Stay away from me... get back... don't touch me anymore... I didn't do anything wrong... please...

My eyes flew open.

Fuck... that dream again.

Wait...

Where the fuck am I?

Jumping out of bed, I looked around the room trying to find anything that I could recognize. I did my best to slow my breathing, trying to decrease my heart rate and thought over the night before remembering Lucas. 

Oh.

Lucas.

I was finally back to reality. The weight of the fear I had been feeling finally released from my chest and, I took off to the bathroom.

As soon as I reached the bathroom door I heard a strange noise coming from Lucas' room. It was somewhere between a moan and a whimper. I stood there for a second, concerned, then I heard a small snore come from the room. Letting a small sigh fall from my lips, I realized that Lucas was content with my presence in the home. Stepping into the bathroom finally, I turned to look into the mirror and groaned.

Why did Lucas call me beautiful? I'm not that interesting. Sure dark hair and blue eyes were often sought traits in a partner, but I'm short and underweight. My skin is covered with scars that not many people had seen.

No one should admire me.

I can't look at you anymore.

I looked away from the mirror, and turned on the tap, splashing some water on my face before heading out of the bathroom.

Looking toward Lucas' room again, I realized his door was open. Peeking inside I noticed that Lucas wasn't in his bed. Stopping to listen, I could hear a noise coming from the kitchen. I padded softly down the stairs and turned the corner into the dimly lit kitchen.

Lucas had his back to me, looking through a cabinet.

"L... Lucas?" I called out softly.

He spun around quickly, startled by my voice and sudden entrance into the kitchen.

"Shit! You scared the piss out of me!" he yelled out clutching his chest dramatically. His sudden outburst caused Crowley to come bursting into the kitchen barking and running in circles around my legs.

"Crowley. Bed," I said in a quiet, but commanding voice. The black schnauzer tilted his head slightly and then trotted off to the laundry room.

"You've been here... let's see... 5 hours and the dog already listens to you. Special boy," Lucas smiled, moving to sit at the table, "What are you doing up?" he pointed to the chair across from him, asking me to take a seat.

"I woke up scared from a bad dream and then I got super confused because I couldn't figure out where I was. I wanted to splash water on my face and that's when I notice that your door was open and I wanted to make sure that you were okay. What are you even doing up it's really late?" I slid into the chair, studying his face.

"I'm fine Addi. I usually wake up around this time to raid the kitchen for a snack. I'm more worried about you. Are you that afraid of the house?" Lucas reached across the table and covered my hand with his own.

I turned my hand so that our palms were touching. I had to close my eyes to fight back tears and then cautiously interlocked our fingers and squeezed, "No Luca, I'm not afraid of the house. I'm afraid that if my past catches up they're going to hurt you or me again and I couldn't be responsible for that."

"Nothing can harm us in this house. I can stop it, and even if you don't believe me now, just give me time and I'll show you okay? I know how hard it is to trust others. So come on. It's our first night in the house. I'm not going to go to work tomorrow so that we can get you situated better. Let's get you back to bed," a gentle smile graced his face.

Taking a deep breath, I stood up and walked to Lucas' side of the table, "Thank you," I bent down until we were at eye level.