Lacy arose from a bed of a nice hotel room tired, but happy. An emotional roller coaster of the night before when Tyler, by some sort of cosmic happenstance appeared before her after years apart. As she reached for a robe to cover her porcelain skin, she turned to him. It seemed as if Tyler hadn't slept in years, so much that is seemed laborious for him to sleep. It was heavy, like the weight on her heart for him, for thier story.
Scars and bruises were landmarks over his back, products of his life, something she feared to know too much about. She already worried about him enough, adding more fire wouldn't help anything but increase the fever pitch of anxiety she already had.
"Those scars" she thinks to herself as she walks towards the ice machine down the hallway. She wanted to know the stories, deep down, she just couldn't bring herself to ask, knowing that for her, his life was a book waiting to be read. Maybe it would break her heart, maybe she would become enraptured in those tales he tells so beautifully like Daisy lost in Gatsby's lore. She doesn't even here the ice machine, she hears nothing, even thinking about the stories starts a trance-like feeling. Lacy feels herself blush..."that man...' she whispers to no one in particular as she starts to walk back to the room.
His breathing is harder, erratic even as she opens the door. "Is he dreaming?" She asks herself, setting the ice on a counter. Fear sets in as her heart drops realizing he's lost in his own mind and soul, nightmare. She can only imagine what lies in those distant dark places that he's hidden so long. Tears form in her eyes as his body twists and turns as veins arise under his skin and a grunt escapes clenched jaws.
"Tyler?...Baby wake up..." She quietly cries as she steps closer. "Tyler I'm here sweetheart...Wake up it's just a bad dream..." Every step seems harder as it feels like he's unraveling in front of her, tears flow as she reaches out to those scars and bruises. "Baby come here, come back to me..." she cries..."come back..." He seems like he's on fire, her touch is light over his landmarks, she begins to trace them with her fingers as he battles some inner demon. She leans into him "Tyler, I'm here, you don't have to do this alone...I promise...Just one day tell me the stories, of these scars and how you got them..." His wretching has become shuddering, her hand caressing scar tissue as his body starts to calm. Lacy lays with him again and pulls him close, whispering to him as his anger dissipates into a quiet cry.
"Tyler baby it's okay wake up.." no response. She turns him onto his back, exposing more of his stories. She straddles him and leans in over him, holding his face. "I promise I'm right here with you, I always have been. I need you to come back to me, not stay in those dark places." Lacy feels goose bumps awaken as their lips touch and his breathing slows, his body relaxes. She lingers on him lost in their story for a moment. Dismounting his calmed body, she pulls him into her, Tyler's warm body against hers, her arm wrapped under his head, which rests on her breasts, an arm draped over her. She lets her nails flirt with those scars on his back as she starts to fall asleep again, breathing together. "I'll always need you," she whispers to him, "even when I shouldn't"
