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Becca

I fell asleep quickly that night -- still emotionally and physically drained from the night before. After Brett dropped me, my mind was over-thinking so badly that I barely managed to get a few hours of sleep.

Thus, as soon as my head hit the pillow tonight, I was out like a light.

In my dreams I was walking through a dark corridor, trailing my hand along the wall to my right to guide my way. The darkness was everywhere, surrounding me completely. I didn't know what, or who, I was looking for, but my eyes searched the blackness endlessly, trying to find something in the dark.

My feet pushed me forward as my lungs began to ache, a cry begging to escape my throat as I felt the darkness press against me, threatening to swallow me whole.

Just when I was about to give up, to sink into the abyss and let the darkness win, I saw a flicker of brightness ahead of me. The more I focused on it, the bigger it grew.

No, it wasn't growing, it was advancing towards me.

"Becca?" A voice called out, an anchor in the dark.

The voice sounded so familiar, I knew I had heard it before, but I couldn't pinpoint where.

"Becca? Is that you?" The voice repeated, louder now as the figure approached me.

"W-who are you?" I asked, my voice shaking with the fear that coursed through my veins.

The person stood in front of me now, holding the candle up to his face and illuminating a pair of piercing blue eyes that frantically scanned mine.

"Thank God I found you," he exclaimed, pulling me into his arms tightly. "I've been looking for you everywhere, Becca. Where have you been?"

"The darkness...I couldn't find my way out." I managed to say, my voice breathless as I desperately hugged this stranger.

No, he wasn't a stranger. I was sure of that. His eyes and his voice held a kindness I was familiar with, I knew I had seen him before.

"I'm here now, love. You don't need to be afraid anymore." He murmured into my hair, squeezing me even tighter against his broad body.

"Okay," I breathed, unable to say anything else.

He pulled back, placing his hands on my shoulders and holding me at arm's length. His eyes stared into mine with an intensity that made my heart ache. I desperately tried to remember this man's name, it was on the tip of my tongue but I couldn't remember.

Why can't I remember!

"Becca, what's my name?" He asked, the kindness in his eyes now replaced by sadness.

No, please don't.

"My name," he repeated, his voice cold.

"I...I don't know," I whispered, flinching at the hurt that flashed across his face at my confession.

He reached out slowly and touched my cheek, holding it in his palm.

"Remember, Becca. Please, you need to remember me," he begged.

I searched the depths of my mind frantically, trying to recall any tiny piece of information related to this stranger in front of me. I searched and searched and searched but came up empty handed every time.

His eyes haunted me, I knew those eyes.

Why can't I remember? I wanted to scream at the top of my lungs, but the darkness was pressing down on me heavier than ever, weighing me down.

"Remember me," he whispered, as the darkness began to swallow him up. His body was gone, disappearing right in front of me as the blackness won. His eyes remained in place, watching me desperately as I struggled to remember.

I blinked and he was gone. I was alone again, surrounded entirely by darkness. I sank to the floor and began to cry, tears streaming down my face as sobs burned their way up my throat.

Those eyes, I would know those eyes anywhere.

A sudden memory flashed into my head and I grabbed ahold of it quickly before it could escape. I was sitting on a cold, metal bleacher on a warm summer day. The sun was setting behind the football field as the heat grazed my shoulders, enveloping me in a blanket of warmth.

The crowd around me chanted in unison as the players ran across the field, passing the football back in forth. I could hear the crowd screaming, but their words were muffled by the darkness. It was pressing down on me so hard now, I felt like I was drowning.

I searched through the blackness, trying to grab ahold of the memory before it slipped away completely. Their screams grew louder, their words becoming clearer as I pushed the darkness aside and concentrated solely on their voices.

Slowly, the heaviness began to disperse around me, the crowd's voice ringing clearly in my head.

"Brett! Brett! Brett!" They cheered in unison.

Brett. The name flooded into my mind in an instant and I knew it was him, the stranger from before. How could I ever forget him?

I scrambled off the floor and screamed his name into the darkness until my throat ached.

Suddenly, the darkness began to fade, a blinding whiteness taking its place. A white so bright that it made me fall to my knees and cover my eyes.

"Brett?" I asked, desperate to see him again and tell him that I remember.

"Brett?" I called into the whiteness, my voice echoing around me. I was alone, completely alone.

The sound of something ringing broke the silence, cutting through the whiteness like a hot knife.

I followed the sound, walking blindly through the brightness until I found it.

What is that? I kept walking, but there was nothing there. The ring echoed around me, the whiteness vibrated with the sound.

I fell to my knees, holding my head in pain as the sound pierced my ears, ringing throughout my head so loudly I begged for it to stop.

I laid on the white floor, curling my knees into my chest but the ring never faded. I closed my eyes and screamed at the top of my lungs. The world around me went black.

I woke up frantically, a cold sweat dotting my forehead as I struggled to breathe.

What the hell kind of nightmare was that? I thought, quickly scanning my room to reassure myself that this is real. I pulled my blanket tighter around my chest, taking deep breaths to calm myself down. That's when I heard the ringing that managed to make its way into my subconscious.

My phone was lighting up on my nightstand, illuminating the darkness around me. Brett's name flashed on the caller ID. I glanced at the time and noticed it was nearly two in the morning, why was he calling me right now?

I thought back to the nightmare I just had, to Brett being swallowed by the darkness right in front of me, his eyes watching me like ghosts before they faded away forever.

I picked up my phone quickly, desperate to hear his voice.

"Brett?" I answered, my voice frantic.

"Hey," his voice sounded deep and raspy over the phone, sending a chill down my body and completely washing away the heaviness that was weighing down my heart. "I missed you," he continued, his voice a low whisper in the dark.

"You just saw me yesterday," I teased. I smiled to myself, relieved that Brett was very real and very much alive, the images from my nightmare already fading away.

"Exactly, it's been too long." I could hear the smile in his voice as he spoke and pictured him laying on his bed on his back, smiling up at the ceiling with his phone pressed to his cheek -- just like I was.

"You can't go a day without me, Wells?" I joked, the darkness giving me a surge of confidence that usually escaped me in Brett's presence.

"No," he said simply. The serious tone of his voice sending a new chill down my body. His word hung in the air, electricity vibrating between us even though he wasn't here. His words still had the same effect on me, as if he was here beside me.

I found myself wishing that he was.

"So," he paused, breaking the heavy silence. "What are you wearing?"

"Brett!" I whispered harshly. He chuckled deeply on the phone and I smiled to myself, rolling my eyes.

"I'm joking, Becs. Unless you want to tell me..." His voice trailed off and I could hear him smiling, practically envisioning him wiggling his eyebrows at me, teasing to get a reaction.

"Don't make me hang up on you," I threatened, having no intentions whatsoever to actually hang up on him. He knew I was bluffing, surely, but was too kind to call me on it.

"I'm sorry I've been distant today," he said, I could hear the sadness in his voice. "I was just...thinking."

"Thinking about what?" I asked, already knowing what he would say before he did.

"About you," he replied simply, his words overpowering the silence around me and making my heart flutter in my chest.

I didn't respond. I clutched my phone to my chest, grinning widely like an idiot.

"Hey, Becs?" He asked softly after a moment, his tone suddenly serious.

"Mhm?" I murmured, my eyes roaming the darkness of my room, imagining Brett laying here beside me.

"Can I tell you something without it scaring you away?" He said, his voice a low whisper. He sounded nervous, I could picture him running a hand through his hair.

"Sure," I replied, more confidently than I felt.

There was a moment of silence, where neither of us said anything. I could hear him breathing deeply over the phone and my heartbeat accelerated.

"I want to kiss you again," he said softly.

My breath caught and my heart squeezed in my chest at his confession. I could hear the desperation in his voice, the want, and I understood him...because I felt it too.

And just like that, we were back. Lost in the bubble that only we occupied, the one that made it feel like Brett and I were the only two people in the entire world.

The silence on the phone was heavy, buzzing with unspoken words and the weight of Brett's confession.

"Are you still there?" He asked.

"Yes," I breathed, hugging my blanket tightly against my chest to stop the trembles that rocked my body.

"Does that scare you?" He whispered.

I held the phone away from my face, taking a deep breath before pressing it back against my ear.

"It does," I replied, sounding utterly breathless. "I was dreaming about you, before you called." I told him, feeling vulnerable as I bit my lip and awaited his response.

"You were...dreaming about me?" He asked happily, the smile more present in his voice now than ever.

How could someone like Brett Wells be so happy at the thought of me dreaming about him? The thought made me smile as I turned onto my side, feeling giddy from head to toe.

"It was a nightmare. I was surrounded by darkness, trying to find you...but then you disappeared." I whispered, the fear from my dream creeping up and making me shiver despite the blanket wrapped around me. "You were gone," I finished, my voice breaking on the last word.

"I'm right here, Becca. I'm not going anywhere." He said without a doubt, his voice stern.

"I wish you were beside me," he said softly. "I want to see you. Right now."

"Brett," I laughed, "it's the middle of the night."

"So?" He replied quickly. "I'd be there in the blink of an eye if you said yes, Becca." Just say yes, his voice begged.

"Brett..." I trailed off, not wanting to hurt his feelings. "It's too late, my mom would kill me."

"Okay," he replied after a moment, sounding defeated.

"Don't be upset," I pleaded, hating the hurt in his voice.

He laughed dryly. "You sure know how to crush a guy's heart, Becs." He paused. "But it's your lucky day because I'm in a forgiving mood," he said teasingly, making me smile and release the breath I didn't know I'd been holding.

"What did you do today?" He asked, changing the subject.

I told Brett about lunch with Cassie, even filling him in on my brief conversation with Parker. He went deathly quiet on the line when I did, but it felt wrong to hide it from him and I didn't want to lie.

We spent the next hour talking about everything and nothing. All the sleepiness I felt faded away as I spoke to Brett, his low voice jolting through me like caffeine and keeping me company in the darkness.

I was wrapped in a cocoon of pure bliss. I could hear Brett breathing evenly on the other end of the line, positive that he was falling asleep. I smiled to myself, pulling my blanket even tighter against me and breathing in Brett's sweater wrapped around my body.

"Goodnight," he murmured. It was the last thing I heard before drifting off to sleep with a smile lingering on my face.

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