Introverted Hearts // Josh Dun

chapter fourteen :: nightmares and movies

let me know if anybody has any ideas or suggestions or just anything you want to happen in this book so I can update more often than every 3 months :,)

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"Hey." CJ quietly greeted Josh and Tyler when she opened the door for them.

"Hey." Josh hugged his girlfriend tight. He could immediately tell somethiung was wrong. Her eyes were red and puffy and she was much quieter than she usually is. "Wanna go to your room?"

"Just give me a few minutes." CJ said. Josh nodded as he watched her head to the bathroom.

"Is she okay?" Josh asked her best friend.

"She's not having a great day." Jenna replied as she leaned on the counter.

"What happened?"

"She has really bad nightmares a lot," Jenna replied. "She had one last night."

"How often?"

"Once a week, maybe?" Jenna replied. "They're really bad sometimes."

"Why?"

"Her medicine is strong and she just thinks so much.." Jenna shook her head. "She never tells me about them so I don't know what it was about, but it was just bad."

"Josh?" CJ called as she crossed the hall to her room.

Josh followed and watched as she turned all of her floresent lights on and got under her covers.

"Jenna told me about the nightmares," Josh said. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay." CJ mumbled.

"No," Josh shook his head as he slid in bed next to her. "It's not."

CJ was silent as Josh took her hand. "I'm here for you if you ever want to talk about it."

"It was terrifying.." CJ squeezed her eyes shut. "So, so terrifying."

Josh was silent as he waited for a description.

"It was like all of my fears came together to haunt my dreams."

"Mhm." Josh nodded.

"I was in the middle of this huge crowd. People were yelling a-and it was dark and I had no way out." CJ described. Josh could tell she was holding back, but he did not push it, so he stayed silent.

"I know it sounds so stupid and it shouldn't be a big deal but-"

"It's not stupid." Josh interrupted.

"It is," CJ argued. "I sound like a little kid who's afraid of monsters under their bed."

"Some people are afraid of heights or spiders," Josh said. "You just have a different fear. You still get the same feeling as the person on a two hundred foot building."

CJ looked away.

"I hate crowd too," Josh continued. "They make me so disgustingly sweaty-"

CJ could not help but to giggle at him. It reminded her of the first time they had a conversation about Oreos in the kitchen and she touched his chest. She could probably tell you exactly how many freckles were under her hand because she remembers that time and every small detail so vividly.

Josh smiled at her. "But I literally submerse myself in them. Tyler and I trust the crowds to hold us up. They don't fail, either. I'm not saying you need to lock yourself in the dark or anything like that, but you're not alone in this whole fear thing."