The Man Next Door

Chapter 12: Trust Me

...where it's safe...

His yearning words kept replaying in her thoughts as she came to think about taking up his offer. Maybe Sebastian was right... maybe he wasn't trustworthy after all. But how would she know? All of this time she's been having these strange blackouts that... coincidentally first took place near Patrick.

Vera was sure that the man next door had nothing to do with her blackouts, and had no way of controlling them. He's the type of guy that would never be able to tell a lie without admitting to it moments later.

He's only suggested things, he'd never tell a lie...

"Hey," he mumbles, closely watching as she slowly pulls herself out of his arms, "you okay?"

"mhm," Vera murmurs, suddenly crossing her arms out of chilliness, her head starting to pound.

"You didn't respond to me for a while," Patrick says before exhaling, spectating as she furls up into her hoodie, "I thought you might've blacked out again."

"I don't know," Vera shrugs, finally looking up at him, "I might've... I didn't get to take my dose of medication tonight so I might've..."

"You might've just zoned out a bit," Patrick suggests, crossing his arms before looking up at her, a lopsided smile appearing on his face, "so what do you say?"

"...say about what?" Vera asks, the corners of her mouth tugging into a smile.

"Sleepover?" Patrick smiles, "or do you rather bore yourself out at nana's house?"

"If you really want me to... I'll stay," Vera chuckles, "only because you're forcing me to."

"If it means I get to have some company..." Patrick continues as he turns to securely shut the door, "...then it's my pleasure."

Vera smirks as she looks down at the ground, her legs tight together as the cold grew stronger, shortly after looking down the same weird breeze she felt at the grocery store fell upon her, and all she could really do was close her eyes and picture it.

She felt Patrick brush past her, she could tell it was him just by how lively it felt. Vera's eyelids flicker open and she sees the girl, it was so vivid that she thought it was real, similar to the experience you have when you dream.

Out of nowhere her eyes fully open, waking her up. She looks up to find herself in the same spot, except Patrick was long gone, already coming back from the kitchen. "What the hell.." Vera quietly says, looking down at her hands and turning around to find Patrick dashing towards the couch, his face turning pale at the sight of her by the door, "Patrick"

"How'd you get here?" Patrick mutters, power walking towards her with a glass of water, handing it to her along with a paper towel.

"What?" Vera asks, taking the paper towel and swiping it over her clammy face, "What do you mean? I didn't move."

"The second you blacked out I moved you to the couch," Patrick says with concern, running his hands over his arms out of anxiety.

"I-I don't know," Vera says in bewilderment, her head still throbbing as her eyelids began to give in, "I don't know what happened."

"You look worn out..." Patrick says softly, gingerly leaning her against him as he walks them down the hallway to his room, "you wanna lie down?"

Vera nods in confirmation as Patrick sits her down on the side of the bed, "you want tea? Anything to eat maybe?"

"No, I'm okay" Vera weakly smiles, pulling off her hoodie before lying down, her headache leisurely going away the second her head hit the pillow.

"Are you sure?" his voice echoes, Vera manages to open her eyes slightly, shooting a reassuring smile at him before nodding.

"Thank you," Vera mumbles, "I'm okay... thank you."

Vera's eyes close just after watching Patrick pace around his room slightly. He was worried about her and didn't know what to do.

"Patrick?"

"Yeah?" he quietly answers, going to the side of the bed and finally taking a seat beside her with fret written all over his face.

"Sorry for taking your bed," Vera whispers jokingly, earning a smile for Patrick.

"I wasn't gonna make you sleep on the couch anyway," Patrick chuckles, looking down at the floor at his shoes, that were still on his feet. He felt the uneasiness going away at the sound of her cheery sounding voice.

"Thanks," Vera grins, "god I'm glad you let me stay, my mom would've been freaking out."

"Well, it's a good thing you got me," Patrick smiles, turning off the lamp before getting up, "you should get some sleep, we'll sort out your medication in the morning... I'll make a call to your doctor."

"Okay," Vera sighs out of exhaustion, her hand running over her already closed eyes.

"Okay. Do you trust me?"

"Yeah, obviously..." Vera snickers, pulling the comforter over her body as the light escaping through the open crack of the door eventually went away.

"Sweet dreams," he mutters, his soft-spoken words followed by a smile.