The Neighbor

In Dreams

Ben shot up from bed, gasping for air and drenched in sweat. The sheets around him were soaked, as was his pillow. His hair was plastered to his forehead and his breathing was erratic. He quickly took in his surroundings, familiarizing himself. He was in his room, it was late at night, and there was a naked woman beside him. Cassie. His Cassie. A month and a half of being together and every day is a new one with her. He loves her, he could never deny that, but he was very possessive. Any man who even looked at her, he wanted to strangle with his bare hands. He's dreamt it plenty of times. Only, tonight, hadn't been a man. Tonight had been a woman...his woman. 

It started out as him and Cassie entering RL Restaurant and that young, scrawny waiter was there. They were making eye contact the entire time they were there. He got so angry that he beat the shit out of the waiter, but when Cassie tried to stop him, he turned and strangled her and watched as her blue eyes turned cold and lifeless. That's what he realized what he had done and he started screaming and throwing things, then tried to wake her up, but couldn't. 

Seeing her sleeping next to him was a huge amount of relief on his part. He would never treat her the way he's treated other people for the past several years. He knows what he does, what he's done, but he's determined to not let her find out. If she does, he doesn't know what he'd do. He'd probably just--.

"Ben?" He felt her arms wrap around his shoulders and her bare chest press up against his back. He sighed in relief and eased back against her. "Are you alright?" She asked, noticing how sweaty he is. He nodded and sighed, "I'm fine, darling. Did I wake you?" She shook her head and kissed his bare shoulder. "Seriously, though. What's wrong?" She asked again. Ben raked his fingers through his black, sweaty curls and simply told her, "Bad dream." She didn't say anything more after that because she knew when he did or didn't want to talk about things. 

A few moments later, he turned in her arms and gently pushed her down on her back, as he crawled over her. He put his full weight on top of her and buried his face into her neck. He felt her warm hands glide up and down his back, comforting him like it always does. He breathed in her lavender scent and sighed contently. The hands that were caressing her sides suddenly stopped and his breathing became ragged. 

"It was you," he shakily told her. "You were in it." Cassie lightly shushed him and kissed his head. He couldn't keep his mouth filter off. Usually he was very good about containing himself, but right now, he couldn't. "I hurt you," he cried. "In my dream, I hurt you. I'm so sorry, baby." Cassie lifted his head to make him look at her. He was really crying. And he looked absolutely terrified. "Ben," she breathed. "Hey, it's alright. It was just a dream." 

Ben grunted pressed his forehead to her chest. He then abruptly lifted himself off of her and stood up by the bed, furiously running his fingers through his hair. "YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!" He shouted, making Cassie jump. She saw a crazy look in his eye and it was scaring her. She sat up against the headboard and covered herself with the duvet as if it were some sort of shield. She watched as Ben paced the room, while tightly gripping his hair. He started muttering, "You don't, you don't...I just, I can't!" He slammed his hands down on the dresser, knocking over a few things, including a lamp. 

Again, Cassie jumped, but instead of hiding under the covers, she started to get up and gather her clothes. Ben whiped his head to her asked, "What are you doing?" Cassie looked up at him and wasn't sure what to think. His hair was in his face, his eyebrows were furrowed, his breath was coming out in small pants, and his eyes...oh his eyes. They told many things like, anger, sadness, guilt, regret. She couldn't read him.

"I-I'm going to go. You obviously need some time to yourself." He quickly made his way to her, got on his knees, and grabbed her hands. Cassie gasped and tried to jerk back, but he had a super grip on her and wouldn't let go. He placed a few kisses on her hands and said, "Cassie...Cass, don't leave me. Baby, please don't leave me. I'm sorry, I just...I'm so scared. I don't want to hurt you." Cassie sighed and got down on her knees with him. She put her hands on the side of his head and moved them down to his cheeks. Ben took a deep breath and kissed her palm. "You won't hurt me, Ben. You won't. I trust you, okay?" 

Ben held her hands to his face and nodded. "I love you, Cass. I am so in love with you." This was the first time he was saying it and Cassie could feel her heart hammering in her chest. She bit her bottom lip and told him, "I love you, too." He let out a sigh of relief and started laughing. He grabbed the back of her head and pulled her in for a kiss. She didn't know what the hell just happned, but she did know one thing:

He's in love with her.