Slice of Life Oneshots

Oneshot #7

A/n: it's been a long time since I posted a chapter here, sorry for the long wait. Life got in the way, and I barely forgot about this. Anyway, enjoy

Warning: nightmares, mentions of abandonment, mention of parental death, degrading words

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It's happened again. No light, no sound. Just complete darkness.

She glances around terrified, hoping to find any sign of life or light, only to meet blackness at every turn.

"Hello? Hello?!" She calls out, receiving no answer. Nonetheless, she continues to search for something, anything.

Her breathing becomes heavier with panic and desperation. Tears begin to stream down her eyes as she finally realizes the tensity of the situation.

"Stupid bastard child..."

She gasps heartbroken from a familiar face.

"Ungrateful brat..."

"Loser..."

The voices from all directions begin to grow louder. Tall figures with menacing eyes glare down at her, leaving no sign of escape.

"Freak!"

"Bastard child!"

"No daughter of mine!"

"Stop! Please, stop!" She cries out in plea as she slams her hands against her ears to silence the voices. But they don't stop, and nothing is here to protect her. The figures draw closer to her, surrounding her like a cage.

"You don't deserve to live!"

"Unworthy!"

"STOP! Make it all stop!" She yells at the top of her lungs. The figures soon stop in front of her, ready to entrap her in a vastness of emptiness for all eternity...

Blue shot up from the bed, a sharp gasp leaving her throat. Tears stung her eyes and cheeks as they streamed down her face and onto her bed sheets. The moon shone through the window, which gave her the light she needed in her small bedroom. Those damn nightmares, they've been plaguing her again. It was like she just couldn't get away from them, not since she got kicked out by...

No, don't think about it now. Not here, please...

Trying her best not to wake up the Rusties, Alli, or Rodney, Blue pulled herself out of bed and stealthily made her way to the living room.

Once she found the couch, despite the dim lighting, the young blue-haired human sat herself down, her arms hugging herself. Finally, after checking she was in the clear, she let out the most heartbreaking sobs that were trapped in her throat.

It had been her nightly routine since the Rusties took her in. Every time a nightmare about her 'father', her 'stepfamily', came in to haunt her dreams, she would leave her room to the safety and comfort of the living room and try to calm herself so as to not disturb the residents of Aunt Fanny's house. Even though they had told her to always come to them if she needed anything, she didn't want to burden them with her own problems. The last thing she needed was another treating her as if her issues weren't to be validated.

Chip was the only one she could talk to and relate to. They had some recurring nightmares, too, but about the Sweepers that nearly caught them when they were young, around 13, perhaps. He had also come to the living room to clear his mind, which led to him talking with and sympathizing with her about her own bad dreams until dawn. But other than Chip...she really couldn't talk with someone else.

They wouldn't understand.

Her sniffling and sobs got a bit louder than she wanted them to be, so she had to silence to lessen the risk of getting caught. However, someone else had the same idea of clearing his head like she did.

"Blue?"

Blue tensed up upon hearing a familiar teal-haired man's voice behind her. She hurriedly wiped the tears from her eyes and cheeks before she could face him.

"Rodney? What are you doing up?" Blue asked, trying to hide the fact that she had been crying silently.

"Blue...have you been crying?" Rodney only asked her worriedly. Damn it, he knows. Maybe she can try and cover it up.

"No. No, no, no, I'm fine, really," Blue denied with a small grin and turned away so he wouldn't be able to see her tear-stained face. "It's just...I just couldn't sleep, y'know."

But Rodney, having been here for almost a week since he first met her, the Rusties, and Alli, knew that something was definitely up, and he was no fool. He took some steps closer until he was next to her so he could get a clear look at her eyes. It was obvious she had been crying.

"Guess I got a bit too loud than I should have. Honestly, I got too occupied..." Blue's rambling came to a stop when, after he sat down, an arm pulled her close to him before another joined in and took her in for a hug.

"...let it out..." Rodney finally said in a soft whisper.

"...R-Rodney, really, I'm okay–" Blue started, but he cut her off.

"Blue, you know damn well I can all you're not okay, so stop acting like you are," Rodney, in a stern, yet gentle tone, continued. "Fender and Alli helped me let it out when I needed them to hear and listen...so let me do this or you this time..."

Blue stared up at him for a moment with wide, astonished eyes before her gaze, now crestfallen and her heart from within slowly falling apart all over again, turned back to the floor once more. Her body soon began to shake underneath Rodney's arms.

"...I'm sorry...It's just that...it's been so long since I had someone else to talk to, apart from Chip..." she finally spoke, her voice slowly starting to crack. "...I wanted to talk to my dad before all this...but...h-he never listened...no one did...and the nightmares just made it worse...I'm so sorry..." she then sobbed silently again, like she had on her own for the past nights since she was first brought here.

Rodney listened. He held on to her every word with a heartbroken, sympathetic expression directed at her. He had no idea how much misery and loneliness she had gone through because of her own 'father' and 'stepfamily'.

"Oh, god, Blue, I should be the one to say sorry..." he held her tighter, which made her sob a bit harder. "I honestly had no idea how much they put you through. I can't apologize enough for this..."

This made her dig her face further into his neck as he comforted her. It had been so long since someone held her like this, aside from her mother. Rodney didn't care if his shirt and neck were getting stained by her tears. He only held her ever more tightly as his hand rubbed her back to help her calm down.

For the first time since her mother died, since her 'father' emotionally abandoned her for his new 'family', Blue felt safe in someone else's arms. Not in her own 'father''s, but someone else she was finally able to trust.

"Everything will be alright," Rodney told her softly. "I swear..."

As Blue collected herself, her tears stopping and leaving behind trails on her cheeks, she took in what he had told her.

Everything will be alright. They've got to be...