You're My Home (completed)

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Nineteen

Collin sat on the trailer rooftop, listening to Rachel's unsteady breathing as she attempted to recover from their night out. With his supernatural hearing, Collin could hear the sound of the bedroom door closing and Rachel's hand sifting through her hair. He heard droplets of water hit the carpet, shaken from her damp strands.

Collin absentmindedly put his hand over his heart. His pulse beat just as fast as Rachel's. It was weird having a human body. It was weird having a real pulse. Before he landed on Rachel's lawn, he was a spirit with no need for normal human functions. He still wasn't completely human. People who had seen him in the past, saw him the way God wanted them to.

When he was just a spirit, Collin felt something much like a pulse when he looked at Rachel. It was a sort of tingling, exploding rhythm that expanded inside him. Even back then he knew what being in love with her meant, but he still had a short while to wait. But after tonight, hope bubbled in Collin. Maybe she could love him, too. Maybe she could accept him.

Collin felt the thumping of his heart begin to calm. Even if Rachel didn't accept him, he would never leave her. He would protect her forever. There was nothing else he'd rather do. She was his home. He already knew she loved him. He'd known for a while now. There was just something about the way she looked at him, and whether she said it or not, she couldn't hide it.

He dropped his hand and pulled out the papers from his pocket. In that magical writing the first one said, "Throw rocks at her window."

He smiled to himself. She'd always wanted a guy to do that. God knew. God was answering her secret wishes, wishes she had never even asked Him for.

Collin unfolded the second paper. It read, "Dance with her. Kiss her in the rain."

God truly was a pursuer of her heart, but He wasn't the only one. Collin tilted his head to the sky and shared a smile with God.

The angel sank back, one arm over his head. Sleep wasn't something he could naturally do without first being severely weakened. So instead, he watched the stars, feeling comforted by the fact that Rachel was under the same stars.

***

Rachel had trouble getting to sleep that night. Her stomach was all fluttery when she replayed the day's events. Stress tried to grab her attention, but she willed it away. She wouldn't worry about wrong and right, or human and inhuman right now. The memory of Collin's kiss was a much more attractive thought.

It was weird to admit, even in the privacy of her head, but Rachel knew Collin was there. She knew he would always be there. If she were to go outside, she knew he would be nearby.

For some odd reason, it comforted her that Collin shared the same planet as she did. It comforted her that they were under the same stars.

***

The next morning Rachel awoke to the thoughts she'd fallen asleep to. Her tired eyes blinked open and a smile curled her lips.

"Good morning, beautiful," Collin said with a smile of his own.

"You know, most people just send that in a text. They don't suddenly appear in bed next to the person."

Collin's smile revealed perfect white teeth. Rachel considered a possible career for him in the teeth modelingindustry.

"Should I just text you next time?"

"Angels don't have cell phones. Or at least, I'm pretty sure they don't."