NOW YOU SEE ME.

Chapter 22.

The morning sun creeps in and I'm welcomed by a heartbeat beneath my ear, as well as a hard chest. I feel eyes on me and that's when everything starts to come back to me. In the early hours of the morning one of my nightmares had taken over, I caught myself screaming and was about to wallow in the darkness but everything changed, when Connor was here and with no questions asked, he comforted me and let me depend on him for strength, he was here again and had stayed with me.

Looking up at him with my chin on his chest, I see him smiling down at me." Morning." I say, my voice a little croaky due to the morning effect.

" Good morning to you too." He says and like that, we remain looking at each other.

Breaking the moment I move away so I can sit upright.

" Nice to know you snore." He teases and I frown at him.

" I do not!" I protest .

" Umm, I had to block my ears thank you very much." He teases, humour evident in his eyes.

I gape at him and this causes him to laugh at me. I attempt to move away from him but I don't get far when he pulls me back in place, I'm so flushed at this moment because of his hands around my waist, I freeze in place before I look away from him.

After what seems like forever, he removes his hands from around me and not later do I feel him move out of the bed.

" Do I really snore?" I ask now out of curiosity.

"Just a bit." He smirks at me in amusement.

I grab a pillow and throw it at him, only for him to dodge it while laughing at me. " Geez woman cool down!"

"Uh huh." I roll my eyes at him, crossing my arms.

" Okay, I'll see you down for breakfast."

I nod and with this, he kisses my forehead before heading for the door." Connor - "

He looks over his shoulder at me." I know, and you're welcome." I watch him walk out.

I stare at the door for a bit before I throw myself on the bed. Gosh, I can already feel my cheeks warm up.

A small smile breaks out on my face.

Oh Lord, what is happening to me?

Why am I acting like this when I shouldn't ?

He is truly trouble for this heart of mine.

*******

Digging through my clothes, I groan out loud. I mean why did it have to be Saturday of all days, especially tonight?

Oh right, it's all because of Connor, who persuaded me to go to tonights night activity. I'm not one for socializing and being out there, that's what tonight is all about. Connor at the time, made it sound like a good idea and now I don't think so.

I sit on my bed and remind myself of why I had agreed in the first place, the same words that made things more clearer at the time.

So earlier, Connor and I were sitting at our usual spot ,under our tree. Gosh, our, makes everything sound like such a big thing but all the while nice to hear.

Okay, getting back to my story, so Connor was pulling at the grass and I could sense that his mind had wandered off somewhere far, he got all quiet all of a sudden.

" Got a lot on your mind?" I say, pinching at his ear a bit just to bring him to attention.

His eyes snap to me. " Nah, just thinking about something dum."

" How dum?......Dum and dummer dum or Mr Bean dum?"

He quirks his brow at me." That's a lot of D's in one sentence."

I roll my eyes at him. " And no, it's more Connor dum.."

" Well it doesn't help me in placing your dum with those two categories." I say as I lightly scratch on my chin, as if I have a stubble or something.

This alone earns me a laugh from him and I smile , because I made him laugh and he won't look so distant, reliving things he only wished he'd forget.

He lies on his back with hands behind his head, and I remain seating cross legged." Have you ever gone out dancing?"

This question alone takes me aback and it takes me a while to answer, this causes him to look at me." No."

" Never?"

" Nope, unless you count the times I'd dance with my dad nights I'd been down, it was his way of cheering me up, it was silly really, with me stepping on his feet and he'd move around, gosh." I say, shaking my head slightly since I'd travelled back in time.

Looking back down at Connor, I find him staring at me strangely. "It was a long time ago like I said, anyway I - "

I'm cut off when he says. " Go dancing with me tonight."

" What?"

" Yeah, let's go to tonights activity. We've both never been and I heard that the food is way too good. This is the only time that the buffet comes out in big numbers."

"Oh my gosh, you and food." I groan lightly making him chuckle.

" So what do you say?"

" About tonight?" He nods.

I fake being in deep thought so he'll be impatient and it works, when he snaps his fingers in my face." Okay."

A smile starts forming on his lips, oh my word his smile is contagious and now I'm the one smiling.

Groaning again, I lie on my bed sighing. This was a bad idea especially now that I can't find anything to wear. I mean I could pick just about anything and it would be fine with me but for some reason, tonight feels different. I kinda want to put an effort into what I'm wearing, this is my first time going out, even if it's just right at the hall.

I'm not going. I decide.

"You will do no such thing." My head whips to the door where Vicky is standing, staring at the pile of clothes around me.

Closing the door behind her, she makes her way over to me and joins me on the bed. " I've never been there for this and I don't see why I should this time." Now that's a lie but saying this out loud makes me sound so convincing at this point.

" Because this time you have more reason to go."

" And that is?"

Before she can answer, I cut in." Don't answer that." She smiles at me.

" Bea, you already have a sense of wanting to live again, don't let tonight be any different because you can't find something to wear."

" It's not - ," I fall short on my words, making her to nod at me.

I watch her rise up from the bed and walk over to the mess I'd made. " And because this is something new and different, I'd say start it off with a - ," she pauses while going through my stuff and before I know it, she stands up straight, with something in her hand." Bang." She finishes, throwing the dress at me.

Holding it in front of me, I see that it is one of the few dresses I own, but never worn. White with a bit of bead work on the chest area and showing off a bit more skin then I thought.

" I don't know." I say sceptically, being more afraid of the dress the more I think about wearing it.

" Well you are wearing it, no backing out now." She folds her arms and gives me a no nonsense look.

Guess no further discussion then.

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Lets hope it'll be a good night.

What do you expect out of it?