One Wild Night

Tom's eyes snapped open when he heard Lucy making whimpering sounds in her sleep. He quickly reached out to turn on the bedside lamp when he felt her shudder in her sleep. He was surprised to see the beads of sweat that coated her forehead despite the coolness of the bedroom.

"Lu?" He called out softly as he tapped her, trying to wake her up, but Lucy shook her head and raised her hands to her face in a protective gesture that made Tom's brows pull together in a concerned frown. What was she dreaming about?

"You're having a nightmare, Lu. Wake up," Tom said as he placed a hand on her shoulder and shook her.

"Don't touch me," Lucy cried out fearfully as she opened her eyes and roughly pushed Tom's hands off her, before scampering off the bed while looking around the room frantically as though she needed to find an escape route out of there. 

"Lu? It's Tom. You are having a nightmare," Tom said reasonably as he slowly got off the bed with both hands raised while watching her with a concerned frown. He could tell that she was not completely awake yet, and he didn't want to spook her more than was necessary. 

Lucy looked around the bedroom in confusion, and then slowly her gaze shifted to Tom and focused on him before she let out a long breath. 

Oh, God! It was that damned nightmare again! It had seemed so real like the day it happened. 

She had only just begun to believe that she had overcome the feeling, and was past dreaming of it, but it seemed like she had only taken a break from it, Lucy thought as she weakly reached out to the chair by her dressing table and collapsed on it. 

"Are you okay?" Tom asked as he slowly approached her.

Lucy raised her head to look at him and her eyes widened in surprise when she realized that he was naked, and she looked down at her body. Only then did she realize that she was also naked and her long hair was the only thing that was covering her breasts from his view. 

Seeing how surprised she looked, Tom picked up his boxers from the foot of the bed, and once he put it on, he picked up the tee-shirt she had been wearing earlier and her jean bum short before approaching her. 

Lucy looked down at her hands which were still trembling and clasped them together on her lap. She didn't want him to see her this way. She already felt embarrassed enough that he had watched her act like a crazy person a moment ago.

Lucy drew in a deep breath to steady herself when he stopped in front of her "Could you excuse me?" She asked in a cool voice, without meeting his gaze since she could tell he was probably very curious about what had just happened and would want to know what she had dreamt about.

Was she already regretting it? Or was she just feeling embarrassed? "By excuse you, do you mean you want me to leave?" Tom asked in a soft tone as he squatted in front of her so that she wouldn't have to crane her neck, and he reached out to tenderly tuck her hair away from her face.

"Uhm... I need to shower," Lucy said, turning her face away from him.

"That doesn't answer my question, Lu. Do you want me to leave? Or you just want me to wait in the living room while you shower?" Tom asked, making her sigh. 

Hearing his tone, she could tell that he was probably thinking that she regretted their night together. But that wasn't it. All she needed was to sit under the shower for the cold water to pour down her body and calm her nerves. 

If she had been alone, and if Sonia wasn't with Bryan, she would have called Sonia to talk to her, but she couldn't do so now since Tom was here, and she didn't know if Bryan and Sonia were sharing a room, and she didn't want to disturb their sleep. 

"Are you okay?" Tom asked when she didn't say anything after a while, and he took one of her hands in his own. He was very tempted to ask her what her nightmare had been about, but he knew that he needed to set aside his curiosity at the moment and make sure she was okay. 

"I'm okay. You can wait in the living room while I refreshen up," Lucy said as she met his gaze. 

Tom looked at her face with searching eyes before giving her a nod, "Alright. Do you want me to get you anything?" He asked, and she gave him a nod.

"I need a drink."

Tom looked at her in concern and gave her a nod before standing up. He walked over to the edge of the bed and dropped her tee-shirt and bum shorts before picking up his shirt and walking out of the bedroom. 

Once Tom was out of the bedroom, Lucy stood up and headed straight for the bathroom. Once she walked in, she turned the shower on full blast and shut her eyes as she let the water flow down her body. 

How much longer was she going to be haunted by the past? It was over eight years already, so why was she still living this way? Why was she still letting Jamie haunt her? Lucy asked herself as she broke into a sob.

She didn't know how long she stood under the shower crying, but she raised a hand to her lips to muffle her sob when she heard Tom knock on the door, "Lu? Are you alright in there? I've been waiting for you for over forty minutes already," Tom said in concern.

"I'm okay. I'm sorry I kept you waiting, I'll be out in a moment," Lucy said in a falsely cheerful tone that made Tom frown. Why was she acting like she was okay?

He had gotten tired of waiting in the living room and had returned to the bedroom to see if she was okay, only to hear her sobbing in the shower. Now he wished he hadn't listened to her and had stayed back in the bedroom.

"I'm coming in now," he announced, and without waiting for her to give her consent or object, he pushed open the door and stepped into the bathroom.

Lucy's hair was plastered on both sides of her face as she looked at him with miserable eyes as she tried to blink back the tears that were still gathered in her eyes.

Taking one look at her eyes which looked red and puffy, and the tip of her nose which looked red, Tom walked into the shower and turned it off before embracing her.

"You don't have to pretend like you are fine around me," Tom said, and as though she had been waiting for the go-ahead to cry, Lucy broke into a heart-wrenching sob, and held on to his shirt as she cried, while he patted the back of her head. 

Tom stood still, letting her cry as much as she wanted, while he murmured encouraging words to her, "You're beginning to catch a cold," Tom observed when she shivered in his arms, and he quickly grabbed the towel from the rail and wrapped it around her. 

"I'm fine," she told him weakly, but Tom didn't listen to her as he swept her off her feet and carried her out of the bathroom. Taking her to the bedroom, he gently put her down on the edge of the bed and started to dry her body with the towel.

"Tom, I'm okay," Lucy tried to assure him, feeling embarrassed that he was not only seeing her in her emotionally vulnerable state but also her naked state. 

"People that are okay do not cry in the shower," Tom said as he walked away from her and went back to her dressing table to pick up her hairdryer.

"You don't need to do this. I can do that myself," Lucy said, reaching out to take the dryer from him, but Tom moved it away from her reach.

"I want to do it. Do you remember what I am to you? I am your boyfriend, and it is my pleasure to care for you whether or not you can do anything for yourself, so stay still," he ordered, making Lucy drop her hands to the side as she allowed him to take care of her. 

Once he was sure that her hair was dry, he walked over to her closet and looked through it before pulling out a sweatshirt and a sweatpant.

"You're not going to dress me up too, are you?" Lucy asked dryly, as she was beginning to feel better after all the fussing Tom was doing.

"I am. Get used to this," Tom said as he walked over to where she was and slipped the sweatshirt over her head, "Your hands," he ordered, and Lucy sighed as she slipped her hands in. Once he was done wearing her the sweatshirt she stood up and slipped her legs into the sweatpants as well.

"Good. So do you still want that drink?" Tom asked with a slightly raised brow, and she gave him a nod.

"What's the time anyway?" She asked as she turned around to glance at the bedside alarm clock, but she couldn't see the time displayed on it because she wasn't wearing her glasses. 

"It's past four," Tom informed her as he placed her flip-flop in front of her, and she stepped into it. 

"Already? You are supposed to be resting," Lucy said, looking up at him apologetically.

"I'm not complaining. Now let's get you that drink," Tom said, jerking his head towards the door for her to walk ahead of him. Lucy found it amusing that it was her apartment, yet he was ordering her around as though he owned the place. 

"Sit," Tom ordered her as they both walked into the living room, while he walked over to her refrigerator to take out the wine and a glass.

"You are not drinking?" She asked when he handed her the glass and sat down beside her. 

"We both can't get drunk," Tom said, reminding her that it was a workday and she needed to be at the office in a few hours. 

"That's true. I shouldn't drink," Lucy said with a sigh as she dropped the wineglass on the table while looking at it wistfully.

Tom was tempted to ask her to drink the wine if it would make her feel better, but he knew he couldn't do that. She had to be at the office, and if she was drunk, she wouldn't be able to do that. What excuse could he come up with as the CEO to give her the day off? 

"Are you feeling better now?" Tom asked instead as he gathered her close to himself so that her head was resting on his shoulder.

"I guess. You're not going to ask me what I dreamt about?" Lucy asked, sitting up to look into his face.

"I want to ask, but since I'm not sure you would want to talk about it, I don't want to ask," Tom confessed, making her smile sadly.

It was ironic that she had been avoiding talking or thinking about the past for quite some time because she feared that her thoughts often triggered the nightmares, yet the nightmares had come to haunt her even without her thinking about the past.  

"I killed someone when I was seventeen," Lucy blurted out without letting herself think about it.