Extra Special Chapter for my fans :)
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“Psst.”
My eyes fluttered open, and I looked up to see Brent staring down at me with a strange look of intent on his face. His fingers ghosted my neck, and I shivered at how cold his hands were. There was a large yellow bruise on it in the shape of a hand, as some man in the party had used a choke hold to knock me out from my insanity. “Brent?” I whispered, propping myself up on my elbows.
“Shh,” he said softly, crouching down to come eye-to-eye with me. “It’s me.”
“What are you doing here?” I asked, my eyes still somewhat blurry from sleep. I wiped them.
“Coming to see you, silly,” he teased, ruffling my hair. I smiled at his touch, and even leaned into it. I longed for him.
Too bad this is a dream.
“Why?” I asked. “What happened-“
He stopped me, putting a finger to my lips. “I don’t want to talk about that right now.” He grabbed my hand and put it on his face, rubbing his cheek tenderly. “I just want to be with you. In the moment.”
“Oh, okay,” I agreed. I leaned into him and pressed my lips softly against his.
It felt too real. The warmth of his lips, the smell, the way his lips moved. Had my mind taken so much in, as to actually replicate the kiss in my dreams?
Then it hit me. Maybe this wasn’t a dream.
I stopped our kiss and leaned my head on his. “Am I dreaming?”
He shook his head. “Nope. Unless I am.”
I chuckled. “You’re not.”
“So this isn’t a dream then,” Brent said with a smile. “Kiss me.”
And I did. It was the sweetest kiss I’d ever shared with anyone. I took pleasure in it and even tried to deepen it, but Brent stopped me. “Whoa there. What’s going on?”
“I love you,” I said seductively, trying to kiss him again.
Brent put his hand up to stop me. “Nah, nah, nah. Just because it’s dark and no one’s here and there’s a bed, does not mean anything, Hailee.”
I pouted. “Why do you always think I’m trying to have sex with you?”
“Because you are,” Brent responded simply.
I giggled. “Well, maybe. But you don’t have to make it so obvious that you know.”
“But you make it obvious,” Brent retorted.
We met each other’s eyes and he held my gaze. For once, I was determined to be the last to look away. And I couldn’t do it. Those evergreen eyes were just too piercing.
“I love you,” I said, but this time more shyly.
Brent ran his fingers through my hair. “I know. And I love you too.”
I grinned and pecked his lips. “But I love you more.”
He grinned devilishly, chuckling heartily. “There’s no way.”
“Yes there is,” he told me. “I just love you more naturally.”
“All right,” I told him, not wanting to argue. “You love me more.”
“That’s what I thought,” he said cockily, flicking my nose.
I backed away from him, and wrapped myself in my covers. I waited a second before I heard Brent kicking off his shoes, and then there was his weight on the bed. I felt the blanket lift up, and his warmth was suddenly beside me.
He put his arm around my neck and I nestled myself in the crook of his elbow. “I missed you,” I said.
“I missed you too,” he told me.
“Why didn’t you come?” I asked.
“I did, but I couldn’t make myself knock on your door,” he said.
“So why did you decide to come now?” I asked.
“I knew you were sleeping, so maybe you wouldn’t remember this,” he answered.
“Why wouldn’t you want me to remember this?” I asked, knitting my brows together in confusion.
He stayed silent. For a while there was just the sound of our hearts beating, and our breaths mixing together. They were eventually the same pace, and I felt as if I was one with Brent. One person, one mind.
One heart.
“Why?” I questioned again, the lack of his answer gnawing away at my brain.
“Because,” he started. “This is it.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“You love Alex more than you love me,” he said.
“No, I don-“
“Yes you do,” he said, cutting me off.
I just sighed deeply and let him continue.
“Tomorrow, you’ll wake up, wondering if this is a dream. Half of you will tell you it is. Half of you will tell you it isn’t. But a part of you – the one that belongs to me – will always know that I was here with you,” he explained.
I couldn’t think of anything to say. There was nothing I could say.
And that was scary.
Brent shivered. “Are you cold?” I asked him.
He shook his head. “No, not really.” Then he shivered again.
I tore my arm off of him and got up off my bed. I slid on my slippers and my robe, keeping eye contact with Brent the whole time. His irises were dancing in amusement, or something that was making him happy.
I tore my eyes away from his and opened the door to my closet. I found a large gray sweatshirt that used to be my father’s. Maybe he could use this. I folded the sweatshirt and sweatpants over my arms, and closed the closet door. I strolled over to my bureau, where I found some of Brent’s socks. I gathered them in my arm, closed the top drawer in my bureau, and turned around to face Brent.
Only he wasn’t there.
My arms went limp and I dropped all of my stuff. Where had he gone? How could he just leave me like this? Didn’t he know that this will hurt me? Even if I was the one to end it, he was the one to leave.
A sudden chill swept over my room, and my eyes snapped to my window. It was wide open, the cold winter air blowing in, chilling me to the bone.
I walked over to it and closed it. Then I went to the dropped clothes and put them back in their right spot, one by one. Then I went to my bed and crawled under my blankets. There was the impression of Brent’s body on my bed, only he was nowhere to be found. I must’ve fallen asleep, because I woke up later, screaming of losing him.
Then I noticed my window was still open. I was sure I hadn’t opened it before I went to bed. I searched for Brent beside me, but I only found cold mattress.
Was it a dream?
The Official End