I heard someone talking to me. It was my mother..…. Wake up Ellie..….you will never be wanted like this Ellie darlin’…... He does not want you Ellie wake up…...Does not want you……NO! That was not true. I saw the way Gunner looked at me in my dream……he loved me…..he had to love me….

Ellie sweetheart wakeup…….

Chapter Eight

Gunner …..

I woke up with a startle. It took me a second to realize I was still on the sofa. Oh man….my neck was killing me! I must have fallen asleep watching the movie. The movie was over and it was just replaying the main menu over and over again.

Gunner ?....... Gunner don’t go! …… N O! He does, you are wrong….. you are wrong! Gunnerrrrr !

What the hell?! I looked over and Ellie was dreaming, if you could call it that. She was calling out my name in her dream! Holy shit! She sounded scared to death. I jumped up careful not to knock her off the sofa. I pushed the coffee table a little out of the way and I knelt down next to her and started to stroke her hair……

“Ellie Sweetheart wakeup, Ellie wake up, sweetheart please wake up.”

FUCK! My heart was pounding a mile a minute. What the fuck was she dreaming about and where the fuck was I going?! I would never leave her….ever!

“Ellie Sweetheart wakeup.” Ellie’s eyes opened suddenly and she looked right at me. Next thing I knew she started to cry and sat up and threw herself into my arms. She was crying hysterically and I was really fucking freaked out. I was going to kick my ass if I hurt her in a dream. I couldn’t possible fuck this up in goddamn dream…….could I?

“OH MY GOD! Gunner……” Ellie cried out in-between sobs.

“SHHH Ellie it’s okay, everything is okay, I’m here sweetheart and I’m not going anywhere. I promise.” Just then Ellie pulled back and looked at me. Her eyes were filled with tears and she looked so goddamned confused. She shook her head no for a second and just stared at me.

“No one will ever want me Gunner, or stay with me…...ever.” She whispered.

What the hell? My god, what did her mother do to her?

“Ellie sweetheart that’s just not true.”

I pushed a lock of her hair behind her ear. My god she was even beautiful when she was crying. The only thing I wanted to do at that moment was take away her fear and doubts. To show her how much she was wanted. I looked down to her soft tear soaked lips and licked my own lips. I started to lean in to kiss her and I heard the front door lock move. Ellie must have heard it also because she quickly pulled out of my embrace and sat back just staring at me with this lost look on her face.

Jeff walked in and surveyed what he saw.

“What’s going on? Ellie? Are you okay? Did you hurt your hand again?” Jeff said as he looked back and forth between the two of us.

“No….um…no” Ellie struggled to talk and was shaking her head as if trying to erase a memory. She quickly wiped away her tears and looked up at Jeff. He looked back at her and snapped his head over to me.

“What the fuck did you do to her Gunner?”

Wait……What??

I quickly stood up and turned to Jeff. “I didn’t do a damn thing! We fell asleep watching a movie and she just woke up crying out from a dream. She literally just woke up crying.”

I left out the part where she was crying out my name. I mean I was not in the mood to get my ass kicked for hurting her in a fucking dream.

“Jefferson! Gunner has been nothing but a gentleman to me all day and night! I can’t even believe you would think he would do something to make me cry!” Ellie was sobbing even more now. Jeff looked at Ellie and back at me.

“Dude man, I know you would never, it’s just I walked in here and she is crying and…..fuck.” Jeff said as he knelt down at the edge of the sofa. I pushed the coffee table back out of the way.

“Ellie honey what is going on? Why are you so upset? Is this about Ryan?” Jeff asked as he moved to sit down next to Ellie on the sofa. Ellie’s face flew up to meet mine. She looked so confused and upset. My stomach was in my throat and for some reason I felt like I was going to get sick. I needed to go outside and get some air.

“I’m going to step outside a minute and get some fresh air.” I said as I moved to the front door.

“NO!” Ellie shouted and stopped me in my tracks.

“This is NOT about Ryan, I haven’t even thought about him hardly all day. It was just, it was just…...I guess it was just a nightmare. I…..I….. really don’t even remember. I just remember waking up being scared that I was all alone and I lost…..I lost…...” She looked back up to me again and her tears started to flow again.

“What did you lose honey?” Jeff asked as he held a sobbing Ellie in his arms.

She was looking at me with such sad eyes. What the fuck was going on in her head.

“I don’t remember Jefferson. I just want to take a pain pill and go back to sleep. Maybe that is why I had the weird dream…it was the pain medicine.” Ellie said as she settled down a bit.

“Gunner, can you grab her medicine in the kitchen?” Jeff asked as he looked up at me with a sad look on his face.

“Sure, no problem.”

I walked over and grabbed the old bottle of water I had brought out earlier tonight. I looked up and saw Jeff walking Ellie back to his bedroom. He was saying something to her that I couldn’t make out. She just kept shaking her head in agreement. I would give my life to know what they were talking about.

Holy fuck…...What the hell was she dreaming about? When I said I was going to step outside she just about freaked out. Do I ask her what the dream was about? Maybe I should. I mean she was calling out my name after all. What if I was a prick in the dream? Now I needed to shake my head to clear my thoughts. I walked over to the sofa and grabbed the pillow and blanket I had brought out earlier. I started to walk back towards Jeff’s bedroom. I stopped at the door when I heard Jeff’s voice talking slow and calm.

“Ellie, you cannot let something our mother said to you when you were little dictate your entire life honey. It was bullshit. She is a miserable person who just wants those around her to be just as miserable. You DO deserve happiness honey and you will find it. Trust me.” Jefferson said as he leaned down to give Ellie a kiss on the forehead.

A surge of jealousy zipped through me. I would give anything to be the one who was comforting her right now. FUCK……I’m jealous of my own best friend? The pain I was feeling because she was hurting was killing me. I just didn’t understand it. I just meet this girl. How could I already feel so protective of her? Jeff got up and started to head out of the room but not before he stopped and gave me a slap on the back and wink.

“Hey, here is your pain pill and a fresh bottle of water Ellie.”

Ellie looked over at me and gave me a smile that just about brought me to my knees….again. Okay…when were these feelings going to stop taking over me like this?

“Thank you so much Gunner. I’m sorry; I don’t know what came over me when I woke up. Um…… did I say anything while I was asleep?”

Shit, do I tell her what she called out or act like I didn’t hear her calling out my name. “Yes, sweetheart you did. You kept calling out my name and something about someone being wrong but that’s all you said.”

I watched her face as I told her what she had said in her sleep. She frowned and looked away towards the window.

“Oh…...well, um.….. I’m sure it was probably just because you had been so attentive this evening. I don’t really even remember what I was dreaming about so…...” She looked back over at me and I swear I saw tears building in her eyes.