The 6 Greatest Errors of All Time | ✓

VI. illegal things

His hands were gentle as he left light strokes against my cheeks. We sat cuddled in each other's embrace and blended into the tranquil silence that filled the room.

"Leigh, babe."

I blinked once. Now attentive, a peculiar frown made its way to my face as I arched my head left, behind, and as I returned forward, glanced to the right. This boy and I... we were alone. In a living room that was dim-lit with no parents in sight. The sofa displayed itself vibrantly. Bright red leather cased its cushions and the inflated curve at the edge reflected dark shadows over the ground.

"Leigh, what's wrong? What are you looking at?"

I gave the person before me a thorough look. He was relatively tall, well-built underneath his ebony suit, with spunky dirty blonde hair recently gelled back.

"Hi.." I smiled at him. I noticed he was still holding onto me. His hands were now caressing my hips, sweetly massaging my legs in ways I have never been touched. If memory served me right, his hands were cupping my face not too long ago.

The boy gave me a wearied smile and tilted his head. "Hi. Did you space out again, Leigh?"

The girl he kept calling... who was she? A ghost looming behind me? Are we going down that path..?

"I'm not sure." [—who you're referring to], I wanted to add. I heard myself letting words stumble out of my mouth when I didn't even organize my thoughts yet.

"That's alright, come closer." Before I could respond, his grip on me tightened carefully and pulled us so close, I could feel his whole body against mine. The boy wrapped his arms around my neck and held onto my body, rubbing up and down my arm.

"Must be from yesterday. Get some sleep. I'll be right here when you wake up."

"Where are you going?"

"What?"

"*****."

... *****?

"Shh, nowhere. I'm here."

▂▂▂▂▂

My eyes fluttered open. Slowly, I felt the warmth of the sun's rays from my window against my exposed skin. It took a few moments for me to register I was in a new setting, and that it was suddenly bright back in reality.

Groaning, I tossed to the other side and tried to resume sleeping. Tried to un-pause the dream in my mind. Whatever I just experienced... it was nice. While I still couldn't remember most of the details, I did remember longing for someone. And that person held me close for a long time. I felt safe in my sleep.

I pushed myself up and sat there with my arms hanging on my kneecaps, furrowing my brows in thought. The last part of my dream was muffled. I could have sworn whoever I was in the dream was about to spill a name.

I slid out of bed and rushed the process to get out of my apartment. While brushing my teeth with one hand and ruffling my hair with the other, I caught sight of the tiny, silver locket hanging around my neck. A single red ruby stone was embedded in the design.