The rulebreaker ✔

Chapter 17: Always sleep alone

(Above: Honey, Coco and Ginger)

I sneak into Austin's room at 8 am in the morning.

Ever since the Zack incident, Austin hasn't been very friendly with me. I sense he's still angry about something, but he refuses to acknowledge it. So I decide to do something that will make him normal again.

"Austin!" I shout bursting into his room.

"What is it?" he asks groggily from his bed.

He's sleeping without his shirt and his hair is messy as always.

I sit down on his bed. "No matter how much you deny it, I know you're still annoyed at me,"

He grunts in his sleep.

"So you can ask me for any two favors," he sits up, "But, you will go back to being normal after that," I tell him.

He smirks. "Ok for my first favor," he thinks, "Yes, I want a hug,"

"Anything apart from that," I say.

"Nope. You said anything."

I sigh. But I promised. I scoot closer to him, and he places his hands on my waist and pulls me close as I wrap my arms around his shoulder. He's so warm and I can feel every muscle in his chest. I don't want to let go, so we sit like that for a while, and I rest my head on his shoulder. I never realized how safe and happy I feel when I'm with Austin. Maybe even more than Ash.

"For my second favor, I want us to go to my home in Sydney and spend a night there," he says. I pull back, "No ways, seriously?" I ask him and he grins and shows me two tickets.

"Yayyyyyy!" I shout and jump on his bed. I climb down and Austin pushes me out of his room, "Go pack your bags, we'll leave in an hour,"

After taking permission from Donald duck and Mom we leave for the airport. We reach there in an hour and check in our baggage. Then we take our seats which are next to each other.

I start feeling sleepy and doze off. I feel Austin put my head on his shoulder and I sleep for an hour until I feel Austin shake my head and wake me up.

"We've reached," he says, and we collect our bags from the belt. "Dad's sending the car," he tells me.

After a few minutes, A black limo pulls up in front of the gate and a chauffeur steps out, "Good morning Austin sir," he says, "Good morning madam," I smile at him, and Austin waves at him.

Within half an hour we pull up in front of a huge black iron gate. An Iron plaque hangs from it that says 'Wilson's. Behind the gate is a HUGE mansion. It's whitewashed from the outside and even bigger than our entire college campus.

Austin sees my mouth open in shock and he smiles.

The car drives through the gate and we step out. Austin is immediately tackled by three balls of fur. "Honey! Coco! Ginger!" he shouts and hugs them tight.

The smallest one, I guess Honey sniffs me and then leaps at me. My heart melts into a puddle. She's too cute. I squeal and lift her up and she licks my face with her big slobbery tongue. Jealous of all the attention Honey is getting, Coco and Ginger also jump on top of me, knocking me down. I scrape my elbow which starts bleeding.

Austin gently nudges them aside, "Leave my cub alone," he tells them and offers me his hand. I feel that familiar warmth again as I stand up and we walk inside his mansion. It's gorgeous.

The interior is also white marble, and the entire look is completed by crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling.

"Mom, dad I'm home," Austin shouts and a middle-aged lady runs down the stairs and flings her arms around Austin. "I missed you so much, son,"

"I missed you too mom," Austin says as his dad comes down and hugs him too.

His mom is a short woman almost as short as me. Her grey hair is cut in a bob, and she has the same grey eyes as Austin and her husband.

"And you must be Austin's new girlfriend," she says as she hugs me.

"Nice to meet you Mrs. Wilson, but I'm not his girlfriend," I tell her.

"It's Karen darling and that's a pity, you seem just the type for him," she says and Austin winks at me as I shake hands with his dad.

"Dear make yourself at home." he says, "You can have the room next to Austin," The butler carries my bag upstairs as Austin drags me to his room.

It's almost a carbon copy of his college dorm, except it's way bigger. Then he drags me off to see my room.

It's almost as big as his own room and it's themed yellow. It's beautiful. There's a queen-sized bed and a huge window with a sit-in berth and creamy yellow curtains. There's a yellow patterned cupboard in one corner. I love this room.

The rest of the day passes in unpacking and playing with honey and Coco. Ginger is busy sleeping. After having dinner with Mr. Wilson and Karen, I go to my room and decide to change into my night suit.

Then we watch a movie in their own private theatre.

"I'm sleepy," I yawn at 1 am.

"Sure, let's go to sleep,"

"Do you want to sleep with Honey?" he asks me, and I nod my head excitedly.

Honey sniffs my bed and climbs in with me, and I doze off hugging her soft fur.

I have the nightmare again, way more vivid this time. Aiden straps me down to the wooden planks and his dark figure looms over me. I hear his monstrous cackle and wake up screaming.

I look around and see Honey peacefully sleeping. My head is spinning, and I burst into tears terrified.

I hear footsteps and Austin opens the door handle and steps inside, "What happened Heather?" he asks then sees me crying. He sits down on the bed beside me. He's wearing a plain white t-shirt and his hair is swept over his forehead.

I sob and shake my head. Austin pulls me on his lap and wraps his arms around me. Then he slowly strokes my hair. He smells like peppermint and hot chocolate. I realize that I don't feel uncomfortable around him anymore, in fact I don't think I feel this comfortable around anyone else.

"Bad dream?" he asks, and I nod. I don't want him to go. I feel safe here, where no one can harm me.

"Can you sleep here?" I ask him, before I realize how stupid I sound. He must think I'm a baby.

"Ok," he says, and I climb off him relieved. Then I lie down on the bed and Austin sleeps on the other side, with Honey between us. And I don't have any nightmares for the rest of the night.