Warm...

To warm...

Heavy...

Dry...

Water...

A soft groan left my mouth as my lips and tongue gained minor control of movement before my eyes mustered up enough strength to slowly ease my eyelids open.

I was in a bedroom... and it wasn't mine.

My brow creased groggily as I tried to recall what had happened.

Taxes... Went to the club... That guy, then I went to the bathroom... No texts from Edric... then that guy... that guy!

The familiar cold feeling of fear trickled down my spine and I'm sure that under any other normal circumstance I would have started to hyperventilate, but due to whatever had happened I couldn't shake the state of... 'okayness' I was in.

No matter how much I told myself that I was in trouble my body was relaxed, and I just felt like I wanted to go slip back into a peaceful sleep. And everything was okay, just fine with no problems or worries.

I was aware of my surroundings, and if I didn't know any better I would have said I was drunk, but I wasn't!

I tried to move, willing and trying my hardest to even get my finger to twitch, but all I could manage was to slowly drag my line of sight around the room and let my jaw loosen so I could open my mouth slightly.

That caused me to panic, my eyes darting around frantically as fast as I was able as I attempted to open my mouth to yell for help. My internal struggle intensified when I couldn't even manage to quicken my breath, my chest still steadily rising and falling at a slow, soothing pace.

All I could do was sluggishly move my fingers, maybe lift my legs half an inch or so off the bed before they dropped back onto the streets lifeless but I rejoiced at the small triumph. At the same time my breathing sped up, and I used what felt like all of my strength to turn my head the slightest bit.

The quiet 'swish' of fabric brushing together moved towards me from the center of the room and my heart rate shot through the roof.

Who is it!?! Is it him? I need to get up! I can't move! Help!! Someone help!!

I once again tried to voice my pleas, but I only succeeded in opening up my mouth an inch or so; a small, muffled choke being the only thing that came out.

It was mostly dark in the room, the only light being provided from the hallway filtering in through the slightly cracked open door and the small plug-in night light shining dimly from somewhere to my right.

Where was I?!?!

I felt like I was frozen, but I could still coherently see and process everything that was happening.

Talking about seeing what was happening, the shadowed outline of a body moved to my right, making my eyes zero in on the movement as I felt the sluggish feeling of panic try to rear up inside of me, although it only lasted a few seconds before I felt myself relax once more.

The shadow moved closer, the gentle back of a hand coming to rest against my forehead before it slowly brushed the bangs away from my face.

"I was so scared when I saw that... man dragging you out the door."

A voice whispered hoarsely.

My mind felt fuzzy, but I still managed to register that voice. I knew that voice!

Edric.

I thought, and another bit of my memory stirred as I got the odd feeling that I had thought that very same word before. Perhaps I had?

Edric's hand softly cupped the right side of my face and his thumb ran over my cheek, his silvery-blue seeming to glow in the dim light as he fixed his concerned gaze on me.

"I'm never going to let you out of my sight you know, never ever." He tried to chuckle softly but I heard him sniffle as he breathed in, his throat shifting as he swallowed hard.

"If I ever get my hands on that man..."

He was seething as he trailed off, and I could see the anger flash across his face. It reminded me of them and a small whimper - although almost silent - of terror sneaked past my lips.

The anger was gone immediately, concern and worry taking over his facial features as his hand slipped into my hair in the comforting rhythm he knew I loved; the time we spent in the booth that first night proving quite useful as the action also instantly calmed me down.

"I'm sorry." He whispered, hand still fondly stroking my hair as my glassy eyes blinked up at him groggily.

"It was Rohypnol, the drug that was in your drink." He took in a calming but irritated breath and continued slowly. "We found more tablets inside that man's coat and he confessed," he said, the volume of his voice not raised above a whisper as if he didn't think I was listening.

"You got roofied," He said dryly, anger tingeing his voice as he spat out the words like venom.

I fought back the urge to whimper again in fear as I saw that emotion that I so hated flash across his face, but Edric seemed to sense this and closed his eyes for a few seconds, audibly taking in a deep breath before he opened them again.

"I'm so sorry Killiam, I couldn't be sorrier that this happened to you. But I swear, the things that might have happened in Josh hadn't... And if I hadn't been there... I would've... If I ever get my hands..."

He trailed off again, and I could tell he was trying to keep himself calm and not betray the mask he had donned to hide his emotions from me.

"I just..." He sighed, his hand slipping back down my cheek and balling into a fist, the knuckle of his thumb sliding over my bottom lip before he brought both of his hand up to cover his face briefly.

"You won't remember any of this, I've seen plenty of cases like this and they never do. Never can remember so they... don't come forward and just... shut down because they are so ashamed and... a-and..."

I noticed that Edric had his eyes shut again, his shoulders trembling a bit as I heard the pure agony in his voice. This situation must have awoken a bad memory for him, and I felt a slight but hazy twinge of guilt run through my mind since I was the one causing him the pain.

"Sorry."

I heard the word slip past my lips as softly as a breath, the word only ghosting over my lips and out into the open before it quickly dissipated into nothing. I wasn't even sure if I had actually managed to say it or just imagined it in the wishful part of my mind.

Edric sniffled, and I wanted to comfort him but suddenly my vision blurred, only to come back into focus the next second and then blur out again.

This continued to happen for what felt like an eternity, Edric's caring but anxious twitch of his lips that he called a smile playing into my sight before everything would turn to black again; the feeling of a hand cupping my cheek or running robotically through my hair calming me a little.

And finally...

A kiss.

A soft, petal-like and feathery kiss being placed on my forehead and the pad of someone's finger tracing the bottom of my lip. The fond action was surprisingly calming and I was somehow comforted by all the gentle caresses.

"You're safe my dearest one... 1. 4. 3."

I don't know if it actually happened, but I thought that I could feel the sides of my lips twitching upwards into a smile as my drugged mind registered his words.

Dearest one.

--

The sun was like a bright beacon as I groggily opened my eyes... and my left leg felt like it was about twenty degrees warmer than my right one; which I would later come to figure out that the cause of the temperature change was due to my left leg being in the large square of sun shaped like the window and my right leg was not.

An easy explanation that totally has nothing to do with the story, moving on.

Where am I?

Where was I?!?

I didn't feel terrible, although I didn't feel amazing either; and my mind felt like... well, to be honest, it felt like I had a medium sized hangover but I knew that couldn't be it. I had only gotten drunk once and I seriously didn't plan on doing it again any time soon, or ever to be frank. It was not a pleasant experience.

I groaned quietly, my mind still cold and dark from the nightmare I had awoken from. It was always them in the nightmares, the same memory playing over and over again with no way of escape.

I closed my eyes and pushed those thoughts away before it darkened my mood and depression set in, practicing a few of the breathing exercises that my therapist had taught me and solidifying my decision.

Nope, not today... I hope.

The door to my left opened, and a sliver of fear trickled down my spine. I really didn't like not knowing where I was or who to expect to walk through the door.

I couldn't handle just laying still anymore and I decided then and there that I wouldn't just sit (lay) back and let whoever this was do whatever they wanted with me without putting up a fight.

I sat bolt upright and swung my legs off the opposite side of the bed to where the person had entered, using my hands to push myself up off the plushy mattress and ignoring the way my head was pounding; the fogginess along with the hard beat of my own heart drowning out the voice that was also making noise beside me.

"Killian! Wait!"

I jumped to my feet and started to dash for the door, letting out a surprised yelp as my legs buckled underneath me and my arms refused to move fast enough to catch my falling body. I shut my eyes tightly in preparation for the hard impact I was sure to receive when I met the hardwood but two arms were there to snatch me up before my knees slammed onto the floor.

"Shh Shh, it's okay, it's just me. It's okay," said the voice, the arms lifting me up and snuggling me to a firm and warm chest before I felt the feeling of weightlessness that signified movement.

Huh, I feel like I've been in this position before... strange.

A few seconds later I felt myself being lowered back onto the bed, the person who I know realized with great relief was Edric smiling wearily at me and ruffing my hair fondly.

I leaned into the caress and smiled, his reassurance and comfort making my heart stutter back into a somewhat normal rhythm and also, in turn, chasing my panic away.

"Edric," I breathed, letting my eyes flutter shut as I sighed in a clear sign of relief. I was so panicked about who it could be, but now that I knew it was Edric I wasn't afraid. Even so, there was definitely some questions that I needed to be answered, and I wasn't going to take any evasions or dodging on his part. He could be very misleading when he wanted to be, especially when he didn't want to talk about something. I had learned that much from our daily phone calls... Oh yeah, I'm still peeved at him for not calling me today... or... yesterday I guess.

Wait... What was I doing here with... Edric?

My eyes flicked to the window, the hot afternoon sun burning bright in the sky telling me that it was far past my normal seven a.m. wake up routine. So... what had happened before that lead to now them? Laying in some strange bed in a house which I've never been in that also happened to have a resident Edric living in it.

Something must have happened last night at... last night at... where was I last night?

"I... What?"

I didn't really know what I was trying to say, and even if I did perhaps know what I was trying to convey into speech it just wasn't working. My eyes flicked around the room once more in confusion and anxiousness, coming back to land on the tired-looking figure of Edric who wore a pained expression on his face. Why would he feel bad?

I took in a small breath, preparing myself to open my mouth and try to ask him what the heck was going on, why I was here, or what on earth he was doing here but he beat me to it and I stopped before I cut him off.

"It was..."

His voice was soft, pained and heavy as if he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders by talking to me. He closed his eyes, his shoulders trembling shakily as he tried to gather his emotions together. When he looked back up at me, the agony and raw fear in his eyes shook me to my core. His eyes screamed 'why me?' and 'how do I tell him?' at me, almost pleadingly.

The sight made my breath hitch.

"Someone drugged you last night Killion." The words were out in the open before I could process what was happening.

"Someone drugged your drink and was dragging you out the doors of Simmer." He inhaled and continued quickly before he lost the nerve to, his words sounding rehearsed and factual as if he was just relaying the details told to him by someone else and not originally thought up by himself.

"By the type of drug they had used... their intentions were quite clear to..." He trailed off slowly, his voice gruff and bitter as a flicker of anger flashed across his face.

As the words registered in my head, my whole body felt cold. Edric was still talking, but all I could hear was the stuttering beat of my heart as I tried frantically to piece together what had happened last night; my eyes slamming shut as I tried my hardest to remember anything about last night.

The memory was nonexistent, not even a blur of small scenes filtering together to form some semblance of a clue as to what had happened the previous night.

"...Caught him... Police... Doctors... Fine... Remember... Promise... I'm..."

Only a few scattered words were comprehended in my panicking mind, my breath picking up as my hands flew to my hair, yanking distraughtly at the strands the strands and causing an even worse case of bed head then I had already received from being knocked out for who knows how long.

Can't remember, can't remember, can't remember anything! What happened? What happened?! Yesterday was... Thursday? I don't know! I can remember... taxes? Maybe? O-Or... was that some other time? I don't know, I don't know!

Someone grabbed both my wrists, forcing them to stop torturing my scalp any longer and pulling them forward slightly so I was made to look upwards; a gasp leaving my lips as I was shaken out of my thoughts.

"Breath Killion. Come on, breath for me."

I took in a deep breath, air rushing out of my lungs a few seconds after as I tried to even out my breathing, although I hadn't even noticed that I had been hyperventilating in the first place.

"Okay," I panted out quietly, swallowing and moving my tongue around to try and regain some of the moisture back into my mouth; which currently felt like I was George Washington posing for his portrait with his mouth stuffed to the brim with cotton balls.

I was steadily breathing in and out now, a fixed pace of 'one-twos' stuck on repeat in my mind as Edric slowly loosened his grip on my wrists and let them drop onto the sheets. His hand slipped down to cover my own and he gave it a small reassuring squeeze, making me glance up at him again with a shy look of gratitude.

He looked as if he was going to say something, but Megahan Trainor's "Mom" started playing from his pocket and I raised an eyebrow at him, which in turn earned me a 'don't ask' look from him that also doubled as a 'never speak of this or else' look.

That made me smile secretly and I bit my lip as Edric grabbed his phone from his pocket and mouthed 'sorry, one second' to me as he stood and accepted the call.