Him.

Chapter 42: The nightmare

Claire's P.O.V.

I wake up and immediately look at the time and it's 9:00. I go downstairs and see Jake on the couch eating a bowl of cereal.

"Hey Jake, are mom and dad up?" I ask.

"They said they were meeting Ryan for breakfast." He says with a mouth full of cereal. Ryan is my moms brother, I guess he's in town.

"I'm going to see Braden. I'll text you if I stay for a while. Ok?" I ask.

"I thought you two broke up." Jake says.

"We did. But we're together again." I say.

"I'm confused. But whatever, have fun." He says.

"I still gotta get dressed, so you haven't gotten rid of me yet." I say smirking.

"Dang it!" He yells sarcastically. I run upstairs and put on shorts and my old blue hoodie, and I put my hair in a ponytail. I walk back downstairs and say bye to Jake. I walk to Braden's and knock on his front door. His grandma answers again.

"Hi sweetie. How can I help you?" she asks.

"Hi, I was actually wondering if Braden was around." I say.

"I heard him a while ago, so he should be up, you can go up if you want." She says.

"Thank you." I say as I step inside. I walk up the stairs to his room and his door is closed. I knock and I don't hear a response so I slowly open the door. Braden is asleep on his bed, he's laying on his back and he's breathing heavy. I think he's having a bad dream. His head starts to shake and his face tightens. I walk over to him slowly. The closer I get I can see that his forehead is shiny from sweat. His head thrashes back and forth and he moans.

"Braden." I say softly. His face changes briefly but then it tightens again. His head trashes again. "Braden. Wake up." I say reaching for his shoulder. He starts to breathe really heavy, his chest rising and falling quickly. "Braden." I say shaking his shoulder. He moans something. I can't make out what he said.

"Nmosht" he moans.

"Braden." I say again shaking his shoulder. He doesn't react. "Braden." I say again. His head trashes again and he starts to breathe heavy. "Braden." I say again.

"Claire?" he mumbles with his eyes still closed.

"Braden, wake up." I say grabbing his hand.

"Claire? Ar-Are you," he says not finishing the last part because he thrashes his head again.

"I'm right here. Just wake up." I say shaking him again.

"No!" he says quietly.

"Braden." I say shaking his shoulder again.

"Please, no." He says shaking his head.

He's too scared right now. I can't wake him up by shaking him. I lean down and kiss his forehead, and he doesn't react. I shake his shoulder one more time and his eyes open quickly and he sits up, taking in a deep breath as he does. He breaths heavy until he sees me standing next to him.

"Claire!" he says pulling me to him. He strokes the back of my head gently. I wrap my arms around his waist and he's a little sweaty.

"Hey, hey. You're ok." I say pulling back and looking him in the eyes and putting my hands on either side of his face. He looks really scared, his eyes are open wide and he is really sweaty.

"O-Ok." He says letting out a sigh and holding my hand that's on his face. He starts to breath kind of heavy again. I put my hands on his shoulders.