Riker's Depression

Chapter 11 : Friends?

Chapter 11

Middle of the night...

Paige POV

One of my worst fears came true. Riker had a nightmare.

I was currently on the floor with my arms wrapped around him. He was crying softly, and his hands were shaking slightly. There was moonlight coming in from the windows, so I left the lights off.

"Riker, just breathe, ok?"

"I-I'm s-sorry I w-woke you u-up!"

"Riker, it's fine. Just try to calm down, ok?"

He started hiccupping, and I was trying not to laugh. He sounded really funny.

"Riker, come on. Breathe. Take deep breaths. It'll help."

He wasn't really calming down. But I remembered what happened earlier. I grabbed his half full water glass, and handed it to him.

"Drink."

He slowly brought the glass to his lips, and started drinking. He hiccupped, and then started coughing.

"See? This is why you need to try to calm down before you get hiccups."

He smiled slightly, and kept drinking. His hiccups went away, and he was finally calm again. I could see the tear streaks down his face, shining slightly in the moonlight.

"Hey. You're ok. Do you want to talk about it? It'll make you feel better."

"M-my b-brother was um... h-hitting me... A-and k-kicking me... N-nobody heard m-my screams, a-and n-nobody s-saved me.

"Aw... Well you're ok. It was just a dream. Why don't you try to go back to sleep, ok?"

"Ok..."

He laid down, and I got back into my own bed. Within a minute, I heard soft snores. I thought it was kind of cute how he snored. It was soft, not loud and annoying.

I fell asleep soon after that.

Morning...

Riker POV

I woke up, forgetting I was at Paige's. I was confused at first, but then I remembered. Paige was sitting in bed, on her laptop.

"Morning..." I said, quietly.

"Good morning, Riker."

She pushed her laptop aside, and sat up more.

"Do you want some breakfast?"

"Um... I'm not much of a breakfast eater."

"Are you sure? Come see what your options are at least."

"Ok..."

I got up, and followed her upstairs.

"Ok, so for breakfast, your options are cereal, toast, strawberries, or a granola bar. I'm going to have strawberries."

I watched as she got out the strawberries. My stomach was practically begging me to eat. I'm so hungry!

"Want some?"

"Um... Yeah."

Paige got me a bowl, and put some strawberries in it for me.

"Let's go back downstairs."

I followed her down. I sat on my bed on the floor, and she sat next to me.

"Paige?"

"Yeah?"