Everything Anew

Chapter Twenty-Four

-TW-

Twenty-Four

Lila

I noticed, but pretended not to. When Nathan had fallen asleep in the car, I found myself doing the same, but then I noticed something shift. It felt like my instincts were telling me something wasn't quite right. My eyes opened to find Nathan beside me. His breathing was erratic; his body trembled and twitched beside me. I knew all too well what it meant, yet I had no idea what to do.

Now that I laid beside him, I wondered what gave him those dreams. I knew where my own derived from, and yet Nathan had something hidden so deep within himself, that he was haunted too.

I woke up in the middle of the night and watched him closely for a few minutes. He was on his side, facing me with his brows creased. I wondered if it was another bad dream, or something else entirely.

Curiously, I reached out towards his forearm stretched between us, and placed my fingers over his skin. I wondered if the contact would ease his sleep, just like it had his emotions.

I hadn't even realized I fell back to sleep until I woke up hours later and saw grey eyes looking back at me. I jolted back; my hand pulling away from his arm in the process, and once the contact was broken, he focused on the spot where my touch still lingered.

"You were watching me sleep?" I accused hoarsely.

Nathan's eyes were barely half open when he answered. "I just woke up myself."

I was left unable to conjure up a response due to embarrassment. Instead, I hopped out of bed and made my way to the closet to grab some clothes.

"I'm going to head down to work with Evan. We can talk over breakfast once I'm done."

I felt eager to learn more. I looked forward to gaining muscle and becoming stronger so that when the time came, I'd be ready to face them again. My appetite was curbed by this drive to continue, and I needed to let out some of the emotions built up within me before sitting down for breakfast.

I walked down the steps of the basement in new clothes, courtesy of Evan who said I needed something more comfortable to practice in. It felt tight to my body, something I wasn't entirely used to, though it felt good to wear something light that made it easier to move in.

Evan had his hair tied up as usual. His hands were shoved into his basketball shorts, and a loose tank top fell over his torso. His smile was infectious the moment he saw me, so I happily returned it with my own.

"What's on the agenda today?" I wondered.

Evan pulled his hands out of his pockets to clasp them together. "Well, I'd like to go over it with you first." He began stretching out his arms and legs, causing me to mimic him in turn. "How do you feel about holds today?"

The pit of my stomach dropped, and there wasn't much doubt that Evan must have noticed by my expression that the idea didn't appeal to me.

"I could try." I answered.

"I just thought we could try since we won't know when those rogue fuckers will try another stunt on us. We can't stall too long to wait and see, but if you're not okay with it that's totally fine. We have a few other things we can try. Maybe we can warm up until you make a decision."

I nodded at the idea. I needed to mentally prepare myself before even thinking of answering that question. "A warm up sounds good."

Once we stretched, we went through a few punches again. I smiled at the praise Evan gave me when it knocked him back just an inch more than usual. We moved on to weights, though limited them when I told him I hadn't eaten anything yet. It was decided then, that I'd come down here twice a day, once in the morning with Evan, and once again at night alone. An hour a day wouldn't cut it, and I enjoyed the idea of having some time alone to let off some steam.