Pest//phan au

Twenty-Two

My heart fluttered at the thought. "How do you know?"

"It's obvious," she shrugged. "Now hold still."

Her arms wrapped around my torso and she pulled me into a tight hug. It was too late for me to pull away, so I closed my eyes and prepared myself for a panic attack.

"Chill out," she laughed. "Nothing's gonna happen."

I reopened my eyes and stared down at her in shock. She was hugging me. And I was okay.

"You're being held by Phil," she explained, not letting go. "If Phil is holding you, you don't freak out."

"Wha--"

"Stop. Stop asking questions and hug me back you idiot."

I followed her orders and wrapped my arms around her. It felt good to hug Cat for the first time in my life, even if it was just a dream.

"Cat, I--"

"Stop trying to ruin the moment!" She yelled, tightening her grip around my torso.

I placed a soft kiss on the top of her head, feeling a tear fall down my cheek. Cat and I have never been able to do this, and now here she was, in this yellow hallway, holding me tightly, her soft sobs becoming louder than the running water. Her body was shaking in my arms, so I squeezed tighter.

"I'm sorry I've never been able to do this before," I muttered, my voice shaking. I don't think I'd ever cried from happiness before now.

"It's okay. I still love you, Danny," she whispered, pulling out of my grasp. She wiped her cheeks, clearing away all evidence of her tears. She flashed a toothy grin. "We're going to fix it so that we can actually do this, okay?"

"Okay."

She vanished, and so did the running water, and the yellow corridor, and everything turned to black.
---

Phil's phone was ringing. I could feel dried tears on my cheeks.

"Hello?" His sleepy voice spoke. I grinned and snuggled deeper into his arms, wiping my face with the pillow. "We'll be there around ten."

I could hear a muffled voice coming from the phone, but I couldn't make out the words.

"Yeah, I brought a...my, uh," Phil started stumbling over his words. "I brought a special person with me."

I smiled even bigger at his cheesy way of referring to me. Cat said he loved me. I wonder if that's true.

"Oh shit, it's 7:30," he grumbled. "I'll see you soon."

"It's 7:30?" I mumbled.

"Yeah," he replied, nuzzling his face into my neck. His warm breath sent shivers running down my spine.

"Whoops," I chuckled.

"Let's go get food, I'm starving," he whispered into my neck.

"Or we could just stay here forever," I responded, and he laughed softly into my neck.

"As much as I'd love to, I'm very hungry."

"Then let's go, I'll pay," I turned over in his arms so that I was facing him. His eyes were puffy with sleep, and there was a bit of dried drool on his chin, but he was still the most beautiful person I had ever met.

"You don't have to do that."

"You paid for the hotel room," I argued. He grinned and gave me a soft kiss on the lips, the first one since we'd left this morning. I felt the need for more than just a peck. I kissed him this time, making it last longer. The only sound in the room was our breaths mixing together, as his lips worked against mine softly.