as she bolted upright on the couch, her heart pounding against her ribcage. Her whole body was shaking so violently that her teeth were chattering, and she brought her knees into her chest, hugging herself as she tried to stop the incessant trembling. She wasn’t sure if it was a result of the dream itself, or the new way it had ended, but a cloud of overwhelming guilt descended over her, mixing with the fear the dream typically invoked.
The sheer weight of it pinned her to the couch, and she closed her eyes, trying to fight her way back to the surface.
After about ten minutes of deep breathing, her body was still quivering and her stomach was churning relentlessly.
She didn’t want to be alone anymore.
Andie leaned over and grabbed her cell phone, hitting the speed dial for his number. She just wanted things to return to normal. She wanted to go back to a time when she felt happy and secure and confident in her choices again.
“Andie,” he answered, his voice gravelly with sleep. “What’s wrong? Everything okay?”
“Hi, I’m sorry to wake you up,” she said. “I’m fine. Everything’s fine. I just…I need you. Can you come over?”
She heard the sounds of him shifting in his bed. “Now?”
“Yes. I’m sorry.”
Colin made a noise in the back of his throat as he stretched. “No, it’s alright. I’ll be there in a few.”
“Okay,” she whispered, and he ended the call.
When Colin arrived twenty minutes later, Andie was still sitting on the couch, her knees pulled into her chest and a blanket wrapped around her shoulders.
“Hey,” he said softly, shutting the front door and pulling off his jacket. He was wearing a sweatshirt and track pants, his hair still rumpled with sleep.
“Hi,” Andie said sheepishly. “Thank you for coming.”
Colin smiled then, moving toward her and bringing his mouth to hers as he pressed her back onto the cushions.
Andie made a surprised noise against his lips, gently kissing him back as he crawled above her. She felt his hands push the blanket off her shoulders, and then his mouth was on her neck as he used his thighs to open her legs before settling between them.
“Colin,” she said.
He hummed softly as his hand made its way up her shirt, finding her breast and running his thumb over it as he pressed his hips in to hers.
“Colin,” she said again. “Wait.”
“What is it?” he said against her throat. “I’m here now, baby. I need you, too.”
It took her a second to process what he’d said, and as soon as she did, she felt like the world’s biggest idiot. Of course that’s what he thought she meant. What else would he think? She had called him in the middle of the night and asked him to come over. I just need you, she had told him.
Colin ground himself against her, bringing his mouth back to hers, and Andie brought her hands up to his shoulders, pushing him back slightly. Their lips broke contact with a tiny grunt of protest from him.
“What’s wrong?” he asked through his labored breath.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t…” Andie trailed off, running a hand over her eyes. “That’s not what I meant when I said I needed you.”
Colin pushed himself up slightly on his arms, and Andie opened her eyes, looking up at him.
“What did you mean then? What’s going on?”
She took a tiny breath. “I just didn’t want to be alone tonight. I had a bad dream,” she said softly, and even as the words left her mouth, she realized how ridiculous they sounded.
Andie watched his expression turn from perplexed to amused. “You had a bad dream?” he asked, fighting a smile.
She nodded beneath him.
He chuckled softly as he lowered himself back down to her. “Poor baby,” he crooned in her ear before he ran his tongue over the lobe. “Let me make it all better.”
“No, Colin, stop,” she said, shifting beneath him again. “I’m serious. I just…I don’t feel right.”
He pushed himself up onto his arms again, looking down at her with his brow furrowed.
“Can we just talk?” she asked.
“Talk,” he repeated. He inhaled deeply before running his hand down his face. “Yeah, we can talk.”
Colin lifted off of her and Andie shifted, pressing her body against the back of the couch to make room for him. He laid on his side and faced her, gripping her hip and pulling her against his body. Andie buried her face in his chest, and she felt him rest his chin on the top