It was Wednesday, which had become Elizabeth's favourite day of the week. Her line up of classes was exciting but also manageable, with calculus in the morning and political history in the afternoon. She had a half hour break which she used to treat herself to coffee, where she drank it from a mug sat in her favourite seat in the corner of the coffee shop with the paper. Coffee was so much better when you could warm your hands clasping a mug and watch the world go by. She made sure she tasted every sip. Later, on she had an hour-long lunch break. In the early evening, she had a tradition of eating slices of the best Italian pizza in Chartlottesville, then she'd head back to the library until around eleven to study. It was her midweek indulgence, a day of treating herself and it always made her smile.

UVA was old, wooden, creaky and full of character. Nooks and crannies were everywhere and along the corridor from the library were a number of smaller, quieter study rooms with large desks and old-fashioned lamps with tasseled pull-cords in the corners of the room. Brass handles lined the doors and the ceilings were high and ornate with elaborate and pretty plaster-work. The rooms really were beautiful, copied from English royalty and a testament to heritage. You could take books there from the library with permission as long as you left them on the return shelves and study to your hearts content.

As magnificent as the study rooms were, not many people seemed to use them and Elizabeth was grateful. She supposed it was because they were further away from the library and some people found them a little creepy. But to her they were quiet and peaceful. Elizabeth could spread her things haphazardly all over the desk without fear of someone side eyeing her about taking up too much space and stretch her legs under the desk without inadvertently playing footsie with a stranger.

For the last three weeks' she'd noticed there was a really cute guy who'd also been studying there. She tried to tell herself that wasn't the only reason she had a smile on her face every Wednesday, but supposed her smiles had been a little wider over the last month or so. However, he really wasn't the reason she chose to study outside the library this one day a week, absolutely not. Her being here at this time had nothing to do with a tall, brunette guy with sparkling hazel eyes. Definitely not. She shook her head.

The door squeaked open and she tried desperately to stop herself from looking up immediately. It didn't mean it was him, but she couldn't help the tingles of excitement that she felt in her stomach that it could be. She knew if she caught sight of him she wouldn't be able to stop smiling so she pinned her eyes to the words on her page, making notes on her writing pad and listened as whoever it was sat themselves down and flipped open a textbook.

She left it a good couple of minutes before risking a glance upwards. It was him. She breathed in through her nose and out through her mouth. He had hung his jacket on the back of the chair, and his grey short-sleeved tee showed off his muscular arms. He had sandy-coloured thick, slightly curly hair and blue eyes. He was gorgeous. And he was keen on his studying too, which made him all the more appealing. This to Elizabeth was the ideal situation. To her, he seemed untouchable. He was way out of her league and would never be interested in a second-year student like her. She suspected he was a Masters student or in his final year, he definitely looked a little older. She looked at him, thinking about what it would be like to talk to him, would she be able to flirt with him, would he flirt back, just how soft were those lips of his… She shook her head again and focused on the text in front of her, allowing herself a break to daydream in thirty minutes.

Henry had a chance to survey the room before he entered, something his ROTC training had been teaching him to do. He was pleased to see her there again. The last couple of weeks a beautiful blonde girl had joined him in the study room. He'd never spoken to her but he'd looked up a couple of times from his studying and given her a shy smile. She'd smiled back and he'd felt like the bottom of his seat fell out from under him. She was simply breathtaking. Long blonde hair was piled into a high ponytail, a spare pencil sticking through it. Baby blue eyes and high cheek bones that he suspected were the envy of everyone she met. From the looks of her legs sticking out from underneath the desk she was tall, probably around 5'7 and long, slim legs were inside her scruffy-looking bleached jeans. He'd told himself the first time he saw her in there to not let himself get carried away. She probably had a football team captain boyfriend; anyone would be daft if they hadn't snapped her up and kept her as their girlfriend. But for the Wednesdays he'd shared the room with her, he'd been grateful for the smiles she had brought to his face both now and when he found himself thinking of her during the week.

This was the third week he'd seen her here though and he wondered if this meeting would be a third time lucky for him. He made a mental note to watch out for the next time she got up to grab a book off the shelf or took a bathroom break and decided he'd speak to her. It was crazy how he hadn't already, dreaming up excuses not to. If she had a boyfriend, fine, he would back off. He was sure she'd tell him quickly, and he'd make polite conversation for the rest of the evening before avoiding this room on future Wednesdays. She had occupied far more of his thoughts than he had ever intended, and he was starting to conclude that there must be a reason for that. He cast his eyes downwards and began to read, waiting for a break in her studies.

A bright flash in the darkened, cloudy outside and a loud bang startled them both and Elizabeth dropped her pencil on her book looked up, catching Henry's eye. He saw her inhale a small breath, her hand on her chest in shock. A storm had been threatening all day, and now it had finally decided to break. He stood up from his desk and walked over to the window, Elizabeth not failing to notice the way his t-shirt clung to his abs. She turned her head to look back out of the window.

'Wow,' she whispered, not actually referring to the weather outside.

He held back one of the long, heavy blue velvet curtains to get a better view and stood next to the window watching the storm. He heard her chair push back from her desk and was delighted to see she was coming to join him. He looked up at her and met her eyes, watching the flashes of lightning reflect in her pupils.

'It really is rather beautiful,' he commented, his eyes not leaving her face as she stared forward, watching the rain lash across the window.

'I think it's close by, it's so loud.'

'Yeah. Look at the whole sky light up, it's almost purple.'

'I've always liked watching thunder storms, for some reason I've never been scared of them. Even when I was little.'

'I guess I'm the same. Though I've always watched them from the inside looking out. I wouldn't want to be rushing home right now.'

She shook her head and pressed herself closer to the window, leaning both hands on the wooden ledge. She stood close to him, making no effort to move away from him or choose a different window to watch the storm from. Another loud crack of thunder sounded and they watched as water gushed down the paths across the lawn, large puddles forming in the tree-lined garden below them. The leaves swayed and blew off the branches, whipping themselves into a whirl as they flew by.

'I'm Henry by the way. I think I saw you in here last week?'

'You did. Sometimes I just need to escape the library for a change of scene. I'm Elizabeth.'

'It gets a little crowded and noisy in there sometimes. These rooms are great. Not many people use them though.'

'That can be a blessing.'

'I couldn't agree more!'

He had noticed that she'd been there before. A small smirk crossed her face and she couldn't help but feel happy that she'd at least left a little bit of an impression. The lamps flickered on and off in time with another huge lightning bolt striking the sky. They looked out over the horizon, waiting the few short seconds for the following rumble of thunder. Henry turned to face her just as the lights dimmed again, the bulbs buzzing as they flashed. A sudden explosive bang startled Elizabeth, causing her to jump closer towards him.

'Elizabeth are you alright?'

'Yeah.'

Her heart was pounding as her eyes adjusted to the black that had descended over the room. The bang had definitely not been thunder, but a power surge then a power loss. She nodded, even though he probably couldn't see her and was a little embarrassed that her hand had somehow found its way into his. She wondered if he knew his thumb was stroking over hers. The motion was calming, and she noticed he hadn't made any move to remove his fingers from hers.

'It might come back on in a minute. Or a generator might kick in.'

'I guess so. I've got a flashlight on my keyring.'

'Me too. If it's the one they gave you at UVA initiation they last well!'

'The very same.'

Aside from the cracks of lightning in the sky, the room was pitch black. The high street lamps over campus had all gone dark and Elizabeth could just about make out the outlines of the furniture and a faint glow of white paper from her desk. Her hand remained in Henry's as he tugged on it and moved towards her things.

'Think you can rifle through your bag and find your flashlight? Then help me find mine?'

'Sure.'

He eventually let go of her hand but stayed close to her, as she tipped the contents of her bag on the floor then felt over the objects for her keys. She switched on the small Maglite and held it under her chin to light up her face, causing them both to laugh.

'You look like you're about to crack out a great ghost story.'

'Maybe later if you're lucky and we're still stuck here.'

'At least I'm lucky to be stuck here with you.'

She raised her eyebrows at him and couldn't help but smile. If she'd have shone the light on Henry she'd have seen a red glow over his cheeks. He closed his hand over hers on the flashlight, a little unnecessarily, but he found himself unable to help it.

'Can I borrow this?'

She nodded and watched him walk across the room to get his torch from his bag. The silhouette of his ass was a damn fine sight in those jeans and the t-shirt highlighted his shoulders and muscular arms. There were certainly worse people to be stuck in a storm in a dark study room with.

He felt her eyes on him as he crossed the room and was beginning to feel more positive about their encounter. She had also held his hand when the power had first gone out and his palm was still warm from the heat of hers. She definitely held his hand for longer than she needed to as well and he had struggled not to smile in the darkness at the advantage this storm had given him. He was hoping they could at least talk a little until they waited for the rain to settle and made their way home.

She heard the jangle of keys as he fished his set out of his backpack and saw the light of two torches as he returned her torch to her. He made his way towards the door and twisted the round brass handle. The door rattled in its frame and nothing happened. Henry shrugged his shoulders and turned to face Elizabeth, casting the light of his torch in her direction.

'I just thought the emergency lights in the hall might be on. If I opened the door it might give us a bit more light in here.'

'Yeah. Good idea.'

Elizabeth scrunched her eyebrows together as she watched Henry jiggling the handle, his shoe kicking at the door as he leant on it with his shoulder.

'Henry? Hang on a second.'

She dodged between the desks to go and join him, shining her flashlight on the door handle to give him some more light. He gave her his torch to hold so he could try the door handle with both hands, but it would only go so far before it got stuck. Elizabeth had a sinking feeling that the door wasn't just stuck.

'It's not normally this hard to open...'

Henry continued to turn the handle one way, then back the other but the old oak door stayed firmly put in its frame. He sighed, rubbing a hand over his forehead and met Elizabeth's eyes, a sorry expression on his face.

'I think we might be locked in.'

'I think you're right.'