The Countdown Method ♡

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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.