thought.

My fingers lose their grip on his shirt, turning to his hand, and holding tight.

Without a word, he drives my to the tight hall where both my room and his meet, then he stops, not knowing where to lead me.

He lowers his head sheepishly, forcing a smile on my face. I ignore the rule about thinking before acting and kiss him on the cheek then gently tuck his hand to the direction of the room. Knowing that I am not strong enough to actually pull him there. He walks a little faster to lead the way.

No words were said, for they are not needed.

Just to emphasise on how loving he is, which is truly something that cannot be easily missed, he takes the liberty in removing the covers off my side of the bed, bowing as if he's taking me on a ride.

If I didn't know him well enough I would've taken this as a not so reassuring gesture.

But I know him too well.

I try to shrug away my fatigue, lifting my shoulders up and walking with grace, then giving him a slight bow of the head.

I lay down allowing him to replace the sheets then plant a slight kiss on my forhead, making my heart beat like I just overdosed on energy drinks and widening my eyes like a kid does when he witnesses a magic trick.

At a moment, he just lures me to sleep, and at another, he loves me till my heart is about to burst.

He takes his place on the other side, where he is meant to be, bringing warmth to the bed we share. He knots his arms around me again, eventually calming down my leaping heart, which I'm quite sure he noticed. And then sleep comes, after a long delay.

I am so unbelievably sorry for taking so long. We're already starting with our midterms, and because of my impressive marks, and note the sarcasm, I am forced to gain better marks for this semester, which might be considered as an impossible task, and also, as one that will take a lot of time from me (and my phone, of course, they just could never leave my poor phone alone)

So I'm hoping, with all my heart, that you enjoyed this chapter. I will be updating as soon as I can, it's a promise. So until then,
~Sun-Bird