Atlas felt stupid the second he mentioned her name. She was clearly asleep, and he was acting paranoid.
Turning around, he quickly dressed up for the night, and walked to the bed.
He laid on the edge, and placed his head over his hands resting on the pillow.
There was silence. A little too much of it. The kind that made the hair on his arms rise a little.
His head, despite his resolve to remain still, moved towards Aveline. Her back was turned to him, covered with the duvet.
Yet, her outline pushed him to think. He wasn't usually the kind to be in bed with a pretty girl and have that much distance between them.
Unfortunately, the situation with Aveline was different. She was something forbidden. For his sake, and her sake too.
A sigh slipped out of his mouth, at the exact moment the phone slipped off Aveline's body.
As the device landed on the ground, Aveline used that as an opportunity to pretend she was only just waking up.
With a start, her eyes flew open. She stretched her legs first, before slowly lifting her body into a sitting position.
"Hey, you're awake," Atlas, who had already rolled out of the bed to grab the phone, said.
Aveline wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, still in the spirit of pretense.
"What was that sound?" She asked, stifling a yawn as she covered her mouth with her hand.
"The phone. Thankfully, there are no scars." Atlas stretched it to her.
She pulled a hand from her mouth to accept it. As she did, their hands brushed and lingered for a few seconds.
"You good?" He asked as she quickly dragged the phone and her hand away.
A tense silence stretched a couple of seconds before she replied again. "I'm fine."
Her eyes moved away from him. All she could see looking at him was the thing between his legs.
She couldn't help it. She couldn't wrap her head around how it could have possibly fit into her.
"Are you sure you're okay?" Atlas lifted a concerned brow.
She was acting extra weird. Even more than normal. Her eyes fixated at a spot, and her body language exuded something awkward. As if she was embarrassed.
"I'm fine. Thank you for the phone. I'll be more careful with it."
"Alright, if you insist." He walked over to his side of the bed, and laid on it.
Aveline waited for him to settle in, before she rose to her feet.
"Do you need something?" He asked as soon as he saw her.
"No. I'll just drop the phone on the dressing table so it doesn't fall again."
He didn't respond, leaving her to do whatever she wanted.
The night was longer than he had imagined, and the cooling effect of the cigarette was beginning to wear off.
Two more days. Two more days until we don't have to share a room or a bed anymore.
His mind continued to swirl, until he remembered she wasn't back to the bed yet.
He turned to see her at the edge of it, just staring.
"What is it, Aveline?" His brow furrowed.
She cleared her throat. "Do you want to share the duvet?" She asked, once again, dodging his face.
Atlas really looked at her, although through the dimness of the room.
It sucked she had opted to wear a nightwear that properly covered her body.
The kind of body she had was meant to be flaunted. But at least her face was visible. A perfect face.
One that was now filled with worry. An expression that caused him to chuckle.
"Did I say something?" She whipped her head towards him in alarm.
"Are you worried if we share a duvet you'll find yourself tangled around me by dawn?" He asked.
Aveline remained still, until his insinuation dawned on her, and her eyes snapped in full realization.
"Oh no!" She turned red again. "Of course not. It looks like it'll rain, and I get really cold, so I like to wrap the covers completely around me. If we're sharing, I'd like to know ahead so I'm not selfish with it. I don't want to inconvenience you. Please there was nothing dirty in my mind. I understand the ru—"
"Aveline?" He interrupted her ramblings. "I was joking, okay?"
"Oh." Her lips pursed.
Atlas chuckled again. "You can have the duvet if you get that cold. I believe I can make use of something else."
"Thanks." She quickly jumped on the bed, and dragged the duvet over her, burying her entire head in it.
Atlas, extremely amused, couldn't keep the smile off his face.
Sometimes, she was a brick wall. Quiet and strange. The other times like just now, and the first time they met at the bar, she was cartoonish.
Both sides certainly had their appeal to him. The first side made him curious, and the other side amused him.
"Goodnight Aveline," he continued to smile as he laid on his back again.
She was about to reply when lightning struck, followed by roaring thunder.
Aveline jolted, and rolled towards him before she could stop herself.
"Hey–" Atlas covered her with his arms before he could even finish what he was saying.
Another thunder roared, this time, lasting longer and louder than the first.
Atlas looked down and saw Aveline shivering, while mumbling.
Confused, he just pulled her closer into his body.
"Mum, Dad-please don't go. Don't go out-side," Aveline muttered, fully in tears now.
The rain that followed the third thunder, and lightning strike was heavy. So heavy, it sounded like rocks hitting the window glass.
"Shhhh," Atlas, trying to make sense of her reaction but failing to do so, settled for comforting her. "It's just rain," he said.
"No it's not," she replied, her crying voice muffled by the duvet still over her head. "It's not."
Her thoughts went back to that night. Every significant point in her life was marked by rain.
It rained that night. It rained the night she met Atlas. Tonight, it was raining again.
"Oh God!" She blurted, and began to hyperventilate.
"Aveline, what is it?!" Atlas asked, as he dragged the duvet off her head, freeing her face.
"It's happening again," she grabbed him by the chest, her face filled with panic and tears as she struggled to breathe.
"What is happening Aveline?"
The words couldn't leave her mouth, no matter how much she tried.
Sure, it had rained the night she met Atlas. The only difference was that there had been no thunder. Very minimal lighting too. Nothing her heartbroken state couldn't withstand.
But the similarities of that night, and this night—
"Aveline!" Atlas called with a little more bass in his voice, as her grip on his chest tightened.
"No," she repeated over and over again.
Confused on what to do next, Atlas did the first thing that popped up in mind.
Forcefully, he grabbed her hands, and pulled them away from his chest. Then he pushed her back to the bed, and climbed on top of her.
"Yes," he said, and kissed her.