Was that his first thought?
The blackout came billowing through the corridors, and he immediately reacted to my being out here, in the open.
Maybe he had it on him, the cologne, or in a faculty room nearby. And he put it on so I would recognise him.
The only way to recognise him in the dark.
I’ve never had anyone do anything like that for me before. To go so far out of their way to keep me safe.
The sweetness of it softens me.
My shoulders relax in his hands.
Eric has Asta to concern himself with—but he shirks his responsibilities, he snubs the order of our world, just to make sure I get back to the dorm safe.
I might have underestimated him.
Or maybe I’m just too many margaritas in—and Asta letting Mildred tamper with my bed is a hidden motivator, to get back at her.
Could be all of it, threading together, that staggers me closer to Eric.
I make a point of recognising him.
My toes press into the floor as I push my weight onto them.
I lean up as far as I can reach.
In the dark, my senses are alight.
The graze of his jaw along my soft lips, the brush of his nose that caresses over mine, like he turns his gaze to me, to watch me, but of course he can’t see me.
We can only feel each other, smell each other.
Tingles are fast to tickle through my body.
I graze my nose over his cheek.
He turns closer to me, as though he chases my touch.
The flutter of his lashes tickles my brow, and I guess he closes his eyes.
My chest swells with the inhale.
I know who you are. I know that cologne.
That’s what I hope I’m telling him, what he reads on my movements in the dark.
Before I can loosen the breath I drew in, his mouth finds mine.
And pauses.
Our lips barely touch—but tingles dance over my lips all the same.
I taste him, the sharpness of a spearmint breath.
Time hangs between us, a pause that lingers, and still, our mouths don’t connect.
In the darkness, secrets stir around us.
