Turning Point

It was around three a.m. about a week later when the knock came at my door. Blearily and more asleep than awake, I did notice that the knock was timid and quiet, but still enough to wake me up. The floor was freezing, as was the rest of the room outside my bed.

“Austin?” Sure enough it was, carrying a faded green pillow and the comforter off his bed.

“Can’t sleep…it snores.”

It made perfect sense to me in the middle of the night, so I nodded and let him in. He set up camp across from my bed, and I got nice and comfortable and warm again before he spoke again.

“Katie?”

“Mmhmm.”

“Your floor sucks.”

With a groan, I flipped one half of my blankets over in invitation. He quickly got in and settled down. But his body was cold and his feet touched mine, bringing me instantly and fully awake. “Austin? What the hell…”

“Good morning sunshine. You’re a heavy sleeper.”

I groaned in response. “You’re cold. What are you doing here again?”

“My new roomie has nasal problems.” He shifted onto his back and turned his head towards mine.

“I didn’t realize you got a roommate.”

“Yup, the new guy. Sean? Or maybe Steve.”

Realizing I wouldn’t be going back to sleep for a while, I turned back to him. “That’s funny, you seemed to remember my name pretty quickly.”

“You’re name is prettier than Steve’s. Or maybe Sam…” I hit his shoulder lightly. “It feels like I haven’t slept for three days. I just need a few hours-” he broke off with a yawn.

“Mmkay. Go to sleep now.” I flopped back onto my side, facing away from him.

“But I’m cold…”

“What do you want me to do about it?”

He quickly wrapped his arms around me and hugged me to his chest.

“Oh, Austin! Get off me!”

He laughed and, with one last squeeze, left me alone to sleep.

I can honestly say that in the middle of the night I don’t make the most rational decisions, and many times I don’t remember what happened anyway. But the whole situation became blaringly obvious when I woke up the next morning chest to chest with Austin. His arms were wrapped around my shoulders and mine around his ribcage. I could feel his breath against the top of my head.

I could feel his morning arousal right up against my thigh.

God! I thought. What the hell is wrong with me? How did I end up in a situation like this?

Luckily once he’s asleep, Austin wont wake up until his body is good and ready so I didn’t disturb him with my clumsy movements to get out of bed. Grabbing my glasses I headed out to shower.

The warm water was a nice contrast to the chilly morning air. I took so long in the bathroom that it the frost on the outside of the windows melted. Subconsciously I knew it was to avoid the man waiting in my room but I tried not to think of that.

Instead of being gone when I got back into the room, Austin had just woken up and was blearily looking around. He glanced at me, and then gave a little smile.

“Ha, four eyes.”

I scrunched my hair up and let it fall again. “Shut up. Like your catnap?”

He just moaned and stretched. “Your bed is comfier than mine is.”

“Too bad, then.”

“Katie… please?”

I was mentally banging my head into a wall for actually considering it. “Please what?”

“I can’t live with Sean. He’s a freak.”

“You’re a freak.”

“I can’t live without sleep. If I can’t live, then I can’t do the paper. I can’t do sound with you for the play! I can’t… I can’t make breakfast every morning for a month?”

I frowned at him.

“I can’t do cleaning duty for you next time?”

The frown didn’t feel so convincing this time.

“I can’t get you beignets sometimes from the city.”

“Once a week!” I couldn’t resist.

“Once a week.”

I sighed. “Austin, they’ll never allow that.”

“Yeah huh. The twins live together.”

“They’re related.”

“So? Those art students, Dean and Lauren, they live together.” God, he looked sexy right out of bed. That should not be allowed.

“Austin, they’re married.”

“Katie, marry me!”

I groaned. “Asshole.”

“Someone’s not a morning person. Please, can I just look into it?”

“Whatever. Do what you want, but I need to get dressed so get your butt outta my bed.”

He playfully frowned. “But Katie, I’ve already seen you naked.”

“Liar.”

He got up and left, wearing only a pair of very low riding sleep pants. “Wouldn’t you like to know…”

Austin was very determined. He did ‘look into it,’ and convinced the school board that it a wonderful option and that we’d be on our best behavior. So, a single bed was moved into my room and placed across from mine, along with an extra set of drawers. Austin’s things moved in as well, mostly some badly needed posters and some sports gear that I’d never understand. To thank me, Austin bought a new set of pool balls and some pool sticks, only to quickly find out that the space between the wall and the table forced us to shove the sticks way far up into the air to play.

I wanted to hate him, then. Really truly wanted to hate him. The uncomfortable ‘almost’ moments, like almost saying something I didn’t mean to or almost kissing him… those had lately come few and far between until we were forced to live together. Those moments became moments when we just couldn’t hide. Any feelings I had for him came into sharp focus when I saw him every day.

Then came moments that were just plain embarrassing for me. He walked in on me, once, wearing only a bra and a pair of jeans. He stopped, stared for a moment until I gasped, then let out a “wow,” and backed away. That made me feel like more of a freak than ever. I’d see him changing shirts and be caught staring at his chest, which was defined and sprinkled with reddish brown hair.

Despite my increasing discomfort, Austin seemed content. He kept his promise and faithfully brought me beignets once a week, usually before I would wake up so he could serve me in bed.

I guess my feelings came to a head when we were nearing the end of the play. It was the most stressful time of the year, with finals fast approaching and nights spent rehearsing. It caused me to do something I hadn’t done since junior high school… I walked in my sleep. I didn’t get far; I think Austin was awake anyway because he caught me before I’d gotten out the door.

I was extremely confused to find myself not in bed, but he gently led me back to our room with quiet words. “It’s okay, Katie,” and “Carefully here, up the stairs, we’ll get you back into bed.”

“What’s going on?”

“You were dreaming, then you got up and left. You tried to leave.”

“Oh.” I shook my head, disoriented and beginning to shake.

He sat me down on my bed then joined me when I didn’t let go of his pants. “That’s not like you, are you okay?”

I nodded, and then he reached over and turned on the light so it cast a soft glow over the room.

“You’re pale.” I just looked down at my hands. “And shivering.” I could feel my shivering, along with the beginning of tears and the panicky jump of my heartbeat.

He wrapped his arms around me and rocked with me until the silent tears had stopped. Then we just stayed still.

“What did you dream of?”

“I… I don’t remember. I think it was a nightmare.”

“Want to know what I dreamed of?”

“Yeah, as long as it’s good.”

I looked up at him and… I can’t explain it. There he was, looking right back at me with those midnight blue eyes and mussed hair. I can’t say it was me who moved first, or him, I don’t remember that part.

But I can remember his lips touching mine, softly, and feeling the lip ring that was warmed from his mouth. We stayed that way, lips slowly exploring, for a few seconds until his mouth moved to my nose then my forehead. He laid me down then leaned over and shut off the light.

It might sound bad now, but at the time I felt completely safe and doing anything more didn’t even cross my mind. His either, I think, because he puts his arms back around me and brushed his hand against my head until I fell asleep.

He was gone from the bed when I woke up.