Beautiful Deception

F O U R T E E N

word count: 3, 421
pages (paging mode): 23
warnings: mark lee has my heart.
***

Sunday, November 22nd
12:41 AM
location: NCT underground.
mae

I couldn't breathe.

Invisible hands were wrapped around my neck like a vice, choking all the air out of my lungs until there was nothing left.

I was seeing stars; the world was spinning, teetering on its axis, and my head was spiraling. I needed to inhale; I couldn't.
I couldn't even scream-

Yet that's exactly what I woke up doing.

Teardrops flowed heavily from my face onto the pillow. I was in a cold sweat, shivering though my body felt on fire. I had a nauseous feeling in my gut, but I tried to make it go away.

Mark.
I needed Mark.

Still shaken from the nightmare, I didn't think twice before climbing out of bed and leaving my dorm. The hallways were cold, and they blurred together, but I'd been underground long enough to know my way to his room, even in the dark.

His door was creaky when it opened. I cringed a little, willing him to not wake up, and froze in the doorway as he sighed in his sleep.

When the coast was clear, I painstakingly closed it behind me, going so slowly that it didn't make a sound. I tiptoed over to his bed; the moonlight was shining one single beam down on the striped covers, and it illuminated his face in silver shadows.
I wiped my tears and moved closer, watching him sleep. Under any other circumstances this would've been creepy, but I was too distraught from the dream to care. I carefully folded back the cover on the unoccupied side of his bed, sliding myself in.

It was so warm.

I tucked the covers in around me, feeling a little better by the minute. Something about his presence, even as he slept, was comforting, giving me a blissful little bit of peace. Heat radiated from his body; forgetting myself for a moment, I scooted closer, until our noses were almost touching. I wanted to be near him, as close as I could get.

I reached out.
Grabbing his arm gently, I lifted it up and got rid of the space between us, gingerly dropping it back down over me.

His warmth enveloped me like a cocoon, the feeling making my toes curl. I made a small noise of contentment, nestling my head into the spot between his neck and shoulder.

It felt so good, so beautifully right to be here in his arms; I wished I could stay like this forever, with my worries long gone, swept to the side for another time.

I was safe now; and so I let myself surrender to sleep, daring another nightmare to surface.

It didn't.

***
7:12 AM
location: mark lee's bed, underground.

"So you're just going to crawl into my bed with me in the middle of the night all the time now? You could've at least let me know beforehand."

I groaned at having to return to the world of wakefulness, burying my face into the pillow.
"Let me sleep." I mumbled, not caring if it was audible. I heard a faint laugh; I'd know that sound anywhere.

Mark ran his fingers through my hair, moving it away from my face.
"Wake up, sleepyhead," he crooned, "you're gonna miss breakfast."

I stayed put.
"I don't wannphumfgh."
"What was that?"
"I don't wanna wkkphhm."
Mark seemed to be mocking me. "Sorry, can you repeat that please?"
I huffed, turning my head to the side just enough to speak clearly. "I said I don't wanna wake up."