The Comeback Season

|chapter thirteen|

I walk down a white hallway with bright lights. The room is cold and I wrap my arms around my body. I start walking down towards the only door in the hallway. I open the door and walk towards a blue curtain. When I pull it back,  I see my dad laying lifeless on the bed.

"Dad—wake up. I need you." I see him plugged up to all these machines. I see the heart monitor beeping slightly. I walk closer to his bed and place my hand over his. "Dad, please wake up. I need you to stay with me." 

I feel the tears start coming down my face. He can't leave me. My best friend can't leave me. "Ple—ease dad! Don't do this to me. Please, dad, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt you." The heart monitor starts beeping faster and then it flatlines. I shake my dad softly "no, don't do this to me. Dad stay! Just stay!" The strained beeping from the heart monitor continues and I shake my dad harder. "Dad— no!"

I wake up in a dark room breathing heavily. Bryce gave me one of his t-shirts and a pair of shorts to sleep in last night. After that dream, the clothes are sticking to my sweaty body. These nightmares can't be coming back. I thought I got rid of them, but whenever my mom comes back, they reappear. I look at my phone on the nightstand and see its 3 o'clock in the morning. I lay back down and try to go back to sleep. Whenever I close my eyes I keep seeing him on that bed. I let out a soft "fuck it" and get out of the bed.

I leave my room and walk towards Bryce's door. The house is so quiet and peaceful at night. I'm grateful his parents let me spend the night. I stand in front of his bedroom door and think about my next move. Going against my mind, I curl my hand into a fist and softly knock on his door three times. I debate on walking away before I hear the door slowly open.

Standing in front of me is a sleepy Bryce. He is rubbing his eyes and yawning. He has no shirt on and is wearing Calvin Klein boxers. I stare at his perfectly defined six-pack and I just want to reach out and touch it. He is very muscular, but not too much like a bodybuilder.

Am I the only one who thinks their bodies look disgustingly huge?

"He-hey Cahlia, what's wrong?" He voice is a little husky so I can tell he is still slightly asleep. He moves for me to walk into his room and closes the door behind me. Before I can answer, he goes in his closet for something. He comes back out in shorts, but no shirt. I'm so happy he didn't put a shirt on.

"Umm, I can't sleep. So, I wanted to know if I could sleep with you?" Bryce's eyes brighten up and he smiles at me. "I don't mean sex, Bryce." I softly hit him on the shoulder and smile at him. "Oww, I know what you meant," he says rubbing his shoulder. "Why can't you sleep?" "I had a nightmare."

He doesn't ask what it was, but I can tell he wants to know. He grabs my hand and moves me towards the bed. I crawl over to the side away from the door and he lays behind me. I move under the covers and lay down next to him. His bed is hella comfy. I feel like I'm sleeping on a bed full of sheep wool or a cloud.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I shake my head 'no' and turn on my side away from him. I feel the mattress move as he turns to wrap his arm around my waist. 

"Cahlia, why is your shirt wet?" Shit. I forgot about that. "Well, the dream caused me to sweat more than I usually do." I thought he was about to remove his arm, but he just got closer.

I move my arm on top of his and intertwine our fingers. He moves my hair away from my neck and kisses it. "Goodnight Cahlia." I squeeze his hand tighter and say, "goodnight Bryce." My eyes started to close, but this time my dad never showed up.

❂❂❂❂❂❂❂❂❂❂❂❂

I wake up to the sunlight that is peaking in through his curtains. I bring my hand up to wipe the crust from my eyes. Bryce and I have moved a lot through the night. Our legs are wrapped around each other just like our fingers around my waist. I have no idea how his other arm moved behind my head, but that's where it is. His arm is going to be stiff when he wakes up.