Dreams (Scomiche)

Chapter Four

Mitch (A/N: Short chapter but a double update)

Mitch woke up in the morning extremely confused. As the events from the previous night replayed in his head, he realized that he was lying on the floor in Scott’s arms. Was it possible that he had slept through almost the whole night without a nightmare after that? It didn’t seem like it could be, but it was. He carefully pulled out of Scott’s grip, glancing back at his friend to ensure that he hadn’t woken Scott up. To his dismay, Scott sat up with a yawn.

“Mitch?” Scott asked quietly, shifting so that he was sitting against the wall.

“Good morning, Scott,” Mitch said, sitting cross-legged on the floor in front of him. Scott smiled in Mitch’s direction.

“Morning. You okay? I hope you didn’t have any more nightmares after you fell back asleep.”

“I’m fine,” Mitch replied, surprised by how convincing he managed to sound. “Sorry I made you sleep on the floor.”

“I didn’t mind. I’m just glad you got sleep. No one should have nightmares. Dreams are supposed to be an escape, not another prison.”

“Scott?” Mitch watched Scott carefully, waiting for the blond to elaborate.

“I guess everyone gets nightmares, though,” Scott continued, ignoring Mitch’s comment.

“Do you get nightmares?” Mitch asked suddenly.

“Sometimes.” The word was so obviously a lie that Mitch didn’t even reply. “Okay, more than sometimes. But less than I get good dreams. I already have enough nightmares in my life.”

“Scott?” Mitch asked. “What are your nightmares about?”

“The accident,” Scott said simply.

“And your dreams?”

“Mainly just freedom.”

“Can you see in your dreams?” Mitch wasn’t sure why he was so curious, but if he could keep the topic off himself he would ask anything. And he might as well keep it to an interesting topic.

Scott laughed slightly. “The good ones? Of course.”

“Do you miss it?”

“Being able to see? All the time. But there’s no hope that I’ll see again, so I just have to deal with it. There’s no point in wishing for something that I’ll never have.

“Oh.”

“And you?” Scott asked.

“Me?”

“What are your nightmares about?” Mitch tensed. Travis had told him countless times that if he ever told a soul that he would suffer the consequences. He couldn’t tell the truth. But he also didn’t want to lie to Scott.

“Uh…”

“You don’t have to tell me. It’s fine,” Scott said, probably sensing Mitch’s discomfort.

“Sorry,” Mitch replied, unsure what else to say.

“It’s fine Mitch, honestly. If you ever need a shoulder to cry on, though, my bed is right over there.” Scott gestured in the direction of the bathroom instead of his bed, which made Mitch smile.

“Thanks, Scott. I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Should we go get some breakfast? The other students are supposed to be arriving today, right? The cafeteria should be open.”

“We should,” Mitch replied, crossing the room to check his phone. To his surprise, it was almost noon. “Or we should get lunch. It’s like 11:50.”

“Well we sure slept in,” Scott said, laughing. He used the wall to stand up, wincing almost imperceptibly as he did.

“Are you okay?” Mitch asked, hurrying to Scott’s side.

“Yeah. I just have a headache. Probably from falling last night,” Scott replied. Mitch immediately felt guilty. It was his fault Scott had fallen over last night.

“Sorry,” he muttered quietly.

“It’s not your fault, Mitch,” Scott said. “Could you grab my phone? Also, I’ll have to trust you on what looks best in the cafeteria, just make it easy to eat.”

“Of course,” Mitch replied, getting Scott’s phone for him and leading him out the door.