Biker Mice From Mars - Somewhere I Belong

Once Upon A Time I Was Falling In Love Now I'm Only Falling Apart

The moment the tip of his antennas made contact with her skin, something clicked inside Charley's head.
Soon thereafter, it felt as if someone poured a cup of ice-cold water over her head and in some sort of reflex, she opened her eyes.
But the strangest thing was that everything remained black around her.
The fairy lights, the tree house, Vinnie...
All gone.
As if she was trapped in a sealed room without windows, but she knew she wasn't.
She could still feel him.
Smell him.
She knew he was there, and yet, he seemed so far away from her.
This was by far the weirdest thing she had ever experienced, and that while there was already so much strangeness in her life ever since she met him.
Ever since he saved her from her solitude.

As it still felt as if there was water dripping down her face, a certain pressure joined the odd feeling.
Kind of like the beginning of a major migraine attack, and her breathing accelerated as the nervousness came back at the speed of light, the very one that had been gone due to Vinnie's magical way of comforting her.
He had told her that he would never do anything to hurt her.
But her head felt really strange as the pressure kept increasing, and she couldn't stop herself from having the feeling that even though he wasn't really hurting her right now, that was soon about to change.
As if her head was about to explode or something, and a short breath escaped her lips as the nervousness now gradually transformed into panic.
What if he saw something she didn't want him to see?
What if he used this moment to take another look inside her head?
What if...

"Not to worry, sweetheart. It's a one way connection."

As if on cue, Vinnie's voice echoed through her head, although it sounded different than usual.
As if he was standing in a large bathroom or something like that.
But despite that, she still recognized it with every fiber in her body and she closed her eyes again as she took a deep breath through her nose to calm down her nerves, which was, unfortunately, in vain.
That was mostly because she was now facing another challenge, namely - responding to him.
How did one do that during a Mind Walk?
She had no idea, which wasn't really strange, for this was entirely new territory for her.

Perhaps that was the whole reason why the panic kept growing and growing.
She wasn't in control.
She had to have control.
As her breathing became heavier and heavier, she tried to open her mouth, but much to her utter shock, that didn't work.
She wasn't sure whether it was because of the panic that she clenched her teeth with all the strength she had in her or that her jaws were literally glued to each other, but whatever it was, it only fed her panic even more and heart now almost exploded out of her chest as she kept trying to squeeze the words out.

"Breathe, sweetheart. Just breathe. You don't have to talk to tell me what you're feeling. Just think of the words and I'll be able to hear them."

Charley squeezed her eyes shut tight as she did everything within her power to fight back the mortal fear that was holding her in its vicious grasp, but it was hard, if not impossible.
The pressure on her head just kept increasing, and she wasn't sure how long her skull was going to keep up with this before it might crack, although she had no idea if that was even possible.

"Vinnie, I'm scared..."

"I know. You want me to stop?"

"No, I... You said it wouldn't hurt me..."

"It only hurts because you're fighting me. Just let go, Charley-girl. Just let it all happen. I promised not to hurt you, and I won't, but you'll have to stop fighting me. Just let go..."

Charley-girl...

The somewhat soothing tone of his voice, along with him using the for her already so important nickname eased the pain in her head, making Charley able to breathe again and she took a few deep breaths to fill her sore lungs with precious oxygen.
And while she was doing that, she tried to surrender herself to him, for it was all she ever wanted.
To connect with him on a deeper level.
Thinking of how he apparently trusted her enough to show her his super secret safe haven, along with the fact that he wanted to share a part of himself with her that he, if she had to guess, had never shared with anyone else, helped her to calm down.
He made her feel special.
No one had ever made her feel special.
The love she felt for him warmed her up from the inside, and with that, her body relaxed.
As if by magic, her mind lowered its walls, and suddenly, there was another click.
Soon thereafter and much to her relief, the pressure was gone in one fell swoop.
Just like that.