slipped the curse. （ a. knight ）

0.1 // nightmares

"Aws."

"Mrm... what?"

"You have to get up."

"Mhmm."

The bed shifted and I knew without looking that Awsten had just rolled over and had not yet gotten up. It wasn't like him to still be in bed like this, but he was definitely stubborn enough to stick to his guns like this. I leaned over to Awsten, pressing my lips against his neck. He made a soft noise that dissolved into slow sleep sighs.

I got up as softly as possible and pulled Awsten's tee shirt from last night on over my head. I padded down the hallway toward the kitchen, hitting the button on the espresso machine to turn it on. I fed Jet while the coffee was brewing and stepped out onto the little balcony off the living room to breathe in the morning air.

Everything felt a little too perfect anymore. It felt like a dream. Being with Awsten had always been easy but this was perfection. I was happy. He'd moved into a much bigger place recently, bringing me along with him, and he had been working so hard on Fandom and it felt like old times so much so that I had an increasing number of moments like this one, where I was just leaning against the railing on the balcony, looking out across our little neighborhood in Los Angeles, not even able to believe that this was my life.

I came back inside after a few moments and fixed Awsten's coffee and then my own before I took both mugs from the kitchen to head back toward our bedroom where I would hopefully be able to rouse my sleeping boyfriend.

I found him, however, now wide awake and sitting up in bed. His bare shoulders were trembling and his eyes were wild as he took in my figure hovering in the doorway.

"Lia?" he asked, as if I was some spectre. His eyes were far away, glassy, wide with panic and his face was as pale as a sheet.

"What's happening? What's wrong?" I asked, setting the mugs down on the bedside table before I came to sit in front of him on the bed. "Awsten?"

He looked up at me when I said his name and he reached for my hand, which I gave him willingly. "This is real, right?"

I shook my head. "Of course it's real. Why would you𑁋?"

"I had this dream that everything wasn't real and that I was alone again in that fucking apartment and I was going crazy. There was blood everywhere and I was so confused until I realized it was my blood and I was bleeding the fuck out from my chest, which was fucking awful. I kept trying to stop the bleeding but it wouldn't stop. And when I woke up and you weren't here... I thought, 'that's it, she's gone'." He squeezed my hand so tight to punctuate the sentiment.

"This is real, Aws. I just left to make coffee since you didn't get up," I said slowly and I watched his shoulders visibly relax. "I'm having a hard time believing any of this is real myself," I admitted softly.

"Really?"

"Really." I smiled at him. "But it is real. You're here with me, you're gonna drink your coffee, and you're gonna go to the office like a good rockstar."

Awsten groaned loudly and fell back dramatically against the pillows, squinting at me. "Now I know this is real because you know I hate being called a fucking rockstar."

"But you are one," I teased him.

"Spare me," he said with a playfully withering glare. "Will you give me back my shirt? I was gonna wear that one to the meeting."

With one swift motion, I pulled his shirt over my head and dropped it in his lap. I smiled, watching the fire ignite in his eyes as he took in my now-topless appearance and he visibly swallowed like this was a cartoon.