Bearing Grace

Bearing Grace: Chapter Six

Chapter Six

I shot up, my breathing rugged with my body covered in cold sweat. My dream was of an old memory from when my dad was still around. It had haunted me, kept me up and terrorized my every single thought. So I laid there in my open sleeping bag, staring directly at the tent's ceiling, cold and alone. My wristwatch read 2:17a.m.

'Damn Matt, why did he have to make me tag along when I could be at home with a bowl of cereal right now?'

The next time I had checked my watch, it read 3:36a.m. I couldn't just close my eyes because every time I did, I'd open them seconds later. A rustling noise was heard from outside and the zipper began to jiggle. "Shit," I quietly muttered, shutting my eyes tightly.

"You awake, Grace?" a voice whispered.

A moan escaped my lips and I blinked, "What do you want, Matt?"

He chuckled by the tent door, in his arms were two bags of marshmallows as well as one tumbler of coffee and a can of cherry soda. "I figured you'd be awake." He crawled into my tent and sat down beside me. I noticed a lot about him: how plain messy his hair was, how tired his eyes looked, and how much concern there was on his face. "So uh, are you okay?"

"Y-yeah," I stuttered, sitting up, "Perfectly fine."

"You're sure insomnia wasn't catching up with you?" he asked, handing me the marshmallows and the can of cherry soda.

"Definitely sure," I nodded, accepting the sugary food. "So what're you doing awake?"

He opened the tumbler's cap, saying, "Do you know how difficult it is to be sleeping in the same tent as my uncle?"

I shook my head, placing a piece of the candy into my mouth, "I don't even want to know." So the half hour was spent just like that-watching him gulp down some coffee, and me avoiding his eye contact whilst eating some marshmallows and drinking cherry soda.

"I went in here around midnight, you know," he said, placing one marshmallow into his mouth. "You were sound asleep."

"Gee, that's fascinating..." I nodded again, before successfully encouraging myself to look at him. "What do you call it, Matt?"

He paused from chewing. "Call what? Your sleeping problem, Insomnia?"

"No, the thing you're doing."

His eyes narrowed in the darkness, "I don't really understa-"

"Is it saving, Matt? Are you supposed to be saving me, helping me out or something?"

"You could call it that, anybody could call it that. But would you really like to know what I call it?" He laughed, "I call it 'Bearing Grace'."

My eyebrows knitted together in confusion. That was stupid. He continued his laughter, slowly falling onto his back on the tent floor before it died down. Matt sighed and supported himself on his elbows, a grin still on his face.

When I finally had the guts to do it, I turned to look at him. In the dark tent I could see him quite clearly. His hair was disheveled and swayed in front of his eyes, his chest was toned and his arms were muscular, not super buff but you get it.

For some strange and yet completely awkward reason, I felt at peace beside him.

I laid myself back down comfortably onto the sleeping bag, closing my eyes. And just as soon as I was on the verge of falling asleep, I felt something touch my lips. My eyes shot open, surprised to find a marshmallow being forced into my mouth. Glancing at Matt, I found him grinning at me.