The Dancer

In His Arms

Two blissful weeks later, Tom and I had made it home from Tuscany and successfully moved me into his home. Because I'd had somewhere to go, it was easier to get a hold of my landlord and discuss terminating my renting contract. He seemed happy enough to cooperate and make the deal with me.

Jess and Oli had helped Tom and I with the move, the boys lugging the heavy boxes about while Jess and I gossiped and chatted about mine and Tom's holiday. It was very hard work, for the boys anyway.

It hadn't taken me long to settle into Tom's place. Of course he helped by breaking in our bed and christening every room in the house... If you get me. But I'd been having a lot of trouble sleeping since we'd been home and I wasn't entirely sure as to what was causing it. Don't get me wrong, sleeping next to Tom daily would probably make any woman sleep better. But getting to sleep wasn't the problem, it was staying asleep.

The rain poured hard. November had always been known for its awful weather and wet nights, but that night was much worse than normal. But it didn't bother the little girl, sitting on the sofa of her grandparents living room, in the slightest. Her family looked on as she unwrapped various birthday presents and cards with a joyful smile on her face. Despite it not being her birthday until the next morning, her family treated her to some early presents as the majority of them wouldn't be seeing her on her birthday.

Wrapping paper had been tossed all over the floor, ignored by the little girl now playing with her brand new toys. She couldn't have been happier.

After being sung Happy Birthday, the little girl and her parents made their way home before the weather outside got any worse. She kissed her grandparents goodbye and bundled her new things into the boot of the car, all except her new mp3 player, filled with all of her favourite songs. She belted up in the back seat of the car and pushed her headphones over her ears pressing play. The words and music filled her head, blocking out the heated discussion her parents were having, of course of which she wasn't completely oblivious to, the looks on their faces gave it away.

The car pulled out the driveway and turned the corner to pull onto the busy main road, the rain still coming down heavy. They'd been on the main road for a while when the little girl caught a glimpse of something just in her vision a small bright light coming from the left hand side. As the car drew closer, she noticed what it was, it in fact was not a small bright light anymore, but two very large ones, ones which her parents hadn't spotted.

In panic the girl called out to warn them, but it was too late. Her father attempted to slam on the brakes but the surface water was too much to make a difference. As the car approached it's inevitable fate, the little girl screamed and everything went black.

TOM'S POV

I woke up with a start as soon as I heard Emma scream beside me. I shot up straight and saw she was dreaming again. Sweat covered her body and her breathing was much faster than it was supposed to be. I tried to wake her up gently by calling her name and shaking her slightly, but she wouldn't wake up. She quietened down for a little while and for a moment I thought she'd stopped dreaming and had finally been able to enter her peaceful sleep state again, so I turned back over and closed my eyes. Minutes later she screamed again, this time grabbing my arm and almost cutting off my blood supply. As I turned again to face her I saw she was sitting up, eyes open and tears streaming down her face. I sat up slowly as to not scare her and softly stroked her shoulder, double checking she was really awake. When she relaxed at my touch I knew she'd woken herself up and I wrapped my arm around her shoulder, only hoping that she'd tell me what she'd just dreamt about that make her scream so much.

EMMA'S POV

I sat bolt upright, letting out a scream as I did so. Sweat covered my body from head to toe and the bed sheets were soaked from it. Tom turned over slowly in bed and sat up before placing his hand gently onto my shoulder and stroking it lightly. I relaxed into his touch, knowing that I was actually awake and I wasn't still dreaming. That was the fourth time this week I'd had the nightmare, or should I say flashback, of the night my parents died. Tom was getting very concerned, and also stressed that I wasn't telling him what they were about. That night was the worst I'd had it so far, it was the most visual I'd had. It felt so real that it was like I was there all over again. But I just couldn't figure out what was triggering it.

"Darling, are you all right?" Tom whispered through the dark, still stroking my shoulder reassuringly.

"Just another nightmare" I replied, staring out into the dark bedroom blankly.

"You want to tell me about it?" He asked quietly, turning on his bedside lamp and looking back at me.

"It was the crash. I watched everything. From the moment we left my grandparents to the second the lorry hit us... I watched my parents.." I couldn't finish, I simply broke down into tears. Tom pulled me into his and I buried my face in his neck, letting it all out. Tom stayed quiet for the time being until I had calmed down a little.

"It's alright darling, it's gone now. Take some deep breaths and wipe those beautiful eyes" he whispered into my ear as well as handing me a tissue, also from his bedside table.

I breathed in deeply and let it out slowly through my mouth, then did as Tom told me and dabbed at my face with the tissue, wiping the tears away. He pulled me so that we were both laying back down, my head resting on his chest and his arms wrapped firmly around me. I felt safe again in his embrace and never wanted this moment to end. He had done this every night so far and each time he did it, I felt comforted and loved. Tom knew that all I needed was a gentle hug and to be told that it was all going to be ok, before letting me drift back off and sleep. This night however was different.

"What do you think is causing all this Em?" He whispered into my hair before pressing his lips to the top of my head.

"I'm not sure to be honest. I can't think of anything off the top of my head." I replied, my eyelids beginning to get heavy again.

"Maybe we should get you to have a chat with a therapist or something and food out what the trigger is" Tom sighed, caressing my arm gently and fiddling with the hem of my pyjama top with his other hand.

"I doubt it's anything Tom. I'll be fine. It's happened before, it'll just pass." I replied tiredly, hooking my leg over his and closing my eyes.

"If it happens again tomorrow night, I'm getting Luke to find us someone to talk to" he said sharply, clearly he was sick of me interrupting his sleep.

"Fine whatever, can I sleep now?" I snapped back.

"Goodnight Emma." Tom said drowsily, before we both fell asleep, leaving our discussion until the morning.

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"Morning darling" Tom called from the kitchen as he heard me coming down the stairs, still waking up with my dressing gown wrapped tightly around myself. I hated getting up for work, especially when I knew Tom was off and sitting at home with nothing to do all day.

"Morning Tom" I grumbled before giving him a chaste kiss and taking the cup of tea he'd made me.

"Did you sleep any better after... you know?" He asked

"Yes. And I think I know why it's all suddenly happening too" I replied, sitting down at the table and sipping from my tea.

"What do you think it is?" He whispered, as is it were all a big secret.

"When it all happened, I never really had the time to grieve. I kept it all in and never told a soul. But since I've met you and your family, I've told the story about my parents death more than I ever have in my life. And each time I told it, I cried. I think that I'm doing through my grievance period now... despite it being almost twenty years later." I sighed, relieved that I'd finally got it off my chest. Tom came over and held me for a while, thankfully understanding where I was coming from. I was once again safe in his arms.