Annie woke with the thought that they were having an earthquake. Erratic movements shook the bed. Opening her eyes, she noticed her surroundings were not her bedroom at home. A few seconds after the last of the sleep left her brain, and she remembered she'd fallen asleep in Auggie's bed after drinking too much wine.

The rest of the room wasn't moving, though, just the bed. She turned over, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. Auggie lay splayed out beside her, obviously in the midst of a dream, given how his legs were thrashing and his head was moving side to side.

She reached over to touch his shoulder. "Auggie."

He's stumbling in the darkness. That's all he knew, searching for the light, but never finding it. He knew it was there. All he could think about was finding it. He had to keep moving forward. An unseen hand touched his arm, and he heard a voice calling his name. It's echoing, though far away, but he knew the voice and the hand were the same. He stopped walking and turned toward it.

"That's it, Auggie. Wake up."

Wake up? Auggie shook his head in confusion. Why is his dream telling him to wake up? The hand lets go, and his own reaches back for it. Where did it go? Reaching, reaching, and his fingers find it again. Warmth, smooth skin in the darkness. A sudden, insatiable urge to feel more of it overcomes him, and he pulls it closer, finding the warmth in a body, soft and full of curves. He envelops it with his arms, inhaling the scent.

"Auggie, open your eyes."

The voice seemed closer now, and he shook his head in disagreement. He didn't want to release the warmth. Though darkness still surrounded him, he felt less lost in his dream's arms, her scent, her voice.

"Please, you're scaring me. Open your eyes."

He froze in the embrace, panic washing through him. His dream was frightened. That's something he could never have, and with shuddering deep breath, he allowed his dream to fade away, keeping tight hold of the voice, the softness.

"That's it, now open your eyes."

Hands were stroking his face, and he lifted his own to them before opening his eyes. His limited vision slowly came into focus as the last of the darkness fled. Consciousness then came swiftly as the first sight that welcomes him were warm brown eyes and a worried face.

"Annie."

She nodded and breathed a sigh of relief. "You were dreaming. What happened?"

Auggie shook his head, releasing her hands to reach for her shoulders and pull him down across his chest. "I'm sorry I scared you."

From her new position with her head tucked between his neck and shoulder, Annie said, "You did, but just a little. I couldn't wake you up."

Her hand drifted across his bare chest over his heart, where it was still beating frantically. "Does that happen often?"

"No, thankfully."

"Tell me about it?" He'd taken a deep breath, and Annie leaned back a bit to see his face. "You don't have to, but I'd really like to know."

"Sometimes I have a dream – or a nightmare, really – that I've completely lost my sight. Everything's black, and I keep stumbling around, searching for the light."

"Oh, Auggie," Annie whispered, laying her head on his shoulder.

"It's okay. I know eventually my left eye will completely fail or get so bad that even my geeky glasses won't be of any help."

An unbidden giggle rises up in Annie's throat, but it's mixed with a sob at his dilemma when it escapes her lips.

"Hey, don't worry," Auggie said at the sound. "It's not going to happen for quite a while, according to the doctors."

"Really?"

"Really."

She leaned back again, almost sitting up, and braced herself by placing her hand on the bed beside him. "Then why the nightmare?"

"I don't know," Auggie answered. He wish he knew. Turning his head, he saw through the window that dawn was only just breaking, the faintest hint of pink lighting the low-hanging clouds. "It's still early. You can go back to sleep, if you want."

Annie shook her head. "I'm awake now. Coffee?"

"Okay, I'll get it."

Annie moved back over to her side of the bed and tucked the blankets around her waist. Her eyes naturally moved to the sight of Auggie walking effortlessly across the room to the kitchen. Feeling his bare torso under her while they embraced was one thing, but seeing it now in its full glory, including an extra swath of skin as the pants rode low on his hips was something else.

His sleep-tousled hair completed the picture, but what drew her eyes the most, though, was his shoulder, or rather the back of it, where a tattoo she hadn't noticed before was evident.

A stylized black ink Superman emblem blazed just above his shoulder blade.

"Shouldn't that tattoo be on your chest?" she teased.

"I was wondering when you'd notice," he said, turning and winking at her as he pulled the coffee from the cupboard.

"Got anymore?" she teased.

"You'll have to find that out on your own."

Annie laughed and stretched her arms over her head. She hadn't slept that soundly in a long time. Except for the unusual wake up, she couldn't remember having such a wonderful night.

"While you're doing that, I'll just use the bathroom," she said, untangling herself from the sheets and walking across to the closed door.

When the click of the lock sounded, Auggie took a deep breath and forced himself to relax, watching the coffee brew. Though the dream was completely gone, the feeling of being lost in darkness still clung to him. It'd been almost a year since he'd had that dream. He'd woken in a cold sweat that time with the sheets tangled around his legs and a feeling of foreboding that lasted all day.

Now he'd only had a slight memory of what he'd seen and felt, and he'd be lying to himself if he said he didn't know what the reason was. Annie's presence and soft touch helped him, pulled him from the blackness.

The bathroom door opened, and Annie walked over to him. "Coffee done yet?"

Auggie nodded and quickly pulled down two mugs from the cupboard. He filled them, but before Annie could reach for hers, he took her outstretched hand in his. He wasn't even sure why. He was moving on instinct at this point.

"Annie, I know we've only known each other for a couple of weeks now, but I just want you to know that this – what's between us – is real and important and means more to me than anything else."

Struck dumb by his sincerity, Annie stared at their clasped hands. He'd always been joking or flirting or teasing in the past, and this sudden emotion-filled statement threw her. She knew from the moment she'd opened the door to him all those days ago that she'd wanted him in her life, but hearing her own emotions and desires mirrored back to her nearly stopped her heart.

"Auggie, I – I truly don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything, but if you do, make it quick. If you're about to turn me down and say thanks for a good time, I'd like to know now, but –"

"Oh, no, I wouldn't say that!" Annie exclaimed, her eyes flying up to his.

Auggie smiled, "As I was saying, I would like to know now, but I don't think you're the love 'em and leave 'em sort."

Annie shook her head.

"So this is for the long haul?"

Annie nodded.

"Good. Just for that, I'll let you have the Superman mug."

"Who needs the mug, when I've got the real thing right here in front of me?"

Auggie rolled his eyes.

"Too cheesy?"

With a chuckle, Auggie picked up her mug and handed it to her. "Here, drink this, then we can figure out what to do this weekend. Unless, of course, you've got a project to work on?"

"I know, I know," Annie said, taking a drink of the hot brew. "That's been my excuse every other day, but I made sure to schedule some free time."

"And that free time was – this weekend?"

"Yep."

"A bit presumptuous on your part, don't you think?"

"So says the man who three minutes ago proclaimed his want to spend the rest of his life with me."

Auggie nodded, "You're right. I do. Starting with today."