Chapter 17 Sweet Dreams #2
I had spent so long believing distance was a choice I could always make.
That I could simply walk away from anyone before it was too late.
But there, on that ledge, watching her sit alone in a house filled with people who didn’t see her, I understood with a cold, sinking clarity that I had already lost that option.
There would be no going back from this.
I could try to lie to myself, pretend that I would see her once more, only to ensure she was safe.
That I would answer if she called but not reach out first. That I would guard her from shadows and never let her know just how deep the darkness within me wanted her.
It would be nothing but a lie. Because I had crossed an invisible line the first time I followed her home, and another when I took her hand in that cafe.
Now I had stepped off a rooftop to watch her father speak to her like she was an inconvenience rather than a gift.
I was in this.
Completely.
I stayed there longer than I should have, long after she finally pushed herself off the sofa and disappeared down the hallway toward what I knew must have been her bedroom.
I waited until her light flicked on in that smaller room, until I saw her silhouette pass by the window, and the faint shadow of her body curl up on the bed.
Only then did I pull out my phone once more.
Because I couldn’t leave without once again seeing her smile, hoping that I could be the cause.
So, I sent her another message and waited.
Her phone pinged, and she ran to retrieve it from her bag.
Then she tapped the screen, and in the glow of the technology in her palm, her face lit up.
The smile was one of genuine happiness, and I swear my heart had never felt lighter.
Even more so when I watched as she held her phone to her chest as if my words had meant something dear to her. Yet all I had written was simply,
Tomorrow. I want to see you again.
I watched as she typed her reply, and it felt like an eternity waiting for it. But not only that, I experienced an entirely new feeling I had never had the opportunity to before… Excitement.
Another non-date? Or do you just want to know my whereabouts so you can stalk me more easily?
I couldn’t help it, I found myself laughing.
A sound that was as foreign as the smile that joined it.
Thankfully, I continued to mask both my presence and my reactions to her so that she wouldn’t detect me here watching her in plain sight.
I knew I had stayed longer than I should, but I didn’t care.
I also couldn’t hold back my eagerness to reply to her.
I don’t need you to make it easier for me to stalk you. I could find your sweet scent anywhere or follow your happy hum whilst daydreaming. I will always seek you out, little prey.
After I sent this, I didn’t know what I desired more, to read her reply or to witness her reaction to my own. And of course, she didn’t disappoint, as her smile was blinding once again. A grin that didn’t fade as she wrote out her own message in return.
Looks like I need new perfume and duct tape for my mouth.
I couldn’t help but laugh yet again, but more so watching the nervous bite of her lip as she waited to see how I would respond to her teasing reply.
Forget the perfume but the duct tape I could certainly use.
At this, she burst out laughing, a sound that must have startled her as she quickly covered her mouth, as if forgetting herself and not wanting anyone to hear her exhilaration.
So, is this next date at a hardware store then?
Was her witty reply, and to say that I was impressed was an understatement.
Come to think of it, I might need some chains and padlocks.
“Oh, really,” she commented, her voice muted through the window, but her eyes were bright and practically dancing.
Well, in that case, should we say lunch time? Same place as today? I’ve always wanted to see paint samples while drinking coffee.
I grinned down at my phone, amazed at not only the ease in her answers but mainly in my own.
Then this time it’s a date. But the paint samples will have to wait. I have something else in mind.
I sent it and waited, marveling at how her eyes closed a second as she sighed, as if my words held some magical elixir for her bruised soul. The painful exchange with her father was already a thing of the past and now forgotten.
As long as it’s not to buy a shovel, I’m in.
Again, my grin could not be helped, and it was quickly starting to feel less foreign. I couldn’t remember a time I had ever smiled this much in my entire life, having no cause to before now. As for my reply, it was short and sweet.
Funny, little fluff.
A reply that made her touch her hair, knowing now why I called her the endearment, and seemingly basking in it.
Good. She needed to know how beautiful she was.
She needed to be praised for all that was her and not berated for it.
Which was why I sent her one last message, not ending it the way I wanted to by confessing the sins of my obsession.
Until tomorrow, little dreamer. Good night and sweet dreams.
I lingered there, watching her for a few moments more, already wishing for morning and knowing that whatever dreams found me would be the same ones I wished for her.
Ones filled entirely with the inescapable pull of…
Our girl.