The fire inside

Chapter 25

I woke up to Trent tossing and turning. I looked over at my clock and it was only two in the morning. I turned over and saw that Trent was covered in sweat. I touched his cheek and he flinched away from me. He was mumbling something I couldn't understand then I heard my name escape his lips. He sounded pained and panicked, then he suddenly sat up, wide awake.

"Trent?" I whispered.

He jumped a little then looked at me. "Ellie?" he whispered shakily.

"Are you okay?" I touched his arm softly and felt him flinch slightly. "What's going on?"

"It's nothing," he said moving off the bed. "I'm fine."

"Trent, I know you're lying."

"Ellie, I don't want to talk about it." He started walking towards the bathroom.

I ran after him and wrapped my arms around his torso from behind.

I felt him tense up then he unwrapped my arms from around him. He turned around and when he looked me in the eyes I saw tears rimming his eyes. I felt a pain in my chest as a tear slid down his cheek.

I reached up and whipped the tear from his cheek then rested my hand on his cheek. "Trent, please talk to me."

Trent grabbed my wrist then pulled me into a tight hug. I was shocked at first but quickly returned the hug. "I'm sorry, Elle." He kissed the top of my head then moved back to look at me. "I want to tell you, but I don't think I should."

I looked up at him a little confused. "What do you mean?"

"I feel like if I told you, you would hate me." He looked away from me and dropped his arms to his sides.

"It can't possibly be that bad." I grabbed his hand and smiled up at him.

"It wouldn't be if this were the first time I had this dream." He looked at me then sighed. "Ellie, I don't want to hurt you."

"How could you hurt me?" I  tried to get him to look at me but he kept his eyes off of me.

"You don't want to know."

"Tre-"

"I killed you," He blurted.

I took a step back and looked at him with wide eyes. "What?" I whispered.

"In my dream," he whispered. "I strangled you to death."

I backed up until I was sitting on my bed again remembering the awful nightmare I'd had before. It felt like the room was spinning.

"Ellie?" Trent knelt in front of me but it sounded as though he were outside calling my name. "Ellie, What's wrong?"

"How many times have you had that dream?" I whispered.

"Um, maybe three or four times?" He looked down ashamed.

"You found me in the woods in your dream didn't you." He looked back up at me in shock.

"How did you know that?"

"I had the same dream before. I was terrified."

"That was the same night I climbed in through your window, wasn't it?

I nodded. "I know you would never hurt me but I still jumped when I saw you." I looked away from him feeling absolutely awful.

He grabbed my chin between his thumb and index finger and turned my face so I was looking at him again. "I was afraid of hurting you even though I know I would never do that." He leaned in and kissed me softly.