A Collection of Imagines

Tom

All That Matters

The wind beats against the thin material of the tent. The harsh rain sounds like bullets against the fabric. I sit in the middle buried under a few blankets, my winter coat, and his long sleeved crew neck. My eyes glued to the entrance. "Please come back soon" is the only thought that goes through my head. He has been gone for a while now.

The wind and the cold bite through my skin. Feeling the rain seep through my clothes. The light of the tent guides me towards her. The mud underneath me tries to hold me back.

He told me not to leave. "Whatever happens do not leave." He said it so sternly, like I need protecting, but the tone of his voice made me stay still. It's been about 20 minutes since he left. Fuck this. I grab my hunting knife from my satchel and reach for the zipper on the entrance. When I clutch it, the zipper is yanked from my grasp. The entrance flies open, revealing his drenched figure. At the sight of his face, I loosen my grip on the knife.

She rushes me inside the tent, sitting me down next to her sleeping bag. She hurries to find blankets, placing them over me by the second. She sits in front of me moving her hands up and down rapidly on my arms. Trying to get me warm. It's not working. My body can't stop shivering. She examines me with frightened eyes.

My instinct is to bury him in as many layers as possible to get him warm. But when he doesn't stop shivering, I realize it wasn't the way to go. I take my hands off of him. Just then, a light bulb goes off in my head. I start to undress him from his wet clothes.

She frantically takes off the blankets and goes for my jacket. My hands go to hers. "What are you doing?"

I shove his hands away from mine, "Shut up." I slide his jacket off of him as well as his sweater. I pull his shirt over his head, leaving him bare. I go for my jacket and my crew neck. His eyes still confused and his body still shaking.

Her hands go to my sweater that she's wearing and pulls it over her head. Leaving her with only a black sports bra. As I was about to question her, she pulls into her lap. She lays back on her sleeping bag and places the blankets back on top of us. I'm placed in between her legs and her arms around my shoulders. She pushes my head down on her chest and leaves her hand there.

"I read somewhere that when someone is freezing, they need skin to skin contact in order to get warm."

"Y-You should r-read more often."

"And you shouldn't scare me like that."

"Y-You ... needed protecting."

"Well guess who's being protected now." I look down at him and saw that he had stopped shivering. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. He's ok and that's all that matters.

As I drift off to sleep, I listen to the sounds surrounding me. The patter of the rain against the tent, the whirl of the wind and the beating of her heart that has gone from rapid to calm. She's ok and that's all that matters.