Takeover

4- Plans

Stay the Night (feat. Hayley Williams)

by Zedd

Much too soon, a ray of light was slipping its way through a sliver of opening near the end of the sheet that was drawn across the window. Irritated with the sudden interruption of her heavenly slumber, she groaned and rolled over in hopes of evading the coming day for as long as possible. When she suddenly felt a hot breath blow across her face, her previously droopy eyes shot open, and she sprung up from the bed. 

When she looked back down, she found herself wedged between Evan and the wall. Shooting her eyes in every direction, her gaze fell upon the unmade couch. The night before quickly came back to the forefront of her memory, and along with it came her nightmare. 

One day he -- whoever he was -- will find her, and that was her biggest fear. 

Trying to shake the thought from her mind, she decided to get out of bed. As she gently untangled her leg from his, she realized how much she didn't want to get up; to leave him. For some reason, all she wanted to do was curl up under the covers with him once again. 

Quickly denying the thought, she carefully stepped over him and onto the cold floor. Looking back to see if she had woken him, Evan looked like he'd be asleep for hours. Deciding to make breakfast for the both of them, she opened the squeaky doors to the cabinet beside the sink. He had a can of beans and some rice that she could cook up pretty quickly. She pulled out the ingredients, along with a small pot from beneath the sink, and placed them all on the countertop. 

Once the rice had come to a boil, she drained most of the liquid, and poured the whole beans into the pot and began to mush them together. 

While she was stirring the ingredients together, she heard the floor squeak behind her. By the time she had spun around to see what it was, Evan was already standing chest to chest with her. 

She spun back around on her heals to hide the blush, and as casually as she could manage, asked, "So how'd you sleep?" 

"Fine after you crawled in bed." 

Even though she knew he probably didn't mean anything by it, she couldn't seem to stop the slight rosy color of her cheeks to turn into a crimson red at his comment. 

"So... do you wanna talk about the dream that had you screaming bloody murder in the middle of the night?" he asked light-heartedly. 

"Not really," she groaned. 

"Come on," he urged. "It'll be good to talk about it." 

Maybe he was right. She had been missing having someone to confide in with these types of things. Who knows? Maybe it actually would help her feeling of premonition that accompanied the dream. 

"Fine." She turned to face him once again, then walking over to sit at the edge of the bed. "It was the man I presume would be your boss. I was tied up, and blindfolded. He said he wanted something from me but didn't say what. I mean, he already has the thrown! What else would he need from me?" she screamed, flailing her arms around loosely in the process. "But whatever. It was just a dream right?" 

In that moment, however bad she wanted him to agree with her that it was nothing to worry about, she also wanted him to say maybe it was something to take consideration to. That maybe somewhere in her mind, her subconscious was warning her about what was to come. 

"Are you worried about it?" 

Or... he could say that and leave both questions unanswered. He sure was a lot of help. 

Thanks dude, really. 

"I'm not sure. Should I be? I mean, I'd be lying if I said it wasn't bothering me a little." 

"I think you are aware of the possible danger, but not certain that you will have to face it, and that uncertainty is what is scaring you." 

Damn.

"Wow. When did you get so wise?" she joked, although seriously. She was impressed. 

"After a certain little girl stopped hitting me over the head with a bucket!" he joked back. 

"Fair enough," she shrugged. 

He smiled for a second, before growing a sullen expression. 

"So... What are you going to do next?" 

This question caught her by surprise. What was she going to do? She had no idea! 

"I have absolutely no idea. I have been in the town for a month, and haven't been able to make any real progress! I don't know how to do this." 

He looked her in the eye, all joking had left the green irises. 

"You could run away?" 

"No. The very reason I'm still here is because I couldn't run away," she said glumly. Should she just leave? Was it naive to believe she would be able to do anything? "I'll figure it out later. I don't want to talk about it right now. But, since this part concerns you, would you mind having a roomate for a little while until I figure a few things out?" 

"Of course." 

He didn't even have to think about it. He just said yes. The way he said it -- without an ounce of hesitation or uncertainty -- sent shivers down her spine. The blush that seemed to be growing familiar with her face returned. 

As an attempt to hide this, she tried to continue the conversation by asking, "So, what are you going to tell your boss?" 

His face went pallid instantly. 

Crap. 

He looked down at his feet -- and probably every other inch of this room, for that matter -- before looking back up at her, wring his hand around the back of his neck. She was beginning to really worry about his response, by then. 

"Don't worry about it."