High On Life

24: Nighttime Romance Gone Wrong

"I love you." He whispered as I sat next to him while he drove the car.

"I love you too." I whispered back and his hand slowly reached beneath mine, as it was kept on my side.

His fingers slowly intertwine with mine and my heartbeats rose, at the contact.

I felt heat rising up to my cheeks and I looked out the window, but from the corner of my eye, I could feel him stare at me with those intense light brown eyes of his.

"Nida." He calls out to me and I turn to face his resplendent face.

A soft smile appeared on his lips and he speaks. "I had no idea you were in love with me."

"Oh come on ! I'm sure it was pretty obvious Shehry." I rolled my eyes, smiling, and he chuckled with his eyes on the road.

"Well, your heartbeats did give me a slight hint but.....the never-ending fights between us always seemed to make your reactions all too vague." He says turning to my face now.

"I agree. I mean, judging by the amount of fi....Shehry look out !!!" I yelled as I say a car speeding in our direction, but on Shehry's side.

"Shit !!!" He cussed, whamming the horn and forcing the steering wheel around.

My heart stopped as Shehry tried gaining control of the car but the car crashed into ours and all I see is blood on the windshield.

"SHEHRYY !!!!" I screamed in agony, waking up. My vision shifted to my bedroom, as I realized it was just a nightmare. My heartbeats were quick and uneven and I couldn't breathe properly. It...it was all a dream ?!

I was sweating and a few tears rolled down my cheek as the horrible nightmare haunted my senses even now when I was wide awake.

"Shehry.....that blood." I whimpered.

I instantly grabbed my cell phone from the side table and hastily dialled his number. Was he okay? I just...wanna know if he's okay.

"Hello?" He says in a jet-lagged tone.

"Shehry ! Are you..are you okay ?" I tried my best to stabilize my tone but it kept shivering due to the after effects of the shock.

"Yeah. I'm fine. What's wrong babe?" He asks worriedly. My heart instantly lightened when he used the term 'babe'. Aah !

"Y...yeah. I'm okay. I just.." My gaze suddenly shifted to the clock which struck 11 pm. He must've been asleep. Such a punctual guy.

"I..I'm sorry I woke you up at this time of the night." I say guiltily.

"Tum mujhe aadhi raat ko bhi jagaati to mujhe farq na parhta. Go back to sleep, hmm? Relax. I'm okay." He says reassuringly.

"Y..yeah. Okay. I'll try." I took a deep sigh of relief.

"Did you have a bad dream?" He asks suddenly and those...those blood-drenched images replayed in my head.

"No. I'm sorry I woke you up." I lied.

"Hey Nida. If you ever need me, I'm always there......Just a heartbeat away." He says and I smiled instantly.

"I know. Just go back to sleep, okay?" I say.

"Okay. Take care."

We hung up and I laid back in bed. Just today I confessed my love for him and I'm getting this terrifying nightmare.

I turned and changed sides but there was still no sign of me getting zoned out. I felt warmer at the temperature in the room and the uneasiness that this nightmare brought along, only seemed to worsen the situation.