Old friend, new lover

Chapter 23

Reader PoV:

I woke to what smelt like burning ash, slowly I opened my eyes, allowing my eyes the time to adjust to the dimly lit room, once my eyes had adjusted, I take in my surroundings, looking for the source of the burning ash, the smell was coming from the fireplace, the fire had long gone out and only the low glow of orange amber was creating the dim light, with help from a couple of candles that were just about to burn out, I tried to move, that's when I finally realise there were arms loosely wrapped around me, those arms belonged to Farah, who was sleeping next to me, holding me, keeping me safe from the rest of the realm.

I place a light kiss on top of her head, before carefully removing her arms and slipping away from her, once out of Farah's safe embrace, I stood up from the floor where we had fallen asleep and tiptoe towards the bathroom, after using the toilet I washed my hands, before placing them on either side of the sink for support. Looking at myself in the mirror, I let out a heavy sigh as I close my eyes.

"What the hell was that?" I ask myself, yes, I have nightmares of that fateful day, however this nightmare was different, it was as though I had relived it, like I was back there, I could feel the air on my skin, the weight of the pen in my hand, the smile from the coffee sitting on my desk that was getting cold, the feel of Samantha's hands on me, the feel of the knife plunging into my torso, the smell of blood.

I shut my eyes tightly, shaking my head in an attempt to get the memories out of my head, taking another breath trying to calm my nerves, before splashing cold water onto my face, grabbing the hand towel from beside the sink, thankful that Farah had also brought some toiletry for the bathroom, taking one last breath I leave the bathroom, I made my way into the living room, where Farah was still asleep on the floor, since Farah is still sleeping I take the opportunity to walk around my childhood home, that now belongs to Farah.

I walk into my parent's old bedroom. It felt surreal being back here as an adult, as I stood in the middle of my parent's old bedroom, I couldn't help wondering, "what if," what if we had stayed here in Alfea, would my father still be alive?  and what about Farah and I? Would we be married? Would we have children? Would Farah of still became headmistress of Alfea? Would I become a teacher? What would our lives be like?

"Penny for your thoughts?" Farah's voice came from behind me, pulling me out of my thoughts, turning around to face Farah, I smile softly at her.

"Sorry, did I wake you?" I asked feeling guilty that I might have woken her.

"You didn't wake me, I started to feel a little cold without you next to me," Farah said walking over to me, wrapping her arms around me, "so what were you thinking about just now?" Farah asked.

"I was just wondering what our lives would have been like if we had stayed here in Alfea," I told Farah honestly.

"Oh I know exactly what our lives would be like, if you had stayed," Farah says pressing her mouth against mine, our kiss was sweet, light, tender and so much more, I move my hands up to Farah's face twirling a lock of her long hair in my fingers, then something changed inside of me, I pull back slightly, looking her in the eyes.

"Oh, please do enlighten me," I said buying myself some time.

"Well, we would have started dating as soon as you turned sixteen, we would had fought side by side in the war against the burn ones, we would be married by now, we would have three children one boy and two girls, twin girls, we would of brought that beautiful cottage on top of the hill, I would of still became headmistress, you on the other hand, you would of looked after our three children why working along-side your mum in her flower shop," Farah tells me with a smile on her face.

"So... you haven't giving it much thought at all?" I asked with a little chuckle.

"no, of course not," Farah laughed, giving me a light kiss on my lips, before she pulled back and out of my arms, "I need to ask you something," Farah said biting her lower lip as she suddenly became nervous.

"Farah? What is it?" I asked getting a worried feeling, Farah takes my hands and walks us back into the living room, where we sit back on the floor by the fireplace that has finally gone out, no more burning amber, we were in complete darkness, that was fine with me, when we were children having a sleep over we would have some of our best talks in the darkness in the safely of our bedrooms, or under our apple tree, I sit and listen to Farah telling me about how she had somehow been pulled into my living nightmare, that she had to watch in horror as Samantha not only attacked me, but also had to watch her stab me, Farah hesitated before asking me if I had used my magic to pull her into my dream.

"Farah, I promise you, that I didn't willingly bring you into my nightmare, only this time it was different somehow, normally I only dream about the moment Samantha stabbed me, or me stabbing Samantha when I was defending myself against her," I let out a heavy sigh, then using light magic, I light up the room with my magic, "Farah, there is something I think you should see," I tell her getting up onto my knees, I inhale deeply before taking a hold of the rim edges of my top, as I remember how I had  reacted yesterday morning when Farah's hands had made they've way underneath my top, thinking of how worried I had been about Farah seeing my scar and how she would react, as no one apart from myself, the doctors and nurses at the hospital had been the only people who have seen my scar.

Now that I had somehow pulled Farah into my nightmare, where she had witnessed the whole nasty attack, I was no longer worried about Farah seeing my scar, finally lifting and removing my top, revealing my scar on the right side of my torso, Farah let out a gasp as I now sit there in my bra, Farah's eyes are on my scar, she slowly reaches towards me, letting her finger tips lightly touch my scar as those she was scared she might hurt me, I couldn't help noticing the look of sorrow in her eyes.

 

To Be Continue:

I hope you enjoyed this new changed, I feel like this story is getting better as it goes along, I had lots of plans for this story and have no intention of finishing it anytime soon, we still have a long way to go in this journey: