Nightmares [COMPLETED]

Part One: Blood, Sweat and Tears

"Come on , stay with me, please, oh god, you can't leave, please-"

Merlin jolted upright, his sudden awakening thankfully tearing him from that cursed memory. Will, dead. His eyes, so empty, looking at him. 'Why didn't you save me?' they seemed to scream, blaming Merlin for their death.

There was a different face every time, the beholder lasting mere moments haunting the manservant, who was forced to watch. It was as if he couldn't move, not even an inch, his limbs weighing him down as if they were made of stone.

He reached up to wipe his forehead, only to spot a growing red stain on his sleeve. Not only had he passed out in his normal clothes - again- but her scratched at himself in his sleep. It was cruel, his mind would attack its body, punishing itself for failing time and time again. Then again, maybe he deserved it. Their blood was on his hands.

But, in that moment, his blood was on his hands. Luckily, the bowl of water he'd used to wash his face the night before was still in the corner of his room. Taking a scrap of material, he cleaned up the scratches and tossed his bloody shirt under his blanket.

He still had enough time to wake up Arthur, sprint to the kitchens for his breakfast, and ensure the Princess hadn't fallen back asleep.

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Merlin barely managed to carry all of Arthur's armour over to his room. He couldn't stifle his yawn and almost lost his footing. Luckily for him, Gwine had just rounded the corner and was walking his way, catching the gauntlet that had escaped the servants grasp.

"Woah there, need a hand?" Gwaine chuckled but frowned when he saw the bags under his friends eyes.

Merlin shook his head "It's fine, beside, you probably have stuff to do."

"If you call an empty schedule 'stuff', then sure," He took a few more pieces of armour from Merlins arms to carry himself "Come on, I'll help you out. Lord knows Arthur works you to death as it is."

"Why can't you be king?" Merlin mumbled, just about cracking a smile, and continues to walk towards his room, Gwaine by his side.

When they arrived, Merlin walked a few steps ahead to check if a certain book was still out from the previous night (luckily it was tucked under his mattress), and they dumped the armour onto the bed.

"Thanks for the help, but-"

"What are you talking about? I'm going to help you clean it, Merlin, and make sure you take a nap."

"I'm not-"

"You are tired, look at yourself. You almost fell over earlier and don't think I can't hear you yawning every few minutes," Gwaine gave him a look. Even then, Merlin was swaying on his feet "Now, sit." He lightly shoved Merlin's shoulder, it not taking much force to get the servant to sit down on the edge of his bed."

"I suppose-" He yawned, ignoring Gwaine's 'I told you so' look as he did' "I am a bit tired."

"Whatever you say." He rolled his eyes and sat down next to Merlin. 

They began to clean the metal armour, but in almost no time at all, Merlin was leaning against Gwaine, fast asleep with the scrubbing brush held loosely in his limp hand. Gwaine smirked and helped his friend lie down before returning to the chore. To say he enjoyed it would be a lie, but he felt a little better knowing Merlin was resting properly.

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Whistling as he worked, Gwaine continued to clean the final part to Arthur's armour. Gaius had poked his head around the door when he came to collect a few supplies, but left promptly after an explanation was given. 

The knight was under the impression that this would mean Merlin could sleep for a few hours, but it seemed that was not the case.

When he glanced back at him, essentially to check if he was still asleep, Merlin had turned worryingly pale. His lips were moving, mouthing words, but made no sound. His body twitched, flinching from non existent attacks.

Gwaine was so confused, he didn't notice one of Merlins hands reaching to his wrist, his nails digging into his skin, scratching himself hard enough to draw blood.

"Shit," He instantly grabbed Merlin by the wrists, doing his best to stop him, but the servant started to struggle "Merlin, wake up!"

The words he had been mouthing were no longer silent "Please, stop, no- don't!" Merlin began to mutter under his breath, still putting up a fight.

"Merlin!" Gwaine shook him, doing his best not to hurt him, and raised his voice.

He soon realised there was no point to using force to stop whatever nightmare Merlin was stuck in. Gwaine sighed and continued to keep a first grasp on his wrists. 

At the very least, if he couldn't wake him up, he could stop him from hurting himself.

A/N

[PUBLISHED 09/06/20]

Heyo, I'm publishing both of the two parts to this short story today. This was an old draft I'd forgotten about, but I'm so busy procrastinating my course work I rewrote most of it.

I hope you enjoy. If you do, I have two other Merlin stories published on this account wich are longer than this one. The first one is four parts and the other, I think, is six.

So yeah. Bye.

-Becca