our universe

- T E R R I F I E D -

teddy's pov:

By nature, I wasn't a sound sleeper. I rarely rose later than eight, and constantly awoke in the middle of the night. And I was ashamed to say that near the full moon, I was arisen by night terrors.

Junie, on the other hand was the prettiest sleeper I'd ever seen. She had fallen asleep blissfully in my arms, and I watched the peaceful rise and fall of her chest until I too closed my eyes. I always slept better when she was with me. Every few minutes she had adjusted her body, nuzzling closer into my embrace. It was everything.

Now it was morning, the soft light framing Juniper's sleeping face. The sheets curved around her beautifully, bare form entangled with my own. I smiled, brushing a strand of her hair off her forehead. I took a moment to feel a little smug about the wayward curls springing out in various directions, a reminder of the previous night. She made a contented little sigh, shifting in my arms.

I'd never felt luckier.

A beam of sun spotlighted the skin of her delicate neck. I moved to kiss the space it had hit, and then realized- holy shit it was the morning!

I never slept over. Never. I always left before the sun rose over the lake. That was my thing. Stay too long and the girl gets attached, I risk getting attached. Leave and no one gets hurt. That had always been my rule. A rule I lived by, and one that worked up until now. A rule I'd forgotten the minute Juniper's lips met mine.

The thought of it scared me. I needed to get out of here. And fast. She couldn't know I'd stayed all night. How could I have been so stupid?

To be fair, last night I made a lot of stupid decisions. The moment I'd kissed her it was all over for me. All over. It was a bad idea. I knew it was. I'd been trying to talk myself out of it all year. If only I'd known she's respond like that.

I couldn't lose her. I was walking a precarious line. But I'd set guidelines, I'd told her that I couldn't be a boyfriend. She knew. I was clear. Very clear. She said she was fine with it, and that was all I needed. She was my best friend, I never wanted to hurt her.

I was dangerous. I knew that, even if she didn't. I was a bloody werewolf for crying out loud. I barely believed in love. At least not for me. Who could love a monster? Who could believe a monster was capable of love? No. Better to keep things separate. Junie my best friend. And Junie who I kissed sometimes. That was all. It wasn't serious, it was simple and no strings. No strings.

This was an unfortunate, and one time, mistake. I'd never let it happen again.

Carefully, I unwrapped my arms from Juniper, holding my breath when she stirred slightly. I slipped on my pants and t-shirt, taking my shoes in hand and tiptoeing out of the dorm as fast as I could. Once I was out in the open, past James, Charlie, and Leo, who were snoring in the common room, and out into the crisp air, I felt like I could breathe again. Thank god she hadn't woken up. I don't know what I would've done. I really don't.

My breath came in short white puffs as I fumbled in my pants pocket for a cigarette and my lighter. I wasn't cold. I never was, not even in the dead of winter. It was frosty out, bright sunlight melting the newly powdered snow from last night. Junie was perpetually cold, frequently shivering and all that. I couldn't count the number of times she'd nicked one of our jumpers. It was sort of adorable. She was adorable. And-

And I had to stop thinking about Juniper. Why was this happening to me? I'd wanted to kiss her for a while, do other things with her too, all of which had occurred last night. But usually, if I wanted to shag a girl, I did, and that was that. I didn't dwell on it. That was the part I was good at, none of that icky relationship stuff. So why was I still so focused on her? Thinking about her skin on mine, the way she bit her lip, her lovely laugh. Her eyelashes. God I lived for those eyelashes. It was very confusing. I didn't like it one bit.