The Academy

Chapter Thirty-One || only a dream

He brushes our noses together before capturing my lips with his.

I face my body to him, so now we're chest-to-chest.

Heart-to-heart.

❀

After actually showering, we – much to Vaughn's dismay – got dressed and slid into bed before choosing a movie.

While I finished changing, Vaughn went downstairs and got us some snacks to feast on during the movie.

I waited underneath the covers, going through my phone notifications.

It was just some unopened text messages from Arden and Darius in our group chat, 'bible☕️🙏🏼🤡'. As well as some from the group chat the girls and I have, talking about when all of us are coming back to school on Monday.

Due to the long weekend, most of the girls, except for Bea and Eris, went home.

"Have you picked out what we're gonna watch?" Vaughn asks once he walks back into the room, his hands full of peanut m&ms, chili heatwave Doritos and salted popcorn.

His hair is still damp, like mine, from the shower. And he's wearing a black T-shirt and grey sweats.

"Yeah, remember when you told me that you never watch Disney films," he nods, "well, tonight that's gonna change." I beam up at him.

He turns to look at the screen opposite the bed, the word Moana highlighted in bold letters.

Setting down the snacks gently on the bed, he moves towards me. A small tug of his lips telling me, although he's silent, he's not mad at my choice of movie.

He pulls me towards his body, making me lie between his legs so my back is on his chest.

"Comfortable?" He asks, making my stomach flip. I hum, nodding my head before leaning my head into the crook of his neck.

His arms come around my waist as I reach to grab the bowl of popcorn before making myself comfortable and pressing play.

We spend the next hour watching the movie, his arms cocooning me further into his warmth, soon sending me into a deep sleep with the remanence of his sweet kisses playing on my neck.

By the time I wake up, the room is pitch black, and instead of seeing my body in between Vaughn's legs, I'm curled up on the opposite side of the bed when I hear murmuring come from behind me.

Looking over my shoulder I see Vaughn. I can hardly see him, but his figure is shuddering.

I cautiously move closer, lifting my hand slowly so I don't startle him too much. But before I can even make contact, he mumbles something that makes me freeze, my heart leaps out of my chest.

"Stop," for a second I think he's talking to me, but that thought is completely thrown out the window once he says, "Dad."

My throat constricts as my mouth goes dry.

"Dad," he begins to hyperventilate, making my hands shoot out to hold onto him, to let him know he's not alone, to say to him that he's only dreaming.

But once my hands make contact with his skin, it's an effort not to recoil.

Sweat covers my fingers as his breathing gets more and more labored.