"I'm sorry, Evelyn..." Lea droned into her phone half heartedly, resisting the overwhelming urge to roll her eyes. It had been a night after the bathroom incident with Dylan, and she finally had some free time to herself. That is until Evelyn called demanding answers.
"Sorry!? Lea, we haven't talked in like, a month! You've been completely ignoring me and all you have to say is, sorry!?" Evelyn shot back at her, clearly annoyed. Lea felt a pang of guilt but she shook it off quickly.
"I've been busy. With the restaurant and...and other things, I haven't seen much of anybody."
"I'm not just anybody. I'm your best friend."
Lea sighed. "We'll plan something soon, okay? I promise."
"That sounds awfully non committal."
"I'm sorry, but right now that's the best that I can give you."
Evelyn groaned. "I know that voice. That's your 'I'm going to hang up on Evie' voice."
"I'll call you soon."
"Lea, don't hang--!"
There was a click and the line went dead. Lea threw the phone on the bed next to her and rubbed her face from pure annoyance and exhaustion. She loved Evelyni; she did. They'd been the best of friends since high school, and even attended college again. Evelyn was always there for Lea whenever she needed her. But she was a really needy friend most of the time.
Usually, Lea didn't mind having her around the apartment all the time. But she really didn't want her there snooping with Dylan and Jade around. She couldn't have Evelyn getting involved, so to keep her out of the loop, Lea had started to avoid her...at all costs.
There was a knock on the door and a manly voice called out, "Are you decent?"
Lea smiled at the sound of his voice before the butterflies began to flutter. She turned to her mirror and brushed the hair out of her face, then looked back over at the door with a smile. "I'm decent, come on in."
The door swung open and Dylan came inside. He felt no shame hiding his perfect physique. He wore a pair of low hanging jeans and a bare chest, flaunting his six pack. He smiled at her, then walked over to the bed and sat down beside her. "It's pretty late, I'm surprised you're not asleep. Jade's so far into sleep mode, I thought she was dead."
Lea giggled. "Yea, well Selena likes to do everything to the extreme...and I could ask you the same question. Why aren't you sleeping?"
Dylan shrugged, his smile disappearing slightly. "I couldn't get to bed."
"Any particular reason for that?"
He nodded. "The same reason I've been an insomniac for the past three years. The nightmares."
"You get nightmares?" Lea asked, cocking her head to one side.
"It's always the same one," he answered her. "I bet you could guess who's the star of the show."
"Sofia..." she whispered. He didn't have to confirm her guess. The look on his face told him she was right.
"I see her lying there, eyes closed...pale as snow...blood dripping from her wrists and neck. She's lying in a dumpster like a rag doll. I reach out to save her, and just then her eyes snap open. She lets out a blood curdling scream until her eyes focus on me. They're filled with such hatred when they do...then she whispers, 'why didn't you save me?' then just like that, I wake up...everytime."
Lea shuddered. She couldn't imagine going through that every single night. Even though she still loved Mason as much as she did, she couldn't imagine seeing his face in her dreams every night. "Dylan, that's just..." she paused, not sure what word to use that would describe just how horrific that sounded.
Dylan shrugged. "It's okay. You learn to deal with it, or you learn not to sleep. Either way you get by." Dylan's eyes began to wander, and soon settled on a pile of Mason's old clothing that lay on the floor across the room from them. A curious look crossed his face and he turned back to Lea. "Can I ask you something?"
"You can ask me anything you want," she answered him.
"What's with the piles of guy's clothing you have all over the apartment? Are you harboring another fugitive that Jade and I don't know about?"
She smiled at his joke. "No, you guys are the only outlaws here."
"Good," he chuckled. "Because I'd want to know if I had any competition."
Lea rolled her eyes, then reached up to russell the jet black locks on his head. "Don't worry, you and your sister will always be my favorite escaped convicts."
"As it should be," he smiled. Then he stared at her seriously and she realized he was waiting for an answer to his question. Well, if she was going to tell him about Mason, it might as well be now, she thought. Especially after he told her about his nightmares. She was in no place to keep things from Dylan.
"Actually, the clothes are my ex boyfriend's. Things were pretty serious between us and...he lived here with me, until we broke up."
"Must have been a pretty brutal break up..." Dylan pointed out. Lea nodded in agreement, then looked up into his eyes.
"Dylan, we're more alike than you probably even realize."
"What do you mean by that?"
"We were both victims of unfaithful partners...Both stuck loving people we have no business loving anymore." She sighed, her smile fading.
"He cheated?" Dylan asked her and she shook her head 'yes' in response. "Then we do have a lot in common. You know, maybe there was a reason that we ran into each other in that alleyway."
"What do you think that is?" Lea asked him, switching her gaze to look back into his eyes.
"We both have hearts that need fixing."
Tingles shot up her spine as she nodded in agreement. He had no idea how true that statement was.
"It's a shame though, that your ex was stupid enough to cheat on you."
Lea's eyebrows slanted downward in confusion. "What do you mean by that?"
"Well, if I had a girl as special as you, I'd never screw it up like that."
She grinned from ear to ear as Dylan leaned down to plant a sweet kiss against her cheek. It took everything in her not to melt into a puddle on her bedroom floor. He had no idea about the effect he had on her.
Then he stood up and walked over to the door. He opened it and was about to step out. Before doing so Dylan turned back to her with a warm smile. "Until tomorrow, Lea."
"Until tomorrow, Dylan."
