Witness

25| It's Always Something (pt. 1)

"Sky..." someone's voice drifted to me.

"Skyler wake up," it sounded again. Only this time, someone's shoulder was moving beneath my head. My eyes immediately fluttered open.

I was momentarily confused as I realized I was seated in one of the lecture halls, my head resting on Jaxon's muscular shoulder. I had slept through the entire Biology lecture, and people were already standing up to leave class.

"Shit..." I mumbled, sitting up off of him, "why did you let me sleep through class?"

He shrugged. "I tried to wake you at first, but you were really out, so I figured I would just let you sleep. Are you feeling okay?"

I nodded. "Just really tired."

"That's not really like you..." Jax pressed, grabbing both of our backpacks as he stood up. "Maybe you're getting sick."

"Yeah," I yawned, taking my bag from him. "Maybe."

I knew I wasn't getting sick. I was just tired because I hadn't really been sleeping well this last week. Ever since I found out that the mob knows I'm alive, my nightmares had returned. Maybe not as bad as they had been when this whole thing started, but bad enough to keep me up at night.

In fact, there was one night last week where I was so scared that Hannah stayed up and watched a movie with me until I could fall back asleep. Not that she knew the extent of my night terrors, just that I had a bad dream.

I hadn't told Jax about this. It wasn't that I didn't want to tell him, but I didn't feel the need to worry him over something he couldn't control. Nightmares happened; I've leaned over the years how to deal with them.

Still, I wished I could get a few hours of uninterrupted sleep.

"Want to skip the rest of our classes today?" He offered.

I let out a fake gasp as I fell into step beside him. "Blow off class? Who are you, and what have you done with my bodyguard?" I said, soft enough that nobody would hear me.

He smirked, nudging me with his shoulder. "Stop. I'm just saying, I'm down to skip today if you're not feeling well."

I thought about this for a while. I really felt like I needed to get some sleep. Just walking through campus today felt draining, and I had a test I needed to study for tonight. I knew if I was going to sleep peacefully, though, I needed to have Jax with me.

"Yeah...," I yawned, "let's skip. Will you come with me to my dorm?"

"Yeah, sure."

The fall breeze blew gently around us as we made our way back. When this whole situation happened, the school year had literally just started. Now, we were approaching the end of October, and the weather was beginning to cool down.

I used to love this time of the year. I loved pumpkin spice and Halloween parties; I loved spending time with my dad during thanksgiving.

Being here, in this situation, it all just felt so different.

"What are you thinking about?" He asked after a moment.

"I don't know," I replied, shooting him a small smile so he'd believe me.

"You're a terrible liar. Besides, you had your thinking face on."

"I have a thinking face?"

He nodded, "Yeah. You furrow your brows and press your lips together."

I let out a sound somewhere between a scoff and a snort, "Sounds unattractive."

"Nah," he smiled, "it's cute."