One more day

chapter 38

Nick's POV

I woke up to Julia moving around in her sleep. I immediately sit up, noticing the moonlight engulfing her face. It was still nighttime, and my ears picked up on the small whimpers leaving her lips and her eyebrows which were drawn tight. She was writhing, and her cries were getting louder. She's having a nightmare. I pulled the sheets off of her, seeing as she was sweating, and gently placed my hand on her shoulder.

"Jules" I whispered. Nothing. "Jules?" I tried again a bit louder. I realised my hands on her would probably have the opposite effect on her than I hoped for, so I removed my hand, and waited for her nightmare to pass. I called her name every few seconds but it did nothing. I feel so helpless. I can't wake her up without scaring her more, but I don't want her to relive this. I ran a hand through my hair stressfully, trying to figure out what to do, when she suddenly flung to sit up, panting and trying to catch her breath, putting a hand to her chest.

"Hey Jules, it's me" I rushed out, hoping her panicked state wouldn't escalate due to my presence. "It's Nick." I further explained to reassure her. I held my arms open out towards her, waiting for her to come to me before I moved to touch her. It took her a while to catch up, but when she finally understood what had happened and who I was, she basically flung into my arms. I was immediately engulfed in Julia's vanilla scent. It was addicting. Driving me to the point of insanity. Every time my nose picks up on the slightest bit of vanilla, I'm instantly reminded of her. I stroke her hair, reminding her that she's safe and that she's here right now in her home. It takes her a while to calm herself down, but she does eventually.

"I'm sorry you had to be there for that." She said sleepily, rubbing her eyes as she pulled out of my embrace.

"I'm not." I fired back immediately. "I'd rather be there for you and help you through this." Her eyes lit up, and she tried, and failed, to stop the small smile forming on her lips.

"Thank you for being here for me." She said.

"Always." I replied, kissing her forehead. I knew she loved when I did that, and I loved watching the way her eyes fluttered shut and her mouth drew into a small smile of contentment. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"No not really, but thank you." She opened her eyes again, and she looked so tired. The dark, purple bags under her eyes were so noticeable she resembled a raccoon. A cute raccoon though, one of the friendly ones. I nearly laugh at my own thoughts. Julia gives me a puzzled look, before wrapping her arm around my bare waist and pulling me to lay down with her.

"Sleep." She mumbled, burying herself into my chest and letting our limbs tangle together. It didn't take very long for my eyelids to grow heavy, and to feel her breathing even out into a peaceful pace, signalling she was asleep, and it wasn't long before I joined her.

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The sun was blinding, waking me up immediately as it shone directly into my face through the peak of her curtains, and it's a miracle that Julia can even sleep through that disturbance. We hadn't discussed her return to school yet, however, I do know she wants to go back soon. That's a conversation I suppose we are going to have today. I slowly get up and out of her bed, doing my best to be quiet and slip through the door shutting it softly behind me. I make my way down the stairs and into the kitchen, planning on making some pancakes and coffee for me and Jules, but I stop in my tracks when I notice Jo, her mum, is sitting at the dining table.

"Good morning Nick." She smiled at me sweetly. I looked at my watch, seeing it was 10 am and my brews drew tight in confusion. "I took the day off work." This drew my eyebrows even tighter.

"Good morning." I say sleepily. "You take it off for Jules?" She nodded. "That's very sweet of you." She gave me a small smile. I noticed how pale she looked, the eyebags she had under her eyes, and her hair looked all over the place as if she had been running her hand through it all night. I don't think she slept much, if at all, last night. I don't blame her. Her daughter just dropped 2 massive bombshells on her last night, I'm not surprised that it's tilted her world off its axis.
"How long did you know?" She asked quietly.