A What Now? A Nightmare X Reader Story

Chapter 16: Forever... soon

(Once again, art not mine. I have been saving this one though, waiting for the perfect chance to use it.)

[Y/N POV]

I stepped lightly on my way to the Garden, wasting no time, but not particularly hurriedly. I knew that I didn't understand how Nightmare's different forms worked, but if he felt like he needed to hide his passive form, then I felt like I needed to talk to him about it.

I knew that that might seem counterintuitive; if someone doesn't want to talk about something, why bring it up? But I knew from personal experience (cough cough, chapter 12) that sometimes neglecting these things does more harm than good. I knew it wouldn't be easy for Nightmare to open up, but I had faith in him... I hoped that he trusted me the way I trusted him.

I soon arrived at the door to the Garden, and I paused, taking a deep breath before I pushed the doors open, just enough for me to slip inside. I could see a small form hunched over near the center of the garden, which had to be Nightmare. He didn't notice my entrance.

I closed the doors silently, and walked lightly over to him, folding my legs beneath me as I sat beside him. He didn't move, so I lightly placed my hand on his shoulder, causing him to bolt into an upright position.

I startled at his sudden movement, and we just looked at each other for a moment, before I came to my senses. His eyes were wide in fear, and I had to say something. I reached out and rested my hand on one of his.

"It's okay."

That seemed to break his trance. He didn't say anything, he just looked away, looking guilty.

"Killer told you, didn't he?" his voice was definitely different, which I had expected. His flat tone concerned me though.

"He explained to me about your different forms, but that's it, really." I leaned forward, trying to get a look at his face. "So I came here to talk to you about it."

After several moments of silence, he peeked at me. His eyelights were lovely, a bright amethyst color.

"You're not mad at me?" he sounded so fearful, I couldn't stop myself from tearing up a bit. What had people done to make him so afraid?

"Of course I'm not mad at you," I told him. "Why would I be? You didn't do anything wrong." I reached out and cupped his face in my hands. "It's okay to be weak sometimes Nightmare," Tears welled up in his sockets as I spoke. "That's what I'm here for, to look out for you when you can't be strong."

He just stared at me, almost dejectedly, as if he didn't believe that. "Did you have someone... before all of this? At least your brother..."

Nightmare looked away, pain flashing across his face, and I understood.

"Oh... I'm sorry..."

He chuckled bitterly. "You don't need to apologise, (Y/N). You didn't have anything to do with it." He looked back at me. "The past is in the past now, it doesn't matt-"

I held up a hand, stopping him in his tracks. My fingers were visibly shaking.

"Don't. Say. It doesn't. Matter. Because it does. It matters a lot, because it still hurts you. And not only that, but he's your brother. If he left you to deal with whatever bullshit happened, he wasn't doing his job as your brother. I don't give a damn about whatever else was going on; you should have come first."

He didn't respond, just... staring at me. I was worried for a moment that I had said something wrong, but then he leapt forward into my arms, burying his face in my chest. He began to shake, and muffled sobbing made the words he was trying to get out completely unintelligible.

"Hey," I murmured softly, rubbing his back. "Listen. If you don't want to think about it, that's okay. We can ignore it, or talk about it, or just let it go, but don't ever say it doesn't matter. It will always matter, because it hurts you. It made you into who you are today - but that doesn't mean you have to let it define you either."

Nightmare sat up a bit, meeting my eyes.

"I know I'm not very strong," I held his hands in mine. "And I know I'm not very good in a fight. Most of the time, it will probably end up being you saving my ass all the time. But that doesn't mean I'll run off when things get rough. If it comes down to it, I'll put my own life on the line to protect you, because I care about you."

"And I know that we're not perfect, but that's perfect for us. It means that neither of us have any room for judgement. We can be ourselves with each other, when we can't with anyone else. You don't have to hide from me, Nightmare. I'll always accept you. So maybe, you should learn to accept yourself."

I gave him a small smile.

"I'll always be here for you, Nightmare. No matter what happens, I'll do what I can to help you be the best you that you can be. Because you're important to me, and I want to see you happy. I'll stick by you, through thick and thin, I promise you."

He smiled at me, an adorable little smile. "I love you, (Y/N)."

It was at that moment that I really understood what had happened thus far. I understood that, for some reason, I had fallen for Nightmare head over heels in a very short time. And yet, I didn't feel like it was wrong in any way. It felt like I had known him for several years rather than just a couple of months.

I wondered briefly if that's what this was what it meant to meet your soulmate.

And then I decided that it didn't matter.

"I love you too, Nightmare."

In the next ten seconds, three things happened almost simultaneously.

1: Nightmare's gaze focused on something just behind me, causing his sockets to widen in disbelief.

2: I heard the smallest sound behind me.

3: Someone pressed a sweet-smelling rag against my nose and mouth. I didn't get the chance to realize what it meant.

I could hear Nightmare screaming my name as I was knocked unconscious.

Before I close this one off, a quick thanks for reading, and for your support & feedback! A special shoutout to Ulrica13! Your comments are super nice and I'm always really happy to read them! Thank you for your kindness! *hugs*

Love, Author-chan <3