Movie night was Linus's idea. He and Cameron were discussing classic scary movies one morning in the breakroom when Camille had chimed in to declare her love of foreign horror cinema. Once Kirsten had confirmed, as everyone suspected, that she had seen next to zero horror flicks, it was settled. Twice a week for the whole of October they would meet at Cameron's apartment, since he had the biggest television, and watch a horror movie together.
Camille was allowed to choose first, and she brought her favourite Korean horror, which was fine until the night ended with a shouting match between her and Linus after he stated that he preferred the American remake. The following movie night, Cameron's choice of "The Shining", was much more successful with everyone present agreeing that it was an excellent film. Even Kirsten admitted to enjoying it, which Cameron took as a personal victory.
Tonight's movie night had started much like the previous two, with the four settling down on the couch to watch "The Exorcist" which Linus had loudly proclaimed to be the greatest horror flick ever made. They were about halfway through when Kirsten started to feel strange. At first she thought perhaps she was getting sick, that maybe something in the tapas they'd been eating was off. But she soon realised that the churning in her stomach and the tingling in her fingertips had nothing to do with the fig marmalade. She could hear her heartbeat thudding in her ears and her breath started to quicken. She recognised this emotion – the people she stitched into often felt it right before their deaths – it was fear.
Everyone else was too preoccupied to notice her rising panic. Camille had dashed over to the kitchen for a fresh batch of popcorn and Cameron was turned towards Linus in a heated debate about split pea soup. Kirsten couldn't tear her eyes from the screen as a particularly horrifying scene started to play. She let out an involuntary squeak of terror, her arm darting out to grab Cameron's arm, fingers curling into his bicep. Cameron stopped mid-sentence and turned to look at her, his questioning expression changing to one of concern as he took in her pale face and panicked breathing.
"You okay, Stretch?" He turned fully towards her, reaching out to put both hands on her arms. "Kirsten, what's wrong?"
His worried face came into focus as she wrenched her eyes from the screen, she was panting heavily now, the fear coursing through her veins.
"Oh my God." As she watched Kirsten, Camille's expression changed to one of horrified realization. "The guy, the guy from today, Greg Aitken, I did some research on him." Cameron nodded encouragingly at her as he rubbed Kirsten's arms in a soothing motion. Linus reached for the remote, turning off the television.
"Well, the dude was totally paranoid. A few years ago he jumped out of a third story window because he thought the leprechaun from the Lucky Charms commercial was after him." Her eyes flicked back to Kirsten who was on the verge of hyperventilating.
"So, what - the residual emotion from the stitch combined with the movie is making Kirsten freak out?" Linus asked, looking to Cameron for confirmation.
"Sounds like." Cameron nodded at him before focussing his attention back on the girl in front of him.
"Kirsten, look at me. It was just a movie, okay? There's nothing to be afraid of."
She blinked a few times before locking eyes with him, after a few moments her breathing started to return to normal. Cameron let out a breath he hadn't realised he'd been holding.
"What can we do?" Camille hovered uncertainly next to the sofa, her forehead creased in concern.
"Turn on all the lights," He gestured towards the switch, and Camille ran for it as Linus flicked on the lamp on the table. "And now I think you should go home, I can handle it from here." Cameron knew that Kirsten wouldn't be happy about her friends seeing her so vulnerable, at least this way if she started to cry they wouldn't be there to see.
Camille nodded in understanding and grabbed her bag, slinging her jacket over her arm. She shot one last worried glance at her friend, who was staring intently down at her lap, before she left with Linus in tow.
Cameron sighed, turning back to face Kirsten's bowed head.
"Alright, Stretch, I'm gonna show you something my sister taught me." He gave her arms one last reassuring squeeze before rising to his feet and heading towards the kitchen.
"When I was a kid I had this friend who would get those pirated video tapes of movies," he continued to talk to her as he switched on the kettle and reached into the cupboard for the cocoa powder. "One day he called us all over to show us this terrible copy of The Ring, it was obviously filmed in the movie theater and it wasn't even in english, but it was enough to scare the life out of 9 year old me." He finished stirring the two mugs and lifted them to carry them back over to the couch.
"I didn't sleep for two days, but when Sarah found out what was bothering me she showed me this trick. Step one: hot chocolate." He placed his mug down onto the table and offered the other to Kirsten, smiling as she took it with a slightly shaky hand. Her face was starting to regain some of its colour and she wrapped her fingers around the steaming cup. Cameron sat down next to her and grabbed the remote, turning the TV back on and switching quickly over to Netflix, searching for what he needed. He found what he was looking for and selected it, grabbing his mug and leaning back against the chair.
"Step two: watch something funny." He explained as the movie started to play. "This movie in particular was one of Sarah's favourites."
Kirsten leaned back next to him, shoulder brushing against his as she blew carefully over her drink.
She watched the screen thoughtfully for a moment before turning to him, pulling a face.
"What exactly is it? It looks old." Cameron smirked at her, she was obviously feeling better if she was already back to questioning his taste in movies.
"It's Monty Python, and it's a classic – so you can keep your comments to yourself, Pork Chop." She snorted at the nickname, but turned back towards the screen shifting slightly closer to him as she settled herself, sipping her drink.
He kept a close eye on her, glancing at her frequently to check how she was doing as they watched the movie. She seemed to recover well from her episode, but during the credits he noticed her tensing again. He guessed that she wasn't ready to go home, much less to try and sleep, so he simply selected the next movie on the list. He was proven right when she sank back into the chair once more, shifting almost imperceptibly closer to him.
Several hours, and multiple classic British comedies later, the sun shone in through the window, hitting Kirsten's face and causing her to wake. She squinted blearily at the clock on the wall, seeing that it was only seven am, and was relieved to find that the residual emotion that had plagued her the night before had faded away as she slept.
She must have fallen asleep mid marathon as the TV was still on, displaying the Netflix menu screen. She shivered, wishing for a blanket and leaned towards the warmth on her side, suddenly becoming aware of a weight on her right shoulder. She turned her head slightly, careful to avoid getting a face full of curls. Cameron was breathing softly in his sleep, his head resting on her shoulder. At some point during the night he must have taken out his contacts as his glasses were skewed at an awkward angle on his face. She smiled at the sight, she loved his glasses and she wished he would wear them more often. She briefly contemplated waking him, but decided that after keeping him up all night, the least she could do was continue to be his pillow for a couple more hours. After all, it was the weekend, so neither of them had anything pressing to attend to. She felt her own eyelids droop and she tilted her head to rest it gently on top of his, slipping back into a peaceful sleep.