Unexplainable Thoughts

As soon as Laurie and I had returned home, Laurie rushed me upstairs to bed. I attempted to explain to him what had happened, but he just shushed me and said "You can tell me tomorrow, you need rest right now."

I woke up the next day at noon, realizing that being taken by James had really taken it's toll on me. Stretching my arms and legs, I placed my feet on the cold floor with a soft moan. I wandered into the bathroom, taking a chance to look at myself in the mirror.

The sight was something I wasn't expecting, a deadly pale face staring back at me through eyeliner-smudged, bloodshot eyes. A few tears must have escaped my eyes through the night because there was still some salty residue left on my cheeks. My hair was greasy and frizzy from not showering, and I felt disgusted as I stared at the strange form in front of me.

I heavy sigh left my mouth as I quickly washed my face, scrubbing away any leftover makeup or tears. Swiftly I brushed my hair, sweeping it into a ponytail before I stepped out of the bathroom. Before stepping downstairs, I realized that I was wearing one of Laurie's shirts and a pair of boxers.

Did he change my clothes? I'm pretty sure I wasn't wearing these yesterday...

I rolled my eyes and continued my journey, quietly stepping into the dining room. Yawning, I realized I still hadn't gotten enough sleep. I shuffled into the living room, in search of a comfortable place to curl up in. To my surprise, Laurence was hunched over on the couch, holding his head in his hands. A frown came to my face as I walked over to sit down next to him.

I placed a hand on his back, rubbing in a circle motion as my voice came out in a soft tone.

"You okay?"

He looked over at me, his eyebrows raised.

"You're awake? Why are you awake already? I thought that you would want to sleep all day today at least."

I shrugged, chewing on the inside of my lip.

"I'm still tired, but I got up anyways. I don't know if I'll be able to fall asleep again. I usually can't fall asleep in the middle of the day." I shook my head.

"Here," He stood up swiftly, offering me his hand. "Let's get you back upstairs."

We went back to his bedroom, and he told me to lay down. I obeyed, crawling under the covers and sighing at the soft feeling of the mattress underneath me. Before I could even shut my eyes, the bed dipped a bit and Laurie layed down in bed with me.
"What are you doing?" I muttered as I turned over to look at him.

"I want to make sure you fall asleep, so I'm going to lay here with you until you do." He smiled a little as he spoke.

I rolled my eyes at him and yawned before rolling over so my back was facing him. A few seconds later and his arm had snuck around my body, his hand gripping onto mine. I giggled as he pulled me closer to him.

"Now go to sleep, Ver." He spoke softly, kissing the side of my head.

"Okay, Laurie. Love you." I muttered out as my eyes slowly fell closed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I woke up that night around seven with Laurie still next to me. I turned around to face him, expecting him to still be sleeping. I was met with his chocolate gaze and a toothy grin.

"How long have you been awake?" I questioned, hoping he hadn't been staring at me sleeping for an hour.

"An hour sounds about right. You're so peaceful when you're asleep though." He smirked at me, knowing that I wasn't a fan of him listening to my thoughts all the time.

I stuck my tongue out at him before pushing him playfully in the shoulder. He laughed before poking my nose.

"I see someone is back to her normal annoying little self."

I glared at him for a moment before pushing him off the bed. A loud "Uff!" echoed through the room before he sat up, resting his head on top of the bed.

"I'm not annoying," I pouted, scrunching my nose up in a childish manner. "And if you don't like getting pushed, then I wouldn't say it again if I were you."

"Fine, fine." He lifted his hands in surrender.

He sat back up on the bed, giving me a thoughtful look.

"You know I can hear your thoughts, right?" I raised an eyebrow at him, knowing that he wanted to know what had exactly happened at the Reglara mansion.

For a few minutes, I retraced my steps, telling him how I had woken up in some type of basement and ran out unscathed. I also told him about the message James had sent me, choking up a little at the thought of James actually killing Laurence someday.

Laurie comforted and assured me that James couldn't kill him if he tried. Doubt still clouded my mind, but I kept my thoughts to myself, hoping that Laurie was right.

"James Reglara is the least of my fears right now, Ver." He paused for a moment, looking at me.

"My only fear is that he'll take you away again, and I can't let that happen. I have to make sure that he can't get to you. What would happen if he caught you in the hallway again? And I wasn't there to stop him? I couldn't live with myself if he just swooped in again and took you away forever." His eyes swam with sadness as he thought of that possibility.

"I need to keep you safe, Ver, no matter what it takes."