Secrets | TMR | One

5:3

A/N Talk of death.

Also this is one of the only times I'll link a song to a chapter, because this is the song I was listening to when I wrote this and I feel like you just need to be in the same zone as me, ya know?
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Have you ever been smacked on the nose?

Not like a small tap, but also not a punch. Somewhere in the middle, where no blood is shed, but you still feel sparks of pain vibrating through your face. Your eyes water, and your sinuses burn from the blunt force. Your brain fights to free itself from the clouds of white noise that cast through your skull.

That is the sensation that woke Nick.

With the sound of static echoing in his ear drums, and the feeling that the top of his cheekbones have been set alight.

"What the fuck" the boy grumbles to himself, his voice gruff and hoarse from hours of not being used. His hand instinctively lifts from the bed and clutches onto his nose, with his eyes squeezed shut as thick beads of water gather at each corner.

He attempts to allow himself a few moments of composure before seeking out the cause of the pain, but just when his eyes begin to open and regain their focus, another blow is brought down on his face. This time, on his forehead, causing the leader to flinch away, his head frantically turning from side to side as he scrambles himself up to a sitting position.

A chorus of murmers and cries ring out from somewhere to the left of him, the sound reaching up and gripping onto his chin, pulling his face towards them. He twists his head to the side, his eyes still scrunched up with sleep and his body still groggy and rigid.

The minute his eyes land on the source of the slurred mumbles, his mind powers up. Like a scarecrow gifted a brain, his brain instantly refreshed and shooting signals to every part of his body, telling him he needs to take action. As soon as his brain jump-starts, his body does too. As though he is a tin man and his joints have been doused in oil. Each bone beneath his skin now free from all stiffness.

Nick's heart, the heart that had replaced the old when his feelings towards Adeline had truly began to come into play, feels as though it might implode. It races and pounds, threatening to rip through his chest at any given moment.

Adeline lays to the left of him, tossing and turning, her arms and leg barrelling out in every direction. Through the girls constant flailing, the leader manages to jump from the bed, his body twisting around as he swivels onto his knees and leans down.

"Addy, wake up"

Firming curling his fingers around her wrists and pressing them into the pillow on either side of her head, Nick feels that her skin is cold. Practically freezing. The icy touch radiates through his fingers and up his arms, making his shoulders twitch and his spine shiver. Yet, his palms also slip and slid against the sweat dripping from every inch of her body.

Adeline mutters incoherently to herself, her shoulders launching up a few inches before being dragged back by the leaders restraint on her arms, all the while he feels his body getting hotter, and his hands beginning to ache from the girls constant battle.

But he refuses to give up, especially when Adeline's voice gets louder, and the words she mumbles are no longer as transparent as they were a few minutes prior.

"No, no, don't!" she says, her eyes squeezing shut as her brain keeps itself locked in on her nightmare.

Although she is still very much trapped in a dream, Nick can see that she is crying. Chunky tears erupt from the crease of her eyelids, glistening gold against the hue of the lamp at the side of the bed as they scramble around on her cheeks, colliding harshly with every bump and blemish until almost her entire face is coated with a layer of the salty liquid.