tangled up in blue

06

I hadn't been able to sleep all night. To be honest, I couldn't remember a time in weeks that I'd gotten more than a few hours rest. I kept drifting off, and then waking up with a jolt, my throat constricting and my chest feeling like it was being crushed.

I tossed and turned, thinking about how close Jace was sleeping to me. It put me on edge, being this near to him all the time. I'd used every other shower but ours, seeing as when I exited and headed out into the hallway, Jace was leaning against his door, giving me a dirty look that plainly communicated my death sentence if I invaded his private space again. That was why I was so afraid that at some point, it would turn 3am, and I'd need to take a leak.

Sure enough, it was 3am, and I needed to take a leak.

I tried rolling over and going back to sleep, but every time I shut my eyes, the nightmares overflowed. As did my bladder, apparently.

Stop being a pussy. It's just a bathroom.

Just a bathroom.

Nervously, I approached the door and twisted the handle, sending a silent prayer to every god I could think of. That included the Greek ones. And Percy Jackson. Just in case.

The lights were off, but the LED lights in the shower cast a gentle purple pulse across the room. It was spotless, probably the size of my old bedroom, and had a huge, white bathtub at the far wall, backing onto windows that showed the scenic view of the land. I hated rich people; but if they wanted to share their unnecessarily luxurious bathrooms with me, I wasn't gonna complain. I headed over to the toilet, shoving my joggers down hastily in fear of taking too long. I quickly finished and hobbled over to the sink to wash my hands, my joggers still pooled at my ankles.

Rubbing my eyes with exhaustion, I followed the glow from the shower and stumbled tiredly through a door. I was so sure I had left the lamp on, but the room was pitch black. I searched for the mattress with both hands, confused as to why I couldn't feel it.

Why does my room feel bigger?

Suddenly I knocked over something in my haze of fatigue and tripped, losing my balance and falling forwards onto the bed.

Except, it didn't feel like my bed.

And the hard, warm figure underneath me didn't feel much like a pillow.

I yelped in surprise and shoved the figure as hard as I could, almost falling off of the bed with the force. With a low growl, the shadow grabbed me by the arm and pushed me on my back against the mattress, caging me in with two firm hands. I squirmed to wriggle my legs free but two thighs moved to trap me, and a warm hand clasped itself over my mouth in my attempt to cry out again.

I tried to lick the hand to get them to let me go, but the heavy body just pushed itself against mine harder, making it impossible to move. We were both panting as I went limp underneath, the sound of our heavy breathing the only thing filling the air. I could only just make out in the darkness that our faces were close, and in our proximity, I became aware of the smell of sandalwood lingering in the short space between us. For a moment, I forgot to struggle.

Slowly, as if to make sure that I wouldn't scream, the hand that had been clasped over my mouth loosened, and momentarily fell slack against my chest. I felt fingers brush over the exposed skin of my neck and I inhaled sharply, before the sensation stopped, and the hand clumsily reached around to the side of my head.

There was the sound of a switch being flipped and I winced, looked up, and considered suicide.

We stared at each other for a moment in bewilderment before his confusion evaporated and was replaced with anger. He moved so only one hand was pinning down my chest and arms, the other loosely coming up below my throat.