I swallowed, trying hard to reduce the heat that had flowed to my cheeks. My heart was on a race against it's own self, and it was almost dizzying.
I turned around. He had gone into the kitchen. I turned and walked around the sitting room, touching the small figurines arranged on the desk. The small shelf to the left was filled with books I could never dream of reading. Science books and things I have never seen before.
I stood up and went further around the house, remembering that it was indeed his father's. The man who had brought me back here. The man who could undo all of this.
I walked around the rooms. They were mostly normal, and I could tell which one Luke stayed in.
The last room looked a little abandoned, though and I walked to it. The door knocked came open immediately I pushed down, and I slowly walked in, assessing the place.
It looked like an old study that had been cleared out, except for a few papers strewn around, and not much else.
I bent to pick one of the papers. It was a long formula explaining relativity. I dropped it again and picked another, then another. It seemed like Mr. McGregor had been fully invested in time travel, to the extent that every single paper there had something to do with the phenomenon that had me back here.
I took the very last one and turned it in my fingers, to read the only highlighted text. My breath stopped in my throat as I read it, my chest heaving. I felt my eyes moisten, and only came back when the first drop hit the brown aged paper in front of me.
I stood, just as Luke walked in.
"Hey. You were here."
I turned to him, immediately putting the paper behind me, then crumpling it.
"Well, I somehow ended up here."
He nodded and walked in, leaving the door open. His hand was clasped behind him just like mine was . "It was my father's old study. They cleared it away and donated most of the books to a public library."
I nodded. "That's very honorable."
He smiled and walked to me. He had a mischievous smile on his face and I took a step back. He took forward, and I stopped as I hit the table, and I grabbed it with both hands.
"What are doing?" I asked.
He shrugged. "I thought to make some...meringue cookies and color them however...and I got some color on my hands..." he trailed off and my brows furrowed.
"So?"
He shrugged again and covered the distance between us. "I thought to color something else. Quite childish, but what can I do? This is my first time having someone over."
I squinted my eyes, getting a hint of what he meant. I looked down to where his hands were and looked back again to his still mischievous face.
"Don't tell me..."
Before I could finish, he had both hands on my cheeks, and he had dragged them down the length of my face. He then added a small one on the tip of my nose for extra effect.
I closed my eyes as he did and opened them as he stepped back and started to laugh.
"You look good. Like a rainbow." He laughed again, clapping his hands together.
I blinked rapidly. He had all sorts of colors on his hands and I was sure I had them on my face.
"Luke?" I said, through gritted teeth.
"Oops. Someone's angry." He snickered and turned to the door in a small run.
I followed after him, letting go of the paper I had been holding. He ran towards the sitting room on low speed, clearly underestimating my speed.
Before long, I had caught up with him and once I did, I let myself go on him. He instinctively caught me, and without thinking much about it, I leaned forward, rubbing my cheek against him.
I saw him close his eyes as I did, and I did too, the aim shifting a little. My heart stopped as we both lost balance, and he fell back on the chair, taking me along with him, and I ended up sitting on his lap, my face still leaning on his, his eyes closed firmly and his lashes gently caressed the skin just below my eyes.
'Karla, get a grip.' I thought and immediately moved away from him, my eyes widening. He opened his slowly too, but he didn't seem as surprised, just...nervous.
I saw him swallow and his lips parted slightly, his eyes traveling down my face, then back up again.
I immediately stood up, my thoughts going a little wild. I clenched my fists as as he blinked, bringing himself out of the trance he had fallen in.
I took a step back again.
"I'll...go check the cookies. They don't take that long."
I nodded, moving away again as he walked away, his hands tucked in his pockets.
More than the nervousness of the moment...more than what I was now almost sure was happening...I knew, that I was in trouble. I was in deep trouble.
"Karla? Come try one, will you?"
I walked to the kitchen and sat on the work table as he removed his gloves. The meringues were arranged in different colors, and I took a blue one.
He snickered at that, and I tasted it.
"It's good. This is the first time I am having your cookies."
He nodded. "I will pack some for you tomorrow, then."
I raised a brow. "Tomorrow."
"Yeah. Or...you don't intend to sleep over?"
Hell, nothing sounded better.
"The past and the present can not meet, for one has to tilt the other back to its existence."
I sighed, remembering the text from the highlighted paper.
I looked up at him again, his eyes hopeful.
"Oh, I just..."
"Please sleep over." he said, before I could finish. He was now serious, his eyes deep with intensity I have never seen him with.
"Of...of course. I won't let you have all that gummy bears alone."
He smiled briefly, and he adjusted so he was standing right in front of me, his hands on either sides of me and he looked into me, holding my gaze in his.
"Right now...there is something between us, right?"
I looked. "Between us?"
"Yeah...back there...now...I am not the only one feeling this...weird thing right?"