Lost in You

Chapter 21

I'm about to change into my pyjama, still buzzing with the energy after having watched Marius win and decorating his room afterwards when someone knocks on the door. Maja looks up to me, already cuddled under her blanket and clearly not planning to move. I sigh, drop my pyjama and the phone that I kept glancing at. I keep expecting him to text at least a short message to acknowledge that he's seen and liked the changes I did to his room for the last night he'll spend there. Now I get out of bed again because I was about to anyway and I don't feel like arguing with Maja about it. "Have you ordered more room service?" I ask suspiciously because the plates already tower in front of us and the wine is only half drunk. Besides, I was next to her the whole evening, I would have noticed had she ordered more. "Why would I?" Maja asks without taking her eyes off the TV. She doesn't seem fazed or curious about our late visitor, but I step to the door carefully, as if I expected someone to kick it in at any moment and only open it a few centimetres at first. "Hey. Sorry that I didn't get back to you earlier." His voice has become so familiar by now that I instantly open the door fully. He's leaning against the wall next to it but straightens when he sees me. "No problem. Congrats again. I thought you'd be out celebrating," I say. His cheeks are flushed and he does seem a little unsteady on the feet. "We did. The others still do, but I wanted to see you. I was just in my room," he says as if that would explain why he'd sneak away from his teammates to stand in my doorframe. Now he waves past me and when I turn around I see Maja glancing around the corner. "No criminal then?" she asks with a grin. I can feel my cheeks heating. "No, I'm good here." Maja's grin widens before she goes back to our bed. "A criminal?" I can hear the confusion in Marius' voice when I turn back to him. "We don't get many visitors this late," I explain with a shrug. He nods. "Do you want to come back to the rooftop again? So we don't disturb your friend." He nods towards where Maja just stood. I'm glad he's suggesting it, because I feel even more conscious of what I say to him when I know Maja is around the corner, listening whether she tries to or not. "Of course. I'll just get a jacket," I say and close the door again to get to my jacket hanging behind it. When I pulled it over and put on shoes, I open the door again, just in time to see him nodding to someone, but when I step into the corridor, it's empty again. He glances down at me, then smiles and takes my hand. "If you hear loud music from somewhere, ignore them and don't tell them where I am," he says and I giggle while he pulls me along. "I didn't know we needed to hide from your team." "We don't usually. But it seems impossible to get a moment to myself tonight." I try to keep up with him and nudge his shoulder. "They're happy for you. You know, you should be with them if they try to throw a party for you." He rolls his eyes. "I think I should be where I want to be tonight." He looks at me and my heart starts to beat even faster than it already does. When we stop so that he can open the door to the rooftop, I'm sure he can hear it while I don't dare to say the words that I can already taste on my tongue. With me. He wants to be with me. "As perfect as I thought," he whispers when we step outside. I was so busy looking at him again and again because I couldn't believe we were here, I had no mind for the view. When I do look now, it's beautiful. The air is crisp and cold, the sky clear and the stars sparkle high over our heads. The moon is still half-hidden behind a mountain top which makes the night darker. When we step to the handrail, I can see the lights of the ski jumping hill in the distance. Music and the sound of voices wafts over to us, indicating the celebrations that are still held there. There'll surely be a few hungover and tired guests at the reception tomorrow morning. "I heard that there's going to be a lot of shooting stars tonight," Marius says next to me, drawing my attention back to the sky. I laugh nervously. "What could you still wish for after today?" He gives me a half-smile. "I can't tell you or it won't come true." "Good point," I mumble while we both look back at the sky to search for one of those shooting stars. I catch myself drumming my finger on the metal bar in front of us to the beat of the music that I can still hear in the distance. When he notices, he raises an eyebrow. "We could of course also join the celebrations that I just sneaked away from, if you'd like that better." My finger stills in an instant. "No. I want to be here and wait for the shooting stars. With you. I have a few wishes to make," I say. He smiles and pulls me against him. I might forget how to breathe for a second before I relax and cuddle against his side. "There," he says after a while and when I follow his finger, I see the rest of a shooting star arching over the sky. "Does it count if you saw it first?" I mumble and can feel him shrug next to me. "You can try. If it's that important." I can hear the curiosity in his voice, but even if he hadn't already said that telling someone would break the spell, I couldn't tell him what I was wishing for. I just don't know where to start. Wishing for good grades in my exams seems trivial here. Wishing for a good month isn't necessary. And right now, there is nowhere I would rather be than in his arms. And still.... The thought of making a wish that comes true is tempting. A good graduation. Living somewhere that feels like here rather than our flat in Munich. Us staying in contact. Us becoming more than two people that hold hands and see each other once a month. "You take it," I say while already watching the next shooting star vanish behind a mountain top. "Okay." He shifts next to me until we're facing each other and tilts my chin up with a finger. My breath catches in my throat when his other hand finds the small of my back, pulls me closer and I feel his lips on mine, tasting like sugar and alcohol. It's not the hot spark that everyone talks about, but it feels warm and safe and I think I prefer that. My anxiety about us being here alone vanishes and I wrap my arms around his neck to pull him even closer while our lips against each other. The music seems to fade away and the stars seem to stop spinning over our heads. The kiss feels like we have all the time in the world. Slow and soft and somehow so familiar that it seems impossible it's our first. When we break apart, we're both breathless and flushed. I've ruffled his hair and the collar of my coat has come undone without me being able to tell when that could have happened. "Now it's come true," he whispers against my ear and sends a shiver down my spine. "Good to know that they work," I whisper back and raise on my tiptoes to reach his lips with mine again. He sighs when they meet again. I forget about my other wishes, only imagine the last shooting star I saw and pray that this may never end. We stay on the rooftop for some time, exchanging all kinds of kisses, hotter, slower or just the grazing of his lips against my cheek and count shooting stars until the music and the voices back at the hill die down and the church bells once again remind us how late it is. Only that this time I'm not cold at all. I feel like my body is on fire and I could stay here for the rest of the night without getting cold. "We should probably go back to our rooms as well. I have to work tomorrow morning, so does Maja and I'm sure she wouldn't appreciate it if I wake her too late," I say while we watch a group of people stumble up the stairs to our hotel. There is a moment of silence in which I half expect him to tell me to come along into his room. "Sure. I have the day off tomorrow. We could spend it together once you're done with work," he says and takes my hand when we slowly start walking back over the rooftop, both reluctant to reach the door. "That sounds good. I'll find you when I'm done." He smiles. "And I'll think about something for us to do after you got to decide last time," he says, smirking when he thinks back to our afternoon in the ice rink. "I can't wait,' I say and mean it.