Nadine's Stuck.

FOUR

Caden's POV:

I get woken up by someone shaking me. I groan. "Fuck off..."

"Cade! Cade!" I hear Nadia's sweet voice call out. The poor girl sounds like she's in tears.

I roll over and see her standing at the left side of my bed, tears falling down from her eyes like a waterfall, and her grip on her stuffed bunny is tight.

"Hey, hey. What's wrong?" I rub my eyes and sit up. What a peculiar girl Nadine Rosewood is.

"I had a bad dream..." She mumbles, "Can I sleep with you?"

"Uh. What?" Sleep with me? Or sleep with me. Definitely not the ladder, Nadia isn't bold enough to ask. I would though. It's a shame a girl so pretty is so...troubled, as the school would deem her.

Her big, scared eyes look up at me.
"Fine." I roll my eyes and pat the bed. "Only for tonight."

She nods and climbs into the bed.
"What was your bad dream about?"

No answer.

"That's okay if you don't want to talk about it."

There is a long pause before Nadia speaks, "I want paci..."

"Paci...?" I look at her funny, my eyebrows furrowing. "You mean like a pacifier?"

She nods and the realization dawns on me. Nadia is a little. How could I have not seen the glaring signs? My sister's friends with a little, so I know a little bit about it, but not too much. I'll do research on it in the morning. I want to make Nadia as comfortable as possible in this place.

"Where is it?"

She points under her bed. That makes a lot of sense. She probably keeps all her stuff there.

"Okay. I'll get it." I stand up from the bed, shivers tingle up my body when my bare feet touch the wooden floor. I walk over to Nadia's bed, pink blankets and sheets draping it. I crouch down and reach my hand under her bed, trying to feel my way around. It's too dark to see anything and I don't want to turn on the lights just in case it bothers Nadia in some way.

Eventually, I feel a silicone pacifier and take it out from under the bed. It's a simple, purple thing. I walk over to Nadia and pass it to her. She shoves it in her mouth without saying thank you. Maybe regression takes away her manners, too.

I get back in bed beside Nadia. She immediately clings to my bare arm and cuddles it. I don't protest. I listen to her breathing slow down.

When Nadia falls asleep, the pacifier has fallen out of her mouth and is now lying on my bed somewhere.
I debate whether I should bring Nadia to her own bed or not. I probably should. Who knows what she might think if she finds herself laying in her shirtless roommate's bed. Would she even remember this?

I don't want to drop her, so I turn on my dim desk light, just to illuminate the room a bit. I might trip on something that was accidently left out.
Gently picking up Nadia, I sneak my way to her bed and lay her down. I tuck her in with the blanket and walk back over to my bed, get her stuffed bunny, and place it next to her.

I watch her sleep for a few moments. Her eyes flutter and I hold my breath, but she just sucks her thumb and goes back to normal. I exhale and walk over to my desk, turning off the desk light before heading back to bed.

Goodnight, little Rosewood.

. . .

Word count: 605!