Thε Spαrklε Tooƒus (ACT I: Fall Term) ✓

forty-five

The Fall

The implications of inviting Leo to sleep in my room hadn't occurred to me downstairs. I was rolling around in laughter (at least, the voices in my head were) when I had used this as bait to tease him. It was fun, for once, being the one making fun of the other person rather than the victim of a comedy. But after bringing in the extra mattress and setting it up for Leo's use, I hadn't even considered what would follow; what did follow.

Silence consumed the space between us. Spare for the occasional drone of the central heating systems revving up to filter warm air into the room, Leo and I were enveloped in the quiet of my comfortable little room. I had brushed my teeth, washed my face and changed into my night wear in the bathroom. I'd braided my hair loosely, and gotten dressed in my Marvel tee and black boxers (because boxers are super comfortable and they just plain rock, okay?)

When I opened the door and announced that the bathroom was free, I hadn't expected him to sit upright on his bed and give me a look over, an impish grin spreading across his face.

"What?" I had asked, starting to pull down at the edges of my t-shirt.

"Never placed you for a boxers chick."

I'd flared up. "What's wrong with boxers? Girls can wear 'em too!"

"I have nothing against them." Leo's eyes had followed me as I walked over to my bed and went underneath the covers. "You look cute."

What was with all the compliments today? It was starting to freak me out.

"Good night Leo," I had grumbled and turned off the light with the flick of the switch next to my bed.

"And Merry Christmas to me indeed," he had chuckled lowly to himself.

That had been thirty minutes ago. My sense of time wasn't terrible and if I was right, it was probably nearing 3 a.m now. My breath came out in short puffs of air as I stared up at my bland ceiling. I wonder what Leo thought of it. I should have put in more thought of decorating my room. It looked downright sloppy compared to the memory I had of his exquisite lair. He probably didn't like sleeping at such low elevation now either.

Calm yourself down, May. It's not like it's the first time you've had a guy in your room.

Ha. Big laugh. The one and only time I had had a sleep over with a guy in my room was when I was seven years old and that too, with a distant cousin of mine. It hadn't been particularly great either as he had kicked me off my bed and taken over, leaving me to sleep on the cold floor with nothing but the flimsy blanket he had brought. Leo was far from a seven year old kid who couldn't control his tempers. Let's not even go over the fact that he was far from being related to me in anyway.

"What we have is different."

What had he meant by that? His words played on repeat in my head. I rolled over, onto my side and rested my head against the crook of my arm as I stared out the window. Snow danced down from the moonlit sky. The image of Leo's face replaced the silver surface of the moon and I had to shake my head to snap myself out of it. What was wrong with me? On second thought, better not to answer that question.

I shut my eyes. Sleep would come to me, eventually. Judging by the silence in the air, Leo had already fallen asleep. It would do me some good to get some shut-eye. I needed to save up my energy to make an amazing Christmas lunch for dad tomorrow. Let's see...what was on the menu? Leo would be staying back, probably. He didn't have to go home except maybe to change his clothes or something but I was going to make sure he didn't return to an empty house. There was always room for him here. And not just in my room, where he was currently sleeping and dreaming and maybe even drooling. Oh, that would be picture-worthy in the morning.