Nix's P.O.V.
It was weird. The later it became, the more visibly nervous Kace seemed to get. When he said he was afraid of sleeping, I believed him, but I didn't realize what he meant. This was something different; something I didn't know how to deal with. I never knew something so ordinary could be so terrifying. How could I even begin to understand?
He was sitting beside me. His legs were crossed on the couch, and the light from the TV bounced off of his skin- but he wasn't watching it. Instead, he looked down at his hands, and absentmindedly started to wring his fingers. I could tell that he was thinking, but whatever it was about was a mystery to me. No matter what it was, however, it was eating him alive.
"Kace," his mom said from behind us, and we both turned to look at her. "It's time to go to bed."
Instantly, Kace's face showed all signs of fear, and I found myself starting to get angry at his mom. If you knew he was afraid, why would you say it like that? "Not now," I said, and they both gave me an odd look. "You have to help me make a bed on the floor right? And I don't know about you, but I need to brush my teeth."
Kace gave me a relieved smile, but I could tell he was still nervous. I followed him back upstairs and he found me a new toothbrush I could use, and we both brushed quickly. When we were finished, he led me back to the room where he helped me make up a bed on the floor with blankets and pillows.
I meant for this to ease Kace's mind, and to think about something else, but when I looked up, he was chewing on his lip and looking down at the floor nervously. Patting an empty spot on my make-shift bed, I beckoned Kace to sit down in front of me, and he did so willingly. "Why are you freaking out? We're not sleeping yet," I told him, probably a little too harshly, but I already said it. "When people stay over at other people's houses, they usually stay up for a long time." Lie. I've heard of people doing that, but I usually told my friend to shut the fuck up or I'd make him. This was different though.
"…Really?" Kace asked his voice unusually quiet. I was starting to get irritated; I wanted to talk to the Kace I knew, but I didn't know how to calm him down.
"What are you afraid of, anyways?" I asked carefully, and he just shrugged, but then suddenly got more nervous. I watched, and noticed that just for a second; his eyes went to the window before quickly looking down again. "Are you afraid of someone coming through the window?" I asked.
"What?" he answered surprised. "No… The windows are bullet proof and bolted shut."
Well that's extreme… "What, then? Why are you so afraid?" I said, my words coming out more demanding than I meant them to. "Arian said you disappeared for three months… What happened to you?"
Kace stared at me, at first shocked, but that only lasted for a moment. Slowly, I watched his expression change into something else, and he suddenly looked tired. His eyes then refused to look up at me, and the wring on his hands tighten. "That… Has nothing to do with now. I'm sorry, I don't know why I'm afraid; if I did, I would be better right now. All I know is that if I fall asleep, bad things will happen…"
Sighing, I instantly regretted asking. Now Kace was extremely nervous, and I was supposed to calm him down. "Sorry, I shouldn't have asked that," I said. "I'm getting tried; can I turn off the lights?"
Slowly, Kace nodded, and stood up from where he was sitting, and went over to turn down the switch. There was a quiet click of plastic, and then all at once, the lights went out. For a moment, I saw nothing but the light coming in from the window, but then I saw a shadow walking toward the bed. A small creak told me that Kace was now on his bed, but when my eyes started to adjust, I could see that he was sitting up.
Deciding to ignore it, I rolled over on the floor, and lifted up the blanket to cover up to my shoulders. My breathing started to fall into a pattern, until I could feel myself falling. I loved the feeling right before I slept- it was peaceful, and resting. How could Kace be afraid of this? And then suddenly, there was a sniff. Kace was crying.
My body seemed to move without me thinking about it, and I found myself crawling around in the dark until I found Kace's bed, and pushed myself into it.
"W-what are you doing??" Kace asked quietly, but surprised.
"Get in," I ordered, but I heard a small knock where his body backed up against the wall instead.
"No way… I can't-" he started to protest.
"I'm not going to touch you. I'll stick to my side so get the fuck in," I interrupted.
There was a small silence, before finally, I heard Kace shift, and slowly he got under the covers with me. When he was in, I ordered him to talk. There was a small fight on why, and what to talk about, but I quickly won against him. Kace sighed, but then started to tell me about his life.
Whispering, he started telling me things that he could remember the most. Past school field trips, vacations, and trips to amusement parks. But slowly, Kace started to remember more; small memories that somehow meant more to him than the big ones. They all involved his friends and his family. And they all took place before he was afraid.
A low mumble woke me, and I slowly blinked, and then yawned, trying to wake up. The first thing that I saw was a pale wall, and instantly I panicked. Where the fuck was I? I asked myself. There was another mumble, and carefully I looked down.
Lying on my chest, I could see the top of Kace's light, brown hair, and I became aware of his tight grip his arms had around my waist. Stunned, I almost pulled back. This has to be a mistake… But I stopped, also becoming aware of something wet. Carefully pulling back a little bit of his hair, I looked down at his face to see tears rolling down his face.
"Kace…?" I whispered, shaking him softly, but I was only answered by a small grumble and a tighter grip as he buried his face in my chest.
"No… Please don't hurt me," he mumbled. "I just want to go home…"
Without a second thought, I hugged him closer to me.