Steal My Heart (Victor Blade)

Chapter 20

Victor silently turned the key in the door of his apartment, opening it and trying to make as little noise as possible.

I wasn't 100% sure of what I was doing. Normally I would have never agreed to this but... I didn't want to see my mum. Not yet.

He took my hand and dragged me inside as he gently closed the door behind us. He sighed in relief as I looked around me.

Victor's small apartment was surprisingly cozy. A white couch was in front of a small TV, and behind the living room was a kitchen, with a counter and all the necessary utensils.

A small terrace to the right, and a hallway with 2 doors to the left: probably his bedroom and the bathroom.

"Ok, I had told Mrs. Gomez that I was coming in late, so we should be fine." I furrowed my eyes, interrogatively. "Mrs. Gomez is the old lady that lives next door." He quickly explained, smiling. "Why don't you take a shower? There's some extra towels in the bathroom, and I can find you some fresh clothes."

"Oh, don't worry about that, I can stay in these." I tried protesting.

"Avril, you're freezing cold in a a dirty tank top and white sweatpants full of mud." I bit my lip as I looked at my pants. Victor was not wrong, between the blood, the dirt and the mud, I was not a sight to behold. "Just trust me." He said, to which I nodded, resigned, and headed to the bathroom.

I quickly got undressed and hopped in the shower, turning on the warm water as I scrubbed myself from head to toe.

"Hey, Avril? I'll leave the clothes I found outside the door, ok?" Victor shouted from behind the door. "And you can just throw your clothes in the washing machine."

"Alright!" I tried not speaking too loudly, realising it was probably like 3AM in the morning.

Once I got out the shower, I wrapped one of the towels around my body and looked at myself in the mirror. I looked completely exhausted, and the bandages on my hands didn't help at all.

I shook my head as I threw my clothes in the empty washing machine, and slightly opened the door. Trying not to be seen by Victor, I quickly grabbed the clothes he'd set out for me.

I closed the door and looked at what would be my pyjamas for the night: a white gigantic hoodie, which had the XL tag for kids, and a pair of plaid sweatpants, who'd seemingly never been worn.

I tried it on and bit my lip as I looked at my reflection. Everything was way too big, and I looked like a potato sack, but it would have to do.

I gently opened the door, hair still wet.

"Vic?" I softly called.

"Over here." His voice answered from the living room.

As I walked over there, he was kneeling next to the couch, placing a blanket and a pillow.

"Hey." He turned around and chuckled. "Sorry, I couldn't find anything better. You're so small, these are clothes from when I was in middle school."

"Hey, I'm not that small!" I pouted as he laughed some more. "But don't even mention it. You're doing all this..." I said, pointing at his whole apartment. "And I really don't know what to say."

"Don't worry about it." He finished setting up the couch. He then stood up and looked at me, hands on hips. "Ok, I'll take the couch tonight. You can take the bed. It's a king-size, so you should be fine. If anything-"

"Wow, wow, wow!" I immediately interrupted as he furrowed his eyebrows, confused. "I'm not letting you take the couch! I'll take the couch. I've already bothered you too much."

"Avril, I'm not letting you sleep on the couch." He declared, firmly.

"Well I'm not letting you give up the bed. Especially if I'm not going to manage to sleep."

"What?" He asked, as I bit my lip, looking away. "What do you mean you won't manage to sleep?"

"Nothing, I-" but he stepped closer to me, and I could tell he was worried.

"Avril." He whispered softly, and I looked up to his amber eyes.

"I just..." I gently massaged my temples, trying to find the right words. "Ever since Colton passed away, I can't sleep properly." I finally let out with a sigh. "I have these nightmares, and I wake up all the time and... I just can't get a lot of sleep." I said slowly, looking at him. He was looking at me sadly, his eyes full of worry.

"If your bed is king-size we can just share it." I finally said, as we both turned bright red.

"What?" He mumbled, startled.

"Well... neither of us want the other to take the couch, so..." we both looked at the couch.

He paused, thoughtful, then looked back at me and nodded.

"Ok."
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VICTOR'S POV

Avril had been sleeping for 20 minutes, but I still couldn't manage to drift off myself.

Her idea had both made us turn red, but in the end, she was right: my bed was big enough for the both of us, and I had a feeling she didn't want to be left alone tonight.

We'd both turned our backs to each other, trying to stay away from the other as much possible, and I'd been listening to us breathing for the past half an hour.

Although Avril seemed scared of sleeping, she'd almost immediately closed her eyes and drifted away. I could tell because her breathing had suddenly slowed down and relaxed.

Avril's insomnia explained basically all of our night encounters. Part of her had trouble falling asleep, and the other part was scared of her nightmares. That led her to her nightly excursions, be it the boat, the bike or the training.

I sighed, as I finally tossed over to turn around. Her hair was still damp, and I could see her chest slowly rising and falling. At least she's sleeping.

Just as I was about to turn back towards the wall, I felt Avril shivering besides me.

"Avril?" I got up, looking at her. Eyebrows furrowed, she didn't look ok.

"No..." she mumbled, as I realised she was having a nightmare. "Let me go... Shawn... Colton..." her breath had quickened, and a single tear had rolled down her cheek.

"Avril." I whispered as I placed a hand on her arm, trying to calm her down. I didn't want to wake her up, but I couldn't let her fight her demons alone. "It's ok. You're fine. Everything's fine."

After some more mumbling nonsense, her breath finally slowed down again, and her face relaxed as she went back to sleeping peacefully.

I sighed sadly as I fell back on the bed. What was she even dreaming about? I knew she hadn't told me everything.

She'd said she had nightmares, but I could read in her eyes there was something in particular she was scared of. Clearly, her brother was apart of it. And then she'd said another name... Shawn?

During the match against Mannouzaka, Avril had said she'd played in Hokkaido with Shawn Frost. Was she referring to him then?

I'd looked up her team after the match. I'd found a team picture, and formation from a game played last year. Avril and Colton were standing next to Shawn and another blue haired boy. They were all widely smiling, having won the game.

It had been the first time I'd seen Colton. It was clear they were twins, the only difference being their height. It'd shaken me a little bit, not expecting such a resemblance.

I slowly fell asleep as I tried figuring out the enigma of Avril Karasu.