*Sephie*
I woke up before Adrik the next morning. We had planned on getting up and working out this morning, so I was somewhat surprised that he didn’t wake up when I started to stir. Even the few times he’d wanted to stay in bed longer, he was always awake for at least a few minutes once he felt me stir. Guess he really did get new level zapped.
I decided to let him sleep a little longer, thinking he definitely needed it. I laid my head back on his chest, lazily tracing random patterns across his chest and stomach. I could feel him like normal; he felt quite happy. There was a moment or two of worry, but it was short-lived.
I started to worry when I felt his emotions start to increase. I suddenly felt massive waves of every emotion hit me, one right after the other. I sat up to look at him. When I did, he looked like Viktor was touching him. He was completely lit up. I could clearly see his aura, like I was looking through Andrei’s eyes. It was plain as day. It was so bright, it illuminated the entire room, forcing me to shield my eyes from the brightness.
I reached out and timidly put my hand on him, trying to wake him. I wasn’t sure what was happening, but something was definitely happening. He started to return to normal, the light around him fading gradually. He still wasn’t responding to me trying to wake him up. Not even in the slightest. I tried talking out loud to him. I tried talking telepathically to him. I tried to look inside his head, but I could see nothing. I could still feel him. He still felt happy, at least.
*“Princess? Everything okay?”* I heard Ivan ask. He must’ve felt everything that just happened through me.
*“I don’t know. Can you come up here?”*
*“Be right there,”* he responded.
He walked into the room not a minute later, a worried look on his face. “I can’t get him to wake up. Did you feel what just happened?” I asked.
“Yeah, it felt like you were all over the place. It’s why I checked on you.”
“That wasn’t me. That was him.”
“That’s never happened before,” he said.
“He also lit up like Viktor and Kostya were fixing him. Only brighter. It lit up the entire room. Now I can’t get him to respond at all. I can’t see anything when I look in his head either. It’s just black.”
“Can you feel him?”
“Yeah. He still feels happy, at least. He feels like he does when he’s sleeping,” I said.
Ivan thought for a few minutes. “I bet something happened. Like his mom came to him or Kostya or maybe even your dad. He might still be talking to them, which is why we can’t wake him up. The few times you can’t be woken up, when you’re not hurt, it’s been because you were talking to one of them.”
I was still worried, but his explanation made sense. It was just very unlike Adrik to not be able to wake up at all. “Maybe. What if it’s not, though? What if something is really wrong? I’d be able to tell, right?”
He laughed. “You’d be able to tell if something was really wrong, princess. You’d be the first to know.”
We both heard a soft knock on the bedroom door. “You can come in, Bubba,” I said.
Andrei peeked around the door, still unsure he should come all the way in the room. I smiled at him. “It’s okay, Bubba. Really. You can come in,” I said.
“Viktor told me to tell you that Boss is fine. Kostya said he needs a few more hours of sleep and that he’ll explain when he wakes up,” Andrei said.
“Is Kostya the one that’s been talking to him?” Ivan asked.
“I don’t know. He didn’t say anything else other than Boss was fine and you shouldn’t worry,” he said, looking at me.
“Easier said than done,” I said, chewing on my lip. “Now I understand why it freaks all of you out so much when this happens to me. I don’t like it.”
“At least he’s asleep and not sitting up at the end of the bed with his eyes wide open and going apeshit,” Ivan said, grinning at me.
“That’s fair. That’s totally fair. This is much easier to deal with. I will concede that, 100%,” I said.
“Have you tried looking in his head? Is he dreaming?” Andrei asked.
“I tried. All I can see is black,” I said.
“But can you feel him? Is that why you freaked out earlier?” he asked.
“That wasn’t me. That was him. I can still feel him like normal. I just can’t see anything right now. He feels happy, at least. He’s just never not responded before,” I said.
“That was him?” Andrei asked, surprised.
“Yeah. He lit up like Viktor and Kostya were fixing him, too. But brighter. I’m surprised you guys didn’t see it from downstairs. It was so bright.”
“Maybe it is Kostya that’s talking to him, then?” Andrei said, trying to come up with plausible explanations.
I shrugged my shoulders. “Apparently, he’ll explain when he wakes up. I should tell Misha that our run likely isn’t going to happen now. I don’t want to leave him,” I said, putting my hand on Adrik’s stomach.
“Maybe he’ll torture Stephen anyway. You’ve successfully passed the torch of torture onto him now,” Ivan said.
I laughed. “I’m going to have to apologize to Stephen for that one. Maybe… Nah. I’m not really that sorry.”
They both left shortly after, telling me to call them if I needed anything and they would be downstairs if something were to happen. Ivan offered to bring me breakfast, but I told him I was likely going to go back to sleep. I suddenly felt very tired. I was pretty sure it was from Adrik. Whatever had happened to him was zapping him and I could feel it too.
When I woke for the second time, I felt Adrik’s fingers lightly running through my hair and over my back. I snuggled into him more, mostly out of habit, before remembering what had happened that morning. I sat up, looking at him to see if he really was awake. His handsome smile stretched across his face, making me forget everything but him.
“I’m sorry I worried you, solnishko. I needed some extra sleep,” he said, placing his hand against my cheek.
“What happened? You were glowing at one point, so don’t even try to tell me that nothing happened,” I said, holding his hand against my face to keep it there.
He chuckled. “I saw your father,” he said. “I did get new level zapped. I literally got zapped this time. I assume that’s when you saw the glowing.”
“Um, was it a good zap? Are you in trouble zap? Why am I nervous that you were talking to my dad without me there?”
He pulled me on top of him, sitting up more so he could see me better. “Not in trouble. Your dad is a very nice man. You have his smile,” he said, his finger running lightly over my cheek and down my neck.
“He is kind of great. What did he tell you?”
“It seems that Stephen called my new level instead of his,” he said, smirking at me.