𝑐𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑜 𝑥 𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑒𝑟 | 𝐥𝐚 𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐝𝐞 𝐞𝐥 𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐞

Chapter 7. Can I live Inside Your Mind?

"I think you'll like my room. It's a lot more fun than the guest room." He spoke tenderly, though hushed, with a warm brown hand on my shoulder.

The darkness concealed the majority of his room, but he lead me patiently to his bed. It smelled like him, even though I knew he didn't have a strong scent. It was like sort of like honey and rain. But once he helped me into the blankets the scent enveloped me and I couldn't shake it. What changed? He used to be so rude, especially to his cousin. What made me any different?

He pulled the lightweight, woven blankets up over us, and in a parent-like nature, guiding a small toddler into a comfortable position for the both of us, with my face buried in his chest and his jaw resting on top of my curls. "Thanks for letting me sleep here." I told him kindly.

"Shh. Let's just sleep. It's been a long night, Y/N. We can talk more in the morning." He mumbled.

He hadn't been lying, it was undeniably better to sleep in his room. Though the dark concealed most of it, he was almost like having my own personal campfire... shit, shit, shit, don't think about fire. Don't think about it. I breathed shallow breaths, trying to calm myself as I felt my hands shake. I wouldn't set him on fire, I swear. I tried to push my mind somewhere else. The threads of the blankets, the scent of his body, the comfort in his arm around me. Anything but those thoughts. But they were soon banished as I felt myself drift into a calm, peaceful sleep. The kind where you can't control it, you just keep slipping deeper and deeper into the sleep.

It's easier to sleep in an unfamiliar place with a partner. It especially helps when he's warm and sweet and cute. But surely I need to ignore those thoughts as well. He practically had an anxiety attack at Bruno's vision of us together, this couldn't work. But it could work in my imagination. And that's where all of my dreams have lived for 15 years, how's the rest of a lifetime so bad? Yes, in my mind I can stay with him forever. Surely I need to put out any feelings I might have in this world. But lock and key can only hold back something for so long, and he's right there and... is he moving?

Yes, he's moving. Before I even knew what was happening, he gently kissed the top of my head. I tried to remain still, as if I'd already fallen into the pit of sleep, but my body soon became stiff and I couldn't ignore the urge to move, even slightly. I readjusted my arm and in the process, pulled him closer... people move in their sleep, right? Surely that wouldn't tell him I'd been up.

Eventually I did fall asleep, in that very position. All while telling myself stories in my mind. The name of the child in Bruno's vision. The life we could share if I could only stay here.