Atlas Grove, once a dancer with dreams of dancing under the stars, now lives petrified in the shadows of abuse. To escape her living nightmare she must keep her head down and work hard, being her senior year this is her last chance to get out. Altho...
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The bed shakes beneath me... what the...?
I gently peel my eyes open, sounds now infiltrating my ears... it sounds like someone's whining...?
Short, painful whimpers dense the silence.
My eyes fling open fully and scan the dark surroundings... this isn't my room? I look over the floor that's covered in debris, broken glass from the mirror, stray flyaway papers and clothes and everything comes flooding back. I sit up slightly to look back at Blaze, his arm around my waist, heavy and hot.
His face is contorted, he looks like he's in pain and a sheen of sweat covers his face and torso. Another whining noise escapes his mouth. Deep rasps of breath flow through his lips.
"I'm... sorry..." He mumbles, writhing on the sheets, "Stop. Please. I'm sorry." He shouts a bit louder. I scramble to my knees so I'm hovering over him and gently shake his shoulders.
"Blaze... wake up," I say calmly but he just writhes even more, trying to shake me off, he shouts incomprehensibly.
"Blaze!" I shake harder and his eyes rip open, he bolts upright so he's sitting up and grabs hold of me. Sweat trickles down his back as I hold him, his chest moving up and down far too quickly. His hands grapple at my big hoodie, desperate for grip.
"Hey, hey. It's okay. You were dreaming." I coo, resting my head in the crook of his neck, running my hands across his broad back, across the intricate ink that spills from his ribcage. He doesn't say anything, the only sound is his laboured breathing. "It was all a dream Blaze," I murmur over and over knowing all too well the feeling of nightmares that rip you apart and terrorise you still when you wake.
It's still dark outside, flurries of snow now coming down hard, the heat from Blaze is enough to keep me warm though. He pulls me further onto his lap, resting his chin on my shoulder.
Eventually, his breathing evens and I pull back to look at his face. The fear that tugged on every inch of his skin when he woke has now been replaced by this distant icy look. He won't look at me either. He stares out of the window watching the snowfall. I grab his face, planting my thumbs on his cheekbones.
"Do you want to talk about it?" I whisper. He stares at me for a moment, no emotion prevailing and then he shakes his head. I can't help but feel slightly disappointed... he knows about my nightmares and I just want to help... oh that's so selfish Atlas... he never pressured you to talk.
"Okay," I murmur trying to keep my voice light. He keeps his arms around my waist as silence overcomes the room, every now and then some kind of emotion surfaces in his eyes but it goes as fast as it comes. It looks like he's having an internal battle with himself, I'm not sure how long it lasts but eventually, he startles me by pulling me closer and pressing a kiss to the bare bit of my shoulder where his hoodie drapes off my body. "Sorry." He mumbles against my skin. I shiver and run my hands through his hair, I love his hair... as much as I love him.
