"Ravvv?" I made sure to poke his sides for effect while mentioned his name for what seemed like the thousandth time.

   Rav, however, still refused to budge, only letting out deep-throated grunts as he swatted my hands away.

   The breath that escaped my chest was an 'I quit' one.

   But Dorian was most likely in the basement right now, thinking Rav was going to come in any minute. I couldn't just leave him hanging. Especially if he was in the same dishevelled state when he left earlier.

   What was up with that anyway?

   Now that my mind was clear (for now, anyway), I couldn't stop thinking about the Dorian. It was hard to get my mind off how he had looked, sounded, felt. If I'm being honest, my morning anger toward him had melted with one glance at those eyes.

   Leaving Dorian on his own was out of the question.

   Whether he was okay with me instead of Rav going down there or not.

   My heart skipped a beat from the pitch black darkness that welcomed me the minute I opened the basement's door. As I looked down, trying to make out the outline of the short flight of steps that led to the floor of the basement, my mind began to race.

   Dorian couldn't have come down here. How could he have been able to find his way within the basement if his sight would've failed him just like mine was right now? Maybe he didn't believe me when I said I'd call Rav and was probably back in his room, hopefully over whatever happened to him and had gone to sleep.

   My hand encircled the door knob again, this time to close the basement door shut.

   I think I was ready to go to bed and even though I didn't want to jinx it, I'm pretty sure that my mind and body were finally in agreement with that idea. Using caution to make sure the creaking door didn't create much more noise than it already was, I pulled the door to its hinges at a snail's pace.

   Just when the door was ready to make its final click, noises that sounded like anything but that click resonated in the hallway.

   I didn't think twice.

   Yanking the door open again, I rushed down the stairs on blind feet, not stopping even when my feet were surprised with the coldness of the ground beneath me. Rushing to a spot on one of the walls, I allowed my fingers to wander about until they met with the only working switch in the room.

   My eyes squinted as they struggled to adjust to the sudden burst of light that filled the room. But it didn't take that long. And when I could finally see, I began searching.

   Sure enough, at the very centre of the room, was Dorian.

   An unforeseen weight engulfed my chest upon glancing at his state. Dorian's head was buried into his knees which were against his chest while his arms were a shield over as much of his body they could cover. This curled up protective ball position he'd assumed was a shivering mess, despite the fact that the basement carried a surprising warmth.

   Arising from him were the same sounds that drew me into the basement.

   Even after seconds passed, Dorian still seemed oblivious to my presence or the turned on light for that matter. He was too busy whispering barely audible words to himself. No matter how hard I strained, I couldn't hear anything above mumbles and mutters. For a minute however, when his voice went a tiny bit higher than normal, I could have sworn I heard something.

   I mean, the words sounded like a language from another planet and revealed literally nothing, but that was something!... I think.

"D-Dorian?" I tried.

   No response. Just more whispers.

   Feeling the warm air rush to my lungs as I took a deep breath, ignoring my crazy paced heart beats and dry mouth as I contemplated what I was about to do next.

"Screw it," I muttered to myself, right before taking a seat beside Dorian.

   As expected, he didn't even flinch from his current position, still mumbling away. I placed my hand on his shoulder nonetheless, giving it a little shake as I called his name for the second time.

"Dorian, it's me," I kept my voice at a cautious range.

   Still nothing.

   My gaze moved downwards, frowning at the floor. Maybe this was a mistake. I should've been firmer with Rav. It was clear that whatever he was going through was no jok—

"Beth?"

   Did I just hear my name?

   Dorian's arms already covered me into a hug before I got the chance to confirm his call. Before I realised, he lifted both of us from our sitting position on the floor to our feet, leaning further into our embrace. His face was buried into my neck, making that abnormally black wavy hair of his and deep breaths from him cause tingles and shivers to run down my neck and spine.

   Clenching my fists was the only way to restrain what Dorian didn't know he triggered.

   For God knows how long, we just stood there with his arms around me.

   Until my thoughts finally reassembled.

"Hey," I whispered to him, still not making any move to separate us yet. "How about I get Rav now?"

"No." A coolness found its way to my neck as Dorian raised his head to reply in a raspy tone, "Don't leave."

   Despite my knowledge of the fact that this was not the right time, I couldn't stop the stupid grin that crept onto my lips. Those two words from him while he was still holding onto me were in a loop in my head.

   Don't leave.

   He didn't want Rav anymore.

   Don't leave.

   He wanted just me.

   Don't leave.

   With him.

   Don't le—

   A sudden gush of air brought me back from the clouds. My face took up a scrunched up expression when I realized the absence of warmth around me was because Dorian had pulled away.

   I joined him as he settled into his previous position on the floor. This time, however, his knees had his arms rested on them instead of his face buried in them like the last time.

   As moments of silence passed, the lighting in the basement gave me a chance to get a good look at him. Even though my side glance was limiting, it was enough to see that Dorian was not in the best state.

   His blue T-Shirt was stuck to his sweat-drenched body that released subtle shivers. Looking over to his face, I could barely get a good view with all the fallen hair around it. But the little I got to see made my heart stop.

   Dorian's captivating green eyes not only had dark circles beneath them, but were also red rimmed. He'd been crying.

"You had a nightmare, didn't you?" I voiced my realisation.

   I merely got a loud sniff in response.

   It must've been one hell of a nightmare for him of all people to freak out like that.

"You know," I remarked, after a few more sniffs came from Dorian unaccompanied by words. "Now will be a great time to address the elephant in the room."

   Several strands of Dorian's hair moved to the side as he looked up revealing more of his face. Even though he had a puzzled expression on, that didn't unseal his lips. He stayed silent.

"Okay then," I proceeded with a shrug. "We'll just ignore the fact that you're literally the only 17 year old boy I know to get a girl down here for non-booty call reasons. I mean..."

   A smile spread across my face at the amused snort that arose from Dorian. Turning my face away to compose myself, I spoke up again, nudging him in the shoulder , "Or... this whole, 'Call me Rav,' thing was the booty call, wasn't it? Wow, Dorian... just wow. I don't even know whether to be flattered or offended."

"Yes, Beth," Dorian didn't hold back his laugh this time. "That's what all this is."

   It was impossible to look away from how his face had lit up. I never thought I'd be so adamant in making him happy again. Even if it was just for a moment.

   I was about to reply with something witty when I noticed that his lips were turned into a frown once more.

   Well, the moment was fun while it lasted at least.

"It wasn't a nightmare like you said," Dorian paused to let out a huge sigh as he brushed his palms over his tired face. "It was a memory."

   My eyes went wide. He was referring to what I'd said earlier. And I hadn't even asked.

   Did this mean Dorian was ready to open up once and for all?

A/N: Thanks for reading! Please don't forget to vote and comment your thoughts!