Acting Out [Student/Teacher, GxG]

She's Someone's Wife

The sound of screaming jolted me out of my sleep and I shot upright, seeing Claire curled in on herself, shaking. "What's going on?" I rasped, rubbing my eyes and trying to reach out for her. She pulled away, her eyes wide and unseeing. Her breath was coming in short gasps, and she looked absolutely paralyzed with fear.

"Don't touch me," She pleaded, "Don't hurt me." She repeated those three words as if they were the only ones she knew, and I realized that she was having a night terror. I'd gotten them when I was younger, but I hadn't had one in years. I backed up, knowing that waking her up from it would be disastrous, but when she began to cry, I felt so useless it hurt.

After a few minutes, the look of panic seemed to dull to a strange vacancy, and her eyes closed, her breathing returning to normal. When she was fast asleep again, I found myself unable to relax. Claire put up a good front, but she was clearly haunted, and it broke my heart. I didn't know what to do, or if there was anything I could do.

I climbed out of bed and slipped out the door, running headlong into Caleb. "Fuck!" I yelped, steadying myself on the wall. The sun was only barely rising, and the house was gloomy and dark.

"Fancy seeing you here," He raised an eyebrow, "I couldn't sleep, and I know you never sleep, so I knocked on your door. Imagine my surprise when you weren't there."

I blushed. He knew exactly who's room I'd been in. "I was talking to Claire."

"Just out of curiosity," He started, smirking, "How's Claire at talking?"

I smacked him in the chest, "Oh, fuck off, Caleb. I wasn't fucking her, we were literally just talking and I fell asleep."

"Of course you were."

"I'm serious! That's never happened!"

"You really think anyone's going to believe you've been living in her palace doing nothing but talking for a month? That might actually be the worst lie you've ever told."

"It's not a lie," I whined, "I wish it was a lie."

He followed me down the stairs and I threw myself on the couch, the few hours of sleep I'd gotten doing nothing to quell my exhaustion, "It's horrible, Caleb. I'm in love with her."

My admission seemed to shock him. "You're kidding."

"Is it really that hard to believe? I mean, look at her!"

He shook his head, "I'm not surprised that someone's in love with Claire; I'm surprised that you are. Now that I'm thinking about it though, you did almost murder Jackson that time he started talking about her tits."

"It all makes sense now, doesn't it?" I grumbled, crossing my arms. "Don't let him watch our movie, I won't hear the end of it."

"That's the best part though!" He chuckled, "Everyone can look at her, but you're the one she comes home to."

"How's everything with Amy?" I asked, changing the subject.

"It's good. I mean, I think I'm always going to think I'm not enough for her, but I'm really happy."

"Why do you think that?"

"I don't know," He leaned back into the couch, looking up at the ceiling, "I just want the best for her and sometimes I feel like the best isn't me. Mostly I just miss my mom, and I wish she was here to tell me what to do."

"Caleb," I started, not knowing what to say, "I'm really glad you're here."

He smiled and everything felt exactly how it should be. I had my best friend, and I had Claire, and despite everything that had happened over the past year, I couldn't picture a better way to spend my Christmas. I closed my eyes again, letting myself drift off. I wondered if Claire would remember what she'd been dreaming about when she woke up, and I hoped she wouldn't.