Janthony Oneshots

Every step of the way

It had been three weeks since Jasmine had moved in with Anthony.  Both of them absolutely loved waking up to the other by their side, but something was off.

Jasmine would wake up in the middle of the night to an empty bed, finding Anthony on the couch, sleeping.  This wasn't just a one night thing, either.  Every couple of nights he'd be asleep on the couch, waking before her as to not seem suspicious.

Jasmine wanted to know what was going on, however she couldn't bring herself to ask. She hated confrontation, and was afraid that the answer she would get wouldn't be something she'd want to hear.
(what? Me giving Jas my issues? I would never...)

One night, while the two were in bed together, Jasmine made a decision.  She would simply stay up to see when he got up, and ask him about it then.  Normally she was the first to fall asleep, but that night she made sure that he was out cold before propping herself up with her pillows and grabbing for her book, determined to stay awake until she figured out what was going on.

Two hours in, Jasmine's eyes were slowly drooping shut, her book having taken up permanent residence (closed) on her chest.  She perked up, however, when she heard whimpers from beside her.

She turned to face Anthony, who was curled up in a ball, silent tears streaming down his face as soft whimpers escaped his lips.

As his whimpers slowly got louder, Jasmine was quick to put her hand on his arm, shaking him to wake him from whatever pain his mind was conjuring in his sleep.

"Ant? Ant, babe, wake up please.  Can you hear my voice?"

She shook harder as he suddenly gasped, sitting up straight. He could barely take a proper breath as he looked around the room, seemingly becoming more panicked when he saw Jasmine awake.

She quickly reached over, pulling his head to her chest, as she stroked his hair.

"Shhh. You're okay. Just breathe. I've got you."

It didn't take long for him to calm down, and once he was regularly breathing again, Jasmine decided to ask him a question.

"Ant, do you remember what happened in your dream?"

He shook his head and sighed.  "No, I never do."

The second the words left his mouth, he knew he messed up, Jasmine looking at him with slight confusion.

"Never remember them... Ant, how long have these been going on?"

He looked at her, silently pleading her to not make him talk about it.  She simply clocked an eyebrow, indicating that she wasn't dropping the subject.

"... since I was a kid." 

His whispered sentence crushed her, the fact that her soulmate was in pain bringing her pain as well.

"Is that why you've been sleeping on the couch?  Because you don't want me to find out?"

He nodded again, hanging his head.  "Awe babe, come here."

He shuffled the rest of the way across the bed, resting completely against her.  He was finding it harder and harder to hold back his tears as Jasmine continued to play with his hair, the odd tear rolling down his cheek and onto her shirt.

"They a-always get worse when my anxiety peaks, and with all the s-stuff with work, I've been r-really anxious and it keeps s-seeping into my dreams."

His tears were freely flowing now, but he was to exhausted to try to stop them.

"Ant, why didn't you tell me?  You know I would have tried to help you, right?"  He nodded

"I know... it's just, I'm a man Jas.  Men are strong, and brave.  Men don't have nightmares."

"Of course they do!  Everyone gets nightmares, even men.  Who made you feel like that?"

He sniffled as he sat up, choosing to lean his head against her shoulder as opposed to her chest.

"Everybody.  My dad, my brother, the media... Everyone says that men aren't supposed to be afraid of anything, especially not silly things in their heads."

"Anthony, I want you to listen to me.  Your nightmares aren't silly, and they don't make you weak.  They are something that you deal with and that's okay."

She guided him to lay back down, pulling him close once his head was back on the pillow.

"We're gonna work together so that these don't happen anymore.  We'll get through this, I promise.  And I'll be by your side, every step of the way."

748 words

a/n - still got a ton of ideas so... expect updates.

Have a great day!
- Sarah :)