𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐙𝐄𝐍 𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐈𝐌𝐄 (𝐄𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐇𝐚𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝)

CHAPTER 31 - A BEAUTIFUL, UNREALISTIC DREAM -

TW

CHAPTER 31 - A BEAUTIFUL, UNREALISTIC DREAM -

ROSELYN.

My breathing was uncontrolled and the pain in my body enormous.
But all of that suddenly felt secondary.
"Hey-hey, Rose."
A familiar, warm and rough voice suddenly appeared right next to me.
I couldn't open my eyes.
Since, I was still in uncertainty, I cringed fearfully.

"It's okay-It's me. Erling."
That voice said again and carefully placed his hands on my upper arms.
"E-Erling?" I asked confused.
I managed to open my eyes, slightly, but I was only able to see blur.

"Yeah, it's me." He reassured me. "I'm here, now."

Am I dreaming? Was this a dream?
Where was Brody and how did Erling get in here?
I must be dreaming.
A beautiful, unrealistic dream.

Suddenly I felt all my weight being taken off me.
I was gently lifted from the bed.
I was able to see outlines.
One thing I saw was a man laying on the floor in my bedroom.
He didn't seem to be moving.
He seemed to be dirty-or was it blood?
I didn't know.
I didn't know anything right now.

There wasn't much for me to see after, since my eyes got even heavier and I started to feel numbness.
All I saw was black and then I passed out.

Ouch.
My head.

With a lot of effort, I blinked and opened my eyes.
Immediately, I stared at the ceiling above me.
It wasn't mine, I could tell.
This one looked whiter, more modern and a lot higher than mine.
My eyes wandered to my right, where I winced for a second.
At the end of the bed, Erling sat with his feet firmly planted in the ground, his hands hung down over his lap and his gaze was on the floor.
He seemed to have noticed, my movement, because he turned his head to me and I immediately saw the relief flaking down from his shoulders.
He slid cautiously closer to me and gently grabbed my hand.
"Hey." He softly, whispered.
Erling held my hand in both of his and carefully ran his thumb over the back of my hand.
"Hey." Still confused and sleepy, I looked into his face.
In his face, I recognized concern, relief and wonder in one.

"How are you?"

"I-I'm okay." I swallowed. My eyes went down my body. A big blanket was on top of me, keeping me warm.
"W-what-"
With my empty hand, I inquired my face and felt a bandit.
Erling gently grabbed my hand, so I wouldn't destroy anything. "Careful."
He said and put my hand back down. 

I grabbed the blanket and lightly lifted it, only to find me laying in Erling's bed with no pants on.
Panic spread through me.
"What-what...-"

"Hey-hey-hey." He took my hand again and held it softly.
"I didn't take off your pants. My mom did."
His words slowly calmed me down.
I took in the information he gave me.
His mom took off my pants, not Erling.
"What happened?" I asked in a tiny voice.
Did I really want to know?

Erling swallowed before taking both of his hands and running them through his open hair.

———————————

ERLING.

I regretted how I left things with Rose.
She didn't deserve the way I treated her.
I shouldn't have pushed her to talk to me, although, she clearly wasn't ready to.
What I wanted most, was to find out what's been going on with her and help her.
But there's no way I'd be able to help her if I put pressure on her.