𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐀𝐭𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 - 𝐓𝐨𝐧𝐢 𝐒𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐨𝐞

Chapter Fourteen

Caramel

1118 words

----BEFORE----

The crickets outside were the only noises besides the two girls' soft breathing as they laid back to back on the large bed. The room was dark, the only light coming from the moon that shined through Ana's slightly opened curtains that blew in the wind. Ana whimpered in her sleep, soft cries leaving her lips interrupting the silence. Slowly the girl beside her began waking up, turning over to face Ana, her mind wondering if she was awake.

"Ana?" The girl didn't respond, only cried out again, gripping her pillow so tight her knuckles began to turn white. "Ana." Toni spoke a bit louder reaching out her hand towards Ana. "Hey-" As soon as Toni's hand settled on Ana's shoulder the blonde sprung from the bed sitting up with a shriek, her fear-filled eyes scanning the room as her chest heaved in order to breath. "Hey, you're okay. You're okay." Ana turned to Toni with wide eyes, a tear escaping falling down her cheek, shaking her head continuously. "No, no, no, no." "Ana, you're okay. Breathe. Ana you have to breathe." Toni's hands made their way to each side of Ana's face slowly stopping Ana from shaking her head. "I-I can't brea-breathe."

"Hey, look at me, focus on me." Ana's eyes stared at Toni, more and more tears falling down her face. "She's dead, she's dead." Ana leaned towards her, Toni taking this as a sign to bring her in for a hug running her hands through Ana's hair, moving her hands to rub her back. "It's okay. It's okay." "Toni, she was dead. I saw her." "I know. But it's over now. It was just a nightmare."

Ana began to take deeper breaths with every comforting thing Toni would whisper, her cries slowly fading away into the noises of the night.Toni slowly turned on the lamp lighting up the room bringing a calm glow to the room, the darkness not seeming so scary. They laid beside each other, Ana's head on her chest, her eyes closed as she tried to take deep breaths, still shaking, remembering the pictures that flooded her mind just moments before.

"Remember that time, our 8th grade history teacher bent over and completely ripped his pants. His star wars underwear were forever burned into our minds." Ana hummed, opening her eyes with a faint smile. "Yeah." Toni thought for a second before laughing out loud. "Or when that fucking babysitter your mom hired spilt milk all over Janie and Bev laughed so hard milk came out of her nose and the babysitter was fucking mortified." Ana giggled with a slight nod remembering the memory, a small tinge of sadness then shooting through her heart. "I miss her so much." Ana whispered moving her head from Toni's chest, instead turning onto her back facing the ceiling.

"Me too. Her and that old fucking frog thing she's carry around that was totally falling apart and missing an arm. But she never put it down." "God she fucking loved that thing." The two giggled remembering the stuffed animal. "Or uhm, that journal she had that was totally top secret." "Yeah, when you tried to read she beat the life out of you." "She gave me a black eye." Toni snorted, turning on her stomach to face Ana. "You never know how much you'll miss someone until they're gone." Ana muttered, turning on her side, their faces so close they could feel each other's breath fanning their faces. "Thanks for staying over." "Beats sleeping in the truck."

"Speaking of the truck. I've been thinking...and I talked to my parents. I think you should move in." Ana spoke quietly, somewhat hesitant. "Ana..." "I don't like being alone. Not anymore...I can't be. It's like I get trapped in my own head. My parents see it, and you're not safe sleeping in that truck when we have enough room here." Ana turned her head to look at Toni, meeting her eyes as they were already watching her. "I guess it's for both of us. I don't want to be alone and I don't want you out there. You get a room, I get a roommate. It's a win-win. If you'll be my guest." Toni smiled a bit looking at the ceiling, her eyes tearing away from Ana's despite the blonde's gaze never leaving her face.

"Are you sure?" "Positive. Besides I already told my parents you were cool with it." Toni slowly turned to see Ana's cheeky smile plastered on her face despite the shadow that covered it, she laughed in slight disbelief sitting up on her elbow. "Really?" "Yeah, I knew you'd take it if I poked you enough. I wasn't going to tell you until tomorrow but, here we are." There was a pause, Toni's face dropping the smile, her face going serious. "Do you get nightmares a lot?" Ana paused for a moment, looking away at the mattress before nodding slightly. "Yeah." Was all she said, her voice slightly shaky as she took in a deep breath, wrapping her finger around a string that stuck out from her sheets.

"My therapist says being alone could make me spiral further. My parents look at me like I'm about to lose it. Like I'm just gonna...snap. Fun fact, it was partly their idea to have you move in. They want you here so they can ask you what's going on up here. It's smart I guess." Ana pointed to her head with a smile meeting Toni's eyes that were full of worry and concern, she bit her lip watching Ana's eyes as she tried to shake off the thought. She dragged her tongue along the inside of her cheek, her eyes never leaving Ana's.

"You know, you have really pretty eyes." Ana muttered not realizing the weight of her words, Toni chuckled looking around the room avoiding the other girl's gaze. "Thanks." "I mean it. They remind me of chocolate." Ana stated with a serious face before smiling rubbing her eyes as they began to get heavy. "But in the light...they look like coffee, or caramel. Carmel is nice, sweet and salty. It makes sense, don't you think?" Ana yawned slowly, blinking as she began to drift off again, closing her eyes and moving slightly closer to Toni. "Yeah." Toni whispered trying not to giggle at the mindless words spilling from Ana's lips as the exhaustion set in. "Thanks for...being a great friend." Toni opened her mouth watching the blonde drift off into a deep sleep comfortably for the first time in a long time. She opened her mouth and without thinking she spoke,

"I love you." She said into the new found silence, but no one was listening.