Dark Wolfe

21- Sleep is for the weak

(Song of the chapter: 'everything i wanted' - Billie Eilish)

Wait, no, that wasn't right.

I blinked at the figure, still disoriented. This male towered over me, with an extremely muscled physique and dark black hair that was currently falling into his eyes. None of his features fit with how Jonathan had looked... or what he might look like now.

Might... if he was even still alive.

No, this person was a complete stranger. An intruder.

Well, he'd broken into the wrong home, the worst mistake he could ever make. And possibly the last.

Without another moment's pause, I reached up and grabbed the pillow from behind my head, gripping it defensively. I was a little thrown by how light it was - my pillow usually weighed a ton for this exact reason - but I didn't let that distract me.

I brandished it at the villain, waving it in the most threatening way I could muster.

"GET BACK! BACK, I SAY!"

The intruder stilled. It was quite dark since the lights were off, but I sensed he was contemplating my pillow. And he wasn't backing away in fear.

How dare he not be threatened? Well, that was his mistake.

I tensed, ready to launch myself at the brute and clobber him into oblivion.

"Wow, how scary," the figure spoke before I'd even moved an inch.

I blinked. I knew that voice.

"Rhys?" I asked incredulously.

A hand reached up and swept the hair back, exposing those beautiful blue eyes.

"No, it's Santa," Rhys drawled.

"I had to lose weight just to come down the stairs. I grew tired of sliding down chimneys like a barbarian."

I'd know that dull monotone anywhere. I dropped my pillow and sat up, rubbing my eyes.

I remembered about the sleepover now. There were distant snores coming from the other side of the couch. It must have been about four in the morning.

Rhys, I remembered, hadn't been asleep when I drifted off.

"Rhys," I growled, my voice even unfriendlier than before.

"Yes?" He drew out the word, a thick eyebrow arched. His eyes conveyed amusement.

The only light in the room came from the fireplace facing us. I'm sure it gave him a pretty good look at my scowl.

"What do you want?" I gritted out.

In response, he flopped onto the spot beside me. There was a little hiss as the couch dipped. I peered at him to find a thoughtful expression on his face.

"You know that new app everybody's on, the one where kids all do the same dances with those creepy smiles on their faces, but some still get more famous than others?"

I blinked. I hadn't been expecting this line of questioning.

"You mean TikTok?"

Rhys nodded. "That's the one. I saw a video related to that anime we watched earlier, and I thought you might be interested."

I could only stare at him.

"You woke me up to show me a TikTok video?" I asked, in disbelief.

Another arched brow. "I woke you because you were thrashing around and looked like you were about to fall off the couch. And when I rushed to save you like any proper prince would, you tried to beat me to death with your fluffy pillow."