The Evolution

24

That night, it finally began to rain in such a long time, and it was pouring. It was a good thing there weren't any training or meetings that day. Otherwise, Rebecca would've been exhausted and cold from moving and thinking too much. Although she was already bombarded with the huge amounts of schoolwork, squeezing in more tasks in between would make her schedule even tighter than ever.

She looked at the time, 8:30. She had already eaten, and her mood wasn't very high. So she spent the rest of her time reading manga online. Manga was always the source to lift her spirits. It was also where she learned to draw, even though her skills didn't match the artists', they were still good enough to recognize. Her friends in middle school used to praise her for her amazing artwork. She even won first place in drawing contests five times in a row. But that still didn't satisfy her all the way, probably because she wasn't used to receiving compliments nor awards.

In the middle of the biggest plot twist in manga history, she, unfortunately, had to close her computer and answer her door that kept ringing. Despite how annoyed she was, she stayed cautious. No one had ever visited her at such a late time in her life.

Through the peephole, she was shocked to find Ben. 

'I honestly expected Donald or someone from the Union instead of him.'

Regardless, she immediately opened the door for him. He already looked soaked from head to toe. But he didn't instantly step inside Rebecca's apartment, which confused her. He glared at the floor, his eyebrows digging deep in his skin. His fists were balled up so tightly that they became pale. 

"B-Ben?" Rebecca nervously tried to get his attention. She never considered herself the type to start a conversation, especially with someone she had been trying to avoid, and Ben definitely wasn't the only one. But there was something about him that made her feel more nervous than talking with Donald.

Ben took another moment to keep himself together. He hesitantly pulled his head up to meet Rebecca's gaze. When she looked into his eyes, she saw guilt, worry, loneliness, instead of anger and rage. 

A minute passed with her and Ben silently staring at each other, as if they were two beings each from a different dimension who have just witnessed seeing a completely different species. 

"Wh-what...happened?" she asked.

As a reply, she was backed up against her shoe stand, unintentionally knocking a few pairs onto the floor, with Ben's surprisingly silky lips connected with hers.

Rebecca was, of course, shocked to the core, but she forced her consciousness to recover and pushed Ben away.

"What the hell?!" she hissed, covering her mouth with the back of her hand. Then, Ben walked right up to her, enclosing the space between their bodies. His forearms leaned against the wall, limiting the chances for Rebecca to escape.

"Rebecca, please. I've never felt this way. We've only just met, but I can't help worrying about you and wanting to hold you every second," he breathlessly said as his teeth chattered. His sight was foggy and swirly, but the sight of Rebecca kept him awake. Barely.

Rebecca cringed at his words. She was feeling more uncomfortable by the minute. 'Is this guy drunk?' But there was no scent of alcohol from his mouth.

"Rebecca, kiss me," Ben pleaded.

Those words shot right through her heart without warning. She was scared for her life. So scared that she pushed Ben away with more force than before, and that was out of instinct. 

"Ben! Snap out of it!" she brought her palm across Ben's cheek. He stumbled back, tripping over some shoes on the floor, and fell to the ground, limp.

Then, all was silent, except for Rebecca's heavy breathing. Her hand was pressed over her heart, beating faster than ever, as if she had just run a marathon. She let herself panic and scream as much as she wanted. After all, who was watching her? Her door was still open, but no one other than Ben and his friends would be out in this kind of weather.

In the end, Rebecca finally calmed down and tip-toed over to Ben, who was sleeping soundly on the floor. He was still wet, so Rebecca knew she had to change him into a new set of clothes if she didn't want him to catch a fever.

The process was definitely hard and time-consuming. First, she had to drag Ben off the dirty floor without waking him up. Luckily, Ben was a heavy sleeper, though he squirmed around a bit every time Rebecca dragged him by the ribs. Next, when she finally got him on the couch, she dried him with a towel, especially his hair, before continuing onto the hard part. 

'Okay. You got this,' she mentally braced herself. She started off with his shirt, unbuttoning it bit by bit, but leaving his closed. But when she came down to the part of having to take it off, she found out he was wearing an undershirt. 

Finishing off with stripping him, leaving his undergarments on (of course), she wrapped him up in her oversized robe that she never wore. The hardest part of taking his clothes off was his socks, which smelled awful. But she couldn't blame him. As a ballerina, there was no way to avoid sweaty feet after three hours of intense dancing. She even took the time to wash his feet since she didn't want stinky sweat smeared on her leather couch. Lastly, she took his temperature and threw his clothes in the washer. 

*******

Ben's eyes fluttered open to a dark living room that seemed very familiar. He wanted to go back to sleep, but his curiosity about where he was pushed him to get up. The first thing he noticed was the couch he was sleeping on. It was leather and his bed was, well, a bed. Honestly, who uses leather as bedsheets?

He also could hear a slight rumbling from somewhere. So he slipped out of the blankets and walked down the cold floor, following the rumbling sound, which led to a closed door with light reaching out from under it. 

Just as he reached for the doorknob, the door swung open. Ben was looking face to face at Rebecca, who had just finished putting his clothes in the dryer.

Ben scratched his neck and looked away, "Um...how long did I sleep?"

"Probably three hours," Rebecca estimated.

"Oh. What time is it?"

"Should be around four, I guess."

Ben raised an eyebrow, "In the morning?"

Rebecca leisurely nodded, "Yeah."

"How did I get here? I do remember walking here in the rain, but-"

"You came into my house, fainted, and came down with a small fever," Rebecca hurriedly said, and gulped.

Ben tried to search for more questions to ask to prevent things from getting too awkward, despite Rebecca's seemingly harsh attitude towards him, but he noticed a reflection of himself in the mirror behind Rebecca. He walked past her and inspected the pink fluffy robe he was wearing, decorated with purple polka dots all around. He turned back at Rebecca with a puzzled look, as if asking for an explanation.

"What?" Rebecca raised both hands up, "That was the only thing that fit you," she said more aggressively than she intended to. Despite that, she went back to her room to sleep. School started at eight, and she already wasted enough time than she should've.

'Did I do something?' Ben thought.