what you need (the weeknd)

Twenty One - After Hours

*'Thought I almost died... in my dream again'*

Abel

My body shifts as I sleep, a bush of curls frantically moving in my face.

I feel a smile form on my face as I instinctively pull Luara closer to me, the heat of her body radiating off of her.

My eyes still closed, I wrap my arm around her waist tighter, feeling her body shake underneath me and my eyebrows furrow in confusion. I peek through one eye to see her hands start moving around and she snaps her neck left to right, groaning in her sleep.

Suddenly, she shoots up, grabbing at her throat and gasping for air, frantically looking around.

In an instant, I sit up by her side, taking her face in my hands.

"Hey, hey baby, you're okay, you're good," I softly tell her, gently stroking her cheeks. Her eyes urgently search mine as recognition settles over her face and reaches out for me as if to make sure I'm real.

"I..I.." She croaks in an attempt to speak but I pull her closer to me, shushing her and comforting her the way she needs. Her chests heavily falls up and down against me and I realise that she's still struggling to catch her breath. I pull away and force her to focus on me.

"Hey, look just.. copy me okay? Deep breath in.." I demonstrate for her and it takes her a second before she repeats after me, using her hands in an up and down motion to take deeps breaths.

"Deep breath out.." I finish for the third time before she visibly relaxes, clutching her chest in her hand.

She looks up at me with tears brimming in her eyes before I look away and pull her flush against my body, refusing to watch her cry.

This whole week, Luara's been evidently distance from me and it's been pissing me the hell off. I've tried to be patient as hell with her this past week but nothing's been working with her.

Any time I do try and get her to talk, she shuts me down and settles into this quiet and distant version of herself.

She probably thinks I haven't noticed but she's been waking up lately from nightmares night after night.

And I know it's the same one because she wakes up either gasping for air or clutching her chest.

The only time I notice she relaxes is when she manages to fall asleep in my arms and even then, sometimes she wakes up, sweating and gasping for air.

A long period of silence passes as I feel Luara slowly move under me, her fingers tracing circles on my chest.

This is the first time in a while she's let me hold her like this, and I take advantage, closing my eyes in comfort at her touch.

"You wanna tell me 'bout it?" I question, hopeful that she might actually let me know what's going on. Even if it's a small detail, it'll be a huge step in my attempt to help her with whatever the hell is going on.

After a moment, she shakes her head against my chest, her curls ruffling about and I deeply sigh, the hope draining out of me. I pull her body closer to mine before laying my head on top of hers, running my hand through her curls in a comforting manner.

"Just go to sleep baby, it'll be better in the morning," I mumble, closing my eyes. After a moment, I hear Luara's breath fall into a pattern, letting me know she's fallen asleep and I open my eyes again, deeply sighing.

Staring up at my ceiling, I fly through all the possibilities and reasons as to why Luara could be acting the way she is but nothing makes sense to me.