Alphabetical Prompt Lists and Oneshots

Cower - Jay x Audrey

   As soon as Audrey came into consciousness, it quickly occurred to her that something was quite wrong indeed.

She rolled over in the large bed to look around, and she quickly realized that her dearly beloved husband was tossing and turning in his sleep, in something near a jerk as he moved about. Audrey's eyes widened as she realized that he must be in the midst of what seemed to be a horrible dream.

"No, no, please... Don't... Please don't... Please don't hurt her," he mumbled under his breath rapidly, moving his head back and forth in swift jolts.

Audrey quickly sat up on her elbows, reaching over and touching his arm as she tried to make him awaken. She could easily see that this was a miserable state, and she knew that she needed to get him to come out of it.

"Babe. Babe... Jay, wake up," Audrey spoke, shaking his arm. After a moment of this trembling, shaking movement, Jay suddenly shot up in bed, his eyes wide as he made a strangled noise of terror.

Audrey just watched him for a long moment.

"Jay, are you okay?" Audrey questioned, and he remained completely unresponsive, gazing straight ahead. Audrey had never seen Jay in such a state. He was in a cold sweat, shaking all over, and dare she say it, he was almost cowering as he stared into blank space.

"Babe, it's okay. You're okay," Audrey told him, reaching out to him carefully. When he did not react negatively, Audrey gently hugged him from behind running her hands along him so that she was stroking his wet shoulders and arms. While the sweat was quite disgusting, Audrey found that at this point she truly could not bring herself to care. She had to comfort him and calm him down.

"It was so real," Jay muttered under his breath, still barely moving. Audrey pressed a small kiss to his shoulder blade.

"I know. It wasn't real, though. I promise," Audrey reassured him, rubbing his arms and lightly squeezing them as she moved her hands in soothing patterns.

"You... You were," Jay started before shuddering almost violently, screwing his eyes shut tightly.

"Hey, hey, you don't have talk about it if you don't want to," Audrey informed him, honestly not sure how to approach this entire situation since it was so foreign to her.

Audrey had never really dealt with anyone that had dreams such as this. She herself had them sometimes, but she and Jay had been married for such a short amount of time that they were only just now learning about one another's sleeping habits. She had tried diligently to ensure that he did not know about her occasional nightmares sending her thoughts back to the terror that was the Queen of Mean.

They were always intensely vivid for her, but usually she would end up eventually crying herself to sleep. Audrey could not help but wonder if this was how it had been for him as well.

"You're okay, baby. I'm okay," Audrey emphasized, trying to ensure that he understood that fact since it seemed that his horrible dream had starred her as the victim.

"I saw you. I saw you so clearly," Jay mumbled, and Audrey shook her head, snaking her arms under his arms so that her hands were splayed on his bare chest.

"It's all over. It wasn't real," Audrey repeated to him, her voice hushed as she kissed his back gently in a manner that she hoped was somehow comforting to him. She moved closer to his back, placing her legs on either side of his body.

"He hurt you. And I couldn't do anything about it," Jay spoke, and she could hear his voice shake with the words. Audrey shook her head, unhooking her arms from around his body so that she took hold of his arms and attempted to guide them away from his knees.

"I'm fine, Jay. I promise I'm fine. Feel me here?" Audrey questioned, pulling at his arms as she tried to get him to let go of his knees so he could touch her legs nearby him. He finally let go, but it was a slow process. She guided his hands so that they were pressed against her calves.

"See? I'm here and I'm fine."

"He hurt you," Jay shook his head, still stuck on the thought, and Audrey sighed slightly as she scanned her mind desperately for any ideas about how to convince him otherwise. Audrey then slowly pulled her legs from his grasp as she moved over so that she was in front of him. She carefully moved toward him, scooting closer so that she was almost in his lap but not quite. Audrey wanted to ensure that he was comfortable with it before she did anything.

"Jay, look at me," Audrey coaxed, and for a long time, he did not respond. Audrey reached up to touch his arm, and his gaze slowly followed up the length of her arm so that he was soon looking into her eyes. Audrey kept her gaze locked onto his firmly as she moved closer to him, hesitantly crawling into his lap.

"I'm okay," Audrey assured him, and he looked at her for a long time. He hesitantly brought his hands up to her waist and she hummed in an encouraging sound as she situated herself a bit better in his grasp.

"It was just so real," Jay expressed, and Audrey nodded sympathetically, bringing her hands up so that she took his face in her hands, stroking his cheeks with her thumbs.

"I know it was. Nightmares always are," Audrey offhandedly pointed out, and Jay furrowed his brow as he looked at her carefully before gently tugging on her waist in an attempt to pull her closer.

She complied with his pulls, and as soon as she was close enough, he placed his head against her shoulder, wrapping his arms loosely around her waist as his weight settled against her firmly. Audrey moved one hand so that she could stroke Jay's hair and allowed the other one to move gentle circles on the side of his face.

After a long time sitting there in the dark, Jay spoke up again.

"I'm sorry," Jay whispered, and Audrey immediately shook her head.

"Don't. You have absolutely nothing to be sorry for," Audrey reassured, kissing the jointing muscle between his neck and shoulder as he relaxed against her.

"I love you," he told her, his voice exceedingly tired as he embraced her. The corners of Audrey's lips quirked in the slightest of smiles as she pressed her forehead against his shoulder.

"I love you, too."

Thank you to @PurpleSkys2 for the request!!! I hope you guys liked this one!! I know it was a bit of a Debbie Downer, but hopefully you guys still enjoyed it. 😊💗

Please let me know what y'all thought! 🥰