Rocket's Red Glare

Safe With Me

Joe finally fell asleep. Moments later, a police car drove by the apartment complex with its sirens and lights going. Holly jumped up, instantly reaching for Joe. He scooted closer to her, wrapping his arms around her. He tucked her into his chest but it got worse. After the police car, an ambulance drove by.

Joe tightened his arms around Holly as she began to shake. As he ran his fingers through her hair, he made sure not to accidentally pull out her headphones.

"I'm sorry," Holly whispered. "I hate that I get like this. The silliest things set me off. It's embarrassing."

"You have nothing to be embarrassed about," Joe whispered, subconsciously tightening his arms around her. "You went through something traumatic. It's okay to take time to get better."

"It's been a while," she stuttered.

"That doesn't matter."

"But what if. . ."

"Holly," Joe sighed. He turned toward her, reached up, and gently pulled one of her headphones out. "There is no time limit on PTSD. One year. Five years. Ten years. It doesn't matter. You are allowed to take as much time as you need to get through it."

"What if people think I'm weird?" Holly whispered.

"Then they don't deserve to be in your life," Joe scoffed. "You endured something horrible. If a guy can't support you and help you through it, he's the one who has a problem."

* * * * *

Holly eventually fell back to sleep. Joe didn't. He wasn't even tired anymore. A few hours later, Joe heard whimpering. He looked down and noticed Holly starting to toss and turn.

"Holly?" He tried to wake her up.

She mumbled something but didn't wake up. Joe's heart jumped into his throat when she let out a scared scream. Holly rolled off his chest and continued tossing and turning. He sat up and looked down at her. He felt completely useless as Holly suffered through her nightmare.

"Holly, wake up," Joe tried to wake her up again. "Please, wake up. Come on, Holly. It's just a dream. Wake up!"

Holly finally woke up with an ear-splitting scream. That scream quickly turned into a sob. Joe scooted closer to her, gently wrapping his arm around her waist.

"Hey," Joe whispered. Holly looked over at him, tears streaming down her face.

"Joe?" She stuttered.

"You're okay," he reassured. "You're safe. I don't know what you're dream was about, but it's okay. You're safe."

Joe gasped when Holly buried into his chest. He wrapped his arms tightly around her, his heart sinking when he felt her shaking in his arms. He laid down, pulling Holly with him.

"You're safe," he whispered. "And if you want to talk to someone about it, I'm here for you."

He reached up and started running his fingers through her hair. Joe glanced down at her, slightly panicking when he noticed Holly's headphones had fallen out. Without moving too much, he found them under her pillow.

Her eyes were closed but she smiled when Joe put her headphones into her ears. Joe checked to make sure music was still playing before finally relaxing.

"Thank you," Holly mumbled. As she fell asleep, she couldn't help but think about how easy it was to fall asleep in Joe's arms. She couldn't remember the last time she felt this safe.

* * * * *

The rest of the night, Joe struggled to sleep. He was on edge, wanting to make sure he was awake in case Holly had another nightmare. Every time she moved, he jumped.

Instead of sleeping, he thought more about the conversation they had after the police car and ambulance drove past their apartment complex. Joe started thinking about Holly's worry about whether people could handle her PTSD. He couldn't understand why someone wouldn't be supportive of someone like Holly.

Forget the fact that she was struggling with her PTSD. That doesn't make up her whole personality. She's sweet and funny and amazing and distractingly beautiful.

He looked down and couldn't help but watch her sleep. His mind wandered to what Holly was like before her accident. He wondered what she was like growing up. He wondered if she had always wanted to go into the army, or why she wanted to be a pilot. He wondered if there was ever a time that she wanted to be something else. He wondered if she knew what she wanted to do with her life now that she wasn't flying anymore.

He finally fell asleep, still thinking about Holly. When he woke up, he did it in the same way he woke up a week ago; Holly asleep with her head resting on his chest. The only difference was this time, she had her headphones in.

He slowly got up, making sure he didn't wake her. He started to leave but stopped in the doorway. He turned back around and smiled. When he realized how creepy this was, he forced himself to leave. He put on a pot of coffee before starting to make breakfast.

Joe had just finished the waffles when he heard someone walk in. He turned around and smiled at a sleepy Holly walking into the kitchen.

"Morning," he smiled.

"Morning," Holly said, clearing her throat. She wrapped her arms around herself, a smile forming when she saw her table.

"Did you make all of this?" She asked.

"Of course," Joe chuckled.

"You didn't have to," she stuttered.

"It's not a big deal," he shrugged as he placed the plate of waffles on the table. "Besides, I like cooking."

"Really?" Holly giggled. "Joe Keery loves cooking?"

"Yes," he elongated teasingly. "And I'm a very good cook. See for yourself."

As they ate breakfast, Holly asked Joe questions about his job. The entire time, though, she couldn't stop thinking about how much he's helped her since the Fourth. She couldn't ignore how normal he made her feel. She couldn't ignore how easy it was to talk to him.

She couldn't ignore how he made her feel.