‘I hung up because I was on my way here.’ He looked up and down the dark hallway.
The anger inside me fizzled out slightly. ‘Oh. But why are you here? I didn’t ask you to come.’
Although, I couldn’t deny the relief of having him here.
‘You called me,’ he repeated. A draft floated through my flat sending a shiver straight through me. Oliver saw the shudder, even in the dim light, and his jaw flexed.
‘Let me in,’ he demanded.
Holding onto the last vestiges of my pride, I shook my head. ‘No. Look I’m sorry I called y-you,’ Another shiver caused my teeth to clatter together. ‘But, I’m f-fine.’
Oliver stepped closer to the door. His body dwarfed my own.
In a low, calm voice he spoke. ‘Open the fucking door Fallon, before I shoulder my way through it.’
His tone told me that he would follow through on that threat. With fingers that were seconds away from snapping off, I opened the door fully.
Oliver didn’t waste a moment before pushing past me into the flat.
He took in the room with a careful eye and then stared down at me. Coming closer, so our feet were almost touching, he lifted a hand to my cheek but seemed to think better of it, letting it fall to his side.
‘Are you okay?’ The sincerity in his tone, almost made the barely suppressed tears surge to the surface.
In the light of day I would answer that question with a snarky comeback and all the confidence in the world, but the darkness was beginning to close in around me again, the paranoia that came with my fear rising to the surface and making every shadow a harbinger of danger.
Folding my arms around my middle, squeezing tight enough to find some comfort, I shook my head.
My pathetic state was clearly too much for Oliver because the next moment he wrapped both arms around me and enveloped me into a hug. It took less than a second for my brain to recognise comfort and safety and that’s when the tears started to pour. Oliver’s arms tightened around me, Iburied my head into his hard chest feeling my tears seeping through his shirt.
‘It’s okay. Everything’s fine, I promise.’ Oliver spoke softly over my head, rocking me slightly. He ran a hand up and down my back, soothing the shivers that were racking through my body.
‘I’m sorry,’ I mumbled into his chest.
‘Don’t fucking apologise for being scared.’
He’d told me that once before. The memory of that night sprung into my mind. I might have felt the small tingle of arousal start in my lower belly, like it always did when I thought about that night, but honestly, right now I was too cold and too busy battling my irrational panic to let my libido do any of the talking.
‘I was saying sorry about the snot on your shirt.’ I pulled away so I could look up into his face, which in the darkness appeared far more intimidating than usual. He didn’t relinquish his hold on me but moved one hand up to cup my cheek. He wiped away a stray tear from under my eye.
‘If this was a movie I’d probably tear it from my body and give it to you as a tissue, exposing my ripped muscles at the same time.’ I could hear the smile in his voice.
A watery laugh bubbled up. ‘I’d watch that movie.’
‘Come on, love.’ He let the arm around my waist drop, but linked our hands together, pulling me through my near black flat.
‘What are you doing?’ I didn’t put up a protest. The feeling of Oliver’s hand in mine was keeping my anxiety from overtaking. I focused on the back of his head as he marched through to my bedroom.
‘Do you have a bag? A biggish one.’ He didn’t let go of my hand as he headed for my closet. I hadn’t noticed whilst we walked that Oliver had got his phone out and was shining the torch light around my bedroom. Pages were scattered on thebed, but he was laser focused on rummaging through my wardrobe.
‘What for?’ I whispered. The light from his phone was shining on the floor as he carried on hunting.
‘You’re staying with me,’ he stated, then put the phone in his mouth when he found a small gym bag tucked into the corner of my wardrobe that I’d never used, and picked it up with the hand not holding mine.
My eyes bugged out of my head. ‘No, I’m not.’ I wasn’t some helpless person that needed rescuing, despite what my mini breakdown in the hallway may indicate. It didn’t matter that having Oliver around was like finding a lighthouse in the middle of a storm; the small hope of safety. Because I was fine.Completely fine.
‘I’m sorry I called you, I had a momentary panic, but I’m fine. Honestly, you can go. This is not your problem. I just have little thing with the dark which you know, but I’ve heard that exposure therapy can really help with phobias so maybe this is a good way to start. You know just get thrown into the deep end, or the dark end- ‘
I rambled on until Oliver dropped the bag and pulled me once again into the safety of his chest. He took the phone from his mouth and shoved it into his back pocket before threading his hand through my hair to cup the back of my neck.
