Beauty And A Beast

Chapter 35

Sana

She screams and it's a horrifying sound I'd rather have never heard. I almost toss my phone across my room when I hear it.

When I put her down on her bed, I decided to sit on her couch for a while and scroll down my phone, just in case something happened. I don't know what made me think of that, what made me care so much. Perhaps the fact that she once cared too.

She screams again and I throw my phone down on the couch and rush to her room. When I push the door open, I find myself inside a room illuminated only by the moonlight coming in from the window, with nothing too personal other than a single picture on the wall. Just across from the small wooden desk is the bed, Tzuyu on top of it.

She's sweating, something I can see thanks to the light, and she's shaking slightly. Her fists are curled around the bedsheets and the image of her, breathing heavily and shaking like that, is terrifying. Scary.

I go to the side of the bed and place my hand over her own. "Shh." I whisper but to no avail. She just keeps on trembling. I take a deep breath and remove my shoes before climbing onto the bed and position my self on top of her.

"Hey. Tzuyu." I mumble as I put a hand over her forehead. "Tzuyu, calm down." I continue and cup her face with both hands as she keeps on shaking. I would wake her up, but she's probably like that because of a dream and I've read that it's not appropriate to wake someone abruptly when they're having a dream. So I just slap her cheeks softly.

"Hey, hey, Tzuyu. Shh, Tzuyu calm down-"

Her gray eyes suddenly open wide and I don't even have time to react when she flips the cards. I'm pinned on the bed underneath her body, trapping me there with her arms and legs. A cold and sharp feeling is met with my throat and I recognize the black hilt of the military knife she had in the first Challenge.

"Woah, woah, Tzuyu." I breathe, "It's just me."

She breathes heavily, her chest heaving up and down, as she glares at me. Too many feelings pass by her eyes for me to count when she scans every detail of my face.

"Tzuyu. It's me. Sana." I say, my voice as silent as a whisper.

The blade digs slightly in my skin and I hiss when I feel the blood run down my neck. Tzuyu looks at me and then the knife she's still pressing to my throat.

"It was just a dream." I mutter, in what I hope is a reassuring tone. "It wasn't real."

Her eyes dart around the room, refusing to meet my own. I hesitantly raise a hand to cup her cheek, her skin softer than I imagined it would be.

"Look at me." I say softly but she refuses to obey. "Tzuyu, look at me."

This time she takes a sharp breath and closes her eyes. When she opens them, they meet mine with an intensiveness I'm familiar yet not accustomed with.

"Don't hide from me." I breathe, suddenly struggling to inhale with the way she is looking at me. "Not anymore."

She pulls the knife back and throws it to the ground, staring at the mark it left with wide eyes full of something like disgust. She raises her hand and runs it over my neck, a hint of disappointment flashing through her eyes.

"Look at what I've done." she whispers, seeming terrified by the thought of nicking me with a knife. I let out a breathy laugh, and the look of her so flustered by my action has me laughing more.

"Funny, usually I'm the one threatening you with a knife." I huff, hoping for even the smallest smile to show, for her dimples to show and start playing with me.

Nothing. She remains still.

After a while, she uses the corner of the sheets to wipe the remaining blood on my neck. And then she stares at me. Like she's always had but this time without smirking, without smiling, with nothing shifting in her beautiful face. I'm lost in the moment, in the intensity of her gaze, in her.

I blink a few times, realizing what's happening. She dips her head towards me, closing her eyes and leaning her forehead on my own. Her breathing is shallow and slow, peaceful.

"Why are you here?" she asks, opening her eyes, eyelashes brushing against her cheeks which I'm still caressing. She leans into my touch, and I find relief in that, something perhaps I shouldn't be feeling this close to her.

I clear my throat, slowly shifting beneath her. She breathes sharply, understanding what's happening and rolling to the bed next to me. I throw a quick glance at her direction and when I see her looking up at the ceiling, I sit up and move to the edge of the bed. Just when I am about to get up and leave, fingers brush the inside of my wrist.

"Stay."

I still. Everything around me does. My feet can't seem to be able to lead me out of there, away from her.

"Please." she whispers. And then with a huff she adds, "Few have the power to make me plead."

I don't know what I'm supposed to do. My head is telling me to leave. She's the daughter of the man who killed my father, she's acquainted with some pretty dangerous people and I've been involved in weird situation ever since I met her.

My heart though is pushing me to do the other.

I turn around and meet her eyes. Her breath hitches, her gaze softens. She thought I'd leave her alone. She expects everyone to leave her alone. With that heartbreaking thought in my mind, I lift the covers and lie down, facing her.

She shifts and hesitantly scoots closer, the movement full of doubt. I feel the question she hasn't even asked, if I want her closer or to back off. My answer is agonizingly slow as I move towards her and she doesn't hesitate to wrap an arm around me and tug me closer, her chin kissing my forehead and her breathing tickling the top of my head.

My eyes slowly drift closed as Tzuyu caresses my back with her hand gently. I'm not sure what to feel about the fact that I feel so safe, so secure in her arms than I've felt in years.

"Thank you." she whispers, the words making me shoot my head up to look into her beautiful eyes. My face is close to hers and she's examining it as if she has all the time in the world to do so. And then she shows me a smile, one that's designed for me.

"Do you find it shocking that I would thank you?" she murmurs. I don't reply and she tucks a stray strand of hair behind my ear. "You shouldn't. Not anymore."

I stare at her for a while. A long while. My eyelids are drooping, threatening to remain closed with every blink. But I don't want to, I don't want to be deprived of this moment. A small smile suddenly finds its way to Tzuyu's lips, and her breath against my mouth is enough to flutter my eyes open.

"As tempting as it is to watch you stare at me all night-" she whispers softly, her voice a caress, "-sleep Sana."

I give her a grin as I bury my face back in the crook of her neck, sniffing that sweet scent of hers. "Are you going to sleep?"

She chuckles and her hand caresses my hair in a way that makes me close my eyes immediately. "I'm already dreaming darling."

With those words, softer than I would have expected from her, and the feel of her beating heart against me, I drift off to one of my most peaceful sleeps.

A/N:
Tension is building 😬
Thank you guys so much for 3k reads, I mean, I can't even express my gratitude 🙏🥹