make me stay.

four

♜

golden sun stripes had been dancing across the ceiling of my room, carefully being watched by my sleepy gaze for a few minutes. a grunt or two had passed my lips along with a slight stretch of an arm, but no major movement had happened since i had been woken up by bright light. 

the others were still sound asleep, and therefore, not as bothered by the hot, thick air we had filled the room with, during the night. 

lily had been given the only bed in the room, her injured ankle the sole reason that no one had argued. the rest of us had spread out blankets and pillows on the floor around her, and it hadn't been too uncomfortable. gram's snoring was an entirely different thing, however. 

i slowly led my hand up towards my neck, letting my fingers gently glaze over the bare skin. a smaller piece had an unpleasant warmth to it, a pain that seemed to have no cause. it would be the spot my mark was supposed to form on, but they never showed up early. marks would appear at any time of the day, but never before or after your eighteenth birthday, and i still had six days left. 

without much sound as gram rolled onto his back, fingers entwined, resting on his rising stomach, i lifted up the sheets, my right leg stretching out to reach before giving him a soft kick. a frown instantly washed over his face, but it took another, slightly harsh, kick to jerk him awake. 

"mmm?" he mumbled, raising his eyebrows above closed eyes. 

"you're shaking the whole house with your snoring," i whisper, carefully placing a foot on either side of his body, as i step over him. there are two windows in the room, but one should be enough to clean out the heavy air. outside the sky is lightening, a few birds chirping as they leave their trees. 

i take a seat in a chair that has been placed right by the window, feeling the slight breeze brush up on my face every once in a while. the sun lights up my face as i sit down and i can't help but smile, feeling the warmth spread over me.  

"you're so different when it's early," wes suddenly speaks up from the opposite corner of the room. he has pushed himself up, laying on his stomach still, but resting on his elbows. his voice was laced thick with he exhaustion that followed a trip such as ours from yesterday. 

"what do you mean?" i question, placing a palm on the window to push it open. it leaves a print, which i wipe away with my sleeve, before tucking my hair behind my ears. 

"you seem calm," he pauses as if contemplating how to explain, but graham joins in before he has the chance to: "you know, in those moments before your mind brings back every memory stored away in your head." 

my eyebrows pull together as i glance between the two, not understanding where they are heading with this. 

"do you remember the winter where the streams in the woods froze?" wesley smiles, as he unlocks a memory i had forgotten i even had. 

we had been no older than twelve, when a winter so harsh it had frozen up all streams had resulted in us all being locked inside for a week. it was too cold to play outside, snowstorms washing away everything in sight. then, one day, the snow had slightly cleared. it wasn't a lot, but being able to see where you were going when outside on icy roads, had been the major difference. it had been early in the morning, when i had woken up to small taps. it didn't take me long to realise someone had been throwing stones, attempting to hit my window, and the ones guilty were lily, gram, wes and belle. they were all gathered in front of my house wearing more clothes than i would throughout the week added together. we had spend hours skating on the frozen water, before we had to sneak back home before our parents woke up.