"Taylor, are you alright?" A question I had woken up to many times before but I had never gotten used to being ripped out of reality so abruptly. Noah was sitting on my bed but when I went to sleep I had done so alone. Shaking off the dream I dream I did my best to look aloof and roll my eyes.
"Yes, you fucking stalker, I'm fine. Why are you in my room right now?"
He wasn't taking the bait, he still looked so concerned. Having bizarre and sometimes violent nightmares wasn't something I wanted to share with him just yet but thanks to his lack of personal boundaries he had seen it firsthand. I was shaking and my sides were burning because I had dug my nails into my ribs from anxiousness, I didn't want to draw attention to it by looking down at the sheets.
"I was leaving you a note and you just looked so," he ran his fingers through his hair and then stared down at his hands. "Shit, I just couldn't let you freak out like that."
I shook my head and sat up, pulling the blanket up with me to cover the parts of me that were exposed. The last thing I needed was him seeing me half naked. I didn't want to be weak at the knees or pumped full of endorphins, not after that dream. Seeing his face was enough to make me weary and skeptical about whether or not this was just another part of my dream or not; I was expecting him to pull out a knife or strangle me.
Clearing my throat I tried to change the subject, "What did your note say?"
"Oh, nothing," he took it out of his pocket and tore it up a few times before putting it in the trash by my bed. "Nothing I can't say to you in person now that you're awake. Do you need anything, like water? If you need to relax or anything I have weed, I mean, I don't really know how you deal with this sort of thing..." Noah was fidgeting which he hardly ever did, he was nervous. I was making him nervous. I wasn't sure if he was uneasy because he had been caught sneaking into my room or because of something else. Pulling my knees to my chest I sat up against the headboard and took in what I knew would be a rare sight.
"No, I'm really used to it, I'll be fine. It'll take me a while to get back to sleep though."
"Do you want me to stay with you until you do?"
I nodded and he kicked off his shoes and got into my bed, stealing my sole pillow. "Come on then, I'm tired, too." It was hard to be apprehensive when he looked so inviting. Whenever I would have bad dreams as a kid I would go sleep in my mother or sister's bed because the knowledge of someone else being there always made me feel protected. I laid back down and wondered if I would get the same feeling of safety from Noah, this boy who had just wedged himself into my life without so much as a warning. I'd gotten over not wanting him there and all negative feelings aside he had proven to be amusing and I needed the distraction. Plus, even though we had only had that one night of kissing and touching I could still feel his lips on mine.
Noah grabbed my hand once I laid down next to him, sharing a pillow with him wasn’t nearly as awkward as I thought it would have been. He didn’t smell like booze for once which was refreshing, having him sober was much better than having him not.
“It smells like rain and feels like thunder outside, I love summer storms.” He was whispering now and his voice was more like a lullaby than anything. Moving closer he wedged a leg in between one of mine, but I didn’t fight it.
“Tell me something, anything, just keep talking until I fall asleep.”
“The Big Bang happened approximately fourteen billion years ago,” he made circles on my hand with his thumb. “Since then the universe has been changing and expanding rapidly, you know, it gets bigger every day. All of our elements bound themselves together to create planets, including the one we’re on now. Evolution began about four thousand million years ago, since then homo sapiens have come a long way, settling down, growing food and developing languages. It’s brought us a long way and it was all to bring me here to you.”
Then he kissed me and I was sure I wasn’t dreaming. It was brief but it meant something; everything with Noah had some hidden meaning.
I laughed once he pulled away and opened my eyes though I didn’t remember closing them. “I’m dizzy now.”
“Then go to sleep, I’ll be here in the morning.”
"Yes, you fucking stalker, I'm fine. Why are you in my room right now?"
He wasn't taking the bait, he still looked so concerned. Having bizarre and sometimes violent nightmares wasn't something I wanted to share with him just yet but thanks to his lack of personal boundaries he had seen it firsthand. I was shaking and my sides were burning because I had dug my nails into my ribs from anxiousness, I didn't want to draw attention to it by looking down at the sheets.
"I was leaving you a note and you just looked so," he ran his fingers through his hair and then stared down at his hands. "Shit, I just couldn't let you freak out like that."
I shook my head and sat up, pulling the blanket up with me to cover the parts of me that were exposed. The last thing I needed was him seeing me half naked. I didn't want to be weak at the knees or pumped full of endorphins, not after that dream. Seeing his face was enough to make me weary and skeptical about whether or not this was just another part of my dream or not; I was expecting him to pull out a knife or strangle me.
Clearing my throat I tried to change the subject, "What did your note say?"
"Oh, nothing," he took it out of his pocket and tore it up a few times before putting it in the trash by my bed. "Nothing I can't say to you in person now that you're awake. Do you need anything, like water? If you need to relax or anything I have weed, I mean, I don't really know how you deal with this sort of thing..." Noah was fidgeting which he hardly ever did, he was nervous. I was making him nervous. I wasn't sure if he was uneasy because he had been caught sneaking into my room or because of something else. Pulling my knees to my chest I sat up against the headboard and took in what I knew would be a rare sight.
"No, I'm really used to it, I'll be fine. It'll take me a while to get back to sleep though."
"Do you want me to stay with you until you do?"
I nodded and he kicked off his shoes and got into my bed, stealing my sole pillow. "Come on then, I'm tired, too." It was hard to be apprehensive when he looked so inviting. Whenever I would have bad dreams as a kid I would go sleep in my mother or sister's bed because the knowledge of someone else being there always made me feel protected. I laid back down and wondered if I would get the same feeling of safety from Noah, this boy who had just wedged himself into my life without so much as a warning. I'd gotten over not wanting him there and all negative feelings aside he had proven to be amusing and I needed the distraction. Plus, even though we had only had that one night of kissing and touching I could still feel his lips on mine.
Noah grabbed my hand once I laid down next to him, sharing a pillow with him wasn’t nearly as awkward as I thought it would have been. He didn’t smell like booze for once which was refreshing, having him sober was much better than having him not.
“It smells like rain and feels like thunder outside, I love summer storms.” He was whispering now and his voice was more like a lullaby than anything. Moving closer he wedged a leg in between one of mine, but I didn’t fight it.
“Tell me something, anything, just keep talking until I fall asleep.”
“The Big Bang happened approximately fourteen billion years ago,” he made circles on my hand with his thumb. “Since then the universe has been changing and expanding rapidly, you know, it gets bigger every day. All of our elements bound themselves together to create planets, including the one we’re on now. Evolution began about four thousand million years ago, since then homo sapiens have come a long way, settling down, growing food and developing languages. It’s brought us a long way and it was all to bring me here to you.”
Then he kissed me and I was sure I wasn’t dreaming. It was brief but it meant something; everything with Noah had some hidden meaning.
I laughed once he pulled away and opened my eyes though I didn’t remember closing them. “I’m dizzy now.”
“Then go to sleep, I’ll be here in the morning.”
