I woke up screaming, terrified for no reason. My arms and legs hurt, most likely from thrashing around, tears blocking my eyes from seeing anything more than blobs in shapes of my furniture. Hands shaking, I reached for my yellow fuzzy blanket, wrapping it around me and trying to calm down.
I had had another night terror, only a mild one, but I would have trouble falling back to sleep for hours afterward. They had been happening since the Battle of Manhattan, on and off. They didn't happen after I shadow traveled because of the state of total exhaustion that I had been in, but when I didn't they happened.
At least I woke up.
I looked over at the clock, 11:45 it had been one and a half hour since I fell asleep.
"Shit," I whispered, wiping the tears from my face and trying to even my breathing.
My heart was still racing and I could feel the sweat bead off of me. My door was thrown open, the form of a familiar worried boy stood in the door, in an oversized shirt and baggy pajama pants.
"Nico! Gods someone said they heard screaming from your cabin, are you alright, are you hurt?"
Will had shut the door and was directly next to me in a second, holding a warm hand to my forehead.
"I-I'm fine," I panted.
Will scoffed "No you aren't, I'll be right back."
He left my side and headed to my bathroom, opening the door and turning on the low golden light and rummaging through something. The water turned on and back out, he soon emerged from the room with a washcloth in hand.
He slowly climbed onto the bed, brushing the hair from my face and carefully wiping the sweat from me with the washcloth. One of Will's hands eventually found one of mine, he gripped it tightly.
"Was it a nightmare?" He whispered.
I shook my head.
"A night terror then?"
I nodded, taking another deep breath and looking into his dully lit eyes that seemed to wrap me up and warm my heart in a second.
"I'm sorry Nico, if I had known I could have helped, I should have noticed."
"You couldn't have, nobody else even knows," I muttered.
He stopped wiping my face for a minute, staring at me in surprise, then throwing his arms around my still shaking body.
"Nobody should have to deal with those alone Nico," he whispered, lacing his hand in my hair.
I was almost crying again, so in order to hide it I buried my head in his shoulder.
We stayed like that for probably an hour until either of us moved. I had stopped shaking when he pulled away, he still gripped my hand like it was a lifeline though.
"How often do they happen?" He asked, going into Doctor mode.
"Most nights, unless I'm exhausted from shadow traveling, then usually not."
"Since when?"
"The Battle of Manhattan I guess."
Will smiled weakly "Probably PTSD, I can help."
I felt a tear fall from one of my eyes, it was just a sudden release of stress. He hugged me again, this time I hugged back.
"Thank you," I cried into his chest.
"Your welcome Neeks, shhh, it's okay."
He laid his head on my shoulder and slowly ran his hands in circles on my lower back.
We sat together the whole night, talking about what our favorite things were, he was trying to distract me.
"Who's your favorite person?" I asked.
"You," he said without a second thought.
I felt my face heat up "You're my favorite too."
Our faces were so close that I could feel his breath, he almost kissed me, but laid his head on my shoulder again "Gods, sorry."
"Don't be sorry, I'm okay with it," I muttered.
"It's just, I guess I'm not mentally prepared," he laughed.
"Alright."
"Can we stay like this though? Holding hands and hugging, talking about what makes us happy?"
I nodded, he was pretty good at distracting me.
"Mmh, Nico you should try and get some sleep, I can make sure nothing happens."
Will had pulled away, his eyes were tired.
"I won't be able to, but you should sleep, you look tired. I'll lay here with you if you want."
Being so tired took my nerves away, I didn't even care that we had been cuddling, we almost kissed, or that I had asked him to sleep with me.
"If you don't mind," he said sheepishly.
I pulled him down onto the bed, he wrapped himself around me and slowly drifted off.
I studied his sleeping features, he was relaxed, not worried or stressed like usual, but he still had slight dark circles and messy hair. Will's lips were curled into a smile.
When I was with him I didn't think of what scared me, what could happen, just what was. I just thought about how I felt in that moment, how beautifully the light hit his eyelashes and cheeks, how his hands were locked into mine, even in sleep.
