TW// Moderate Mentions of Self Harm
I don't even know how I got into the forest. One moment I was in my bedroom, and then the next moment, I'm running through the forest barefoot, and I don't remember how I got here.
My feet carry themselves to the edge of L'manburg, and I don't realise until I'm cast in the looming shadow of the walls, which hide the pale moonlight that washes over the tree tops. I force myself to stop, trying to regain by breath, doubled over on the dewy grass. I can feel my chest tightening up, and it's getting harder and harder to get air into my lungs. I clutch at my chest desperately, trying to prevent the horrific pain that crushes my heart and wraps its snake -like tendrils around my collar bones and up the column of my throat.
"Rosie?" A hear a woman call out. I snap my head up to see Nikki running out of the entrance, concerned face illuminated by an orange glow from the lantern in her hand.
"Nikki." I choke out. She reaches me and throws her arms around me, rubbing my back soothingly as I sob into her shoulder.
"It's ok. You're ok." She murmurs soothingly, tentatively letting go of me and grabbing my hand, pulling me to a rubble of stones on the edge of a pond. I sit down, tucking my knees underneath my chin and hugging my thighs to my chest. Nikki sits down next to me, crossing her legs and pulling the lantern into her lap.
"What's wrong Rosie?" She questions softly. I take in a deep breath, digging my nails into my palms to stop myself from crying.
"Dream said he loved me." I whisper. Nikki's eyebrows raise, her eyes widening, but she doesn't say anything. "He said he loved me, and then he said that if I want to go back to L'manburg, I can." I finish.
"Do you love Dream?" Nikki asks.
"Yes." I say, tear slipping down my cheek.
"Do you want to go back to L'manburg?" She presses.
"Yes." I mumble, struggling to force the words out of my throat. "I can't be with Dream, and live in L'manburg. And if I choose Dream over them, Wilbur is never going to want anything to do with me."
It's an impossible situation, and I don't want to choose, I can't choose between the two. I almost resent Dream, for putting me in this position, for making me choose. But I can't, because he loves me enough to let me go, and that's more than I could ever ask for.
"I don't know how to help you make that decision Rosie. But I know that I'll stick with you no matter who you pick." She says, grabbing my hand tightly. I smile at her.
"You're amazing. I'm just so torn between both of them, I don't know how I'm even supposed to choose. I love both of them so much, but they've hurt me too."
Her brows knit together. "Do they hurt you now?" She asks fiercely. I shake my head.
"This was before you came. But there's still days where- where everything still feels fresh." I stammer, looking down at my hands, pressing my nails even further into my palms, the sting stilling the rising hysteria snaking up my sternum.
"There's days when I'm terrified Dream is going to lock me back in that room." I admit, tears welling up in my eyes. "I know it's dumb and that he hasn't done anything, but there's times where I'm so scared he's going to hurt me again."
Nikki's face morphs into horror, and I quickly wipe the tears that are pouring down my face, droplets patting softly on my cheeks, as I finally open my heart and drop the strong walls I let encase me. I let people see my rage, and my sadness, and my hurt. But I never let people see my fear.
"And then there's times I see Wilbur, and all I can see is the way he looked at me when he gave me up. I'm so afraid he'll just throw me away again." I sob. The truth is, I'm terrified, so so terrified, because I've never truly healed from what happened to me, and what they both did still hurts me. It hurts me late at night, when nothing can distract me from the pain, it hurts me at random moments of the day, sharp stabs that assault me out of the blue. And it hurts so badly.
"I love them both so much though." I whisper. My knuckles bloom white as I squeeze them even deeper, the pain barely dinting the swell in my head. Nikki tightens her grip on my other hand, and pulls me in close, her arm looping around me.
"You don't deserve to feel scared Rosemary. You deserve to feel safe, and happy and loved." She says firmly. I nod, wiping my nose with my sleeve.
"Thanks Nikki. Shit, I should get back." I realise, shivering in the cold night air. We both glance up at the moon, shining brightly in the sky.
"Are you sure you should go back now? You can stay with me." Nikki says, glancing at me.
"If I don't come back tonight Dream is going to have a stroke out of sheer worry." I shake my head. Nikki hugs me tightly again, and gives me her lantern.
"Stay safe Rosie. I'll come and talk to you as soon as I can." She waves.
"You too." I reply, and turn back through the forest. I stumble through the uneven path, my tears slowly drying up, the sobs growing quieter and quieter. I duck under dark tendrils of shadowy tree branches, and swerve away from dense black bushes. Eventually I make it back to the house, quietly slipping through the back door.
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A/N sorry it ended on a bit of cliffhanger, the chapter got really long and I want the conversation between Dream and Rosie to be the main focus of a chapter. The choice boils down between Dream and Wilbur, because she can't choose one and still be with the other, not just between Dream and L'manburg as a whole. This is going to be interesting! Anyways stan Nikki for clear skin.
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Predator (DWT x OC)
Fanfiction"Where do you think you're going princess?" he taunts, mouth pulled back in a smirk. I don't move, every part of my body is frozen, every muscle coiled to snap. He closes in, forcing my back against the rough part of a tree, masked face leaning in i...
