Finding You

Chapter 21 - All I Need to Hear

"Flashback when you met me,
Your buzzcut and my hair bleached.
Even in my worst times,
you could see the best in me.

Flashback to my mistakes,
My rebounds, my earthquakes,
Even in my worst lies, you saw the truth in me.
And I woke up just in time,
Now I wake up by your side."
- Taylor Swift

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

That night, I have this insane nightmare, and when I jolt awake in a cold sweat, I'm shaking and clutching at the covers trying to breathe.

I don't remember it very clearly. Actually, the second I open my eyes, I don't remember much about the details at all. I remember the feeling though. I remember there was blood and violence. I remember that Hunter was there. I feel like he's still there.

I don't usually have nightmares, at least not like this. I'm sure it had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that Hunter scared me out of my mind getting into that fight earlier.

I don't know how long I lie there like that, trying to catch my breath, but it doesn't help. The feelings just won't go away. It's the terror that lingers the longest though. It just all felt so real. The pain, the look of desperation in Hunter's eyes. It all felt so real, and I can't stop wondering if he's okay. Sitting up, I glance over at my alarm clock and see that it's almost two in the morning.

Before I can talk myself out of it, I reach over to my night stand with shaky hands and grab my phone, dialing Hunter's number.

"Hello?" I hear Hunter's sleepy voice come over the line, and I let out a breath I didn't even know I was holding.

"Hey.. It's Mia," I begin hesitantly.

"Hey," he says, and I can hear him sitting up. "It's late, what are you still doing up? Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything's fine, I just..," I start before letting out a shaky breath. I run a hand over my hair, trying to get ahold of myself. I just can't stop shaking.

"Mia, what happened? Are you alright?" Hunter asks, and I can hear the concern in his voice.

"Nothing, it's nothing," I say, feeling all kinds of ridiculous. Oh God, this was stupid.. I can't tell him that I called to check on him. What am I supposed to say, I had a nightmare? What am I five? I'm going to end up ruining this thing before it even really starts. Fantastic job, Mia. "Sorry, I shouldn't have called," I say finally.

There's silence on the other end of the phone, and I feel like he probably agrees with me until he speaks. "I'm coming over," he says.

My brain practically short circuits at his words. "What? No, no, you don't have to do that," I say. "I just called because I thought you might be hurt or something, but it was just a stupid nightmare. Seriously, that's all. It's no big deal." I'm blushing now, I know it, and I've never been more grateful that he can't see me.

He's silent for a moment, and I want to add, "now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go crawl into a hole and die of embarrassment", but I stay quiet waiting for his reaction.

"You know, I think I'm going to come over anyway," he says.

"Wait, what? My whole family's asleep, you can't-"

"Too late, be there to pick you up in ten."

That's all he says before hanging up.

What the heck just happened?

********************

After shrugging on a hoodie on over my my cami top and joggers, I zip it up about halfway and quickly gather my hair into a ponytail. I then hurriedly brush my teeth because even though it's the middle of the night, I can not risk morning breath.