The World behind the Mirror

Chapter five

The door of the bathroom opened, and Klaus came outside. "Holà bella," he said, pulling Libithia from the staring contest.

She quickly looked at Klaus, not quite registering that he was only wearing sweatpants. She glanced back to the mirror. It was gone. Only herself looked back.

"I—" She shook her head. Were her hallucinations getting that bad that she couldn't even look at herself anymore? She would have to talk about that to her therapist, but if she did... Would she be labelled crazy?

"I'm thinking about getting another tattoo," Klaus voiced, going to stand behind her, his warm and moist chest against her back. That distracted her immediately.

"Mhm?" She looked to the side to catch his gaze. "What and where?"

His fingers trailed on my spine, leaving warmth in their wake, until they settled on the back of her neck. "There, two angel wings with a sword piercing the sun."

Libithia closed her eyes, enjoying the soft tracing of his touch, trying to imagine the tattoo on Klaus. There was no doubt that it could be very beautiful. But she wanted to be the one to design it.

"You can," he said, as if he'd read her thoughts.

She smiled softly, meeting his eyes in the reflection. They were like the water on a sandy beach, a supple shade between sky blue and turquoise. "I think you're obsessed with me, Liebling."

He put his chin on her shoulder, his hands following her arms to hold her hands at last. "And what if?"

Taking a deep breath in, Libithia turned around. "What does this all mean?" she asked, tracing his jaw with her thumb.

"What do you want it to mean?"

"Well... Us."

She wasn't entirely certain. About nothing, actually. But she wanted more, she wanted Klaus, but then... She had so many problems going on, and although Klaus knew about most of them, if they became more than friends, he would be burdened by it even more. And she didn't want to burden him. Didn't want that he thought that she was crazy.

"Let's think about it this week, and when I come back, let's talk about it, all right?" She tried a smile.

He nodded, kissing her forehead. "Of course."

The rest of the day was nice. Libithia's parents and Klaus ate in a small restaurant two streets down and then, they deposited the two of them outside the nightclub for Klaus to take his motorcycle home. The two young adults then drove around for a while, through streets where they could go 120km/h and then others where only 30km/h were allowed.

It was one of the days where they didn't talk much about actual things, only superficial stuff like the weather, or oh there! a cat. They were busy taking in each other's presence before they would be separated for a week. One would say that a week wasn't that long—and it truly wasn't—but for them, it was seven days without the person they normally saw multiple times a day.

Soon, it was around five thirty and Libithia needed to join her parents at the airport. Klaus was gentleman enough to bring her, and they lingered before the security scan, holding hands, sharing personal space.

"Call me when you arrive," Klaus said, his thumb brushing the back of her hand.

Libithia nodded. "I'll send you a Snapchat every hour on the plane, and I'll call you first thing at the hotel."

"Come on!" Zheng called, separating them against their will.

So the girl nodded again, this time more for herself, before taking her best friend in her arms, inhaling the scent of cigarettes and mint, before letting go. And walking through the scan, without turning back.