maybe i’m weird (or maybe i’m off the wall)

Gabe’s eyes were still shut as he grabbed her arm. His brows furrowed, like he was deep in thought. Then the tears came. “Nat, please don’t leave me,” he whined. She guided him to sit down next to her, whispering reassurances and gently shushing him. Like she saw mom do.

”Shh, shh, it’s okay, Gabe, it’s okay.” She softly stroked his arm with her thumb. He tried to get up, and she attempted to pull him back. But, unfortunate for her, he had a lot more arm strength than her—having done karate when they were young, and often playing sports with his friends, and doing theatre for fun, which required a lot of strength. He managed to pull away, even in his asleep state. “Gabriel Jason Goodman!”

His frown deepened in his sleep, his mouth twitched, followed by his hands, flexing and relaxing; it seemed he was trying to wake up. There were dried tear tracks on his face illuminated by yellow light. His eyes slowly opened. “Nat..Natalie?”