mona lisa , chris sturniolo

29 | we're busy making out

♫  TOGETHER / aminé  ♫
☆
you've waited love forever
the heart is worth the weather
you should go out and get her
and learn to love together

🍊 🍊 🍊

| real life | social media |

real life

The house is eerily dark as I tiptoe upstairs from the basement, wincing when the step beneath my foot creaks. But the house stays silent, remaining fast asleep. I continue forward, my feet padding across the hardwood floor as I creep toward the bedroom at the end of the hall.

The door handle is cold in my hand, and a shiver licks up the back of my spine as I cautiously push the door open and slide into the pitch black room. Tugging my phone out of the pocket of my oversized hoodie, I flip my flashlight on the lowest setting. I squint through the dark, my eyes registering the cuddled up lump on the bed.

Swallowing back my pride, I step across the room and halt at the edge of the bed. "Matt," I whisper hoarsely, my voice scratchy from lack of use. "Matt, wake up."

The lump on the bed shifts slightly, a low groan sounding from somewhere in the mass of blankets.

My fist clenches the front of my hoodie as my leg jitters anxiously, a rock lodged in my throat. "Matt, please wake up."

The blankets flip back to reveal a sleepy looking Matt. My flashlight casts dim shadows across his face and his hair is sticking out in every direction. His mouth spreads wide in a yawn as he reaches up to rub his eyes, blinking at me in confusion. "Bryn? What's wrong?"

"Can I sleep in here?" My voice is hushed, embarrassed to be waking Matt up in the middle of the night.

Matt's brow furrows in concern, his eyes instantly losing their sleepy haze as he sits up and scooches over, tossing his duvet back for me. "What's going on?"

I climb onto the bed and pull the duvet over my lap before dropping my flashlight in the middle of the bed so Matt and I can see each other. "I had another nightmare," I mumble, gently scraping my nails against my opposite hand to distract myself. "Usually it's whatever, but I don't want to be alone right now."

Matt is silent for a moment, but I can feel the weight of his gaze resting on me. "Why didn't you go to Chris' room? He's helped you with all your other nightmares since you got here, hasn't he?" Matt eventually questions, his voice soft.

"Yeah, he has, but..." I trail off, not wanting to say that climbing into Chris' bed when I can still practically feel his lips seared against my own from only hours prior feels kind of insane. My eyes flicker up to meet Matt's, and I shrug lightly. "I feel bad for waking him up so often."

Matt stares at me for a moment before his lips curve up in a small smirk. "Ah, I see. Well, of course you can stay here."

"Thanks, Matty," I offer him a tiny smile before I grab my phone to shut the flashlight off, engulfing the room in darkness. I drop my phone on Matt's bedside table before shimmying further down in the bed, the young man next to me doing the same.

Once we are both settled, Matt waits a beat before speaking up, his voice low in the dark. "Do you want to talk about it?"

I sigh softly, pulling the duvet further up into my chest. "It was a new one. I was on the beach with my dad during a storm, but he started walking away from me, and I couldn't catch up. I was yelling after him, but he was ignoring me. He started walking into the waves, so I followed him," My voice catches slightly, and I stare through the overwhelming darkness to where I know Matt is lying. "But he disappeared. The waves swept me under and I couldn't recover. I woke up with burning lungs and coughing for air."