Lady of Sparta

I woke up with the moon still in the sky. I couldn’t tell what time it was anymore. My phone had run died during the first week, but that didn’t give me the time. It was useless in this time, and now it was more useless. I couldn’t even use it as a flashlight. The sound of bugs chirping was odd for me. I was used to the sound of the birds and the warmth of the sun. Instead, it was cool with the bugs out.

I sat up, unsure of what I should do. I wasn’t tired, and I knew that I wouldn’t be going back to sleep. I listened to the wind hitting the house, and the faint sound of breathing in Aristides’s room. An idea came to me. No one would be awake at this time which meant that I could get out of the house for a little bit. I stood up and took those few steps to the door. When I opened it, I turned to look at the door to see if Aristides heard me. I quietly exited the house.

The air was cool and made me shiver a bit, but it wasn’t too much. The smell of the grass and other plants drifted into my nose. It made me feel at piece. I wasn’t bored out of my mind. The land looked different, and I didn’t know if it was because it was at night or because I wasn’t looking at it through a window. I sat down on the grass and just looked around.

There was no sign of human life other than me. Everyone seemed to be locked away in their homes asleep. They didn’t know that I existed, and I was fine with that. It was peaceful that made me wish that I had seen this more in my life. I wished I could do this in my old apartment, but there was always noise coming from one of the neighbors or the road.

I wasn’t worried about being in the past. I wasn’t thinking about the man who lost his wife. It was just me sitting on the grass in the middle of the night with stars shining above me. There was nothing else. Just me and the world.

“What are you doing out here?” a voice asked, coming from behind me. I knew who it was, and I knew that he wasn’t going to yell at me.

I turned to see Aristides, standing in the doorway of his house. Sleep was still in his eyes, and he was yawning. I patted the spot next to me. I smiled when he joined me on the ground. “It’s beautiful,” I whispered, not wanting to break the silence like he had. The peace of the place seemed sacred and needed to be worshipped.

“That doesn’t explain why you’re out here in the dark,” he pointed out.

“Does it matter?” I asked, looking at him for that split second.

He shook his head and looked at me. I couldn’t tell what it was, but the sleep in his face was gone. I looked away from him and just watched the grass move in the wind. We didn’t need to say anything; or rather we didn’t want to say anything. It was a beautiful moment that neither of us wanted to ruin it.

Then I started to think about Aristides. I felt sorry for him, but then another faint feeling came to mind. I liked him. I wasn’t sure about the feeling. I knew I liked him because he wasn’t mean, and he treated me like another person. There was something more to the feeling that I was starting to have for him. He was beautiful, and he had a wonderful personality. I shook my head. I didn’t need to think about him like that. It wouldn’t work. I would have to leave him here.

The minutes seemed to pass by without us realizing it, and the in the distance the sun was coming up. I sighed and pulled myself to my feet. I looked down at Aristides as he moved to stand up. We both knew that people would be waking up soon, and they would probably see me. He stood in front of me, and something seemed to come over him. He leaned forward, and I knew what he was going to do. I didn’t stop him though. I didn’t want to.

He connected our lips for a brief second, and I kissed him back before he pulled away. I wanted to pull him back to me. “I’m sorry,” he muttered. “I…”

I looked at him, not knowing what to say. He tried to open his mouth to say something else, but he couldn’t form them. I wasn’t any better. He looked around and quickly pulled me inside as I heard footsteps, walking on the dirt road.

I rushed to the other room, hoping that whoever it was didn’t see me. Aristides didn’t complain or say anything to me. Once I was hidden in his room, I heard the front door open again. “Morning, Hesperos,” Aristides greeted the guest.

There wasn’t anything different in the room. The blanket was tossed one side, but that was the only difference. It was still sad in the room, and I tried to ignore it. The room seemed to be colder than the other part of the room, and I shivered.

“You seem to be up early today,” Hesperos commented.

“Well, I couldn’t sleep,” he replied. I could hear the lie in his voice, but Hesperos didn’t seem to notice by the way he told him that they had to train earlier today.

They left soon after Hesperos told him about the day’s schedule, and I walked out of the room. I touched my lips, remembering the kiss. I wondered what came over him, but I didn’t know what it was. Part of me wanted to kiss him again, but another part of me knew that this would end badly. I would have to go back to my own time while he stayed here. We would both be hurt if we let these feelings or whatever it was get in the way.

The last thing that Aristides needed was to be hurt again, and I didn’t want to be the one that did that. It wasn’t fair to him, and I was already feeling bad about it. What was I going to do about this? What was going to happen when I say him again? I didn’t know what think. There was something going on between us that I never saw, and I was still trying to see what it was that lead up to this. I just remembered what he told me about how others treated him. I was acting like he wasn’t broken, and he wanted someone who did that for him.