In Memory (22 page)

A little girl piped up, “It’s safe, you know!” She stepped ahead, climbing onto the launch seat or whatever it’s called.

“See? It’s like a waterfall in a cave!” she exclaimed, smiling up at Noah. She looked at me, “Do you mind if I go?”

“Go for it! Show us how it’s done!”

She beamed, and splashed a bit of water at us, and shot down the slide.

We could hear her laughing all the way to the bottom, followed by the huge splash of her landing in the pool below.

Noah craned his neck over the railing to see the pool below, where she was swimming to the stairs.

“I
see
…” he murmured.

“If you really don’t want to, it’s okay.” I said, moving aside so the next kid could go down.

“But it’s fun!” the little kid said, zooming down.

There were three more kids left, a red-haired girl and two boys with brown skin. “You can do it!” The two boys said in unison.

“You look brave!” the girl said, “All you have to do is just try it!”

He looked down the slide again, and hesitantly sat down, holding tightly to the sides. He wouldn’t let go, I could tell. I touched his hands, lifting them away from the sides, and moved him over, settling in beside him.

“Right. Let’s go. I’ve got you.”

The girl clapped, “Well, yeah! It’s easier to not be afraid going down into that if you’re with your friend!”

The boys nodded their agreement, “You’ll be fine, guy!”

Noah bit his lip, and clung to me tightly.

“And a one, and a two, and- go!”

I l
et go,
and shot us down the slide. H
eard him inhale in a deep breath as the tunnel got dark, and his grip became almost painful.

“I am afraid.” He said, in a voice that suggested he was more than afraid. He was absolutely petrified.

“It’s okay. I’ve got you. I won’t let you go.”

We went down the three curves, and then shot out into the light and bright confusion of the landing pool. The sudden force tore him away from me, and I snatched wildly in the water for him, knowing he probably
would need
some help swimming.

He was floundering around just a few feet f
rom me, spinning underwater. S
wam over to him, scooping him up into my arms. As soon as I touched him, he clutched me tightly, holding on to me. We moved up to the stairs, and I sat him down, very aware of his
vise
-like grip on my arms.

“Hey, are you okay? What’s the matter?”

“I hate the dark.” he shook his head, “I am sorry.”

“No, hey. I’m sorry. I didn’t know you were so scared of the dark. If I would have realised-”

“Do you mind if we go back in that hot pool?”

“
Er
… yeah, let’s
go
.” I stood up, and led him back to the hot tub, sinking in to it while a sinking feeling stuck in my gut.

R
eally should think about stupid things like that before I do them. Ugh.

He seemed to cheer up rather a lot when we were settled in the hot tub, and this time I kept a close eye on him to make sure he wasn’t getting faint. Once he started to fade a bit, I stood up and we went back in the normal pool, content to sit in the shallow end.

He doesn’t seem to do well when he’s really hot. He d
oes have low blood pressure. H
ear that can affect how well someone does in a really hot environment.

We relaxed in the shallow end, and I noticed he was lo
oking at me rather intently. P
retended not to notice as his
gaze raked over my body. A
lmost felt the intensity of it tingling across my skin.

S
hivered, maybe from the cool water. (
yeah
, let’s go with that)

We decided to move over to the heated area just beside the deep end. (It’s really cool,
there’s
sun chairs and a heat lamp, presumably for people to pretend to sunbathe in the winter months.)

We stretched out on one of the double chairs, and grabbed a couple o
f the nice humongous towels.
S
miled
as he got comfortable, finally at ease when his scars were covered.

A loud peal of laughter interrupted our relaxing; I recognized it as Terra’s. She called my name and ran across the deck, yelling about something I couldn’t quite hear.

One of her high heels slipped off as she ran, and she lost her balance and fell headlong into the deep end, her other shoe flying up into the air.

Everyone stared at the resulting splash, and then just as quickly burst out into laughter. I stood up and hurried to the edge with Noah, who seemed to be restraining his laughter out of concern. I jumped in, and swam to her aid, supporting her as she laughed through the water.

“
Aer
- Aerian!” she choked out my name, laughing and sinking as we moved doggedly to the edge, where several of her friends stood, ready to help her out. “I was just coming to tell you-” she swam the last burst towards the edge. “-
you
won the gift basket.”

“All that for this? Are you crazy?” I laughed out loud, hoisting myself up onto the edge. I looked over to Noah, who was standing quite alone, with a towel wrapped around his shoulders.

W
aved him over, and he carefully stepped across the wet surface. He sat down beside me as all Terra’s friends escorted her to the
changeroom
to change out
of her now soaked sundress. H
ope it’s not ruined.

He cracked a smile, and I followed suit, our mutual smile soon evolving into full-blown laughter.

“I am rather cold.” He said eventually after our laughter had subsided, pulling the towel tighter around himself.

“Well, you
wanna
head home now?”

He nodded, “If you don’t mind…”

Actually, I had had just about en
ough of the pool. Was kind of chilly too. G
uess it meant time for a hot shower and then home.

The shower we had wasn’t as intimate as our first
one,
for one thing, he stood under his own faucet.

As I was just rinsing the shampoo from my hair, he touched my arm, and stood on tiptoe, giving me a light soapy kiss.

W
as about to ask what it was for when he
pre-emptively
answered. “I wanted to thank you for being so understanding.”

(I might note that we were alone because we were leaving early, and no one else was in the room. Otherwise, I don’t think he’d be so brazen.)

“You’re welcome.” G
ave him another kiss, pulling him close, feeling his skin slick with soap.

We broke off just as the door opened, and Dr. Stevens walked in with a towel on his head. He stopped upon seeing how close we were to each other.

Noah immediately went tense, a
tell-tale
sign of fear tightening the tendons in his neck. He shifted so he stood behind me, staring warily at Dr. Stevens.

He smiled, and continued through the
changeroom
. “I thought so. You guys make a cute couple, you know.”

I sighed with relief, but Noah seemed agitated still. He didn’t relax until we were back at home.

(W
as aware of his whole body on the ride back too. He was clinging to me, pressed against me to hide from the cold.)

When we were back at home, I got a whole bunch of blankets
, and started the fireplace. H
eld him until I was sure he was warm and comfortable. He was dozing off, so I suggested he go to bed.

I settled him in his big soft
bed,
tucking him in and giving him a
light kiss on the forehead. S
troked his hair, grinning at the happy smile I got in return.

“I love you, Aerie.”

“I love you too, Noah.”

89 Days, 30 November, Sunday

I’m rather fond of Sundays. In general, it seems to be my best day for just lyi
ng around and doing nothing. A
lways find it legitimized, because it’s the day everyone’s resting.

Today, since Noah stayed over last night, we spent much of the day cuddling and watching
TV
.

When Terra joined us, he quickly moved away from me, watching her closely.

“It’s okay, love.” She smiled reassuringly, setting her cup of coffee down on the side table. “I don’t mind if you feel like cuddling.”

He seemed to relax upon hearing this, and
resumed his place next to me. S
troked his hair as we watched TV, admiring the inky colour on my pale skin.

We had a light supper, and a hearty dessert. (Terra brought leftovers from the party the night before. So there is no shortage of food.)

Noah made a comment about the leftovers that I kind of found flattering.

“This food does not taste as pleasant as your food.”

“Huh? I think it’s pretty good.”

“It is sweet, and rather nice, but it’s not quite as nice as yours. There seems to be something missing in this that yours possesses.”

“Hmm…”

“I agree.” Terra said, “Yours seems warmer somehow.”

“It’s cold pudding!” I said, “I don’t get it.”

“It tastes more friendly?” Noah offered, looking at Terra, “There is something that makes one feel safe and happy whilst eating your food.”

They continued to try and find the exact right word for it, and I merely listened, not understanding what they were getting at
at
all.

D
id enjoy how they chattered on and one though, it’s like Noah’s been here forever, and we all get along wonderfully.

He must be part of our family now.

After a while, Terra decided to go out to the pub to meet with her friends. Murray and Sean, I’d hazard a guess.

G
ot bored of watching TV, so Noah suggested we read a book. We inspected the bookshelves downstairs, and didn’t really find anything particularly engaging. There were a couple cheesy romances that Terra is especially fond of. We chortled a bit at the cover, featuring a scantily clad woman and some kind of beefed-up,
kilt-wearing, Scottish
guy.

Now, this seems like a slight on the rest of us blokes. I’m a skinny, weedy type. Not near as skinny as Noah, I guess, but I don’t look like I’ve been eating steroids with my Lucky Charms, if you know what I mean.

Anyway.

I elected we go to my room and search the bookcases in there for something he hadn’t read yet.

He seemed reluctant to follow me to my room, I don’t know why.

After a moment, though, I deemed this absolutely fine, as my room was a battlefield strewn with books, clothes and random detritus.

Since I keep the rest of the house relatively clean, the incongruity of my room would be kind of embarrassing.

W
ent and got him a couple of the fantasy books that I like, strongly recommending them to him.

He looked them over with apparent interest, “I enjoy fiction,
it
is something I do not read enough of. I will certainly read these.”

We sat in relative silence for a while, save for the turning of pages, something I noticed he did much more frequently than I.

“Are you a speed reader?” I asked, making him look up curiously.

“I believe so.”

There was another lengthy silence, until he spoke up, “Where did you purchase this book? I would like to own a copy.”

“
Er
, I
dunno
. I got it as a birthday present.”

“Oh, when is your birthday? Have I missed it?”

“It was the 27
th
of August. It was before we were friends, I guess.”

“Hmm, I see. That’s interesting.”

It occurred to me then that I still didn’t know when
his
birthday was. C
an’t believe I never thought to ask that until now.
Derrrrrr
.

“So when’s your birthday?” I asked casually, not anticipating what a horribly ironic
birthdate
he would have.

Once he told me, I bit
my tongue, and looked away. C
ouldn’t believe it.

He turned back to his book, and I internally grieved, his words echoed in my mind.

“Oh, the 27
th
of February.”

November

/end