Night Shift
Part 3
(2-3 weeks after NS, part 2)
"Ladies and gentlemen we have a winner," Greg crowed as soon as Warrick and I entered the lab.
"And to those of us who are psychically challenged that means…?" I said.
"The skin you got from under his nails is a match to your suspect." Greg said.
"Finally," Warrick sighed.
"My thoughts exactly." I said.
"Thanks, Greg, nice work," I smiled at Greg.
"Does that mean that you'll finally say yes?" He asked hopefully. I shook my head and laughed.
"I don't think so, Greg," I told him. Warrick and I headed back out in the corridor and the end of shift meeting that Grissom had ordered. I had also been working here for just over two months and now that we had solved this crime it meant I was on the next step of the ladder.
"What was that all about?" Warrick asked.
"Our lab rat keeps trying to get me to go out with him," I replied.
"You mean Greg has given up on me?" Sara joined us in the break room.
"Either that or he's getting desperate." I said.
"Who is?" Nick asked coming in with Grissom and Catharine.
"No one," I gave Sara and Warrick a warning look, the only two who know that Nick and I had been kind of seeing each other. If by seeing you mean rollercoaster's and going to breakfast/dinner together a couple of times. I was surprised that Grissom hadn't ferreted it out yet, but knowing him it was only a matter of time.
"As most of you know tonight is the night where the Mayor comes around for his yearly visit to tell us how well we're doing," Grissom began.
"And get in our way," Warrick whispered to me.
"Thank you, Warrick," Grissom had ears like a hawk.
"And to see how all the tax dollars are being shamelessly wasted," Nick added. Grissom rolled his eyes and cleared his throat.
"As I was saying," he said pointedly.
"The mayor is coming to visit. Chances are he'll come take a look around shake a few hands and leave within an hour. And we're all going to be on our best behaviour, aren't we, boys?" he gave Nick and Warrick a pointed look. Warrick gave him a small boy kind of scared look.
"You're not gonna look us in the closet until he leaves again are you, daddy?" He asked.
"Only if you call me daddy again, son," Grissom deadpanned.
"We're not going to have to put on our Sunday best are we, boss?" I asked.
"Not unless you want to get them dirty,"
"Thank god, my Sunday best amounts to a clean pair of jeans and an ironed t-shirt," I muttered.
"And I have received yet another complaint from Ecklie about being called a; and I quote verbatim, 'fucking asshole'. Would you like to explain why you called him that?" Grissom was looking down at the table he sat at, but I knew he was talking to me.
"Because Warrick and I were doin overtime yesterday afternoon and had laid the victims clothes out very carefully on a table to look at it properly, maybe find somethin we missed earlier. He and one of his lackeys came in and just dumped stuff on top of the table, not even askin us if it was alright." I explained. All eyes were on me now.
"How did that warrant you calling him what you did?" Grissom asked.
"Because he could have destroyed evidence, valuable evidence and then it would have come back on me and Warrick," I said.
"That's what I said to Ecklie," Grissom said, a hint of a smile on his face.
"Besides it's not like I was far off the mark callin him that anyway," I added. Warrick laughed, turning it into a cough. He had been in the room at the time as well and when Ecklie charged in and dumped his lunch on the table Warrick had stood there staring at Ecklie as though Ecklie were some kind of bug that he was about to step on.
"Try not to call him something like that in the future, he's a little sensitive."
"I noticed that myself." Actually he had stormed from the room shouting all sorts of threats at me.
"It wasn't like he didn't deserve it, Gris," Warrick said.
"I never said he did; just try not to step on his toes unless you can run fast." Grissom said.
"And the last piece of news we have here Warrick and Phoenix have just solved the Compton murder, which means that Phoenix is now a CSI2, and now able to work on her own if she needs to." Grissom dangled an ID badge on the end of a chain in one hand. I bowed my head a little to let him drape it around my neck. He stepped back and nodded a little.
"It suits you," he said.
"Thanks, boss," I smiled at him and leaned back against the wall.
"That's it, boys and girls, go home and get yourselves well rested for the mayors' visit tomorrow," Grissom said.
"Yeah, we're probably gonna need it," Warrick said.
"See you later, boss," I said heading for the door.
"Please stop calling me that, Phoenix," Grissom said.
"Sure thing, boss," I smirked as I pulled the door closed behind me.
"Why do you do that, call him boss all the time?" Sara asked in the locker room.
"Because he is," then I grinned at her.
"Winding him up is just a secondary benefit,"
"Yeah, well someone's gotta do it, may as well be the rookie," she said.
"Not anymore I ain't," I took the ID necklace off and swung it back and forth, before putting it in my pocket.
"Yeah, yeah, come on ladies, let's get this party started," Nick slammed his locker shut.
"We're not disturbing you gentlemen, are we?" Sara asked, in a tone that made it perfectly clear she didn't care.
"Not at all, Sara, but the more time you spend talking means less time for having fun." He told her.
I got into Nick's car with him and Sara went with Warrick. The CSI's actually got together once in a while to have some fun together. This time it was Nick's turn and we were playing poker in his house.
Warrick was already there when Nick eventually pulled into the driveway of his house. Sara looked like she seriously regretted having let him drive.
"You remember to get the beer?" Warrick asked Nick.
"Stashed in the fridge," Nick replied.
"And the crisps and everything else you asked for, except the stripper."
"Damn," Warrick made a show of pretending to look upset.
"No problem, we can always play strip poker," Sara said, hanging her jacket up just inside the door.
"Good idea," Warrick said.
"A plan I like," Nick said, looking me up and down.
"Well I don't, we gonna play strip poker tell me now so I can get a bus home," I said.
"Come on," Warrick groaned. I shook my head adamantly.
"I don't think so," I told him.
"Hey, you never know, you might even like it," Nick said.
"Not gonna happen," I said light-heartedly; or tried to. The thought of actually taking my clothes off in front of anyone was not an appealing idea.
"And you might like what you see," Nick murmured in my ear. I almost jumped a mile; I hadn't realised that he was that close.
"Either we play ordinary poker, some other game, but I'm not playin strip poker or strip anything else," just to make sure my point was clear I turned to look at him.
"What are you afraid of?" He asked.
"Nothing, I just don't want to play that. Since when is that a crime?" I asked waspishly.
"It's not, just a change from the norm, what's the big deal?" He asked. Warrick glanced at Sara and nodded in the direction of the kitchen and the two of them went in there, closing the door behind them. I took off my denim jacket, revealing the long sleeved t-shirt I wore underneath.
"The big deal is that I don't want to, is that a problem? Because if it is the bus will be coming soon and I don't want to miss it," actually I had no idea when the bus was coming.
"Hey, hey calm down. You might have fun, have you ever played strip poker before?" He asked.
"No," I admitted.
"How do you know that you won't like it unless you try it?" He asked reasonably.
"Believe me I know I won't like it," I snapped.
"So you don't even want to give it a go?"
"I said no, Nick,"
"Okay, okay, I was just asking is all, no need to bite my head off,"
"Then don't fucking ask," I growled. His eyes widened and I understood why; aside from yesterday with Ecklie it was very rare that I used language.
"I'm sorry," he said.
"If I don't want to do somethin then I ain't doin it, Nick, so quit trying to persuade me cos it ain't gonna happen."
"I'm not, ordinary poker's fine," he was looking at me closely. I took a few deep breaths, trying to calm myself down a bit.
"Come on," he held out a hand to me and after a moments hesitation I took it and he pulled me into the kitchen.
"Guys," he said to Sara and Warrick.
"We're playing ordinary poker."
"Aw man I was hoping to see Sara and Phoe-" Warrick was cut off by a well placed elbow to his stomach by Sara. She smiled at us.
"No, problem," she said. Warrick just grunted as he took a swig of his beer.
After that I think we all calmed down a little, except Nick, he never got all that upset to begin with. Things went from good to better. Except for the fact that I suck at poker, but other than that I had fun. At one stage I went to the sitting room to take a cigarette break away from those who didn't smoke. Next thing I know I jerk awake with a start. Someone, presumably Nick has thrown a light blanket over me while I slept and more than two hours have gone past.
"Welcome back, Sleeping Beauty," Nick's leaning against the doorframe.
"Yeah," I blinked sleepily, wondering how the hell I had managed to let myself fall asleep.
"Yeah, where's Warrick?"
"He and Sara went home over an hour ago," Nick replied.
"Dammit," I muttered. I stand up and look down, and then back up at him.
"Where are my shoes?" I asked him. He pointed under the coffee table with one hand and I pull them on as fast as I can.
"Hey, what's wrong?" Nick's voice was tinged with concern.
"Nothing, nothing. I gotta go," and so saying I spun around, whacked my shin off the coffee table and limped to the door.
"Phoenix, are you okay?" He was following me. I nodded jerkily.
"Fine, I really have to go home. I need to get some sleep before I head in tonight, you know how it is." I stumbled backward trying to get away from him. This only seemed to make him more concerned and confused.
"There's no problem with you sleeping here if you want, that bus don't come by for at least another half hour." He said.
"I…uh…could probably do with the sun," my excuses were beginning to sound lame now, even to me.
"Then let me at least drive you," He reached out to grab his car keys.
"No, I'm fine. Thanks Nick. I'll see you later." And I practically ran down his driveway to get away from him.
I got to the bus stop, questioning how I could have let myself fall asleep at Nick's, of all places to fall asleep why did it have to be there. And when I woke up I had acted like an idiot, tripping all over myself to get away from him and he had done nothing to me. Right now Nick was probably thinking that I was an idiot as well.
I closed the door quietly behind me. Warrick was sitting watching TV when I came in.
"Nick just called for you; he asked that you ring him when you came in." He told me. I waved dismissively with my hand as I went upstairs.
"I'll talk to him later," I said.
"He not quite what you expected?" He asked.
"Fuck off, Warrick," I snapped and walked even faster. Slamming my bedroom door after me. And sank to the floor leaning against the door. Shit, SHIT! I slammed my hand against the wall. What the hell is wrong with you? I asked myself silently. I hadn't meant to take my bad mood out on Warrick; he was just a convenient, if innocent bystander.
When I came into work that night, Warrick was in the locker room. He glanced up as I came in.
"Hey," he said.
"Hey," I paused.
"Listen I'm sorry about earlier, didn't mean to snap at you."
He nodded, his eyes narrowed.
"Don't worry about it," he said.
"What happened?" He asked. I took a moment to think of an answer, and then I laughed, somewhat derisively.
"It's a long story. If you have a few hours free some time, I might tell you." I said. I opened my locker and took out my 'work' t-shirt, another long sleeved t-shirt and pulled it on. When I turned around Warrick was gone.
"Glad you could join us, Phoenix." Grissom said, not even looking up at me as I came into the start of shift meeting.
"Sorry," I muttered as I took a seat next to Sara.
"Sara, Catharine, you get the Paulson case." He slid a folder down the table to Catharine and another one to Sara.
"Phoenix, Nick, you're both going to the school." He slid more folders down the table. Figures he'd make me work with Nick today. That's the way my luck goes.
"Warrick I need your help in my office with a little experiment," Grissom finally looked up.
"Any questions?" There was silence all around.
"Then go have some fun."
"What happened earlier?" Nick caught up to me in the corridor. It was inevitable I guess as we were working together for the whole night.
"Nothing, I just had to get home," I said.
"You okay?" He asked.
"Fine," I replied woodenly. He sighed and apparently decided to let it go.
At the school it was no different, he'd ask me something and I'd reply automatically.
"So what do you think happened here?" He asked eventually after a few hours of taking a look around, collecting evidence, taking pictures and all those other things you do at crime scenes.
"I think a guy was murdered," I said quietly.
"Dammit…!" He sounded like he was grinding his teeth together.
"What?" I asked.
"What do you think?" He snapped irritably.
"You, you're so…so irritating. I ask you something and it's like I'm not even here, you don't have to act like you're working all the time!"
"We are working," I stated calmly.
"See there you go again. Can't you at least look at me when we're talking!" Judging by his tone he was barely keeping his temper in check. I finally looked up at him from my kneeling position on the floor of the gym.
"What?" I asked again.
"Talk to me. Tell me what it is I've done wrong, because I honestly have no idea." He said.
"What makes you think you did something wrong?" I asked him.
"Oh, I don't know, perhaps it's the way you've been treating me tonight, like I'm not even good enough to spit on or maybe it's the way you've been ignoring me." He said angrily.
"Well, you haven't done anything wrong." I said.
"Then why the hell are you treating me like this!" His voice bounced off the walls.
"I'm not treating you any differently than I usually would." I said, going back to my work.
"Yes you are," he grabbed my shoulder and I jerked away from him like he had punched me.
"Don't touch me!" I snarled.
"Or what! Don't touch you or maybe you'll treat worse than you already are? That would be kinda difficult, don't you think!" He growled. I stared at him for a moment and then I spun on my heel ran out of the gym. I was glad when he didn't follow me; I sat outside for a long time before driving back to CSI HQ in the Tahoe. I don't know why I went back there, but I guess there are no coincidences. I was going to go into the locker room, grab my stuff and leave. Forever. But Grissom saw me.
"I thought you and Nick were working the high school?" He said.
"We were," I said shortly.
"So what happened? You forget something?" He asked.
"Yeah, I forgot about me and why…" I leaned my head against the cool wall, closed my eyes and took a moment to calm down.
"I'm not feeling so good; you're going to have to send someone else to help Nick." I told him.
"My office," he gestured for me to go before him, as if afraid I might run off. Warrick was leaning over a vat of…something. He looked up as we came in.
"Warrick, can you go help Nick, please."
"Sure, Gris," Warrick said and walked out.
"Take a seat," Grissom said.
"Look, I just need to take a rest for a while." I said.
"No, what you need to do is talk. So start talking." He said. I sat heavily in one of the chairs.
"I can't do this. I thought I could, but I can't." I stared at the floor.
"Why do you say that? From what I've seen you and Nick seem to be getting on well." Damn, Grissom was smart.
"Yeah, well…" a sigh escaped my lips.
"Last night Warrick, Sara, Nick and me were going to play poker. Sara suggested that we try strip poker, I didn't much like that idea because of…you know," I shrugged. Grissom knew, he knew only to well. Twenty years ago he and Tracy had to take pictures. Pictures that were burned permanently into his mind.
"I told him I wasn't going to play that, we argued. I argued," I corrected. He nodded imperceptibly.
"Then I fell asleep on his couch. When I woke up Sara and Warrick were gone. He told me I could sleep there and I know he didn't mean anything but just sleep…I just…I freaked and he didn't even do anything to me." I stopped talking. My foot rattled incessantly against the floor.
"So what happened today?" Grissom asked.
"Nothing happened. I just…" I took a deep breath and started over.
"He wanted to know what it was that he had done wrong, I told him nothing, because, you know, he hadn't. But I don't know…I mean it's not like I went out of my way to be that way. I guess it's just second nature. I'm afraid…" I broke off and stared into space.
"Afraid of what?" He asked gently.
"Afraid of getting close to anyone, because then they'll know stuff about me and they'll tell everyone else." I said. Finally admitting to myself that I was afraid.
"Then why don't you tell him that?" Grissom asked. I laughed humourlessly and shook my head.
"Didn't you just hear what I said! If I tell him then it's all over," I said.
"I don't know about that, maybe he'll surprise you,"
"I can't," my hands clenched the armrests; with some effort I removed my fingernails from the chair, instead leaning my elbows on my thighs. Then a thought struck me.
"You could tell him,"
"That isn't my place. It's yours." He said.
"Gil…"
"I'm serious, Phoenix. What happened to you was bad; yes, and there are bad people out there. But there are good people as well and Nick's one of them. I have this feeling that he'll be more understanding than you think." He leaned against the front of his desk and looked right at me.
"That's not how I've experienced it," I said.
"Really? Maybe you just talked to the wrong people," he said.
"Yeah, and that ends now. I can't tell Nick, I can't tell anyone." I whispered the last part.
"That's your choice, but you still have to work with him. I want you to go back to the school and send Warrick back to me." He said with finality. Bastard, I thought.
"Fine, but I'm not telling him,"
"Like I said; that is your choice."
I walked out of his office, feeling no better than when I had walked in.
"Warrick, Grissom wants you to go back in," I said as I came into the gym. Warrick didn't say anything this time as he left.
"Find anything new?" I asked Nick. Grissom was right I would have to work with him and that meant having a little professional courtesy.
"Yeah, I think I found the murder weapon," He held up a baseball bat, smeared with blood.
"Any suspects?" I asked.
"Brass is talking to them now," he said stiffly.
"I'll go see if I can find out anything," I picked up my case as I headed in the direction of the canteen and where Brass was questioning anyone present at the time the body was found.
"What do you have?" I asked Brass as I came in.
"Best friend who found the body is sitting over there, a fifteen year old girl over there, she seems to upset to talk much and the coach." He pointed at each of them in turn.
"Okay," I went over to the best friend but spotted something on my way there and took a detour in the direction of the girl. She looked up as I came over.
"Hello, I'm Phoenix Matthews from the crime lab," I introduced myself.
"Missy Parker," she wiped at her tear streaked face with a tissue.
"Are those the clothes you've been wearing all night?" I asked her.
"Y-yes, why?"
"Because you have blood spatters on your arm that just stop when it hits your sleeve, that's why." I waved for Brass to come over and pointed out the blood to him.
"It happened when I hit him," I glanced at Brass.
"You might want to get Nick." A moment later he returned with Nick. I was taking a swab of the blood spatters on her arm. By then Brass had also called someone to come sit with her while we interviewed her. Her parents were out of town, so it was a court appointed representative who came. Brass sent the coach and best friend; whose parents had just arrived, home.
"What did you hit him with?" I asked.
"A baseball bat and he fell to the floor," she giggled a little.
"Serves him right, when I he saw me coming at him he started laughing, but I made him stop," she giggled again.
"When I left he wasn't laughing at me. He isn't going to laugh at me ever again,"
"Where are the clothes you were wearing, Missy?" I asked.
"In my bag," she touched her foot off the bag on the floor, I passed it over to Nick, who unzipped it and pulled out Missy's blood spattered clothes.
"Why did you hit him?" Brass asked. Missy stopped giggling, her eyes were deadly serious now and she had almost a fearful look in them.
"What's wrong?" I asked her.
"Do I have to say while they're here?" She whispered, she nodded at Brass and Nick.
"I'm afraid so. What made you do that to him?" I asked. She looked at the floor and mumbled something that I didn't quite catch.
"I didn't hear that, what did you say?"
"The first time he came after me in the bathroom, just after basketball practice. He's seventeen and he helps the coach teach us, see. There was no one else in the bathroom when he came in and he…" she looked again at Brass and Nick.
"Can't I just talk to you?" She asked me. I shook my head.
"Captain Brass and CSI Stokes are professionals, Missy. They're just doin their jobs. Tell me what happened in the bathroom."
"He was touching me and he wouldn't stop, I asked him to, but then he…" a tear leaked out the corner of her eye.
"He…raped me, he said if I told anyone then he'd kill me and he kept doing it, almost every time we had practice. I told my mom that I didn't want to come anymore, but she said I have to. Every Thursday I come down here and he'd…" she broke down then.
"How come you didn't tell anyone?" Nick asked from behind me.
"He told me not to and I can't…can't tell anyone, what will they think of me?" She said.
"Officer," Brass gestured to a female officer. I didn't even see her go, just sat on the bench staring into space.
Is it that I can't tell anyone because I'm afraid of what they'll think of me if they know? Or…I thought. I looked up at Nick, who was putting the bloodied clothes into evidence bags.
"We need to talk," I said to him.
"About what?" He didn't even look at me.
"About why I've been so bitchy to you," I said honestly. Now he did look at me, eyes curious, after a moment he nodded.
"Shift's almost over, you want to get a coffee somewhere when we finish?" He asked. The way I'd been treating him I half expected him to stay as far away from me as he could.
"Sounds good," I said. Actually it sounds like a nightmare, I thought to myself.
"Ready to go get breakfast?" Warrick asked. A Friday morning tradition amongst the CSI's.
"Where you going?" I asked. Nick looked at me sharply.
"Dieter's," Warrick said.
"Nah, I gotta do something else. I'll see you later." I said.
"What was that about?" Nick asked as we walked down the corridor.
"Wanted to make sure we didn't end up in the same restaurant," I shrugged. He held the door open for me.
"Where do you want to go?" He asked.
"Somewhere quiet," I said.
"Want to come over to my place?" He asked. I hesitated for a heartbeat. If you're gonna trust him now's the time, I thought.
"Sure," I said.
He opened the front door of his house.
"Take a seat," he said.
"Tea or coffee?"
"Tea, please," I said quietly.
A moment later he was back with two steaming mugs, he set one in front of me and settled himself on a chair, looking at me expectantly. He held the mug in both hands and breathed in the steam rising from the tea. Gods, now that I was here I was beginning to have second thoughts.
"I ever tell you I met Grissom when I was younger?" I asked. I had to start somewhere.
"No," he said.
"My uncle had been murdered. I was seven. My mother died when I was about four and I lived with alone with my father," I put the cup down, my hands had started shaking and I was sloshing tea all over the floor.
"Sorry," I mumbled.
"Don't worry about it, I'll clean it up in a minutes," he told me. I nodded once.
"It was Grissoms first case; my uncles' murder. And then; like now, he don't stop digging till he gets the truth. You mind if I smoke?" I asked. He shook his head and I took out a packet of rolling tobacco, but my hands were still shaking so much I couldn't roll any. I took out a cigarette box; that I kept just in case. Stuck one in my mouth and lit the wrong end.
"Shit," I muttered. All this time he didn't say anything, just waited. When I eventually managed to get one lit properly I continued.
"Anyway, Grissom thought my father had killed my uncle. He was right. I was after telling my uncle something that my father didn't like and he killed him because of it." I took a long drag from the cigarette.
"What my father did to me. That's why I think he killed my mother, cos she found out and once she was dead I became his sole property and he could use me for whatever he wanted." I crushed out the cigarette.
"What did he do?" Nick asked his voice was gentle for the first time all day.
"Punch bag, ashtray, sex toy. You name it, he did it." I looked at him and kept looking at him as I continued talking.
"I've only ever told three people, my Uncle Robbie and my father murdered him because Uncle Robbie said he'd take care of it. Then after Robbie was killed I told Grissom and my father went to jail. Third person I told was a person that I at the time considered to be a very close friend and she told everyone else. After that…" I spread my hands and smiled humourlessly.
"Needless to say I have trust issues. Four people now, I guess." I lit another cigarette.
"My real name is Phoenix Benning. When I applied for college I did so under the surname of Matthews; my mothers maiden name. I've kept it ever since. Figure my father don't deserve to have a kid with his name."
"Why are you only telling me this now?" Nick asked, and I knew he wasn't trying to be cruel.
"It's always gonna be there no matter what I do. Gotta stop running sometime and now's as good a time as any." I replied.
"Yeah, but I mean, why not earlier?" He asked.
"Like I said, I have a problem with trusting people."
"So why tell me?"
"I don't want you thinking that I hate you. Because I don't, I actully like you and whatever else you deserve to know the truth."
"Thank you,"
"What for?"
"Trusting me, I know it can't have been easy. Someone did the same to me once,"
"Who?" I asked.
"A babysitter," he replied. He sat forward and covered my hand with his. I wanted to pull away from him, but another part of me made me leave my hand right where it was.
"That's why I didn't want to play strip poker last night, more because of the scars that I have than anything else, I think." I pulled up one of my sleeves, for the first time in so long revealing to someone the scars that were there. He ran a finger along one of the longer scars.
"They're not so bad," he said.
"Maybe, I'm just used to not havin anyone seein them." I yawned hugely. After what happened yesterday I hadn't gotten much sleep and the day before that I had worked a double shift so I hadn't slept in over forty eight hours, except for my nap on Nick's couch yesterday.
"You want a lift home?" He asked. Just ask him, the worst he can say is no, I told myself.
"You mind if I sleep on your couch?" I asked.
"There's a bed upstairs that's more comfortable," he said. I stared at him. He shook his head smiling a little.
"Spare bedroom; made up and all,"
I smiled back at him and nodded.
"That's fine, thanks Nick," I said.
"Right this way," he stood and helped me to my feet, leading me up the stairs and showing me the spare room.
"Hang on, be right back," he hurried off and came back with an oversized t-shirt, obviously for sleeping in.
"Thanks," I said.
"Sleep well," he pulled out the door out behind him. I stripped down, just dropping my clothes on the floor in a pile and pulled on the t-shirt; crawling beneath the covers I lay awake staring at the ceiling for a few minutes before sleep took me.
"Wake up!" Someone was shaking me awake.
"What?" I said groggily, I cracked open sleepy eyes.
"I think you were having a nightmare," Nick asked. He stood next to the bed in a t-shirt and a pair of boxers.
"Mhmm," I mumbled groggily.
"Sorry, meant to tell you bout that. Have nightmares sometimes. Not your average run of the mill nightmares where you're falling off a cliff or something." I said. His face was wrinkled in concern.
"You okay now?" He asked. I nodded, pulling the covers up to my chin.
"Yeah, thanks for waking me," I said.
"No problem," He said. Actually I'd probably scared the hell out of him. The neighbours probably thought that someone was being murdered in here. He headed back for the door.
"You know there's enough room for two in this bed," I said. He looked back at me, a strange look on his face.
"You sure that's a good idea?" He asked.
"I wouldn't say it if I didn't think so," I said. He stood by the door hesitantly then came back, lifted the covers and crawled under with me. At first if seemed as if he were almost afraid to touch me, until I curled against him that is at which stage he wrapped his arms around me tightly. I don't think I had anymore nightmares that night; or day. Nick didn't wake me up anyway.