MOONLIT [Discontinued]

Took You Long Enough: Happier

In your eyes, I swear I feel forever
And I'm falling into the deepest part of you
In your eyes, I feel my heart surrender
As your love breaks through
I'm lost inside your deep blue
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Artemis POV

Percy's screaming woke me up in the middle of the night. He was still sleeping, meaning he was having one of those nightmares that would cause him to fear sleep. He used to have those long ago but had stopped after some time. When he had one of these, he would wake up looking broken and terrified but never told anyone. I felt bad, knowing I couldn't help him since he would never tell anyone about those nightmares. 

I called out his name but he didn't wake up, tossing and turning in his sleep, mumbling incoherent words. I shook him, shoved him, and even slapped him but he wouldn't budge. When he still didn't wake up I knew something was wrong. Though he acted like a child when woken up in the morning, he was a really light sleeper, sometimes he woke up just because the trees were rustling a little too loud.

He stopped saying anything and suddenly went rigid. I panicked when I saw silent tears gushing down in torrents from his closed eyes along with a pained expression. I had to wake him up, quickly at that. I remembered that he would always calm down at my touch and decided to see if it would work in the current situation. After all, he would readily help me when I was dealing with nightmares, it was only right I did too. 

Closing the gap between us, I slowly climbed on top of him. I blushed when I realized the position I was in, straddling him, but decided that this was maybe the only way. Staying in the same position, I hugged him tightly. I could feel his heart beating very fast against my own. I gulped down the warm feeling inside me that always came when I was this close to him and instead focused on waking my friend who was still inside his horrible dream.

"Percy, wake up. This is just a dream, wake up. Nothing will happen to you" I whispered softly, bringing my mouth close to his ear while lightly stroking his hair. He stirred after doing this for a minute. Instead of waking up slowly, his eyes fluttered open. He instantly pushed me aside and tried to scamper away, falling onto the floor in the process. The broken and hopeless look in his eyes broke my heart. When he realized he was no longer in his dream, he sunk back on the floor, put his head in his hands, and started sobbing.

I got up from the bed, sat down on the floor beside him, and pulled him into a comforting hug. He tensed momentarily but then hugged back as he sobbed on my shoulder. I just held him like that in my arms as he let it all out, drenching my tunic but I couldn't care less. After some time, he pulled back though he still had that helpless and defeated look.

"What did you see?" I asked with concern. He looked at me and shook his head and said, "I am alright Missy. Sorry for waking you up" he answered in a small voice that suggested otherwise, like by a big margin. He had been bottling this up for too long. "Percy, tell me. If you don't share and bottle it up, it will cause you meaningless pain" I said in a serious tone. "N-no nothing. You shouldn't concern yourself with these things. I'll manage by myself" he began reasoning. "BULLSHIT" I yelled back. "You helped me with nightmares all those years ago. Did I ever hide them from you? Then why are you hiding them? You know, Percy, it hurts when even your closest friend doesn't trust you."

His face immediately became apologetic. "I am sorry Missy. I didn't mean it that way. I didn't intend to hide anything from you. It-it is just that they were too painful and scarring. It hurts to talk about it, you know" he said in a small voice. I took his hand in mine. "Percy, you know I am always by your side. Don't worry, you can tell me anything, share anything. Believe me Percy, once you share it, you will feel much better. Now tell me" I said comfortingly. He looked at me before taking in a shaky breath.