Midnight Coffee

Chapter 4

Ash is in the distance, Serena by his side, a crowd of fans circling around them. They're holding hands, both using their other hand to wave, grinning for photographs. Above me, a billboard displays Ash's face. As a biker passes, he tosses a newspaper at me, and I catch it, only to see a photo of Ash and Serena kissing on the front page, both swept up in it, his hands on her jaw. My throat closes up and involuntarily, my fist clenches, balling the newspaper up.

"It's strange, right?" Dawn says beside me. I jump- I hadn't realised she was there, standing beside me on the busy street, while people flow back and forth around us.

"What's strange?" I ask. She turns to look up at me.

"That it ended up this way."

I turn back to Ash and Serena. Now, they're kissing for the cameras, and the crowd is cheering, so loud it carries right over, deafening me. I close my eyes, trying to block out the sound, but I can still see them there-

I'm jolted from my dream by a shout. I jerk upright in bed, my heart hammering against my chest, but only a sliver of moonlight is filtering in. I throw the covers off myself and pull open the blinds on the balcony doors, letting the moonlight into the room, pressing my back against the door.

Then, I realise where the sound came from. Ash, his face twisted, is shouting in his sleep, frantically. Panicked, I rush over to him, leaning down and putting my hands on his shoulders, stopping his thrashing. I gently shake him, but he doesn't wake up.

"Ash," I say, shaking him harder. He looks so scared- and the panic has taken over me too. I'm about to call for help, when his eyes open, and he jerks upright, forcing me to step back. His eyes widen in panic, his chest rising and falling heavily as he hyperventilates, glancing around the room.

"It's okay, you're safe," I say, moving towards him again. I climb on the bed, too scared to feel embarrassed, and pull him to my chest, putting my hand in his hair. "You were having a nightmare," I say, running my hand through his hair. He says nothing, but doesn't move his head from my chest. My heart starts to slow down a little, but I'm still trembling slightly, and shaken.

"You're okay, just breathe," I say gently, and his breathing starts to slow down. For a while, we just sit there, and he lets me hold him.

"Sorry," he says eventually, his voice hoarse. He moves away from me, and I suddenly feel embarrassed that I was just holding him like that, so I shuffle a little further away too, hoping he doesn't think that was weird.

"It's okay, don't apologise," I say, sitting beside him. "Are you alright?"

He nods, and takes a sip of water from the glass beside his bed. "This happens sometimes," he admits.

"What, nightmares?" I ask, concerned. When he doesn't answer, I lean around so that he has to look at me. "Ash?"

"Yes," he sighs, running a hand through his hair. Another realisation strikes me- this is what Serena meant. She knows he has nightmares, and she's usually the one that comforts him. My chest constricts painfully.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I ask. Ash closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, relaxing. Whatever he was living in that nightmare, it must have been terrible for him to be this rattled. I've never seen him like this, in all my years of knowing him, even when we've been in grave danger. He's always the calm, collected, brave one. What's so scary that it could make Ash react this way?

Eventually, he shakes his head. "Okay," I say. "Do you want to go back to sleep? I can stay up with you for a while, if you want."

"You don't have to do that," he says, frowning at me.