Chapter 4: Coming home

Dylan's POV

I pushed open the door to enter the house, not expecting that the password of the house had been changed, making me struggle for a long time. Suddenly, a number popped into my head, which was the date I saw in that photo. Sure enough, after entering four digits of the date, the door opened, and I breathed a sigh of relief.

The future 'me' seems to love Bernie very much, otherwise, I wouldn't have set the password so revealing. I secretly clicked my tongue, I really wanted to hide from this truth and hope that, as soon as I woke up, everything will return to the way it was. That way I won't have to deal with this nameless trouble!

The house was empty, except for a few items such as tables and chairs, television, and kitchen utensils, there was nothing left. Seems like I never thought I would have to come back here. Do I trust Bernie's feelings like that?

The more I thought about it, the more my head hurt, so I banged my head against the wall hoping to ease the pain. I don't know if I prayed sincerely or for some other reason, but the pain subsided, and I breathed a sigh of relief. I took off the duster, and immediately the dust flew all over the house, the dust rose up and made me cough. I took a step back but tripped over the edge of the table.

I staggered to my feet, and for some reason, Bernie's voice popped into my head.

"Dylan, you have to be a little more careful from now on. Don't hurt our baby."

Instinctively, I used my hand to cover my slightly raised belly, fortunately under my butt was a thick carpet. Although the carpet was dusty, at least it didn't cause me to fall. Only then did I realize that my forehead was drenched with sweat. I awkwardly clung to the arm of the chair, then sat down.

“Do you want to eat mango cake?”

It seemed to me that I heard Bernie's voice again, his voice was so indulgent like he wanted to give me everything good. I quickly shook my head to clear the mess.

If there is no furniture outside the living room, then the bedroom must have been cleaned. I looked at the clock for a moment, it was still too early, and the sudden sleepiness brought tears to my eyes. Thinking for a while, in the end, I still leaned back on the sofa. Unexpectedly, this time I slept for more than three hours.

Waiting until I woke up from a dream, there was a knock on the door outside. I jumped in anticipation and looked around, then patted my head again.

“What am I doing?”

The person at the door is definitely Bernie, I can guess without opening the door. I wanted to ignore him but then the bell rang so loudly, my head started to get dizzy again. I was tired, dragging my body to the main door.

“It's you, Dylan. I'm here to take you home!"

After asking the person at the door, Bernie's voice rang out. The three words "take you home" stimulate my heart, making it jump without a beat. It's like a warm spring is warming my heart. I put my hand on my chest, feeling its rhythm.

I remained silent, nodding my head. I don't know what to answer, I still can't think straight, and my head is still a mess like a skein of wool. At that quiet moment, I felt like I could feel Bernie's inner panic. I am soft-hearted.

“Bernie, can you go home first?” I sighed, softly saying, “I… I need time to think!”

I know Bernie overheard, but he doesn't seem to want to return as evidenced by his unsightly facial expression above the monitor. He gasped, growling, “Dylan, what do you want to think about? Can you tell me? We'll work it out together!"

I froze, of course, Bernie's words make sense, because now he and I are lovers, but I can't accept it comfortably. I wanted to cut Bernie off, but I heard him say again: “I know you're listening, Dylan! Quickly open the door, or I don't know what I'll do!"

I've only been silent for a few minutes, Bernie has become so frantic that it freaks me out. I leaned back, and the image of our high school days flashed in my mind. Bernie once beat a boy to the point of a nosebleed, I don't know why. Just know that he pissed off Bernie.

I happened to pass by, and at that moment, Bernie raised his head to look at me. Sharp eyes filled with fresh blood, my numb body was tightly held by invisible forces. Sometimes in my dreams, I will also wake up from those fierce eyes. Now that I've seen that look again, I've been imagining countless scenes in my head of how Bernie would eat me.

That mythical thought sent me back to the sofa. I hugged my knees, sitting still so that I could calm down. After a long time, when my legs were tired, I remembered, Bernie was still sitting outside. I pursed my lips, my eyelids drooped slightly, and finally stood up and opened the door.

I saw Bernie leaning against the wall, looking like a dog abandoned by his owner, pitiful. Perhaps the memory in my head rose, and I grieve for him. As soon as he saw me, Bernie quickly stood up, his eyes unable to hide his joy. I watched him stagger to the wall and then move closer to me.

“Dylan, you finally opened the door to meet me!” Bernie said, his hand wanted to touch me but was discovered and dodged by me. This is just my instinctive reaction but somehow I feel a little guilty especially when faced with Bernie's lossy gaze.

I took a deep breath and said, “Bernie, I…”

But before I could finish my words, Bernie quickly moved on. He hugged me tightly, and his arms tightened as if he was afraid I would disappear. Bernie's breath on the back of my neck, he's smelling it makes me shiver. Two streams of fear and attachment intertwined, I could hardly push Bernie away.

"Dylan, Dylan, you're driving me crazy!"

As if to prove it, Bernie even bit my neck hard. The pain came so suddenly. Bernie bit me for a long time, I felt like I was going to cry because of the pain so I could only groan.

I said hoarsely, "Pain, Bernie, you're hurting me!"

Looks like Bernie hasn't completely lost his mind, he retracted his damn fang and then backed away. I didn't need to look in the mirror to know that my neck was now stained with pale blood. It's just that, before I could recover, Bernie used his soft, wet tongue to lick my wound.

I widened my eyes, unable to believe this silly act of Bernie. I wanted to push Bernie away, but I heard his voice choking as if he was about to cry.

“Sorry, Dylan. I was too scared, sorry for hurting you!”

At that moment, I suddenly wanted to stroke Bernie's slightly messy hair. Because right now, poor Bernie is so bad, I can't mercilessly push him away. I froze, embarrassed to cover my thoughts, then raised my hand to cover where Bernie had just kissed and licked.

My neck and face heat up, and there's a flash of unsolicited images of me and Bernie in my head. Apparently, Bernie used to bite and lick me like that before. The more I think about it, the hotter I get. I want to run inside the house so I don't have to look at Bernie's face anymore.

My eyes are so watery, I don't know what to do now.

“Bernie, you… how could you do that?” I choked, finally sobbing.

I understand what doctors say when women are pregnant, emotions fluctuate like mine right now. I don't know the reason, but I feel extremely sorry and unjust, I want to scold Bernie but I can't speak.

Finally, Bernie still holds me gently in his lap. This time, I didn't dodge. In Bernie's lap, I smell the familiar scent in the memory, and the insecurities and confusion of the day also gradually subsided. I went from sobbing to crying.

We were standing in front of the house, I knew how embarrassing it would be to cry loudly, but I couldn't control it. I cried so hard I couldn't breathe, and in my confusion, I felt a gentle hand running down my spine.

“Don't cry, honey. You cry like this, I feel my heart will be broken!"

Words of comfort fell in my ears, and I felt that Bernie wanted to kiss me but didn't dare. He knew my feelings weren't right, so he became even more careful with me. That makes it easy for me to calm down. I stopped crying and pulled away from Bernie's hug.

I turned around and stole away the tears that were still on my face. I left Bernie a shadow, “Come in. Bernie, I have something to tell you!"

Having said that, I didn't wait for Bernie, but went in and sat on the sofa first. The living room only had a few sofas, which I cleaned up before opening the door. After the door closed, Bernie's footsteps approached, and he chose to sit in the small chair to the right of me.

“Dylan, what happened with you today?”

Waiting for me to be no more confused, Bernie asked. I turned around, facing Bernie's hurtful, concerned gaze. I can only grit my teeth and shake my head: "Nothing happened!"

After a pause, I continued: “Sorry, Bernie. I seem to have lost my memory!”