Hidden Fear

Cuddle Me To Death

"Happy birthday! " my boyfriend , Jensen , yelled as he held up a purple box with blue ribbon out in front of him. I smiled and took the box from his hands, leaning over a little in my chair I gave him a peck on the lips. "Thanks, babe. What is it?" He chuckled, "I'm not ruining the surprise . Open it up and see for yourself." I leaned back in my computer chair and pushed with my feet to move away from the desk. Turning the chair a little to face him, I shook the box a little, "is it a new phone? Maybe a purse?" He rolled his eyes and playfully smacked my leg, "stop guessing, Rachel, just open it."

I giggled and removed the ribbon from the top of the box, tearing at the wrapping paper on-top I ripped the box open, inside wrapped up in glittery purple and blue tissue paper was a newly bought creamy tan teddy bear with a polka dotted bow tie. "A teddy bear?" I asked him. He smiled, "you once said you had one as a kid, I think you said you named it mister berry-terry. The one you would sleep with all the time that kept the bad dreams away." Mister Berry-Terry, oh how I miss that old bear. I grinned," Yeah, I remember. Thank you, this means a lot to me." I removed the bear from the box and placed in on my desk. "Maybe now you can sleep peacefully when I'm at work, the bear will keep you company." I stared at the bears black beady eyes and black threaded smile.

Jensen was in the kitchen cooking for us, while I was busy trying to decide on what movie to choose for us to watch tonight. "Hey, babe. Would you rather The Spirit of Summer or Howard's Ghost?" I shouted from my spot on the living room carpet . "It's up to you, babe! " he shouted back. I pushed the DVD disc for Howard's Ghost into the DVD player disc slot and put the rest of them back into the DVD rack by the television stand. I hurried to the sofa and wrapped up in my favorite green and blue knitted quilt that my mom had given me as a birthday gift last year. I could smell the yummy spaghetti and meatballs from the kitchen. Jensen came around the corner carrying two plates of spaghetti with a small salad and garlic bread as sides. "That looks as good as it smells," I said and took my plate from his hand.

Jensen chuckled, he curled up on the sofa beside me and swirled the spaghetti around with his fork. I pressed play on the remote and started the movie. Around 10pm that night we were snuggled up in bed and things began to get strange. I felt Jensen roll out of bed and heard the bathroom door shut. I rolled over and pulled the covers higher up to my chin. Plop. I peeked my eyes open and looked around, letting my eyes adjust to the dark. "Jensen?" I called . I could hear the shower running. I glanced at the clock on the nightstand. Oh, it's time for him to go to work. I can do this, it'll be okay. I closed my eyes and relaxed myself so I could drift back into sleep. Plop. Scratch. I opened my eyes again and looked around the room.

I listened closely, the shower cut off and I could hear him shuffling about. Maybe I'm just hearing things. I rolled on my back and stared at the ceiling. Taking a deep breath, I closed my eyes once more. I could hear Jensen move about in the room, he kissed my cheek and closed the bedroom door behind him. Scratch. Scratch. I silently told myself I was hearing things and that it was just in my head. I breathed deeply and slowly, allowing myself to fall further into deep sleep.

I awoke to the suns brilliant rays shining through the window. I rolled over to check the time. Sitting on the nightstand with its beady black eyes staring at me was the teddy bear Jensen gave me. Maybe he put it there before he left? I rolled out of bed and scratched my head; I adjusted the sheets and placed the bear on top of the pillows. With one last look at it, I went to take a shower and get ready for the day. After showering and getting dressed, I made some breakfast and checked my messages on my social media. I checked the clock in the kitchen. He'll be headed home in a couple hours. I checked the mail and took out the trash. I did the normal daily activities to pass the time. I sat on the sofa and watched a couple episodes of NCIS.