Curled up in bed with my knees hugged to my chest, I watched as Nathan unrolled his sleeping bag out onto the floor for the night. 

After my little accident in the shower, Nathan had insisted that he sleep in the same room as me tonight,' in case something happened.' So, in other words, his highly over-protective annoying self had well and truly returned.

"Nathan, you don't have to sleep here with me. I promise, I'm fine," I explained gently. 

He turned towards me with a raised eyebrow. "Oh really? Is that why you couldn't pick yourself off the shower floor?" he replied back sassily.

I averted my eyes in embarrassment. "That was a small little blip," I mumbled. He raised his brow even higher.

I rolled my eyes. "Okay, fine, then stay. But, if you insist on this sleepover, you might as well sleep up on the bed," I said as I shuffled over, and patted the place next to me invitingly. 

Nearly every voice in my head was screaming at me how terrible of an idea that was but I didn't pay them any mind. So, what if I slept beside him? It didn't mean anything would come out of it. We would merely be too good pals sharing a bed, nothing more.

Nathan looked up at me with curious eyes as I said that. Looking as though he was contemplating the idea, he slowly looked down at my bedsheets before moving his eye line back over to me. 

He swallowed thickly as his eyes did a trail over my body - lingering in particular on my chest, my exposed midriff, and then finally at my long bare legs stretching out before me. Feeling subconscious, I tugged down a little on my red cami top and silently wondered what the fuck his deal was. Was he judging the price of my outfit or something?

Finally, his eyes returned back to mine, and he shook his head. "No, I shouldn't. It's erm...It's safer for me to stay on the floor," he said.

I felt a pang in my chest at the quite blunt rejection, but I quickly covered it up with a smirk. "Why? Are you scared of me or something?" I joked.

"Hmm, something like that," he mumbled, his mind seeming to be far away in thought.

"Okay then," I drawled awkwardly. I cleared my throat and gave him an awkward smile. "Well, in that case, I hope you have a good sleep," I said before tucking my legs underneath the covers.

I switched off the lamp on my bedside table before curling up into a little ball in preparation for sleep.

"Goodnight, Natalie," I whispered into the darkness as my breathing slowly started to soften.

Nathan let out a heavy breath, clearly not at all pleased by the return of his beloved nickname. "Goodnight, Sophie," he mumbled.

I'm not sure why but the way he said my name pulled a stupid smile to my face. Then like that, I felt the last of the day's tensions leave my body. Snuggling closer into my duvet, I closed my eyes before letting the night carry me away.

"Sophie," a low voice whispered. 

My mind pulled further out of the fogginess of sleep, and I let out a groan before rolling over to face the source of the sound. I wasn't sure how long I had been sleeping. Two hours, maybe three? But all I knew was that I wasn't too happy about the intrusion of my sleep. 

Remembering Nathan was in the room with me and likely the one bothering me, I let out a long sigh. "What do you want, Nathan? I'm tired," I croaked out sleepily without even bothering to open my eyes.

Silence filled the air, and then I started to hear some frantic shuffling as though someone was viciously tossing and turning in their sleep. 

"Sophie, wake up," he groaned, his voice coming out more pained.

The sound of his stressed voice fully awoke me, and I flickered open my eyes in confusion. Sitting up with a groan, I quickly flicked on my bedside lamp to see what all the fuss was about. Instead of finding Nathan, by the edge of my bed like I presumed he would be, he was instead still fast asleep on the floor.

His whole forehead was coated in a thick layer of sweat, and he was tossing and turning back and forth on the floor as though in physical pain.

"Sophie...no, come back," he begged, his breath coming out heavy. "You can't be dead."

I widened my eyes, realizing he was having a nightmare about what happened.

I kicked off my covers as quick as I could before swinging my legs off the side and rushing over to his side. I threw myself down beside him and started to softly shake his shoulders.

"Nathan, wake up, it's me; I'm fine," I insisted.

 Nathan still turned in my hold, and he seemed to be getting increasingly more stressed. "Aiden, I'm sorry," he whispered out in pain. I paused at the name Aiden, having no recollection of him ever mentioning someone of that name.

 Brushing my confusion aside, I continued to shake him. "No, it's not Aiden; it's me, Sophie. Wake up," I urged as I continued to shake him.

My final shake seemed to do the trick, and he suddenly stopped turning and began flickering open his eyes.

"Sophie?" he whispered as he looked at me through half-lidded eyes. "Is..is that you?" he said, his eyes scanning over me repetitively as though unsure if what he was seeing was really there.

My heart clenched for him, realizing how well and truly shaken up he must have been. "Yeah, of course, it's me. It was a bad dream, okay," I explained kindly as I gently took his hand.

Before I even had so much time as to blink an eyelid, Nathan suddenly sat up, snatched my waist before pulling me into a hug. I froze in shock as he sunk his head into the crook of my neck and pulled me into his lap.

"You're alright, you're really alright," he whispered repeatedly into my neck as his body shook with the aftereffects of his fear.

Finally, coming to my senses, I shyly wrapped an arm around the back of my head to reciprocate his hug. "Yeah, I'm alright, Nathan," I whispered. My words caused him to tighten his hold around my waist even more.

Slowly, I pulled back a little so that I could see him better. He shifted underneath me to seat me better, and I felt my face warmed a little as I realized I was still in his lap. I quickly made a move to shuffle off of him, but Nathan, quickly gripped my hips to stop me from going anywhere. 

"No, don't go yet," he whispered.

As I took in his innocent frightened-looking eyes, my heart softened, and I slowly nodded my head.

"What were you dreaming about exactly?" I asked cautiously. 

 He swallowed, and for the first time, I noticed tears were starting to brim in his eyes. "I was... was dreaming about your accident. You went to the hospital, but then you didn't wake up, and then you-," he cut himself off and shook his head as though he couldn't even bring himself to say the words.

I slowly reached out to grip his chin before slowly lifting his eyes up to mine. "But it didn't happen, okay," I said gently.

He nodded his head, causing an escaped tear to fall from one lid and slide down his cheek.

He wiped it away roughly with the back of his hand. "God, you must think I'm such a loser," he said, letting out a bitter laugh.

I shook my head and gave his hand another squeeze. "Actually, I think you're brave. If what had happened to me had happened to you, I would have handled it worse. Trust me," I insisted, surprised at the honesty behind my words.

Nathan looked at me for a long while, and then slowly, the corners of his lips pulled up into a small, little smile. "Thanks," he murmured.

After a couple of seconds of us staring at each other like a bunch of idiots, Nathan cleared his throat and slowly untightened his arms from around my waist. 

"I'm good now, you're erm...free to go now," he murmured, seeming quite embarrassed at the fact he had been keeping me hostage. I chuckled at him and then slowly pulled myself off of his lap and onto my feet.

As I climbed and settled back into bed, I noticed Nathan was still sat with his knees crossed up to him while looking my way. From the steadiness of his gaze, I could tell he seemed to be wrestling with the idea of asking me something.

"What's the matter?" I asked curiously.

Nathan cleared his throat. "I'm not really sure how to say this without sounding weird, but-" He took a deep breath. "Can I sleep with you?" He whispered.

His question startled me, and there was a moment of silence. He shuffled nervously in his space.

"I know it sounds stupid, but you make me feel better. You know, when you're close...," he trailed off, still struggling to maintain my gaze.

I stared at him feeling entirely overwhelmed by both his cuteness and boldness. I must have taken a second too long to answer because Nathan started up again.

"I won't- I mean, I'll try not to touch you. I just, I-," He cut himself off and shook his head. "You know what, forget it," he said, seeming to give up the idea altogether.

An amused smile pulled to my face. "Nathan, relax, I didn't say no," I snorted.

"So, I can come up?" he said, his eyebrows lifting in surprise.

"Yes, you idiot, I was literally the one who offered in the first place," I snickered. "Now, hurry up and get your ass into bed," I teased with a playful wink.

I saw a ghost of a smile dance on Nathan's face, and he slowly stood up and made his way over to the bed. He stopped by the end. "I never thought I'd see the day where you'd beg me to get into bed with you," he joked.

I rolled my eyes. "That's because you haven't and never will," I said flatly.

Nathan chuckled lowly in response and lifted the covers back a bit before sliding into the bed beside me. He shuffled deeper underneath the covers before rested his head against the pillow.

 And as those striking eyes of his settled on mine, I immediately realized my mistake. I was trusting myself to sleep all alone in bed with Nathan Woods. The very guy who had successfully flustered me to the point of speechlessness about ten times on this trip alone.

 Who knows what kind of mind-powers he could hold when I was in the same bed as him?

He shifted onto his back slightly to make himself more comfortable, and I immediately felt the warmth of his body heat as well as the smell of that intoxicating cologne of his.

The urge to rest my head on his chest and smell him was strong, but luckily the sane part of myself kept me in check. If I did that, I was definitely getting charged with something.

Ignoring my racing heart, and keeping myself together as best as I could, I slowly reached out for the lampshade and switched it off.

Then, I quickly flipped myself over, so I was facing away from him. If he was out of sight, he would be out of mind. This would be simple, easy even. 

I, Sophie Wright, would not succumb to the sexual powers of Nathan Woods. Then with that last empowering thought, I closed my eyes and let myself drift off to sleep. 

--------------------------

Author's note: 

Hope you enjoyed the chapter and thanks for reading. 

Who thinks Sophie is going to succumb to the sexual powers of Nathan Woods lol?

Next update: Monday (6-8 PM - UK time)