Status: In Progress

Set Fire to the Rain

4:00 am

In the background, over the grunting in my ear, I heard something else. "Mom!! Mom!!!!!! Mommmm!!!!!!!!!!!! Eliza!!!!" It was my name being called and my body was being shaken violently. My eyes suddenly shot open. I was completely disoriented. I sat up with a jolt, and jumped backwards; my eyes darting around the room, terrified. It finally hit me that I was sitting on my own bed, in my own room, and Jake was siting in front of me with a look of sheer terror on his face, holding his hands in his lap. His hair in disarray from sleep, his eyes heavy, but never looking away from me, light spilling into my room from the hallway. My breathing was heavy, and I started to take slow, deep steadying breaths to help it return to a somewhat normal rate, and I slowly slid back down on my bed into a more relaxed position.

"Want to talk about it?" Jake asked.

"No, not really."

"That bad, huh?"

"You absolutely don't want to know. The worst I've had." I said softly, as tears came to my eyes and began to fall. Jake slid over to me and wrapped me up in his arms just holding me as I let all my fear from the horrific nightmare go. Once I had regained my composure, he sat back and I reached across to the other side of my bed, pulling Freddy into my arms. I looked at my clock seeing it was nearly 4am. Ugh.

"Just call him mom. You know you want too, and you will feel better after you talk to him about this."

"I don't know if I can talk to him about this one, Jake. He was in it, and it was... I don't know..."

Picking up the phone on my nightstand, Jake switched on the light that sat there, now filling the room with a soft glow. Jake pressed the number for Shannon on speed dial, and handed me the phone. "I love you mom. Now talk to him. I'll see you in the morning." I nodded my head and blew him a kiss as I waited for Shannon to answer. If he didn't, I would leave him a message. Already knowing deep down that he was more than likely awake, and would answer my call.

"Well, hello there gorgeous." Hearing his deep voice immediately put my nerves at ease, happy my son had made this decision for me.

"Hey." I rasped out.

He was immediately on alert, "El, sweetheart, what's wrong? It's almost 4 in the morning by you, and you sound... I don't know, off."

Taking a deep breath I decided I would go ahead and tell Shannon what had happened. We had been together for nearly 4months now and there were no secrets between us, so I wasn't about to start keeping anything from him now.

"Nightmare."

"You want to talk about it?" I heard him moving around on the other end of the line.

"It was really bad Shan. The worst I've had in a long time. I don't know. And honestly I don't think you really want the images in your head." He took a deep breath and thought for a minute.

"Listen, you know you don't have to tell me, but I am here if you want to get it out of your system. Sometimes that's what you need to do to free yourself from it." I thought it over, and decided he had a good point.

So taking a deep breath I opened up and told him everything. With the exception of the fact that I had told him I love him. I figured that wasn't a necessary piece of information in relation to the dream. He sat on the other end of the line quietly listening, allowing me to tell him what had happened. When I got to the details of Davids' attacking me, I could hear Shannon's reaction immediately, even though it wasn't an outright verbal response, there was an immediate intake of breath and a slight grumble of something incoherent. I did everything I could to keep my emotions from getting away from me. When I had finished, Shannon sat quietly for a moment, and I was starting to think that maybe I had made a mistake in saying anything, then he spoke softly.

"I'm so sorry El. I can't begin to imagine what that must have been like for you. To wake up thinking you were still in that situation must have been terrifying. Beyond anything I can imagine. There are no words to express how much I wish I could erase it from your memory. That, and I really wish I was there to hold you right now, because I really fucking miss you and I hate being away from you."

"I wish you were here too. And I miss you so much it hurts." I whispered. I think what I really appreciated the most from him was that he didn't say anything about it just being a dream. It would have made me feel silly and stupid and I think he knew that.

"Well, just think, I will be with you to soothe away your fears and anything else you may need help with, in a matter of a couple days." Again I heard him moving around on the other end. The man could never sit still.

"Shannon, you are so bad, but I can't wait. We are going to have such a great time." I chuckled.

He was right, talking about the dream had made me feel a lot better. He was the master of distraction for sure. Just hearing his voice made me feel so much better. It always did. Shannon was coming into town for Kym and Erikk's wedding this coming weekend. Yes, they were finally tying the knot. It had been a surprise to hear that they were engaged, but I was thrilled at the news. The couple decided they had been together long enough and didn't want to have a long engagement. So they were having a very beautiful summer, NY wedding. It was this weekend and Shannon was my date. I for one couldn't wait. It was supposed to be a gorgeous August weekend.

"Oh sweetheart, we are definitely going to have a good time." He let the insinuation hang in the air and I felt it all over. Yes, we have been together for 4 months, but we haven't slept together yet. I had thought at one point that I was ready but quickly realized I wasn't. Shannon being the incredible man he is, had been nothing but patient with me. Though admittedly, it was becoming increasingly difficult to control myself around the man. He was sex appeal on a fucking stick for gods sake.

"Oh boy... Baby, you are killing me here." I yawned.

He chuckled lowly. "I really can't wait to see you gorgeous. I hate to do this, but you need your sleep baby. Go to bed. I will talk to you later today, ok?"

"No, I'm ok." Yawning again, my exhausted body betrayed me.

"Liar. Now, we are going to hang up, and we will talk later." He chuckled.

"I miss you, and I don't wanna go. Please don't make me." I whined.

"Are you whining?"

"Noooo." He was laughing at me now.

"Mmhmm. Sure babe."

"But Shan, I've missed you. And you keep my bad dreams stay away." Alright I was acting like a 2 year old, but I really didn't want to hang up. I had missed his voice so very much.

"Do I? Or are you just saying that so I won't hang up?

"It's the truth. I always sleep better when I'm with you, or right after I talk to you. For instance, tonight we didn't talk right before I went to sleep. Hence the nightmare." This was all true.

"Are you trying to make me feel guilty sweetheart? Because you are doing a good job if you are." He chuckled.

"God no! That's not what I was trying to do. I'm sorry. I'm just not ready to say goodnight yet." Another big yawn escaping from me at that precise moment.

"Alright, how about this, I will stay on the phone with you until you fall asleep. Ok?"

"Hmmmmmm. Ok. You promise?"

I really hated this long distance thing. Granted we saw each other more than I had imagined possible in the beginning, Shannon had been true to his word. He travelled back to see me here in NJ a couple times a month and would stay for 4 days if I was lucky. But if he was only able to stay for a couple days we would grab on with both hands and enjoy every second. On the rare occasions when he would stay for a longer period of time, he would usually surprise me with a small getaway somewhere. Our first trip away together had been a trip to Cape May for 6 days, and we stayed in a gorgeous B & B there. We walked on the beach and boardwalk, going to restaurants, sightseeing, driving with no real destination in mind and playing mini-golf. I was having the time of my life with Shannon, and I can honestly say I have never been happier. Taking a chance on us had been the best decision I ever made. We Skyped at least once a day and talked on the phone a minimum of twice a day. He would call me first thing in the morning just to wish me a great day, and we always said good night to each other no matter the time. Being with Shannon was pure magic. Saying goodbye though, was always the hardest part. He still insisted I not go with him into the airport when he left to go home. Though he has started to feel better about letting me drive drive him to the airport. I think it's because it gives us more time together. Going inside with the David situation still unresolved, is not something Shannon is comfortable with. I will take what I can get with Shan.

"Yes, I promise. Alright. Now get comfy, and go to sleep or I will hang up on you woman." He joked.

"Alright, alright. Hey, Shan..."

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

"You don't need to thank me, I'm happy you called. Now close your beautiful eyes and go to sleep."

"Ok, ok. I'll talk to you later. And I miss you."

"I miss you too."

"Shan..."

"What sweetheart?"

"I'm crazy about you." I yawned yet again.

"I'm totally and completely crazy about you, if you haven't noticed." I heard him shifting around on the other end of the line.

I giggled and blew a kiss into the phone.

"Good night baby." He said.

"Night, love." With that I closed my eyes and and listened to Shannon as he sang me softly to sleep.
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mysoul4jimmy