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“I do.”
I don’t think he does, but I hold on to that glimmer of a voice.
It’s soothing.
So soothing.
Maybe them monsters are invisible to him.
He sees me like no one did before.
He sees ME.
* * *
“Elsa!”
Like being hauled from the depth of an ocean, I gasp and my e
yes pop open.
My vision is blurry and all I see are dark shadows. My heartbeat doesn’t calm, thinking I’m at that place again.
However, the arms surrounding me aren’t scary. If anything, they’re soothing. It’s like an escape I couldn’t find back then.
I blink the tears from my blurry vision. Furrowed dark features greet me. Strands of his dark hair fall on his forehead.
I blink once. Twice. He doesn’t disappear.
“A-Aiden?” My voice is so hoarse, I barely manage to get the words out.
“It’s okay.” He strokes my back in tiny circles. “You’re not alone. I’m here.”
I don’t know if it’s because of his words or because of the nightmares I just had.
I don’t care either.
My fingers curl into his T-shirt, my forehead falls against the hardness of his chest, and I let the tears loose.
Sobs wreck my chest, and I let it all out. I don’t even know what I’m crying about.
They were only nightmares. They aren’t real.
They can’t be real.
I curl further into Aiden’s lap and hold tighter onto him. He’s real. His warmth and the strange sense of security I feel in his arms is real.
The nightmares aren’t.
Aiden puts a hand under my bottom and pulls me onto him so I’m sitting on his lap. I wrap my legs around his waist, strangling him.
He doesn’t complain.
He remains silent, stroking my back, my hair and the side of my arm.
I couldn’t be more thankful for his calm, anchor-like presence. He’s here, but he’s not talking. He’s letting me deal with it on my own.
The last time I had an episode like this, strangely, two years ago right after my first day in RES, Aunt and Uncle freaked.
