Page 30 of Chasing Forever

He was more than that. I wasn’t sure when it happened exactly. It just happened. So naturally it was almost as if it was meant to. But I couldn’t ignore the tiny voice of doubt in the back of my head that told me it was too soon, that Tristan could still end up hurting me.

I was really starting to hate that voice.

“What are you thinking about so hard over there?”

I was startled out of my thoughts by Tristan’s voice. I blinked and found him watching me from where he’d been sitting on the loveseat across the living room from me.

I’d come downstairs after tucking Levi in and curled up on the couch with one of my books, hoping that focusing on a story would help keep my mind from running wild about Tristan. He’d come down a little while later with his laptop and sat across from me, typing away on something while I attempted to read.

Only problem was that I hadn’t gotten more than two pages into the story before my mind wandered again, and the path it drifted to was Tristan.

I wasn’t sure how long I’d been sitting there, staring at the same page, before he noticed. “Huh? Oh. Nothing. I must have spaced out.”

His brows pulled together, his expression filled with concern. “You sure? You’re not still worried about the spider, are you? I swear to you, I got everything. This house is completely spider free.”

I grinned. “No. I’m not worried about the spider. I’m good. I promise. Just getting a little tired, I guess. I should probably head up to?—”

Before I could finish my sentence, a sharp, terrorized scream wrenched through the entire house, turning my blood to ice.

The book I’d been holding fell to the floor when I shot up from the couch and ran to the stairs. Tristan was already in front of me, taking the steps two at a time in his rush to get up to Levi as he continued to scream. The fear I heard coming from my little guy twisted my insides and clenched my lungs in a vise grip.

It felt like an eternity to get to him, but in reality, it was barely a handful of seconds.

Levi was sitting up straight in his bed, his skin deathly pale. His eyes were wide with fear, but his glazed look told me he wasn’t awake, he was trapped in the middle of a nightmare.

Tristan hit his knees right beside the bed as I sat on the edge of the mattress and reached for my nephew. “Levi, honey. Hey. Hey, you’re okay, baby. You’re okay. I’m right here.”

“No!No no no!I don’t wanna go back!”

“Baby, wake up. Everything’s okay. You’re here with me. You aren’t going anywhere.”

“Don’t let him take me! Don’t let him take me!” he screamed with such terror it shredded at my heart. I knew who he meant, and it shattered me that the person he was so scared of, the one who gave him nightmares, was his own father. The very person who was supposed to protect him.

Tears burned in my eyes, breaking free and falling down my cheeks as I tried to get through to him. “You don’t have to go back, Levi. I swear. You’re never going back.”

I still couldn’t reach him, and the longer he stayed trapped, the harder my tears fell. Finally, Tristan pushed closer. I wasn’t sure how, but he was the picture of calm to my utter panic.

“Dandelion, let me try.”

I turned my face to his, his form blurred around the edges thanks to my tears. “Please,” I croaked. “Help him.”

His hand came up and caressed my face. “I’m here, baby. I’ve got you both.” I shifted over on the bed so he could sit beside Levi. He plucked my nephew up like he weighed nothing and pulled him into his lap. He held him close, wrapping Levi in his arms so he couldn’t hurt himself flailing around like he was. “Come on, buddy. Wake up,” he said, his tone gentle and firm at the same time. “We’re here, buddy. We’ve got you. You’re safe, so it’s time to wake up.” Tristan began rocking him side to side in soothing motions, and it didn’t take long for Levi to finally start calming down.

He blinked the haziness from his eyes, but the tears still tracked down his pale cheeks. The nightmare finally lost its grip, and he realized where he was. As soon as he saw me, he launched himself in my direction, and I didn’t hesitate to wrap him up in my arms as his locked around my neck. “Aunt Merri,” he whimpered, his voice scratchy and raw.

“I’m right here, baby. We’re here. Me and Tristan. You’re all right. It was just a bad dream, okay?”

He sniffled and burrowed deeper into me as the tension started melting from his little body. He was only a handful of minutes away from an adrenaline crash, and I wanted to be here for him when it happened.

“You want me to lie down with you until you fall back asleep, little dude?”

“I wanna sleep with you,” he said, his voice already growing sluggish.

“Okay. No problem. Let’s head to my room?—”

He shot straight, pulling back so his eyes could scan the room, “And Tristan,” he said quickly, a tinge of panic in his voice. “I want Tristan too. Can I sleep with you both?”

My eyes went wide as I met Tristan’s gaze over Levi’s head. “Oh, honey. I don’t think?—”

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