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Lightning flashed and thunder rolled. The sky split open and rain poured down in an avalanche of water. She gave a little shriek of surprise and took his hand in hers, dragging him toward the front door. She let go of his hand and fumbled with her keys. The doorknob was slippery and cold to her touch. She could feel his arm around her shoulders as he tried to shield her from the rain. At last she got the door open and they fell through together.
She laughed and kicked the door shut, then turned back to him. He was laughing, too, but there was something in the way he looked at her, full of yearning. It scared her. She stood up.
"Want some hot chocolate?" She asked him, trying to gloss over the strange moment.
"Sure," Came his quiet reply. He stood up also, walked over to where she was standing at the kitchen counter, opening cabinets. He wrapped his arms around her from behind, kissed her lightly on the cheek. A shudder went through her as he sat down, and she realized that she was full of yearning, too.
She grabbed two mugs and some hot chocolate mix, the kind with little marshmallows in it. In a few moments the cocoa was ready. She set it down in front of him with a flourish, then sat down across from him.
"Thanks." His eyes were searching hers, looking for some clue as to why she was acting so oddly.
"No problem."
An awkward silence lapsed between them. Nita took a sip of her hot chocolate, but it was scalding and burned her tongue. She ran to the sink and spat it out, yelping in pain. When she looked back at him she saw that he was struggling not to laugh.
"You okay?" He asked, grinning.
"No," She replied sullenly, and his expression softened.
"Come here, I'll fix it," He said, and she did. He took her face between his hands, leaned in to kiss her. She kissed him back.
It was simple, after that. She didn't know how to stop it, and didn't want to try.
Nita woke up. It was late, around midnight. For a moment she wondered if it had all just been a dream. Then she saw Kit's sweatshirt lying on her floor, and knew it was all too real. But why had she been dreaming about the night before? Wasn't it enough that she was obsessing about it in her waking life as well?
Maybe that's the point, she thought, maybe there's something important about last night that I didn't understand…or maybe it's just disturbing the peace of my subconscious as well. Oh, whatever.
Nita looked around her room. It was late, but she wasn't tired. She looked down at her sheets, and her face grew hot to think of what she had done on them less than 24 hours before. She wondered if she would ever feel comfortable sleeping on them again. More than that, she wondered if she would ever feel normal again, or if she and Kit would ever be able to look each other in the eye without blushing and going back to staring at the floor.
Nita's whole life seemed to be getting more and more complicated every day. There was Kit, for one thing, but there was also Dairine. She hadn't gotten home until noon that day, and while her father had been furious, she just sat there and took it, which was very unlike her. Was it possible Nita's sister was going through the same thing that Nita was?
Nah, Nita thought, she's too smart to fall into this trap. Still, a part of her wasn't entirely convinced. She resolved to give Dairine the third degree about it in the morning, knowing all too well that she would receive it in turn.
Nita turned off her lamp, punched her pillow, and tried to go back to sleep, but it was no use. Her mind wouldn't quiet down, and she felt terribly lonely lying there all by herself. Sighing, she threw off her covers and padded silently down the hall to Dairine's room. She called her sister's name. There was no response.
"Dairine?" She tried again.
"Nnnghhh?"
"Oh good, you're awake. Hey, listen. Can I, um, sleep in here tonight?" Nita paused, embarrassed, but there was no answer. She crept closer to her sister's bed and saw that she had already gone back to sleep. Carefully Nita crawled under the blanket and laid down, the sound of Dairine's steady breathing already making her feel less alone.
