Tangled In Time

A Love That Never Was

I woke to the touch of Blake's fingertips on my shoulder, his warm eyes greeting me. The remnants of sleep softened his face, but a gentle smile remained. Nestled against him, I felt a sense of comfort I hadn't realised I needed. His voice, rough with sleep, broke the silence.

"It's 4:00 am," he croaked, stirring me from my drowsiness. "Time to head back to the main house."

I rubbed my eyes, trying to shake off the remnants of sleep. "I don't even remember falling asleep," I confessed, watching as Blake fetched a coat from the closet.

"It's going to be freezing," he warned, passing me the coat.

With the door open, a chill breeze greeted us, reminding me of the late hour. As we walked, the cold air pinched my cheeks, but I barely noticed. My thoughts kept returning to the way he'd murmured my name in his sleep. The memory sent a strange flutter through me, one I wasn't sure I wanted to name. I stole another glance at Blake, his face illuminated softly in the moonlight.

"What?" Blake asked, turning to me, catching me mid-thought.

Caught off guard, I hesitated before blurting, "Did you sleep well?"

His brow lifted slightly, a hint of amusement tugging at his lips. "Not bad, considering someone used me as a pillow."

I felt heat rush to my face, but I pushed on, hoping to sound casual. "You, uh, said my name."

Blake faltered for half a step before recovering, his gaze sliding away as he exhaled a puff of mist into the frosty air. "Did I?"

"You did," I said, feeling braver now, the words spilling out before I could stop them. "What were you dreaming about?"

His eyes flicked back to mine, his expression unreadable. "I don't remember," he said after a beat, but there was a softness to his tone, as though he wasn't quite telling the truth.

The silence stretched between us, heavy with something unspoken. I tried to convince myself I didn't care what his dream had been, but the way his gaze lingered on me told me I wasn't the only one left wondering.

Blake opened the front door wincing when it made a loud creaking noise I stepped inside trying to be as quiet as possible. Blake shut the front door and before moving across the wooden floors pointed down at our feet indicating that we should remove our shoes.  Whilst I balanced on my one leg to untie my shoe I had a sudden burst of the giggles which I tried hard to supress prompting Blake to catch hold of my elbow to stop me from toppling over.  I had to clamp my hand over my mouth I wasn't sure whether it was the late hour getting to me.

"Stop," he whispered, but it only made things worse. I composed myself as Blake glowered down at me as I untied my other shoe.

"You and your shoe's" Blake said with a reluctant smile.

We tiptoed across the floors to the stairs and walked up them silently, my eyes burned from tiredness the giggles I'd just had must have been a symptom of being overly tired. I had a feeling deep in my chest that I didn't want the night to end I was becoming to attached to Blake and I knew it.

We reached the top of the stairs, the air heavy and the house unnervingly still. Blake gestured for me to follow as we turned down the dark corridor. The faint creak of the floorboards beneath our feet was the only sound, amplifying the quiet tension of the early morning.

Just as we passed the library a loud crash echoed from below, sharp and sudden. I froze, my breath catching, and instinctively grabbed Blake's arm.

"What was that?" I whispered, barely able to keep my voice steady at the same time Blake whispered