In The Shadow of Love

Chapter 38: Found Family

I want to thank you all for leaving comments, the comments keep me really motivated so if you want more make sure to leave them lol

—————————

Diane's dreams were in green. Green sparks, green magic, surrounding her, tearing through her. It hurt, wanting to scream but when she did so no sound came out. Pain ripped at her belly like a knife, twisting and turning inside her. It never ended, green filling her vision, her mind, her blood.

She woke with a shout of terror, waking both Ominis beside her and Sebastian across the room. She panicked for a moment and shook like a leaf as Ominis reached for her.

"Ssssh, Diane, you were just dreaming. It's okay, now." He set his forehead against hers lovingly, wishing he could give her more strength than he could with just words. He hated seeing her so torn up like this.

"Ominis." She whispered his name, closing her eyes and leaning against him in relief as she seemed grounded by his presence.

"What was it you dreamed about, sweet? Talking will help." He said softly. "I have nightmares too. I know how real they can seem."

"Green magic... pain... I couldn't scream." She shook against him, letting out a shuddering breath as she spoke quietly.

"Ah." Ominis said in understanding. "I've had dreams like that too. They're still scary. It's hard to tell what's real and what's not for a moment when you wake up."

Diane let out a soft sigh, glad he truly did understand. "Do you still have them?"

"Not as often." Ominis shook his head. "It used to be almost every night when I was younger. It's every few months or so now. I've almost gotten used to them."

They looked over as they heard rustling, Sebastian shifting in his bed so he was leaning against the wall behind it. His expression was solemn, glancing over at them uneasily.

"I'm sorry for being stupid." He said quietly. "I'm sorry for causing you more pain. I didn't mean to."

Diane looked down, the thought of losing him still tearing through her. She had been so angry at him, her last words had been terrible, and he'd almost died with those being the last things she'd said to him.

"I'll forgive you if you come back to school." She said softly, looking over to him while she still held Ominis, "and if you don't do anything like that ever again. No running off. No trying to 'save' us. No deciding things on your own like that. We need to communicate more. We need to make sure each of us are heard." She looked up to Ominis and smiled, moving a loose lock of his hair that had fallen wild in his sleep. "All of us."

He smiled warmly, knowing full well how often he'd been ignored last year. He liked the idea of all three of them having a say in things.

Sebastian got up and walked over to their bed, kneeling in front of it so he could be closer to them. He wanted to be near them. He wanted to be with them. He had missed them terribly these last few weeks in his self inflicted isolation. "Alright. We'll all get a say in big decisions." He looked at their joined hands on the far side of the bed, and with a bit of an embarrassed look, held out both of his hands in offering.

Diane smiled softly and took his hand in hers, and Sebastian reached for Ominis' hand to hold it. It felt... right, somehow.

"None of us have family anymore. So we'll be each other's family." Sebastian said solemnly. "We'll look out for each other... and I'll try my best to be more considerate. I'm just rubbish at it sometimes."

"I'll try to express myself better." Diane said softly.

"And I'll try to say my opinions more often." Ominis agreed.