Excerpt: Lamp Light

The window had been left open. He wasn't sure if it was by accident, or by habit, but either way, it was nice. The sounds of London whispered through the shades, occasionally getting loud enough for individual sounds to be picked up and understood. These weren't the same sounds that he heard at his shared flat with Travis; these sounds were somehow less threatening. More like what sounds though an open window at eleven in the morning should sound like.

"It's nice to have a proper weekend again," Janine said quietly.

Nicholas looked down at her, his fingers gently drawing circles on her bare shoulder. "Oh?" he said, enjoying the feeling of her soft breathing on his chest.

"I had split days before," Janine explained. "One of my deciding factors for transferring." Nicholas nodded. Somewhere in the distance, he could hear bells ringing, drawing up some dark, hidden feeling of guilt from deep in his chest. "I'd normally be at the station right now," Janine continued.

"I'm normally at church right now," Nicholas said simply, not entirely sure how he felt about that statement.

Janine reached up, her fingers gently rubbing over the gold chain Nicholas wore round his neck. "I didn't realize you were practicing."

Nicholas nodded. "Yeah," he said, drawing Janine closer to himself and kissing her lightly on the top of her head. "I probably won't be missed today, though," he reasoned. "I haven't gone to the same church as my parents in years."

Janine laughed lightly. "You're really serious, aren't you?"

Nicholas twisted his neck to look at her properly. "Why wouldn't I be?" he asked. "Be kind of a stupid thing to lie about." He closed his eyes lightly, enjoying the feeling of her fingers against his neck, and eventually his chest.

"I thought you Catholics weren't supposed to do these sinful things before marriage," she said slyly, her fingers lightly moving up and down Nicholas' chest.

Nicholas shrugged. "Well, to be honest, I do enjoy this much more than being in some cold cathedral," he said.

"That's good," Janine said.

"Yeah?" Nicholas smiled and lightly rolled over to his side, moving Janine onto her back, his hand trailing lightly down her side. "I think I could get used to this."