I opened my eyes. It was still dark in the room. Did I even sleep at all? I wanted to reach out for the lamp on the nightstand but I realized that I can’t move. I started to panic. I decided to take a deep breath and try again. Maybe I was still sleeping? Second try – no luck. I need to wake up. Maybe I could shout out for help. I tried speaking at first, but I didn’t even manage to get out a muffle. What’s going on??? I tried looking around the room for some hints, for at least something. I wanted this nightmare to end. The room was too dark to see anything and that made me even more scared because I can’t move myself. I had no idea what to do. I took all the strength in my body and tried to wiggle the feeling of being paralyzed away. My body didn’t even move an inch to any direction. I felt so weak. My heart was pounding like crazy, this had to end. I tried screaming. I tried screaming as loud as I could but no voice came out of my mouth. I couldn’t even open my mouth. I heard faint footsteps. Almost dragging their way to the room I was staying in. The door slowly opened as someone stood in the doorway, looking at me. It was too dark to see. I didn’t know whether to be happy or scared so I just watched him. His silhouette looked manly, it couldn’t be a girl. He started walking in my direction and climbed on the bed. I thought I was saved. I tried to give him a sign that he needs to help me somehow. But instead, he sat on top of me. My heart fell, this didn’t seem right. His hands reached to my throat and I felt pressure on it. I felt like I couldn’t breathe. With the last oxygen and strength left in me, I tried to yell. Still no sound. But then I felt like the dream was slowly melting away. So it was still a dream? The very next moment I found myself screaming, still on the same bed, it looked like it was dawn because the room wasn’t that dark anymore. And Kai sat on top of me, cupping my face with his hands. His face looked very pale and the look on his face only showed pure horror. I stopped screaming and tried to get my breathing back to normal.

It was a dream.

It was just a dream.

I felt so unstable at that moment.

“Geez. Are… are you okay?” I heard Kai ask. His hands were still cupping my face. I shoved his hands away from my face and sat up in the bed as soon as Kai got off me. That’s when I gave in to my feeling and started silently crying. I covered my face with my hands and sat there, my whole body shaking. That dream was the scariest thing I’ve ever been through. I felt strong arms pulling me and I discovered myself in Kai’s protecting embrace. I felt a familiar smell and instantly felt even more protected.

“It was just a dream, please don’t cry.” Kai started petting my head. When I relaxed, I pushed myself away from Kai.

“What did you see?” he asked with curiosity and worry mixed in his eyes. When I explained everything to him, he seemed to understand it perfectly. I raised my eyebrows in frustration, I felt so lost.

“You had sleep paralysis.” He said knowingly. I could pretty much assume what it is; besides it made sense. I felt paralyzed.

“I tried to scream…” I started, but Kai cut me off.

“Believe me, you were screaming. You were throwing your hands around, trying to hit me. I’ve never seen someone while having sleep paralysis. It was pretty scary.” We shared an awkward silence, but Kai broke it.

“You’re wearing my shirt.” He simply stated, with no expression on his face. My face turned hot, I was damn sure I was blushing. No wonder his smell was familiar.

WAIT.

This must be his room. I was staying in Kai’s room.

“I… oh dear, I’m sorry, I didn’t want to bother Lay about asking for something…” My brain froze when I saw the cold expression on Kai’s face. “… to wear… to bed. Are you mad?”

He slowly shook his head, keeping his glance on me.

“So this is your room?”

He nods.

“Where did you sleep then?”

“The couch,” he finally replies. “It’s okay though, I didn’t sleep that much anyway.”

“But what’s the time?” I ask. Kai leaned closer to me. At first I got pretty frightened, but I softened, when I realized, that he is only reaching for the clock on the nightstand.

“Almost five in the morning.” I hear him say right next to my ear, as he hasn’t pulled back yet. But when he was pulling back, the door opened, leaving me and Kai into a very awkward situation.

It was Lay.

“What are you doing…” he asked with the utmost suspicion in his voice. Kai remained silent, probably waiting for me to explain the situation.

“I had sleep paralysis and he tried to wake me up.” I started.

“Was he sleeping in the same room with you?”

“No, he just heard me scream and came to check in.”

“But why are you wearing his shirt?”

I sighed. I felt myself getting a little bit annoyed by Lay’s behavior. But knowing, that I was the guest here, I decided not to make a big deal out of it.

“Because it happened to be in his closet.” I replied, trying to keep my cool.

“Why didn’t you ask me?”

Kai coughed and stood up. “Don’t act like you own her.” He said while walking past Lay. Great. It’s only me and him now. This awkwardness had to end. As Lay's eyes lowered to my bare legs, he quickly walked my way and took a blanket from the bed and wrapped it around me.

“I just wanted to make sure you’re okay.” He said, while carefully pulling strands of my hair out of the blanket. I frowned. Reality check. We’ve known each other for two days. Why on earth is he acting like I’m his girlfriend of three years?

“Why?” I simply asked. His face showed signs of confusion and he changed the subject.

“It’s still very early, you should sleep, okay?” He looked at me with these warm worrying eyes, that made me forget about even being annoyed. I think I got infected by Lay’s worry.

“Did I wake you up?” I soflty asked. Lay smiled and sat beside me.

“Unfortunately not in the right time. I must have heard you scream through my sleep, I even saw a weird dream about you being in trouble. But by the time I woke up, Kai was already here.”

Talking about awkward silences. Neither of us couldn’t say a word for at least a few minutes, while both of us trying to think of something to say. I felt a bit tired and rested my head against the wall. Oh no. My eyelids started feeling heavy and I fought back really hard, but ended up sleeping against the wall.

LAY’S POV

I took a deep breath when I realized, that she had fallen asleep. I knew what I had to do. It’s not acceptable for someone to sleep like this. I had to lay her down somehow but I’ve never done it before. I slowly climbed up to her, trying not to move the matrass too much. I put one had around her waist and supported the back of her neck with the other one. I just held her like that for a while, afraid to hurt her while trying to move her. Surprisingly it wasn’t that difficult at all, with one smooth movement, she was lying on the bed. I smiled to myself, this was so cheesy. I put a blanket on her and sat myself down on the bed. Not too close though.

I couldn’t leave. What if she has a nightmare again? I couldn’t afford Kai being the hero again. I pulled my knees under my chin and patiently sat there. Almost like a guard dog. Soon I got off guard when I felt my eyes closing.