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“I… I wanted to be with you. Can I sleep with you?”
“Of course.” He scoots over until there’s enough space on the bed for me, then he holds an arm out and waits for me to climb under the sheets.
I rest my head on his shoulder and drape my arm across his stomach. His bare skin is soft and warm, making it the perfect pillow to fall asleep on. I trace little shapes on him, anything to keep my mind off of how I'm lying next to the man of my dreams. I love being able to touch him and not feel like I'm doing something wrong.
“Do you want to talk about it?” He asks quietly.
“Talk about what?” I peek up at him.
“Whatever is bothering you enough for you to break into my room while I was getting my beauty sleep.”
“First off, I didn’t break in. Not only is this my house, but the door was also open.” I lift my hand off his stomach and point in his face. Nixon nips at my finger, making me chuckle.
“It’s your parent’s house, but I’ll allow it. Though, I think it’s still considered breaking and entering since I didn’t invite you in here,” his voice is a low murmur in my ear. It’s soft and sexy. I'm not sure if I want to fall asleep listening to it or if I’ll swoon so hard I won't be able to fall to sleep.
We’re quiet for so long, I assume he’s fallen asleep. I tug his arm out so I can lay my head on his chest and scoot even closer. We’ve never been this close together, but I love it. He feels like home to me, and that’s something I’ve been missing for a long time.
“I hope you had a good day today,” Nixon whispers softly.
“I did. I don’t think I realized how much I missed you until I saw you,” I whisper my confession into the darkness, knowing I’d never have the guts to do it in the light of day, or if Nixon were looking into my eyes.
“I’ve missed you like crazy, Savvy.” He tightens his hold on me and kisses my temple. “Let’s get some sleep. Tomorrow’s your last full day here.”
Yup. I'm not sure how I'm going to leave for school on Sunday. I'm going to miss my parents and Nixon so much. I can't wait for this semester to be over so I can finally be with the people I love without an end date.
The morning light filters through the curtains, making the room much too bright. I groan and take my hand off of Nixon’s chest to shield my eyes.
“I forgot how much you hate mornings.” Nixon chuckles.
My right leg is nestled between Nixon’s thighs. I stretch and push my leg out, but never touch his left leg. I frown and start patting the blanket around where his leg should be and come up empty.
“Where’s your leg?” I sit up and stare down at him.
“Savannah,” he whispers softly. Just the way he’s saying my name has me thinking something’s wrong. There’s too much sorrow and guilt in his tone.
I grip the blanket and try to tug it down, but Nixon holds on tightly. I arch a brow at him and tug again, this time he doesn’t try to stop me.
My hand flies up to cover my mouth when I find more than half of his leg missing. My mind spins with so many possibilities, but I can't seem to focus on any of them.
“W-what happened?”
“I was going to talk to you about it tomorrow. I didn’t want to ruin our weekend together. I just wanted us to get back to what we used to have before you found out.” He runs a rough hand through his hair and shakes his head.
“How did this happen? When did it happen?”
“When I cut off contact with you… that’s because I was in the hospital. I almost died. They were able to save me, but not my leg.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” I whisper as my eyes fill with tears. “I would’ve come to see you. I would’ve helped you!”
“Don’t you get it, sweetheart? That’s why I didn’t tell you. I didn’t want my sweet Savvy coming to take care of me. I was in a really bad place mentally. I didn’t want to survive, I wanted to fucking die.” His gaze falls to his lap as emotion takes over and tears fall freely down my cheeks.
I can't imagine what he went through, but why would he endure all of that alone? All he had to do was answer the damn phone and I would’ve been there. How could he keep something like this from me?
“Nix…” I crawl across the bed and take his hand in mine.
“You don’t get it, Savvy. I didn’t want you to view me as broken. I stayed away from you because I didn’t want you to feel pity towards me. I didn’t want you to feel like you had to be there for me. I thought a clean break would be perfect. I never planned on coming back into your life.”
“Then why are you here?” I ask slowly. I sit back on my heels and let go of his hand. I can't be touching him if he’s about to break my heart.
