Kyle awoke drained and listless the next morning, covered in sweat.  Who could’ve ever imagined that a game would cause him such thoughts and dreams as he had last night.  Part of the problem was the fact that it wasn’t just a character in a game that was pawing all over Kylie in such a manner, but an actual person who he knew and could imagine.  Add to that, the memory of where he’d seen Heather doing almost the same thing to Sera while she was sleeping, and it led to a restless night of wildly erotic dreams.

Not that it was precisely a bad thing, Kyle thought.  To be honest, he didn’t know how to feel about it.  It was enjoyable to indulge his fantasies.  But embarrassing to think of what was happening to him as Kylie.  And mind-boggling to realize it was with the man-hating Heather, who he’d never imagined in such a light before.  Add in the guilt he felt for lying to her about who Kylie was in reality, and yet his desire not to say anything until Sera told her the truth first – it all just added up to Kyle being a confused and conflicted young man.  

Sera was trusting him to play along and not say anything at the moment.  Yet Heather was obviously being extremely touchy-feely with Kylie.  But that was just a game, and as Heather herself kept repeating over and over, shouldn’t be such a big deal.  And yet, he couldn’t get the thoughts, feelings, and memories out of his head.  He didn’t want to break his trust with Sera, he enjoyed – but felt guilty – about what was going on with Heather.  His mind just kept going around and around in circles, and he couldn’t reach a conclusion about what to do at all.

In the end, Kyle did what many young men do when facing such complex moral questions – he decided to try and forget about the problem and pretend it didn’t exist.  Getting up, he stripped and hopped into the upstairs shower before even letting the water run long enough to fully get hot.  The cool chill of the water rushing over his skin both seemed to help cleanse and revitalize him.  After just a few moments of quickly scrubbing the night’s sweat off himself, he dried off and quickly got dressed.

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Going downstairs, the house was once again dark and silent.  Kyle had no clue when his mother had gotten home from her shift at work, but he quietly grabbed his keys, slid on his shoes and jacket, and walked over to Sera’s home.   The wind was calm this morning, and a very light little frost was on the ground, with the slight mist rising from where the morning sun was beginning to burn it off.  For a mid-February morning, it was actually pleasant and not as harsh as the last few days had been.  In some ways, it was one of those days that made it seem as if everything was going to end up bright and sunny to Kyle.  That it’d all end up OK in the end.  

Halfway humming to himself, he slid open the kitchen, went in, and shut it behind himself.  There was some sound of Fanny and Franklin laughing coming out of their bedroom, so Kyle simply eased up the steps and went on in to Sera’s room.  There, like most mornings, she was curled up clutching tightly onto her blanket while sleeping soundly.  

Grinning mischievously, Kyle pulled on the blankets gently, until he had them loosed slightly from her grip.  Taking just a moment to kick off his shoes, he slowly eased into the bed and wrapped his cold arms around her, and pressed his chilled body against her.  He expected that she’d yelp from the difference in temperature, from where he’d just came in from outside, but she simply shivered and tried to clutch the blankets back down instead.  

For a few moments, Kyle laid there and indulged himself in the feeling of her being wrapped in his arms.  Leaning gently forward, he nuzzled his head up to her neck and breathed in the scent of her hair.  The gentle smell of cherry blossoms calmed his thoughts, and he relaxed even more.  A few more minutes wouldn’t hurt.  He was early.  He had some time and could indulge in the smell of cherry blossoms for a few minutes more.

Just a few minutes, and then he’d get up and make her get ready for school.  ‘Just a moment longer’ was his last thought before Kyle drifted back off to sleep beside her.