Deadly Nightmares (The Last Guardian, Book One)

ELEVEN

Warning: Mentions of murder and death.

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THE NIGHT BEFORE HAD been the best yet.

At one in the morning, Clifford had shown Tamara the family albums. He'd demanded to sit on the floor so they could pour into it and talk while she had listened with all the albums open with random childhood photos.

Clifford felt himself wake slowly and he kept his eyes closed as he stretched his arms. Tamara and his siblings had been helping him to get used to his legs again. He cracked an eye open and saw sunlight creeping in through the curtains. He slowly opened his eyes up, grinning up at the ceiling.

He felt free. Unrestricted. Like he was floating.

Turning his head to the side, he found Tamara sleeping peacefully, curled up with her arm under her head. He adjusted his position, mirroring her.

She looked ethereal. She always did, but she didn't let herself relax while awake.

There was always something troubling her, that made her pause and think intensely before some other thought took over.

But when she was asleep, she was absolutely rid of all of it, the only expression on her face was peace.

That, combined with her simple, soft, almost subtle beauty... it was a dangerous combination for him.

He'd found himself noticing more of her tiny mannerisms the past few weeks.

There were times when she was just purely distracted and at those times, she'd just stare at her tablet with the cutest pout of annoyance.

When she got really focused, her eyebrows furrowed, her eyes scanning whatever she was doing.

Whenever she was reading, she'd have the most random reactions at the most random times. Her angry grumbles of gibberish were his favorite.

He'd been scared when he'd gotten that call, he realized. He'd been very scared that she was badly injured or worse.

She sighed softly in her sleep, curling closer to him. He smiled softly, contentment filling him.

He heard the door click open suddenly, and closed his eyes immediately, breathing steadily. He imagined whoever it was had paused, looking at the both of us sleeping, so close that her forehead was just a breath away from his chin, while there were photo albums lying around them.

Whoever it was clicked the door shut as softly as they could and trudged back to the living room as softly as they could. He kept his ears open, curious to know who it was.

"Yo," he heard Hunter say and cringed. He'd taken a photo. He was sure of it. He loved to tease him about stuff all the time. And Clifford was recovering very well too... good lord, he was almost scared of having to deal with the daily stupidity of his siblings.

"Ooh, new blackmail content? Send it, send it," Dane said excitedly. Clifford opened his eyes again only to roll them, even if he was smiling.

"Ugh, guys. We're not kids anymore. Show it to me, by the way?" I heard Roberta say, contradicting her own words. "Awww, look at them. They look so cute together..."

All three of them went silent and Tamara shifted to lie on her back. "No, mama, it's God's day... no school today..." she murmured in her sleep and Clifford a sound he never thought would come out of his mouth.

He giggled.

He didn't know why he found it funny. But, he just did. There were many things that he found unreasonably funny with her.