2015

“Can I sleep with you?”

I rubbed my right eye as I glanced at the clock on the wall. It was 3 a.m. in the morning and Krystal stood in front of my door with her usual pajamas. I scratched my head in confusion.

“Is there something wrong?” I asked.

“Just don’t feel like sleeping alone,” she replied.

Unlike in Paris, we always slept separately in our vineyard’s house because we had our own rooms. Krystal usually slept alone in the guest room and she was always okay with that.

Maybe tonight was just an exception.

“Well, come in,” I said, opening my door a little wider for her.

I watched her until she went under the blanket. I turned the lamp off and lie on the left side of the bed, closing my eyes. Suddenly Krystal moved her head from her pillow to my shoulder. She moved her body closer to me, pressing her arm against my chest. I put my arm around her shoulder, ensuring that she was comfortable enough to sleep.

Just when my eyelids started to get heavier, I felt a light kiss planted on my left jaw.

“Krys?” I whispered, “are you asleep?”

Krystal didn’t answer me. Instead, she kissed me again, twice, on my left cheek and on my eyelid, respectively.

In between that dream-like yet confusing moment, I could feel her breath before my earlobe. She whispered, “Do you mean the words you’ve said to me earlier?”

I turned my head to find a pair of bright eyes staring at me within the darkness. I nodded.

It happened in a daze; Krystal’s lips suddenly brushed against mine. I was completely taken aback and my mind suddenly just turned blank. The moment when I realized that she was indeed kissing me, her lips were pulled back from mine.

The kiss was longer than just a casual peck, but it was shorter than a mere lust. It was almost enough.

But then, almost is never enough.

Slowly, I pulled her head closer and locked my lips on hers. A soft, short, tender kiss.

She kissed me right back.