(no subject)

[five_steps_back]

Chloe didn't violently jerk awake or scream when she (finally, finally) woke up. She opened her eyes and stared at the bedroom wall, trying to convince herself she was home. She was safe. Her heart pounded in her chest, painfully, like it refused to beat in time. Joy was spooned against her from behind, a long line of heat pressed against Chloe from shoulders to thighs, but their legs weren't tangled.

It was easy to ease out of bed and silently walk to the bathroom. She was sick before she finally started sobbing, terrified, broken sounds as she curled against the bathroom floor.

Comments

[bookblather]

She had been sobbing for less than a minute before footsteps came up behind her. She shrieked, involuntarily, and scrambled around to face the intruder, shoving her back up against the tiles.

But it was only Joy, who froze where she stood, hands out and palms forward.

"Shh," she said, soothingly, and crouched until she was on Chloe's level. "Shh, it's okay, Chloe. It's all right, it's only me. Shh."