➳𝔲𝔫𝔡𝔢𝔯 𝔱𝔥𝔢 𝔴𝔦𝔩𝔩𝔬𝔴➳

chapter 8

I scream, sweat dripping down my face, eyes dried with water although there were still tears running down my cheeks. I grab my bed's blanket to steady myself, gripping it with all my strength, and mutter:

"It was just a nightmare, just a nightmare"

My heart pounded, head throbbing in the pain. Suddenly, I hear a bang and the posh mahogany door leading to my room slams open and I see Phoenix run inside; he probably heard me scream.

"Willow! Are you okay?" he asks walking closer to me.

"Not exactly..." I reply cautiously.

He sits next to me in the bed and reaches to my face to tuck a loose strand of my hair behind my ear. His hand hovers on my cheek lightly as he stared into my eyes; my heart skipped a beat. And then he asks me...

"Why?"

I decide to answer partially honestly and tell him.

"I had a nightmare, I was falling from the balcony." I point to the glass doors "I'm just... I don't..." I start crying again, not fully in control with my emotions.

He grabbed my hands and his fingers interlocked with mine and happiness flooded through me and it was like all of the pain had washed away.

"I don't want you to be in pain, it hurts me to even think about it"

"I promise I'm fine." I lied, knowing I would never have the confidence to tell him what happened in my nightmare.

"Please, I know your hiding something from me. You've acted differently ever since I introduced you to Brianna"

Yeah, because I love you with my heart and soul and don't like picturing you with another girl even though I'll never be good enough for you, is what I wanted to say but instead I end up saying:

"I'm sorry, Phoenix"

"What are you sorry about?"

"N- Nothing... Well- I don't know...."

"Okay, well I'd probably better get off to bed"

Phoenix gets up from the bed and starts making his way to the door when I grab his hand.

"Please don't go! I don't think I could fight the nightmares without you."

He turned around his sea green eyes glittering and he said...

"Alright, I'll stay with you"

He climbs into my bed and holds me until a fall into a daze of sleep and somehow I mutter, not completely aware of what I was saying...

"You'll love me, forever?"

"Forever" he echos, and there is something about the tone in his voice that I know he is being totally honest.

His arm protectively wraps around me, and he buries his face in my hair and I drift off slowly to sleep in the safe embrace of his warmth.

next day-

I sat on the bench outside the building we were staying at and watched the people walking by. The people were dressed in different types of clothes, most were dressed in casual wear with touches of colour and the others in more fancy wear with a lot of colour. I realised the people in the more colourful were older and there were less of them than the younger ones in less extravagant outfits. I instantly recognise this as the new generation and the generation that survived the revolution; Aunt Effie would always show us pictures of what she used to wear and Uncle Haymitch would always tease her about it saying how she used to dress so extra and she would always argue back that she needed to be 'within the fashion trends'.