Adopted by Markiplier! || 11 year old (DISCONTINUED)

C4: Nightmare

Leilah jerked awake, holding a hand to her chest and tears streaming down her eyes.
She sobbed into her blanket until Mark came through the door.
As soon as he saw Leilah, he rushed to her side protectively wrapped his arms around her.

"Hey, hey, hey... what happened?" Leilah just shook her head and hugged Mark back, more tears threatening to fall down her cheeks.
She was pulled onto his lap and she cried and cried into his shoulder, all the while Mark held her close and kept telling her everything was okay and that he was here, nothing was going to happen.

Leilah pulled away and just sat on his lap, sniffling in the dark.

Mark finally broke the silence.
"I can't help you if you don't tell what's wrong..." he said sadly, rubbing Leilah's back.

She shook her head side to side, too scared to tell Mark what had happened to her so long ago.

"Leilah, I know it must be hard, but you've gotta tell me if we're gonna get through this..." he pressed on, trying to get something out of her.

She sighed and curled her hands into fists in devastation.

"I miss my mom..." She spoke gently, her features softening.

She gathered her thoughts before continuing.

"I had a nightmare... but it was you," she said.
"You were in the car." she spoke hesitantly.

"What car...?" Mark asked cautiously, looking down at Leilah in his arms.

She inhaled sharply and her voice got louder.

"The reason I was put into the orphanage," she started, holding onto Mark a bit tighter. "Was because, on their way to pick m-me up from dance class, my mom and dad both died in a car a-accident..."

Leilah shuddered.

"But in my dream, it was... you! You were in the car, and you..."

Mark was in complete shock; he couldn't believe that after such a short time, Leilah already cared about him so much to the point that she was afraid of losing him.

"Leilah... Nothing is going to happen to me. I promise you. I'll always be here," Mark couldn't believe that the girl in his arms could even smile and laugh the way she does. She was so brave in his eyes.
Mark held her closer to his chest, comforting her as best her could.

"And I'm sorry what happened to your parents..."

She nodded and continued.

"I was 7 years old when they died. When the people in suits put me in the orphanage, I thought nobody would ever want me... but you did..." she smiled and so did Mark.

They made eye contact and Mark gasped when she wrapped her arms around his neck into a loving hug.

Mark loved this girl... He was going to watch her grow up and protect her at all costs.

"Mark... can I sleep in your room tonight? I don't wanna be all alone in my new room. I haven't really gotten used to all of this yet," she chuckled at her shyness and looked up at Mark expectantly.

Mark lifted her up and set her down next to him. "Of course you can... But only if you ride on my back!" Mark stood and crouched down so Leilah could jump on his back.

Leilah giggled heartily as Mark let out a huff as Leilah pounced on him. He laughed and jogged out the door and down the hall to where he slept.

Mark let Leilah hop off onto the bed and he lifted the covers so she could climb under the blankets with him. Leilah snuggled into Mark, her back against his chest. She soon drifted off to sleep with a smile on her face.

Mark kissed the top of her head and joined her in dreamland for the night.