Before you knew

27. Dream

A stifled groan and some shifting around.

I blink my eyes a couple of times. 'Hmrg' I turn around, confused by the sounds. When I look behind me, it's Clay who is there. Right, he's staying here because his sister claimed his room.

He has his brows furrowed. His arm twitches every now and again, and he lets out sounds, as if he's talking. I look at him as he seems far away, and fast asleep. Is he dreaming? He rolls onto his back before letting out a whimper. The glinstering of a teardrop appears between his long lashes.

Do I wake him up?
He seems upset.

'Clay?' I say softly as I shake his shoulder a little.
No reaction.
Though he shifts his head more my way as eyebrows go back to the frown. The tear slips from his eye. If the dream is that bad, he should wake up.

I reach for his face and wipe the tear away.
Before I can pull my hand back from his warm skin, his hand takes hold of mine.

I hold my breath for a second as our intertwined hands lay on his pillow. He lets out a long breath as he expression eases. 'Clay?' I ask softly again.

No reaction. I sigh and look out the window for a second. It's dark out and every now and then a car passes, causing the room to light up a little. Now what? I ask myself as I look back down at the now peaceful man. He's holding my hand. It in a weird position so it won't be comfortable if I try to go back to sleep. Even so, a smile appears at how peaceful he looks at the moment. His face casts shadows on itself as moonlight hits him from his left. His hair shimmers a little in the light.

I smile as I move a strand of hair out of his face.

I decide to lay down, having done one attempt at freeing my hand, but failing.

I wake up the same as when I went to sleep. Hand held captive in Clay's. I sigh and move to lay on my back, grabbing my phone from my nightstand with my free one. I unlock it and start to go through funny videos on Insta. After twenty minutes or so, Clay yawns. He tugs my hand to him. 'Morning.' I say as I don't look away from my phone. He holds up our intertwined hand 'what's this?' He asks. 'You tell me, you're the one who grabbed my hand and didn't let go.' I say. 'I-' he looks from me to our hands. He yawns again and moves his face into the pillow. 'Are you not going to let go?' I ask. He doesn't answer and keeps his face in the pillow. 'Clay?' I ask as I shake his shoulder with my free hand. He turns his face to me and pulls at my hand, making me fall down close to him.

'You didn't pull your hand away.' He says. 'I tried but you were holding on to tightly.' I say. He yanks me forward again, testing his grip on my hand. 'What are you-' he starts to tickle my side. 'Clay! Stop that!' I say before laughing. He grins as I try my best to pull my hand free from his grip. 'Clay!' I shriek out as he finds an even worse spot to tickle me. I'm wiggling around trying to get free, so he moves up and sits on my legs to keep me still. 'What are you doing?' I ask laughing. 'Seeing how long it takes for you to brake free.' He says with a grin. I wiggle around under him as I laugh and gasp for air. 'Have mercyyyyy.' I say as I try to pull my hand free.

Something in my hand snaps, not painfully, but you can hear and probably feel it. He stops his ticking 'ow.' I pretend it hurts. He holds my hand in both of his as he looks worried 'I'm sorry, are you okay?' He asks. I now grab his hand and yank him down, switching positions. I'm laying over his belly as I hold a good grip on his hand. I smile sweetly at him.

'No, no Amelia, do not-' I start to tickle his side, making him shift around and laugh as I try to keep the big man down. 'Payback time.' I say as I keep going. He laughs and says his laughing is starting to hurt. After a bit he grabs my wrist, pulling the hand that was tickling him away with ease even though I try to fight back. He lets my hand go and my attack continues, but he gets his hand free from my grip and picks me up by my waist. 'Clay!' I shriek as he lifts me up and sets me down next to him. He sits up as well. I look at the man next to me and I realize he was letting me get my payback. His broad shoulders and strong arms were able to pull me off whenever he wanted. I pout, getting a laugh from him as he tries to fix his messy hair a bit.

'What?' He asks. 'It's not fair.' I say as I fold my arms and look away. He chuckles 'what isn't?' He asks. 'Just because your bigger and stronger.' I pout. He smiles as he looks at me, making me Give up on pouting and smiling as well. 'I don't like sharing a room with you.' I say as I get up. He gets up as well and grabs my waist before picking me up and throwing me on the bed. 'Want more tickles?' He asks as he folds his arms and gives me a stern look while standing at the foot of the bed. I scoot back and pull my legs to my chest 'no please.' I say softly. His fake sternness breaks and he smiles. 'Alright.' He says as he gets his normal clothes and walks over to the door.

'I'm going to take a shower.'

I nod and he walks out. I let out a deep breath.
He sure is something.