Love & War

Nightmare

Chapter 2:

"What the hell is all that screaming?" I groan to myself as I tap the screen of my phone, it was 3:00 am. I quickly jump out of my bed as the screaming got louder, hurriedly placing a large hoodie over my body.

I open my door and frantically look around as I try to figure out where the screaming was coming from. My eyes landed on James' door, it was coming from there.

I rush into his room, not thinking to knock, and all I see is James kicking and punching the air, while he lays asleep in his bed. I rush over to him, attempting to avoid his punches as I get closer to him. I grab his arms and pin them down, trying my best to fight his impressive strength. I call his name, desperate to wake him up.

"James, James it's just a nightmare!" I yell, noticing that his legs stopped kicking and his breathing was now normalizing.

I move my hand towards his hair and try to slowly run my fingers through his hair, in attempt to calm him. "James, wake up!" I call a little louder, his screaming now stopping. I let go of his arms and cup his sweaty face in my hands.

"Wake-" I say softly but before I could finish my sentence, his eyes shot open and his arms grabbed my wrists, tightly gripping them. He pushes me back and away from him, I stumble back on the bed and I wince in pain as I try to get him to let go.

"James, it's y/n, let go!" I grunt, his grip finally loosening. He darts his eyes around the room and once he realizes where he is, he fully lets my wrists go. He keeps his gaze fixed on my face, staring at me with worry and fear.

"Y/N?" He pants, while he tries to catch his breath, clearly confused about why I was in his room. I quickly stand up while rubbing my wrists in attempt to sooth the aching pain I was feeling.

"Hey, you had a nightmare...thought I should help." I say as I look down, feeling awkward tension building a up, yet my worry remains. His gaze falls to my wrists then back up to my face. I put my hands in the pocket of my hoodie, trying to hide them from him.

"Did I hurt you?" His voice was shallow and guilt filled his face.

"No you didn't, don't worry." I try to give him my best fake smile while I lift my hands up. "See? I'm fine." I say while I show him my wrists, trying to prove that I was okay.

He looked at my wrists and once he saw that no serious damage was done, he sat up and ran his hand down his face, wiping away the remaining sweat.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you." He says regretfully as he sits up, revealing the fact that he had no shirt on. His body glistened with sweat while his dog tag clung to his chest. I couldn't help but stare at the view.

Oh god, this is so wrong, in so many ways.

"Y/N? Y/N, you alright?" He asks, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Yes, I'm fine, don't worry."I slightly smile while I run my fingers through my hair.

"I'm sorry, if I scared you, the whole point of me being on the highest floor was so I wouldn't freak people out with my screaming. If I knew someone was up here, I wouldn't have-" I cut him off.

"No, no it's okay, really." I give him a warm smile taking a seat on the edge of his bed. "You don't have to be alone through this, nightmares can be fucking scary. Sometimes, when I have nightmares, I feel like I'm still having them even when I'm awake." I continue.

"You get them too?" He asks.

"Doesn't everyone?" I jokingly reply, getting a mellow chuckle from him. "I probably can't relate to how bad yours are but you sure as hell aren't alone. If you ever want to talk about it, I'm here." I say as I look into his eyes, wanting him to know that I care.