SYNCHRONICITY (The Lone Wolf)

14

Sebastian opened his eyes. Feeling for his clothes on the chair that he'd placed next to his bed, his arm outstretched out as far as it would go. Then he remembered exactly where he was. His hands wandered down his chest toward his ribcage and felt no swelling, nor did he feel any pain. Still, he had yet to get to his feet...had he not struggled with standing in the middle of the night? He leaned on his elbows and looked around the room: it was quite sterile...no drapes, only mini blinds covering the single large window and two small bedside tables that looked a little beat up, but he'd had worse at school. There was a comfortable-looking chair in the corner by a set of shuttered doors that he assumed was for clothes or storage.

He gingerly slipped his legs over the edge of the mattress and leaned over to turn on the bedside light out of habit. He spied his clothing laying over the back of the chair at the other side of the room. Rising to his feet, he padded toward the chair and took hold of the denim fabric. He sat down and slipped into the jeans then stood up to stretch, just like every morning. He opened the door and was immediately bombarded with wonderfully delicious breakfast smells...still, he headed directly for the bathroom.

Alison heard the door open and then another door close. She opened the cupboard that she thought the coffee mugs were in and found the plates instead and huffed a sigh. She withdrew two and placed them on the counter top then opened another cupboard, locating the cups that she was looking for. She turned and poured the steaming coffee into the cups and returned to the sausage bits frying in the small skillet.

Sebastian stealthily approached the doorway and watched her turn from the cupboards and move toward the oven. He stared at her round bottom beneath the impossibly short denim shorts that Judy had let her borrow. The tee shirt was long enough to be a dress on her, but she'd had it gathered and knotted in the back; he recognized the faded and brittle font at her shoulder blades...she was wearing one of his old tee shirts that he'd loaned to Judy the previous summer. Her long legs were tan and he admired her toned calves...this girl certainly did a lot of walking...

She turned the pan of whatever it was that was in the oven and closed it and wiped at her hands on the dish towel hanging on the handle. Then she returned to the sausage and turned off the heat. Sebastian wondered if he should let his presence be known and she tossed the hand towel to the counter, muttering to herself about how wrong it was that supposedly girls take forever in the bathroom and guys didn't. She turned on her heel and cried out at having seen him leaning in the doorway of the galley kitchen watching her. She advanced on him quickly, her hand rising in the air and he back up quickly, his back thudding against the cold wall on the corridor just outside the doorway.

Finally, she pointed her finger at him. "If you weren't hurt, I swear, I'd hit you right now," she fumed. "Understand this: never sneak up on me! It might be the very last thing you do!"

She pivoted on one foot and returned to the oven and raised her left hand and reached out to the oven handle for support.

"Hey," he said quietly. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you." He crept closer, wondering if his life really was in danger...he spied a knife less than six inches from her hand.

She turned her head to the side. Then she jetted toward him, and collided with him, her arms circling his stiffening body. And he held his breath awaiting the pain that never materialized. He let out a long breath and wound his arms tightly around her and held her close to him he could still smell her perfume...he'd never felt so safe in his life...all too soon though, she pulled away, her face wrought with distress as she palmed his chest, slowly lowering her hands to feel for swelling, her eyes studying the slight writhing and she smiled...he was ticklish. She lifted her gaze.

"No pain," she squeaked.

He shook his head and smiled. "No," he replied quietly. "None at all."

She pulled away, smelling the burning biscuits. "Shit," she whispered to herself...she had meant to turn off the oven.