Celeste blinked her eyes.
And just like that, the rogue was gone? So what the heck was he doing here? Celeste was very confused by his sudden appearance and disappearance.
Celeste opened the window. As she took a breath of the outside air, more questions were left in her mind. How long had he been staying outside her window? If she didn't wake up, what was he going to do? How did he know where she lived and where her window was? And how much of what he had said could she trust?
She had so many questions. She wanted to ask the rogue, but he was long gone.
The early morning light cast a faint glow over the window, adding to the surreal and almost dreamlike atmosphere. Celeste stood at the window, her eyes staring into the direction where Kent had disappeared from view. She strained to hear any sound, any indication that he might be coming back.
Her mind raced with possibilities. But no sound came. There were no footsteps or rustling of leaves. It was as if Kent had never been there at all.
For a moment, Celeste felt as if she was caught in some sort of dream. The world around her felt hazy and indistinct as if it was all just an illusion. But the chill of the morning was all too real. She shivered a little and was more certain that she wasn't dreaming.
As Celeste lowered her head, she noticed a tiny sprout growing in the crack of her window. The blade of grass was small but undoubtedly visible. She couldn't help but wonder how it got there. Perhaps a bird flew by and left behind a seed.
Regardless, it was a miracle that it had managed to grow so beautifully despite the constant traffic of people passing through her window.
Celeste leaned in for a closer look. The sprout was a vibrant green color, with delicate leaves unfurling and reaching for the light. The morning dew glistened on the blades. She felt a sudden urge to reach out and touch it, but hesitated before doing so, not wanting to disturb its growth.
With a deep breath, she pulled her hand back and stepped away to close the window.
She sat back on her bed, briefly contemplating whether or not to go back to sleep. She lay down and stared at the ceiling, but the heaviness of sleep had long deserted her. Sighing, she sat up and padded towards the door, her feet making a soft thudding sound against the floor.
At this time, her family should all still be asleep. The house was quiet without a single sound.
She twisted the doorknob. To her surprise, the door across from her room was also open. She looked up and saw Jeremy with the identical surprise in his eyes.
"M-morning," he said, his voice tinged with awkwardness.
"Morning," she replied automatically. "Can't sleep either?"
The words tumbled out of her mouth before she could think them through. And she immediately regretted it. Of course, Jeremy wasn't struggling with sleeplessness like she was. He had probably taken advantage of everyone else's slumber to sneak out, just like he had done before.
"I-I just wanted to get some fresh air," he stuttered, his eyes shifting around and fingers fidgeting.
Despite the situation, Celeste couldn't help but find that side of him endearing, like a puppy caught in the act.
"Okay," she said. She knew Jeremy just didn't want to complicate their already delicate relationship any further.
Celeste had thought countless times about how to handle their relationship. Now that rejection was out of the picture, the idealist conclusion was that they should keep their distance from each other. But Jeremy couldn't keep avoiding her forever, and she refused to sacrifice their individual freedom.
All of a sudden, an idea sprouted in her mind like a long-dormant plant finally breaking through the soil. It had been there all along, waiting for the right moment to bloom. It took seeing Kent earlier and now Jeremy after the refreshing morning dew for the seed of the idea to finally come to life. Yet, she still couldn't completely make out what it would be like.
Jeremy took a step closer to her, but then he frowned, his nose wrinkling up in a gesture of confusion and distaste.
"Who were you just talking to?" Jeremy's face twisted into a scowl, and his intense gaze locked onto her.
Celeste did a double-take. "How did you know?"
She was caught off guard, and her mind raced with a million possible responses, but she blurted out that one sentence. Saying it out loud meant very little, but Celeste felt a twinge of guilt anyway. It was as if she didn't want Jeremy to know about her conversation with Kent.
"His stink is all too obvious," Jeremy growled through gritted teeth. His voice was low and menacing, and Celeste wasn't sure if it was Jeremy or his wolf speaking. The words hung heavy in the air.
His stink? Celeste automatically sniffed at her clothes, but there was nothing out of the ordinary. She hadn't even touched Kent, they had only spoken through a window.
She was baffled at how Jeremy could detect any scent at all. As his gaze bore onto her skin, Celeste felt a sense of settling under her skin.
"Since you already know it's him, why bother asking me?" Celeste said. For some reason, that came out like a taunt.
She had no idea whether her brain and her tongue were at war today, but whenever it came to Kent, her tongue seemed to take on a life of its own.
Jeremy moved closer to her, and as he did, Celeste could feel the heat radiating from his body. Her wolf raced inside her, threatening to burst free.
But this time, as he drew closer, Celeste looked up at the darkness in his eyes and felt a flicker of fear.
She took a step back, her movements tentative and uncertain. She wasn't sure what it was about Jeremy that made her so uneasy, but she knew that she couldn't be too close to him.
But her retreat seemed to anger Jeremy.
He closed the distance between them with a single, purposeful step. His body pressed against hers, and Celeste could feel the hard wall at her back.