I awoke refreshed and warm, a solid body underneath my head the source of my comfort.
I vaguely remembered asking Emmett to stay with me the night before so it wasn't as much of a shock as it would have been had my memories not surfaced, the nightmare's strong effects tainting me more than I realized.
I felt weak and vulnerable in the throes of my night terrors, but with Emmett's arms around me, a safe little nest wove its wya around the two of us and I was finally able to sleep without the trace of even a dream to muddle my mind.
He sucked in a deep breath of air and turned to his side, a goofy but lazy smile draped across his plus lips, the memory of how soft they'd been against mine suddenly invading my mind.
I threw those images out of my head and smiled back at him, the weird familiarity and surreal thought of how normal this seemed forgotten once our eyes locked.
It was like we'd woken up next to each other every day for years, and this was just another fun morning waking up wrapped in each other's arms.
"What time is it?" he asked, his voice still thick with sleep.
"I think around five," I said, my phone out of sight but I recognized the look of the sun barely peaking through the clouds. I had far too many sleepless nights to not memorize the times as the sun made its way high up in the sky.
"I have to get up, I'll be late for practice."
"You have practice this early?"
"Well, no, but I want to show that I'm committed. It actually starts at eight but it never hurts to put your best foot forward. I've worked my ass off to get recruited to this team, I'm not letting it slip through my hands this time."
His dedication and devotion to football was refreshing, as the only thing Nate had shown any interest in was alcohol, his friends and cheating on me with mine.
I scooted out of his embrace to give him room to sit up but he locked his arms around me even tighter the more I tried to wriggle away from him.
"I thought you said you had to get going?"
"I can wait a few more minutes."
I rolled my eyes playfully as I leaned back against his chest as I listened to the soft thumping of his heart against my back, relishing the feel of the quiet room as we just both simply existed.
I'd never been so utterly comfortable and at peace with someone before, and it was a little unnerving considering how little we really knew each other. I'd met him a few years ago, sure, but we hadn't had any contact after that until I moved in with Lucas.
And the thought of my brother ruined our moment, his words slapping me in the face as I recalled our last conversation.
I toiled over the question in my head over and over, how could he? How could he say those things to me, knowing how damaged and broken I'd been after it had all happened? Especially the trial.
He'd either been spending too much time with our mother or he was really starting to believe the rumors himself, and if that was the case then I couldn't be around him anymore.
I needed to find a new place to live, and that didn't mean moving back to my parents.
There was a dream I'd always wanted, one just out of reach because I was too scared to say it aloud, mainly because when I'd voiced it to Nate he laughed in my face and said I'd never be smart enough to achieve said dream.
Maybe out from Nate's thumb, I could do it, without my family holding me back anymore.
"You okay?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah, just lost in thought I guess."
"Are you worried about going to the club tomorrow night? We don't have to, you know."
"No I'm not worried, I was just...going through what I was going to say when I saw Rafael. It's going to be hard to pretend I'm into him when I know how much of a disgusting cretin he really is."
"Well then you don't have to pretend to like him. I can have your friend come too and be a buffer for the two of you, that way you're never really by yourself with him. I still say you stand him up and I can talk to him when he leaves..."
"No I want to be there."
"Okay, well then I'll invite your friend. She seems like a good enough cock block to me."
I jokingly hit him on the arm while we laughed together, but all too soon the lazy and quiet atmosphere was disrupted as the sounds of the rest of the house waking up filled the room.
"I guess Lucas and Reed are up, I should probably sneak out so he doesn't bite my head off," he said, and I reluctantly pulled my arms away from him, immediately missing the warmth that came with his body.
He slipped out of the room and it was only a few moments before I heard him arguing with my brother. Here we go again.
"Did you just come out of Lydia's room?"
"Yeah, she asked me to stay with her."
"Dude. I thought I made my thoughts on that clear. I don't want you dating my sister! You're living together and she's been through so much, she's not ready for anything like that yet."
"I think you can let her make her own decisions. She's twenty years old, she doesn't need you playing her parent."
Lucas sucked in a breath of air trying to puff up his chest, but if he thought that I was about to fight him he had another thing coming.
"Come on man, what are you doing?"
I wasn't trying to mock him, but he was into computer sciences and I asked him to work out with me once. It didn't go well.
"Why don't we settle this like men."
"I seriously don't know why I was born a male," Reed piped up from the corner, sipping on his coffee watching the scene before him with disinterest.
"I'm not fighting you over your sister. We're not doing anything I swear, ask her yourself."
"Fine, I will. Lydia!"
I heard her groan out loud all the way from her room and stifled a laugh, finding myself not able to wait to see her perfectly tousled hair and cute pajamas once more.
"What do you want, I was about to go back to sleep?"
"Your brother wants to know if you're doing Emmett."
She started laughing at Reed's words, which in turn made all of us laugh. Well, all of us except Lucas.
"No, Reed. You can tell my brother I'm most certainly not doing Emmett. But I'll let him know if that changes and I'll tell him all the details and-"
"No, no that's not necessary. Okay I get it."
"Can I go now?"
"Dismissed young lady," Reed said, eliciting another laugh from Lydia.
"Still wanna fight me now?"
Lucas gave me a begrudging look and focused his attention on the stack of papers in front of him.
"You don't know what it was like, after what happened back home. She just attracts the wrong guys, so I figured if you were into her then you wouldn't be good for her. Just...go slow with her, if you want to pursue a relationship."
"She's already way ahead of you. We've already had that conversation. She knows what's best for her, and I don't doubt that you know what's good for her too, but just trust your sister. She knows what she's doing."
"And that's on respectful relationships, thank you Emmett. Now, I have to go meet Jeremy before class, I'll see all of you later."
After Reed left, there wasn't any remaining hostile air between us and I was able to leave for practice without any lingering drama.
That is, until I pulled up to a fuming Marnie and Drayton Merrick in my parking spot at the new training center for the Patriots recruits.
Well, this wasn't going to be good.