The hallway was so dark when Kiri exited the bathroom. Roy must've turned off the lights when he went to bed.. a creeping feeling moved up her spine in the darkness, like a cold wind blowing behind her as she hurried back to the guest room. It was embarrassing for someone her age, but Kiri hated the dark. With a sigh of relief she found the doorknob and turned as quietly as she could to not startle her moth...
WHAT?!?!?
The vision before her took several minutes to compute- - - Roy stood in the middle of the room shirtless and unzipping his pants...!!! He faced away from her and in the lamplight she could clearly see how tan and muscular his back was as he struggled angrily with his jeans. He faced a mirror on the opposite wall where she discovered that the front of him was... well, frankly ridiculous. Those pectoral muscles she felt earlier were well defined, leading to pronounced abdominal muscles and a tapered narrow waist. He wasn't overly muscular— he had the appearance of one who worked very hard and didn't quite eat enough. Regardless, Kiri had never seen someone who affected her this way, even on TV. Her gaze dragged downward where a line of dark hair from his navel led... Holy cow!!! Kiri let out a strangled squeak and jerked her eyes upwards to his face where his startled gaze met hers in the mirror.
Roy jumped about a foot in the air with a shout.
"WHAT THE...?!!"
Finally summoning the ability to move Kiri slapped both her hands over her eyes and yelled "S..Sorry!!! Wrong room!!!" She backed out and found the one across the hall, not caring if it was a broom closet or the guest room. She quickly closed the door behind her with a slam.
Thankfully, her mother barely stirred despite the loud noise, and Kiri leaned her back against the door to slide down to the floor. She felt unable to take her hands off her eyes in a strange combination of mortification and exhilaration. All the blood in her body now occupied her face and she felt tingly all over.
"You... Big... DINGUSSSS...!!!!" She whisper-yelled at herself as quietly as she could manage. No amount of forehead smacking and cringing could help her, however. She eventually crawled into bed and hid under the covers, dreading morning.
Just across the hall, Roy lay face down on his mattress, paralyzed. Who the hell WAS this girl?? The rare traveler who passed by this isolated place never saw more than a cluster of trees where the house stood, yet she came as if drawn by some current- a perfectly designed angel surely meant to finally push him over the brink of sanity. His mind replayed each interaction with her in his head over and over... The way she and her mother charmed Lady, who likes no one ever, was suspicious. But when she turned to look at him with those big doe eyes... In the sun-drenched kitchen they were the color of honey. Then at night he saw her flying across the field with her chestnut hair streaming and a wild grin across her perfect face. The ravine has been a convenient excuse to snatch her out of the air, for he surely would have done it anyways. Holding her in his arms had shattered something inside of him, he felt remade and undone all at once. She had smelled like roses.
Aagghh!
He almost couldn't bear to think of their last interaction- his entire body was still aching. He could actually feel her gaze on his body, setting him on fire as it traveled. He hadn't realized what was happening until her sweet gasp rang out and she flushed so beautifully as they met gazes in the mirror. What an idiot he was for yelling- she ran away before he could comfort her, reach out to her, anything to keep her there a moment longer. He wanted to lay gifts at her door, and profess himself and...
Wait what was he thinking?!
This madness of his was proof that something else was afoot.
He had one purpose, one job, and he had to get them out of here as soon as possible so he could regain his effing sanity.