Just to Live

The owls woke up at night, ready to go searching for food. Usually, smaller creatures of the night stalked around thinking all predators fell into a peaceful slumber. It was time to wonder. But those poor little curious creatures, they didn’t know their life would fade away in a few short moments.

It was one in the morning and Tabitha couldn’t sleep. She was supposed to be asleep hours ago, but it was impossible for her. It didn’t help that before everyone had to go to bed; Erika made Tabitha watch a documentary about owls on Animal Planet.

Since she was bored and couldn’t sleep for anything, she walked down to the kitchen for lemonade. Making lemonade takes effort so it was bound to make Tabitha sleep afterwards. That was her assumption at least.

Matthew made a stop downstairs in the kitchen for a drink of water. The weather outside was muggy and unbearable. It was the definite signs of a rainstorm. Even though the air conditioning in the mansion was on the highest level, Matthew could still feel the sticky weather. It was a trick of the mind, but it was working. The stupid climate forced him to take off his shirt, only to have his PJ pants.

When he found Tabitha, her back was facing him as he saw her cut lemons into halves. He grinned and hugged her with his arms around her waist. It was dangerous especially with the knife in her hand, but Matthew left kisses on her neck that made her shiver. She hummed in approval.

“Go to my room with me?” he muttered, returning to kissing wherever he could.

“Matt I don’t-”

“We can just watch a movie if you want.”

But that wasn’t what she wanted. She knew what she wanted whenever she kissed him. Those hormonal thoughts gave her moments of boldness. She turned in Matthew’s arms, well aware that her hands smelled strongly of lemon. She wanted to admire his trimmed chest, but there would be time for that later. She added in a quick kiss to lips, and then said, “Let’s go.”

His room was huge. If Tabitha ever had a “dream bedroom,” she imagined it to be the size of the room she was standing in. Mostly band posters and pictures littered the walls with open gaps of bare white wall. Near the flat screen TV was a diverse movie rack. The selection was larger than the movies in the movie room, ironically.

The bed was a California King—one of those mattresses only seen in the movies. The bed was a modern style with white sheets and pillows and the comforter was a smoky gray. His furniture, on the other hand, had a Victorian twist. The more Tabitha thought about it, the room reminded her of the furniture she saw in Beauty And The Beast.

There was also a mini-fridge right next to the TV. If he had that, why did Matthew go down to the kitchen? It defeated the purpose of the mini-fridge.

Softly, pitter-patter of rain fell onto the roof.

“Tabby, come on! I put the movie in!” Matt whined as he enthusiastically smacked the spot on the bed next to him. With the same enthusiasm, Tabitha took a running start and jumped onto the bed, bouncing once. “What are you five?” Matthew teased.

“Ew pedophile!”

“You’re mean!”

“Oh look the movie!”

The moving opened with several people in business attire at a large meeting table. It was obvious the woman and the man with the long hair compared to all the other men there were arguing over ownership of material possessions. The beginning scene was wry and uneventful, but afterwards Tabitha couldn’t stop laughing. Why hadn’t she watched The Wedding Crashers before?

It was true Matthew had seen that movie countless times and he knew every line every person spoke. He could even close his eyes and say the lines in sync with the movie. Rather than watch the film, his eyes zoned in on Tabitha’s face. He loved watching her as she watched the movie. Every giggle turned laugh helped his heart beat faster. He could hardly explain the feeling.

At a random point, he leaned forward and kissed her cheek. With amazing ninja skills, he pretended like nothing out of the ordinary happened. Since his eyes were now stuck on the TV, he didn’t see Tabitha blush but smirk too. She stared at the side of his face with hard concentration.

“What?” he retorted nervously.

With her eyebrows still scrunched together, she said, “Ew! You have something on your face.”

“What? Get it off.”

She scooted over to him and turned his head to face her. With that same hard concentration from before, she stared at him then licked his bottom lip sensually.

“All gone!” she giggled.

He groaned and smashed her body against his catching her totally off guard. He kissed the side of her head. “Can’t play tricks on me. It’s mean.”

They shared a moment of silence until Tabitha spoke up. “Hey Matt?”

“Yeah?”

She rendered him speechless with a fiery kiss while climbing to sit in his lap at the same time. His hands touched all over her back. Her skin felt like it was on fire even with the intense air spewing from the air conditioner in the room.

“I want you,” she nearly whimpered.

“You have me,” he whispered back. Since she ended their kiss, he moved to her neck, leaving soft temporary reminders of his love for her.

She shook her head, moving her head to touch with his. Her lips were close to his ear. “I want you.”

He cupped her face so she had to lean back a bit and use her knees for support to see his face. “You’re absolutely beautiful.” If it was any other time, Tabitha would’ve doubted what he said, but there was something different in the atmosphere that night. As his body lay on top of hers, sharing the warmth, his eyes didn’t trace anywhere but her eyes. His hands did smooth over her arms comfortingly, but that was all. Unable to contain herself any longer, Tabitha grabbed his neck to bring his lips closer to hers. A brilliant smile showed on both their faces.