Knightly in Shining Armor

Lukas

Lourdes was curled up in one of the chairs in front of the fireplace in her bedroom. She was reading one of the novels from the bookshelf. It was just past 11 o'clock and I couldn't sleep for the life of me. Clearly, neither could she. I sat in the chair across from her, feeding more logs to the fire. She either didn't notice me or didn't care that I was there. Either way, the quiet was nice.

I squirmed around, making myself more comfortable. When I looked up, Lourdes was watching me with an amused look. She moved to the small couch in between the two chairs and resumed her book.

"What are you reading?" I asked before she could get too engrossed. She looked back up with those golden hazel eyes.

"Don Quixote," She replied. I nodded in approval and went to go find my own book. I decided on Catch-22 before joining her on the couch. We sat in the light of the fire and read together. Eventually, my eyes began to dip shut and I succumbed to the warmth and comfort.

I woke up maybe 30 minutes later to Lourdes shuffling in her sleep. She had shifted to her side, nearly on top of my curled-up figure. The glow of the fire was tinging her smooth skin with gold. Her hair was reflecting the light and her eyes were fluttering with dreams. I stretched myself out on the couch and she rolled on top of me. I stayed perfectly still as she settled with her head on my chest. I fell back into sleep with my arms around her.

The next morning, I woke up to the beams of bright sunlight shining through the windows to my face. I rubbed at my eyes, trying to adjust my eyes to the brightness. I sat up suddenly. This wasn't my room, I had my curtains constantly shut. I heard soft humming from across the room, so I turned my head.

I saw Lourdes at the vanity running a cream through her curly hair. She was humming a song to herself as she did so. I leaned back on the arm of the couch, watching her. She had changed into a baggy, navy blue sweater with jean overalls on top. She had a pair of canvas sneakers on and was putting her hair into two buns at the top of her head, leaving some hair down to frame her head. She slid her glasses on and nodded at her reflection. She continued to hum to herself as she danced around a bit.

I stretched, laughing a little at her. She was certainly something else. I stood up, and she looked over at me with a grin.

"Morning, sleepyhead," She greeted me. "Did I wake you?"

"Nah, you're all good." I ran a hand through my hair. She snorted and walked over to me. She started to straighten out my hair.

"There." She nodded at me. "Go change, I want to walk around town!" I rolled my eyes and walked into my own room through the bathroom.

I tossed on a green sweater to match hers and a pair of jeans. I threw on a pair of black combat boots and a beanie. My hair looked good enough after Lourdes had her way with it. I shook my head with a smile. She was definitely one of a kind.

She barged into my room and froze when she saw me. I turned to face her with a smirk. She had an eyebrow raised, and I suddenly felt self-conscious.

"What?" I asked, crossing my arms across my chest.

"You stole my fashion sense," She remarked. "Now people are gonna think we're a couple."

"What's so wrong about that?" I teased. Her face went blank as she remembered something before shaking her head.

"Whatever," Lourdes said, grabbing my arm. "Let's go, I wanna see if my favorite café is still there!" She dragged me out of the room and down to the foyer. We stepped out into the brisk autumn air. I led her to the garage and opened it. She gasped in excitement at the numerous cars inside.