Shouldn't You Be Asleep (Newsies | Sprace)

Chapter 3

I was driving home when all of the sudden the car was shaken by the sound of thunder. Oh crap. I needed to get home not for me but for Race.

He was scared of the storms. Not the storms but the memories they brought with them. I quickly parked the car and ran inside and to our apartment. I unlocked the door and quickly slipped off my shoes.

"Race," I called quickly walking in the direction of the living room. He was not there or in the kitchen. I ran to our bedroom in the hope he would be there.

I heard a small shriek come from the closet as another boom of thunder made its way through the air. I opened the door to find my husband curled in the back corner with his arms wrapped around his legs and head buried in the top of his knees.

"Race," I said very quietly pulling his eyes and attention on to me.

"Make him go away Spot please," Race cried. I quickly picked him up and moved us onto our bed. I sat on the bed as he had himself wrapped around me. I could feel that his hands were in death grips on the back of my shirt.

"He's not here, Race. He can't hurt you anymore," I said rubbed circles in the lower part of his back.

Race's dad was the cause of this. He had done so many things to Race as a child. Romeo and his mother never knew about them until one day Romeo saw a red mark on the back of Race's neck. It wasn't a week after that and his dad was no longer in the picture.

But that didn't stop the memories though. I wouldn't have known about any of it if it weren't for one night. It was during our sophomore year of high school. Romeo and Race had had a bunch of friends over one night when a storm had come through.

I was woken up by Romeo moving Race out of the room as the panic attack started. Eventually, Romeo got him calmed down and came back downstairs to find that most of his and Race's friends were awake. Romeo explained what had happened.

"You ok now?" I asked Race as he shifted himself.

"Yay," he said pulling his head out of my shoulder. "Thank you."

"You're very welcome. I'm sorry I wasn't home when it started," I said looking into his blue eyes with rims that were still slightly red.

"Why are you sorry? You're not the one scared of thunderstorms," Race said perplexed. "I should be sorry for not being able to not freak out because of a storm."

"Race you and I both know it's not the storms it's the memories that come with them that trigger the panic attacks," I said wiping a tear from under his eyes.

"I just feel like I'm old enough now that they shouldn't be happening anymore," he mumbled laying down on the bed.

"Ready to go to sleep?" I asked.

"Ya," Race answered climbing off the bed and changing into a pair of pajama pants not caring to put a shirt on. I changed into a pair of basketball shorts. We both climbed into bed. I pulled Race to me.

"Wake me if you need anything. I love you, Racer," I said before drifting off the sleep.

"I love you too Spotty," Race laughed before falling asleep curled up next to me.