Page 92 of Even After Sunset

“ONE!”

I take a running leap, and a second later I hear Silas whooping loudly somewhere off to my right, as we

Fall…

Falll…

Falll…

And then

SPLASH!!!

Into the cool swimming hole. My arrow-straight body slices through the clear water, adrenaline still pumping through my veins. I have just enough time for the realization to hit me that, holy cow, I actually did it! And then I’m propelling myself upwards, and a second later, my head pierces the surface.

People cheer and whistle and I’m embarrassed by the attention, but also so elated that I can’t wipe the smile from my face. Silas swims over to me, his wet hair wild and unruly, and his lips deliciously pink. He sweeps my own soaked hair from my eyes and pulls me in for a kiss.

“You did it.”

I did it.

I kiss him back and then pull away, laughing; delirious and out of breath and high on life. I love spending my days with this boy. He brings out the best version of myself. And the smile on his face right now makes me think it’s possible that I’m doing the same for him. It’s all I want for Silas, for him to be as happy as I have been for the past few years. As happy as I am in this moment right now. And on days like this, I fully believe it’s possible.

On days like this, I think he does, too.

It’s hard staying awake until closing, after a full afternoon of swimming in the sun. Silas mans the window for the last hour while I flop on my bed and fire up my laptop to put the finishing touches on a cover I’m designing for a Cat Sleuth Mystery (yes, apparently that is actually a thing).

Once the last customers have left and he’s finished cleaning up, Silas pulls off his T-shirt and comes over to lie beside me. His skin is bronzed, and after spending so much time outside these last few days, there are lighter streaks inhis hair from the sun. There’s also a wisp of cotton candy clinging to his bangs, which I pick off. Silas grabs my finger and sucks it into his mouth.

“Tasty…” he grins, removing my finger with a shallow pop, and I laugh.

I close my laptop and we lie there talking. Silas strokes his fingers through my hair. “It’s so shiny,” he always tells me. As if that’s something unique to me, even though I’m pretty sure it’s no glossier than any other girl’s hair.

The night-time post-festival sounds have become familiar now: camper doors slamming and clicking shut, muffled chatter, laughter, the crackle of fire in a metal pit nearby, and sometimes, like tonight, the faint strumming from a guitar. It’s a perfect summer mix, and it lulls me to sleep.

I jolt awake sometime in the middle of the night.

“Shit, no!NO! Please… don’t!” Silas’ voice shouts, and I swing around to find him lying on top of the covers beside me, where he must have fallen asleep earlier.

He stillisasleep, I realize.

His eyes are closed, and the comforter is soaked with sweat. His entire body, actually, is covered in a sheen of moisture. The moonlight reflects off his muscled chest, which is heaving so,sofast.

“Silas!” I plead, placing my hand on his bare skin. I can feel his heartbeat pulsing against my palm. “Wake up! You’re having a nightmare.”

He swats my arm away so violently it’ll probably leave a mark in the morning.

“NO!” he screams again. “No….PLEASE!”

He isn’t thrashing and flailing like people having nightmares do in movies. Instead, he’s utterly still, except for the rapid rise and fall of his chest.

“Please…” he wails, and the raw agony in his voice shatters my heart into a tiny little pieces, because I know what he’s reliving right now and I hate that he can’t seem to find a way to leave it in the past.He deserves to find a way to move on, the way I did.

I rub my hand more firmly against his chest, ducking out of the way this time when his arm flies up to lash out at me. Tears escape his closed lids, and they traildown his cheeks… down his neck and onto the comforter. They look so out of place on him, because the square cut of his jaw and those broad shoulders and hard ridges of muscle make him look so… solid. But those tears make him look utterly broken.

I shake his arm, almost frantically now, with both hands.

“Please Silas… Wake up!”

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