Page 52 of I Could Have Missed This
“You’re my favourite person Teddy,” I tell him, before I fall into a deep sleep on his chest.
Iwake up in a familiar room. It’s one I wish I could wipe from my memory and never speak of again. LED lights glow faintly, my eyes take a few seconds to adjust. At the foot of the bed is the monster. He’s holding a bloody axe in one hand and my boxers in another. His body is covered in blood.
“Stop,” I plead. My lips are moving, but no sound escapes them.
“You’re mine tonight,” the monster says as he begins to crawl up the bed towards me.
“No.”
“What was that?”
“I said no.” This time the words have volume. The monster looks puzzled. But continues anyway. He throws my boxers tothe ground and goes to turn me onto my stomach, exposing my behind. I instantly dart around and push him off me with a force I’ve never felt before.
“I said no!” I scream before I launch myself at him. I grab the axe from his hand, the look on his face is one I’ll savour forever. I raise the axe up high and bring it down hard. It penetrates his back with a bloody thud. And then I do it over, and over, and over again.
“JUST. STAY. THE. FUCK. AWAY. FROM. ME!” I scream as tears stream down my face.
(Noah it’s okay. It’s not real. You need to wake up.)
I continue attacking the monster while sobs escape me. The tears land on his back and mix with the blood.
(Wake up Noah!)
I scream as I wake up in a different room.
“It’s okay honey I’ve got you,” a voice says before reaching out to hug me.
“Don’t touch me,” I spit, jumping to the other side of the bed. My chest rises and falls quickly as my eyes adjust to the room.
“You’re okay Noah, it was just a nightmare,” he says as I try to steady my breathing. My eyes adjust, and I realise it’s Teddy that’s sitting across the bed from me.
As my eyes adjust to the room, I slowly realise I’m in Teddy’s room, and in his bed. In a quick panic I look under the covers to confirm I’m still wearing clothes. I sigh with relief when I see I’m still wearing the pjs from last night. Then my head throbs wildly to the point I’m wincing. I lick my lips and realise that I have a really bad case of dry mouth. There’s a large pint of water next to me, I quickly start gulping it down, drips of water slide down my chest.
Teddy is looking at me with worry on his face.
“I’m okay. I’m sorry I just… sometimes I get these nightmares and I don’t know where I am when I wake up,” I tellhim while placing my hand on top of his. “We can go back to bed,” I add as I place the glass back down.
“You scared me,” he says, quietly looking down at our hands.
“I know, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to.”
“You don’t have to be sorry.” He lies back down and opens up his arms for me to nestle into his chest. He grips me tight. We quickly fall into a deep sleep in each other’s arms.
My eyes slowly open,and I’m met with a flood of golden light. I move to pick up my water. Gravity feels heavier than usual, and my head is throbbing. I place it down and cuddle into Teddy, who begins to stir.
“Good morning,” he says, his voice deep and gravelly because he just woke up. I’m taken aback by the sound. “How you feeling?”
“Shit,” I say with a small laugh. Teddy turns around to face me. He looks so pretty. I smile again, then Teddy smiles back.
“Why are you smiling?” He asks, touching my nose with his index finger.
“I was just thinking about how pretty you are,” I tell him, to which he pulls me closer to him. We kiss deeply, my heart exploding.
“Your breath still smells like vodka,” he laughs, kissing me again. I grab the back of his hair and bring his lips to mine.
“I may have had way too many shots last night,” I tell him as we come apart. His eyes glisten in the golden morning light.
“I’m sorry I ran off like that, I should have been here supporting you through this,” I tell him. He gives me a quick peck on the cheek.
