The Guardian Wars: Part One #Wattys2016

Chapter Six

I slept horribly that night. I kept waking up periodically through the night drenched in sweat. Every time I managed to get myself back to sleep I would wake back up a few hours later, sweaty and tired. At about 4:00 am, I gave up and crawled out of bed. I grabbed a quilt from my closet as quietly as possible and took it with me to the seat under my window. 

I pulled the curtains open and sat down with my knees against my chest and pulled the quilt around my shoulders. As I stared out into the night, I could see across the landscape of apartment buildings and dorms all the way to the college campus. I attempted once again to mull over the previous day's events. Bits and pieces of conversations kept coming back to me, but I was too tired to connect anything.

Rowan had kissed me. That part was good. So much had changed between us in just the period of a day. I had a new hope for my life. I didn't know what Rowan was planning but the idea that I was not headed for a forced and unwilling marriage was more than enough to grasp onto. Penn was going to be a problem. 

No matter what had happened between Rowan and I, I was still going to have to go on a date with the amazing Pennington Lamonte. The thought made me feel suddenly ill. I readjusted my feet in an attempt to get a better position on the narrow bench, and somehow managed to get my legs tangled in the large quilt. I tried to free them, but instead I fell butt first out of the window and onto the hardwood floor beside my bed with a loud thud.

 I winced, knowing that Rowan would have heard it. In less than a second my bedroom door flew open. I heard him breathing loudly from the doorway, but I couldn't see him over the bed from my position down beneath my window.

"Olivia!" Rowan shouted breathlessly. I hid my face in shame.

"Liv! Where are you?" I heard him call out to me as his footsteps rushed in my direction.

"Down here." I called out, waving my arm above my head. Rowan stepped around the bed and knelt down beside me. Immediately his hands were on me, looking for an injury. He had his gun tucked into the band of his sweat pants, ready to use it if he needed to.

"What happened?" he demanded.

"I fell off the seat, I'm fine," I reassured him, trying to untangle my legs from the quilt. He grabbed me and held me to his chest in a bone crushing hug.

"Why didn't you answer me? I thought you were gone. You have no idea what it's like to open that door and not see you," he scolded me. I took a deep breath and pushed back against his chest. I was immediately aware that he was not wearing a shirt. I took my hand off of his bare torso immediately.

"Where's your shirt?" I felt extremely uncomfortable. I had only seen Rowan once without a shirt and it was by accident. Even then I was embarrassed, and he hadn't even known that I had seen him.

"The electricity is out, I was hot. Didn't you notice there was no air conditioning?" he asked curiously.

"I guess not right away, but it makes sense now," I answered with a tight laugh. I tempted myself by placing a palm back on his chest. He didn't seem to notice. He was still holding me tight, like I would float away if he let go. We sat there silently for a few moments before he spoke again.

"I was hoping we would get a chance to talk tonight, but you were already asleep when I came in to tell you goodnight," he said. I suddenly became fully aware of the heat, I gathered up the quilt and threw it aside. He released me and scooted to sit beside me. Our backs were to the bed with the unveiled window in front of us.

"Yes, we should probably talk," I agreed, scooting closer to him and laying my head on his shoulder. He instinctively put his arm around me and leaned back so that we were resting against my bed. The lights from the buildings outside flowed in, casting a soft glow onto our bodies.