Sleepwalker

Chapter Twenty-Five (Last Chapter)

It's my 20th birthday today.. and I know I'm supposed to be the one receiving gifts, but consider this my gift to y'all. ♡ 

~  the  f i n a l  chapter  ~

"Create the life you can't wait to wake up to."

LUCY

I dreamed of that night. The one my parents would retell over and over again to anyone they met. About how they came across their daughter in her Barbie nightgown, eerily standing in their kitchen at a late hour. That happened almost ten years before that, and I wasn't even awake at the time to experience it, but I dreamed of it often. It felt so real every time. I could imagine my mom with her damn hockey puck, ready to smack an intruder down if she had to. 

What I do remember is waking up that morning with watchful eyes on me. My parents looked so worried, and what was the first thing I blurted out? 

I'm sorry for eating the last of dad's cookies. They were just so good. 

I was so nervous I was going to be in trouble. Instead, I was greeted with laughter. 

I used to think for the longest time that the universe punished me for finishing my dad's cookies by making me go through my sleepwalking. Let's just say I haven't had macadamia nut cookies since that day. 

The sun was what woke me up. 

It began to stream through the window, burning my eyes as I attempted to squint them open. It took me a few moments to process where I was, but it didn't take that long. After all, there was arm still wrapped securely around me. 

At first, my heart warmed up at the idea of Clayton holding on to me throughout the whole night, but then it nearly leaped out of my chest. 

Was  I still in the same position as when we had fallen asleep last night?

There was a chance I had gotten up overnight and Clayton laid me back down. I tried keeping the happiness bubbling inside me down, in case of that scenario. I didn't need to disappointment myself. 

However it was no use. I looked up towards Clayton and his sleeping face was more precious than anything. I scanned over him. 

When I was that fourteen year old girl seeing a guy like Clayton Hugh enter her class, my crush was almost instant. There was always something about him that caught my eye - my heart, and no matter how hard I tried, it would never shake. My friends poked fun at me for my crush, like any friends of course. They told me he was a douchebag like all of the other jock guys at our school. At first I believed that because, well, it was true. 

I never blamed Clayton for being that way though. He was handsome, foreign, and great at athletics. Guys like him were destined for being a lady's man and being every guy's best friend. For the longest time I let myself have a crush from afar and never approach him because of that. 

Clayton's breathing was steady and light. The sunlight was casting over his face, almost highlighting his freckles.

Like I had thought before, there was always that chance he had put be back in the bed last night. I knew he hadn't though.

I knew, deep down, that sleeping next to him may very well be my remedy.

It made complete sense to me. He made me feel safe and secure at any point we were together. Although I have tried sleeping with other people I cared about, I had never slept soundly through the whole night. Clayton and I's connection went beyond that of my friends and family. It was something I had never experienced before.