Insomnia
Katie shifted restlessly in bed, wishing for the zillionth time that insomnia didn't exist. She despised insomnia. She despised staying up and being bored. She liked staying up late, but not because she was dead tired and couldn't sleep.
Katie swung her feet out from under the toasty warm covers and settled her feet on the cool wooden floor. Much better. Heat was another thing that sometimes bothered Katie. She walked outside barefoot and strolled in the direction of the beach. She wasn't really sure if that's where she wanted to go, but something pulled her there.
Arriving at the beach, she sat down on the small strip of dry sand and leaned back against a log. She inhaled the calming smell of nature, the salt in the wind, the musk from the log, and the rain from the night. The wind ran through her hair and the moon seemed to pull thoughts from her mind and into the cloudless sky. She let a small smile take over her lips and closed her eyes, not trying to sleep, but trying to at least relax. It worked.
Sitting there for what felt like hours, but was in reality only minutes, did Katie good. She felt a little stronger, but also a little bit more tired. She knew she still wouldn't be able to sleep though, so she remained on the beach.
Footsteps alerted Katie and she sat up straight. Looking around, she saw a tall shadow emerge from the trees. Staying perfectly still and not daring to move, Katie prayed it wasn't a harpy looking to eat some demigods.
"Katie?" Well, darn it. She'd been discovered. At least it wasn't a harpy.
"Travis?"
"What are you doing here?" Travis asked, sitting down close to her. There was only space for one of Katie's fingers to fit in the space between them.
"What are you doing here?" Katie challenged, not ready to admit to her insomnia.
"Couldn't sleep."
Katie laughed. "Same here."
"So you came to the beach? I thought you would've gone to the fields or something," Travis said, referring to her child of Demeter-ness.
"I needed a change. Something led me here." Katie looked up into Travis's blue eyes. "What about you? It's the dead middle of the night, the whole camp is asleep but you, and you're not off stealing something?" she teased.
Travis laughed. It was a deep sound, so natural for Katie to hear, but this time it was different. It was never so quiet when he laughed. She realized there were two things missing: people yelling and screaming at him, and his twin's laugh that usually joined his. She liked the sound. "Nah, decided not to."
"Wow, I'm impressed."
"Are you trying to make me steal something?"
"No, of course not. Just saying."
The couple sat in silence for some time, occasionally shifting positions. Neither could sleep and neither was getting closer to it.
"Do you know the constellations?" Katie asked, breaking the comfortable silence.
"No, sorry. Do you?"
"Nope. I was just wondering. I love the stars."
"Me too. Never took enough time to learn the stars though."
"You never take time to learn anything but lock picking," Katie pointed out.
Travis looked like he was about to argue, but then thought better of it. "True, I guess," he muttered, conceding.
"Those ones over there kind of look like your ears," Katie suggested.
"Been looking at my ears, Gardner?" Travis teased.
Katie blushed. "You wish. No…they just do. Look at them."
"No…no, I don't see it," Travis lied after faking deep consideration.
"Weirdo," Katie mumbled under her breath.
"Hey!" Travis cried indignantly, having heard the comment.
"What? It's true," Katie shrugged.
"Man, you're just pointing out everything tonight, aren't you?" Travis noted.
"I guess I am," Katie blushed again.
Before Travis could reply, an enormous yawn escaped from Katie's mouth.
"Tired?" Travis asked the obvious.
"Just a little," Katie replied, yawning again.
On impulse, she leaned over and rested her head on Travis's shoulder. It felt natural to her; leaning on him was so comfortable and he smelled incredible...like oranges and a sort of sweet scent that she couldn't place. Yawning again, Katie murmured, "Night, Travis."
"Night, Katie," he whispered into her soft curly hair. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and placed his head on hers.
Travis and Katie fell asleep like that on the beach. Both were bothered by insomnia, but they learned company could cure it.