wake up your sleeping heart {closed}

Lines and lines filling a journal. Pages and pages on end of not words, but detailed maps of the world. The subtle sound of pen on paper were heard throughout the room from where a young woman rested on the bed, her back against the wall and a blanket covering her legs. Though she was in her room, Kimply lived in the city of Venice for a moment, lost in the map that began to appear in front of her. She could hear the sound of water lapping against the sides of boats as they made their way through the small canals. She could hear the murmur of people wandering around the marketside, and she could almost feel the warmth of the sun on her skin, all while she sat in the small room. Sometimes she thought if she tried enough, she could really go there. It was so close she could almost taste it. So absorbed in her own little world as she added more and more to the paper, Kimply didn't notice anyone at the door until they spoke up, knocking her out of her trance.

He hadn't anything else to do for the evening, despite the distractions. Throughout his hours of studying and shuffling through homework, every so often, he would find himself staring outside his door, looking across the hall where he knew she was. The most amusing thing was that this was a normal occurrence for him, just thinking about her, wondering what she was doing; it had to be consider some sort of foolish to let himself be so absentminded with thoughts of the girl - especially since he saw her on a daily basis. They were roommates after all.

And yet, his mind remained her practically at all times. It wasn't until he'd finished his work that he'd realized then he wanted nothing more than to talk to her. Ethan had made a slow and quiet walk to her room, making note of the absence of their roommates - or at least he assumed they were gone. Her door wasn't closed, but as he pushed it open, he still found himself standing a little lost in the frame. He only noticed how sweaty his palms were once he spoke up.

"Kimply? Are you busy?"

Kimply's head jerked up and she took a moment to realize she was in her dorm and not in an Italian city. She put her pen down and crinkled her nose a bit as she frowned in confusion. Normally, Ethan never came over just to talk, even if she wished he did. Sure, the ran into each other every day in the dorm, but visits like this were a bit more rare. Which led her to believe there was something he needed. "Not at all, what's up?" Kimply asked, eyes bright and curious.

Perhaps he had been interrupting something rather important, despite the cheerful way she looked at him, it had almost seemed like he'd broken her out of a trance. Ethan fiddled around with his glasses, peering forward onto her desk and seeking hundreds of precise marks and lines scattered along a slick sheet of paper. A smile cracked onto his face, admiring her work. "Erm," he cleared his throat a bit awkwardly. "I suppose I wanted to watch you at work, if that's alright with you." He'd looked over her sketches and what not before, but he'd never asked to take a seat while she was in her zone, per se.

Kimply's eyes widened in surprise. He'd never asked to watch her before. In fact, nobody had seemed to be interested in her drawings at all. Which she could understand. While it was beautiful to her, it was just a boring old map to most people. The fact that Ethan even wanted to sit there and watch her filled her with a sense of joy that she couldn't quite understand. Still, she visibly brightened and she scooted over on her bed to make room for him. "Go ahead, I'd love the company."

Slightly relieved, Ethan shut the door quietly behind him, more of a habit than anything - he hasn't considered whether or not she would have liked to keep it open. Deciding quickly not to dwell on it, to try and save what face he could, he walked quickly over to the bed and took a seat by her side. "What is this a map of?" The young man asked, trying to make out the lines, but without something to start on he hadn't the slightest clue where she could have found herself then.

While Kimply got comfortable, she noticed how close Ethan was to her. Their shoulders were a breath away from each other, and she could feel the warmth of his body radiating off of him as he leaned in to look at her journal. Happy he was focused on the drawing and not her, she didn't have to worry about the slight rose color painting her cheeks as she spoke. "It's Venice. It's one of my favorite cities, because there really isn't another quite like it. Actually, that's true with every city, but Venice is extra unique." There was an excitement she couldn't quite keep from her voice as she spoke. Pointing to a certain group of lines on the page, the pink haired girl continued. "Here's all the canals. They separate each island- but uh, I'm sure you know about that." She hesitated, and looked over at him, realizing she'd been rambling.

He was only half-aware of what exactly he was doing, caught up in her excitement and watching as her fingers trailed over the man lines and shapes, outlines of buildings and roads, and canals as she pointed out. The young man leaned closer beside her, brushing his body against hers and smiling up at the Winter girl. "No, I can see it now," He mused, tracing his fingers through on of the thinly drawn water ways. He let himself think aloud then. It was the best way he knew to try and fill in the silence. "The canals go throughout the entire city, from the outer limits to the San Marco Basilica -" As his fingers traced up the slick s-shape, his hand grazed over hers. He suddenly felt his heart jumpstart and he pulled back a little, a twinge of pink in his cheeks. "Erm - I'm sure you knew that as well." He cleared his throat again.

She looked up at him when he started speaking, a bit of surprise in her bright eyes. Focusing on his face, she didn't notice his hand move towards her till they touched and she jumped a bit, her cheeks blushing along with his. She didn't speak for a moment, staring at him with wide eyes before looking away and laughing, trying to ignore her beating heart. "I guess we're both know it alls." She said, trying to break the weird tension of the moment.

Ethan allowed himself to smile again, catching those crystal blue eyes of hers before quickly shifting his gaze back to the paper's in her hand. "I always wanted to travel when I was young," He murmured a quiet confession. "... Well I suppose I did travel quite a bit technically, but it was never that scenic." The Winter frowned. But perhaps it was best to not get too personal. Ah, but he already invited himself in on her time. Then again, he wasn't sure how much he had to lose.

"Back when I was ... asleep," For lack of better word, "I used to have visions of us going places... Or just traveling to places like this."His fingers brushed over Venice again.

Kimply nodded, focusing on Ethan's face as his hands moved across her journal. At the mention of his coma, she averted her eyes, a sad frown on her face as she studied her recreation of Venice, not meeting his eyes. "I've always wanted to travel. I see the world so much in my mind, but it's not the same as the real deal. I want to see everything. So I guess I'm glad that I got to in your mind."

There was a long pause of silence between them that wasn't exactly uncomfortable, but there was a sense of her trying to put the words together. Finally Kimply spoke in a soft murmur. "When you were asleep, I stayed by your bedside every day. Every moment I could. I'm sure Mel was sick of me." She laughed, no humor in her voice. "But then I ran away. I left you." She looked up to meet his eyes, finally voicing the problem that had been eating away at her since the day she left to find her dad. "I'm sorry."

The Winter let out a soft smile, thinming that perhaps the two of them together at some point could go to Venice after all, perhaps as a graduation present. It wasn't as if they had anything to lose. He thought to say something along those lines, but the words caught in his throat. There was a long silence as they both tried to find the right words to say.

When she finally seemed to find hers, it surprised him. His blue eyes softened as they met hers, a feeling of guilt tearing away ay his gut. "You've never told me that," Ethan murmured, feeling touched. He hadn't remember much from those days. They were all a blur to him, like a hazy dream. And it was his fault it happened at all. "Don't say sorry. You did nothing wrong." He felt a particular kind of bravery then, reaching over and nimbly taking her hand in his. "You're with me now and, well, that's what matters, isn't it?"

She shrugged, blushing a little. Come to think of it, she hadn't told him because it was a bit embarrassing. Perhaps she shouldn't have cared as much as she did, but she couldn't stand the thought of not being by his side. "I know, but I just. I wanted to be there for you-" When he took her hand in his, she silenced, looking at their joined hands for a moment. "Yeah, I'm with you now." She said softly, tracing the veins of his hands like they were lines on one of her maps. Her heart was beating against her chest, and the feeling she had was alien to her.

A warm grim escaped him, and he looked as nervous as he did relieved AZ she didn't seem to flinch or slip her hand back away, instead tracing her fingers over his skins and leaving behind trails of sparks in their wake. It didn't matter to him if she left because she had already been there for him more than anyone else had ever been. He didn't feel as if he could possibly as for anything more.

"Do you remember that evening years ago, it was around February and that monster ran around nicking neck?" Even thinking about it brought a warm red to his cheeks, no matter how long ago it was. "... I said I loved you... I believe I might have even proposed." He let out an awkward laugh. It was still embarrassing to think about. "Truth be told, it wasn't all that creature's fault for - erm - my behavior."

The young man could feel his heart begin to pound, suddenly his neck beaded sweat and he was more nervous than before. "W-what I mean to say is... I've always found you amazing. And beautiful. And smart... and beautiful... and, oh-" He was just repeating himself wasn't he?

With her hand still in his, Kimply sat and listened as Ethan spoke. When he brought up the day in February, she reminisced on it. At the time it was a bit stressful, as she wasn't used to random declarations of love, but once she figured out what was going on afterwards (after she ran off, more so) she always looked back on it and laughed.

"I've always liked you. I mean, when we first met, admittedly it was strange - but I'd see you in the strangest places or in class, looking so concentrated sketching those maps into whatever you could get your hands on. Those are maps, right?" He laughed lightly. "Its so admirable. You're just so smart and beautiful and..." A distanced look appeared on the winter's face. A part of him looked like he knew what he was saying, but on the other hand - he looked completely out of it.
Ethan took in a deep breath, holding her hand still and getting down on a bent knee. "I've never done this before so I'm not exactly sure how it goes..." He chuckled a bit under his breath, a crooked smile on his face as his gray eyes gazed up at her. "I guess... You'll be my girlfriend, won't you?"

She remembered staring at him with wide eyes, not knowing what to say. And in a moment of blind panic, blurting out a no and running off. They had stayed on awkward terms for a while after that, avoiding each other in the dorm and looking away when they passed in the hallway. Eventually though, she chalked it up to the monster that had nipped him and was finally able to look at him without blushing like a child on Valentine's day.

Wasn't the creature's fault. She frowned, her lips parting slightly as she tried to piece it all together. He didn't mean... did he? Oh god. Her hand froze on his, and she visibly tensed up in panic. "Oh." Just like last time, she felt the overwhelming need to run and hide. She wasn't cut out for this. Her whole life, she did everything in her power to stay away from moments like this. Moments with soft looks and sweet love confessions, moments that felt like a warm blanket being draped over her, that made her heart beat faster than it ever had before and her cheeks heat up.

Perhaps it was weird of her, but the first thing she thought of was her mother. The way she had loved so hard and so openly, only to be left in the dust by someone who decided he didn't want a life with her. The way she couldn't even get out of bed some days. How she had tasted love only to have it taken away. Kimply always believed it was better never to love than to love and lose it. Then she thought of her father. Sure, not every guy would leave their wife and child. But he had. He was supposed to be a good man, and he just left them to fend for themselves. So she couldn't fall in love. What if that happened to her? She couldn't lose it, she couldn't.

She had done so good, tried so hard to prevent this, but here she was, a boy in her bed and his hand in her's. That's when she knew. She had royally fucked up. He thinks I'm amazing and beautiful and oh god oh god oh god. How was she supposed to find the words to say that she thought he was perfect, and smart, and beautiful, and too kind for his own good? How was she supposed to find the words to say she felt the same way, but couldn't break down the walls she'd spent her whole life building up?

It's like she forgot how to speak. She realized she had been sitting there staring at him with wide, scared eyes for what felt like ages. Cheeks reddening even more, she squeezed his hand to calm her nerves, but the action only reminded her that he was here and this was real, and it only served to stir her up even more. "I uh. I... I. Um. Thanks? Y-you too?" God. This was awful. Had she switched spots with Evelyn or something? Body swapping had been going around, after all. She wouldn't be surprised if this love confession had something to do with loose monsters like the last one.