7 Summers

Chapter 15: Home

Bailey's POV

I was woken up by Chase breathing heavily and mumbling. I sat up, looking at him. He was laying on his side facing away from me. This had been going on for about four nights now. He would wake up really fast, then get out of bed and walk into the living room. Chase would stay up all night after these dreams he was having, but he didn't want to talk about them.

"Bailey." He whimpers.

"Chase?" I was even starting to get scared, he never talked or anything in his sleep. Chase woke up screaming, which startled me and caused me to start screaming.. He looks to the side at me, eyes wide and full of fear, then gets up and walks into the living room. I sat there for a little while, trying to get my heart to stop beating so damn fast, and threw aside the blanket, and stood up, my bare feet hitting the cold wooden floor of his bedroom.

I grabbed his t-shirt, slipping it over the tank top I was wearing, and walked into the living room to see that he was sitting on the edge of his couch, his elbows were resting on his knees, his hands were covering his mouth.

"Chase." I sat on the floor in front of him. Even though it was nighttime, the moonlight didn't hide how frightened he was, I could see it in his eyes. I got up and walked into the kitchen to get him a glass of water. "Here." I handed it to him, then went into the kitchen to get myself a glass. When I came back, the glass was empty, and Chase had resumed his earlier position.

I sensed he didn't want to talk, so I went to the window in the living room and watched the night sky. One thing I liked about Chase's house, was that sometimes you could see owls at night. I could see owls in Tennessee too, but this was a home away from home. I slowly sipped on the glass of water looking out the window. Chase wraps his arms around my waist, standing next to me. I looked up at him, and he wasn't looking at me. He was looking out the window.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" I asked softly. I stood there waiting, and waiting, and waiting. "Goodnight Chase." I said, standing on my tip toes and kissing his cheek, then walking back into the bedroom. I didn't even make it all the way to the bed before he says my name. I turned around and he was standing in the doorway. I followed him into the living room, and sat down criss crossed facing him on the couch. We sat in silence for a while, until he leaned over and kissed me.

"I love you." He says softly.

"I love you more." I smiled softly.

"I know I say it a lot, I'm just terrified of us fighting and then something happens to you and I can't tell you how much I-" That was all I needed to hear to figure it out. I climbed onto his lap and layed my head on his chest. His arms went tightly around my waist.

"Is that what the dreams are about? About me...not coming back?" I asked him.

"Yeah. I know it sounds stupid, but I almost lost you forever."

"There's no way I'm goin out like that." I smiled at him, making him chuckle a little. "Do you think you need help? Like someone who can help with dreams or somethin. Oh! Margret would help you!" I smiled.

"If you think she can help." He shrugs.

"I mean sure, she can be a bit high sometimes, but that's because she's a hippie so...." Chase just laughs.

"This wouldn't have anything to do with you missing home now, would it?" He asks.

"Psshh, no. OH shit!" I suddenly remembered that I messed up my dad's old bronco. "Dad's Bronco!" I went wide eyed.

"Actually, I found someone that could fix it, he didn't complete the entire job, but he got it so it works." Chase smiles sheepishly.

"I LOVE YOU." I laughed, kissing Chase. He giggles, kissing me back.

"So when do we go back?" I asked him pulling away for a minute.

"Tomorrow morning."

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"Bailey!" Jonah smiles, running towards me as I got out of Chase's Silverado.

"Hi Jonah! Hi Frank!" I smiled as I hugged them both.

"We are so happy you're alive." Frank says softly, hugging me tightly. Jonah, Frank, and Chase were my family. And I couldn't ask for a better family.

"We'll be waiting in your cabin when you come back." Jonah says softly. I nodded and took Chase's hand, leading him towards the bakery.

"Are you sure you still wanna do this? I thought you didn't believe in this type of stuff?" I looked up at him.

"I want this to stop. I almost pissed my pants the last time I had that dream....which I'm now thinking I shouldn't have admitted to you." Chase says as I started giggling. 

"We've all had a dream that scared the piss out of us at some point." I tried to make him feel better.

"Bailey! How are you feeling?!" John and Margret came over to me, hugging me.

"I'm doin great. Margret, I need to talk to you." She quickly nodded, leading me and Chase upstairs. They lived above the bakery, and it was such a nice place.

"Now, what can I do for yall?" She says, sitting down on her couch. I looked at Chase, and the way he looked at me I knew he didn't wanna talk about it, so I had to.

"Chase has been having dreams, ones that scare the piss out of him." He elbowed me in the side. I glared at him, and continued explaining. "These dreams involve what happened to me, and he's scared to lose me if we get into another fight."

"Honey what he needs is a therapist. It may be slight PTSD. Why don't you go meet Jonah and Frank? I think they wanna talk to you." I nodded and stood up, and Chase grabbed my hand looking up at me. He had a sad look in his eyes, so I leaned down and kissed him softly and tenderly, before going back downstairs and out the door.

Chase's POV

"She is your entire world, isn't she?" I could still feel Bailey's lips on mine. I nodded slowly, turning back towards Margret. "You would give up everything for her."

"In a heartbeat."

"So tell me about these dreams." I took a deep breath, preparing myself to tell her.

"It starts out just the same. Me looking at the TV, seeing that Bronco completely destroyed. I knew it was Bailey. She disappeared, and I knew that Bronco was hers. We had a fight, and I completely worded it the wrong way and she was gone. Except this time....she wasn't coming back. I sat in that hospital room, staring at her waiting for her to wake up. I heard her flatline, and she was gone." My hands were shaking.

"You don't need a therapist. You need to tell Bailey how you feel. About everything." Maybe she was right.