Other Side

14 | Keeping Warm

Talia finally understood why three a.m. had been dubbed the devil's hour.

The walls creaked with every intermittent gust of wind, as if the Big Bad Wolf was outside her window and this house was mere straw, leaving her to wonder if her favorite childhood fable was just a fictional tale. Even if she closed her eyes, she still perceived the spooky shadows of wiry trees on her blinds, projected by the faint rays of moonlight peeking through the clouds.

By hour three of trying to sleep through this meteorological nightmare, Talia was all but convinced a specter was lurking in the corner of her room. Once the storm had picked up, the power had gone out in mere minutes, plunging them into a bitter darkness. Armed only with her phone flash light, she had no way to flip on a light switch and prove her childish theories wrong.

So much like a small child would, she sought out human comfort.

Folding her arms over her chunky pullover, she slipped out of her room and paused in the middle of the hallway. Zaid's door was ajar, defeating the entire purpose they'd stayed upstairs instead of downstairs.

But perhaps, deep down, he didn't mind letting some warmth out, if she could bring some in...

"Zaid?" Her voice barely fell above a whisper, laced with a hint of disquietude. He'd spread himself across the bed on his stomach, covers pulled up past his shoulders. Knowing he was asleep, she uttered his name again with a little more assertiveness, knuckles brushing his doorframe.

He sprung forward and kicked off his sheets, jolted out of his sleep. "Shoo fee, Talia? Is something wrong?" When he noticed her standing idly in his doorway, he breathed out a sigh of relief and gripped his heart. "God, next time don't wake me up like that. You scared me."

She stopped on the last word. She...had scared him? Well, maybe his sleep had been deeper than she'd thought it was, as his mother tongue had rolled off his lips before English had. Guilt replaced any hope that he could keep her company in her bout of insomnia, forcing her to turn around.

"No, wait," he called out, clicking on a small flashlight. He shined the light just under her face, and she shyly looked away. "There has to be a reason you're here."

"It wasn't deep enough to wake you up," she mumbled, fidgeting in her spot. "I just couldn't sleep. And, well..."

"And what?" he asked, tone softening.

"I-I got scared." Noticing the faint smile on his lips, she tightened her arms over her chest in embarrassment. "Oh, come on, it's not that funny."

"I'm not laughing," he said. She whirled around when a treacherous snort left his lips, but this time his words were much more inviting. "Come closer, Talia."

Without thinking, she strode across the room, lured by the undertones of his demand. She stood just a foot away from his queen-size bed, arms still locked over her chest, even though a strange heat replaced the chill she'd felt all night.

He leaned over the edge of the bed, face obscured in the dark. "A little closer." She acquiesced, almost sitting on the edge of his mattress. "Now answer me. Do you want to talk...or sleep?"

Talia opened her mouth, but only air came out. She didn't know what she wanted with him in front of her, a bed in between them, and the night sky above them—just that it probably wasn't holy.

"Because if it's the latter," Zaid continued, voice low and tantalizing, "this bed has room for two."

"I-I..." She struggled to find the words, fiery body thinking for her clouded mind. "We shouldn't do this, right? You promised my grandfather to stay away from me."