His Forever

11

"In your dark days, I will be there. And maybe I won't have any more light to give than what you already have, but I will take your hand and we will find the light together."

I darted out of bed after hearing screams coming from Mr De Campo's room.

I quickly ran towards his room and knocked before receiving no reply and letting myself in.

He was lying down in his bed with tears streaming down his face. His legs were thrashing around and I couldn't make out what he was muttering.

I rushed towards him and shook him slightly to try and wake him up from what seemed like a nightmare.

His eyes shot open and they were clouded with fear. He looked around the room until he saw me and he let out a shaky breath.

I passed him a glass of water, which he thanked me for, and he gulped it down.

"Bad dream?", I asked after a while of us sitting there in silence whilst his breathing returned back to normal.

He gave a nod in reply.

"I'm tough", he whispered to me after a while.

I nodded, "I know you are."

"I can take care of myself, I always have. You don't have to stay here with me."

"I know you can", I said, "but I'm here now, and you don't have to go through it alone."

"Try and get some sleep", I whispered. "I'll be right here."

"I-I can't sleep. I don't want to close my eyes and see that again", he replied.

"You're afraid of your dreams?", I hesitantly asked.

"Yes", he said quietly.

I took a deep breath and stood up, waking around to the other side of the bed and got in. I rested my head down on the pillow and stared at the ceiling for a moment.

"Something random", I said, breaking the silence.

"What?", he replied, confused.

"It's a game my family play when one of us have trouble sleeping to get our minds off whatever was keeping us awake."

"Okay, let's play", he said, turning around to face me.

Our faces were inches away and I could feel his body heat radiating off him. All I could smell was him.

I gulped, trying to concentrate on what I was saying.

"All you have to do is say something random that's on your mind. I'll go first", I explained, trying to think of what to say. "I've got a phobia of tomato ketchup", I admitted.

"Tomato ketchup? Really?", he said with a smile.

"I'm serious, I don't even touch the bottle",
I replied, shuddering at even the thought of it.

"Your turn."

He looks at me for moment, so intensely that I have to look away.

"I like your eye colours", he admits, not once looking away from me.

I didn't know what to say. That's one of the features about myself that I wish I could change the most. It used to be the main reason I was bullied at school. I've resented my heterochromia my whole life but his compliment made me feel warm inside.

"Really?", I whispered in disbelief.

"I think your eyes are my favourite feature about you", he whispers back.

"Your turn", he said quietly, waiting to hear what I say.

"Coming here, accepting this job, was probably one of the most scariest things I've done."

He looked at me as if he wanted to hear more, so I continued.

"Whenever I did work for other clients, it was always online so I never really had to communicate with them face to face. When you came to offer me this job, I decided to accept it to try and get out of my comfort zone", I explained.

"And have you?", he questioned, genuinely interested in my answer.

I nodded, "I'm proud of myself for making it this far without returning home to be honest", I said with a small smile.

"Well in that case, I'm proud of you too. And I'm really glad that you decided to take this job," he said, making me smile.

"Your hands are so small", he says randomly.

"They aren't that small", I said whilst laughing.

"Look", he says putting my hand on top of his.

Slowly, he intwined his fingers with mine.

None of said anything, but I could slowly feel myself drifting off.

Before my eyes closed, I could see him looking down at our hands. 

"Perfect", he whispered.