Taking Chances

Chapter Four

Two weeks had passed now, allowing Lauren and Normani to settle into somewhat of a routine. Neither of them spoke directly about what they were doing or how they would proceed about the days to come; they just lived for that particular moment whether it was a good one or bad.

Tonight, after hours of sweaty, passion filled sex, Normani laid on her left side and gazed at a sleeping Lauren. Her warm vanilla skin laid unclothed, the white sheets only covering the lower half of her body, leaving her breasts visible and erect. Normani admired Lauren's body as a sculptor would admire his most glorious work of art. She had always been riveted by the smoothness of Lauren's skin, the way her eyes sparkled like emeralds and the sweet aroma of coconut milk that her hair gave away when it was caught in a Texas breeze. The way her breasts and buttocks sat perfectly proportioned to the other areas of her body was astonishing. Lauren possessed what some would describe as the "perfect" body. Normani took her index finger and began to trace circles around Lauren's right breast, instantly bringing her tender pink nipples to life. Normani didn't realize just how much her body and soul had been craving Lauren's presence until she had returned. The countless weeks that she had spent teaching herself to repress every ache in her body that desired Lauren's touch were all in vain, for the moment she laid her brown eyes on her dark haired lover, she turned to mush. All her movements now revolved around Lauren and her new well being. She had spent the last fourteen days rushing home from school and work to her apartment, holding her breath and praying to God that Lauren would still be there. And each time, she was.
Lauren would grin, because seeing Normani so flustered was a little amusing to her; she then assured her that she'd still be there the following day and that she had no intentions on leaving.

The feeling that Normani was beginning to deal with in terms of Lauren confused her. She knew deep down that she did truly love Lauren but she couldn't help the fact that she still felt raw about her disappearence. Though she knew Lauren wasn't to blame, there was no other scapegoat. She had to remind herself that Lauren was the victim in the situation and that she would have never intentionally put herself in such a predicament.

Lauren stirred in her sleep, her lips
were moving but no sounds could be heard. Normani sighed rolling over to her right side, she got up and walked over to Lauren's side of the bed in preparation for what was coming.

Upon her arrival, Lauren had been suffering from a mixture of withdrawal and night terrors. On the first night, Lauren had fallen into what appeared to be a peaceful slumber but that was only the calm before the storm. An hour later, Lauren was inconsolable, screaming and kicking at Normani violently, pleading for her life. A bewildered Normani tried to grab hold of her to shake her out of it but that only intensified the situation. Lauren began to fight Normani, swinging her fists and yet still kicking, as if her life depended on it.

After a fifteen minute struggle, Normani had managed to wrap her arms around Lauren's chest and began to try to calm her down, shushing her quietly as her resistance began to subside.

These fits occurred every night, some worse than others. Normani's bedroom was trashed, little personal knickknack's laid all across the floor; her bedside lamp was broken in two, currently sitting on a heap of dirty laundry. Most days, Lauren often awoke the morning after her fits with little to no recollection of what had troubled her so much to begin with.

Normani hoped that this night would be different. She had begun doing some research on dealing with night terrors and withdrawal after the 10th and most violent fit, which had caused Normani to end up with two busted lips and Lauren with a bruised cheekbone. Unfortunately the only piece of information that she found helpful was a trick that involved waking the person suffering from the terrors, up out of their sleep and keeping them busy for the time period in which their terror would occur.