𝑪𝑯𝑬𝑴𝑰𝑪𝑨𝑳𝑳𝒀 𝒀𝑶𝑼𝑹𝑺 (A TMF AU)

🎍Case of Events

11th May, 2004.

"Hey, you're awake." I walked in the room and came closer to Zander, eventually sitting down on the bed, next to him. "Did you..bring me here?" He asked, looking up at me as he held onto the blanket in his lap. His voice was raspy as he had just woken up. "Yeah, you passed out again earlier. I decided it'd probably be best if I brought you to your place instead of mine." I answered. He looked away for a moment and I could see his face begin to redden, I assumed he was probably just embarrassed about what happened. "Thank you, I'm really sorry for making you put up with me." He furrowed his brows, making eye contact with me shortly before breaking it and averting his gaze to the blanket again.

I looked at him in utter disbelief, did he really feel like he was a bother? "I'm more than happy to help you, you're one of my greatest friends." I explained as I placed my hand on top of his. His gaze immediately averted to our hands. "I don't know what I'd do with myself if I ever let you get hurt." I faintly smiled looking down at our hands. "I.. really don't know what to say, I'm so thankful. I don't know how I could repay you." He quietly said, looking back up at me and returning to our usual eye contact. "You've already repaid me just by being there for me, dummy." I smiled and rubbed my thumb on his hand in a comforting way. "You helped me so much when I broke up with Stacy, and you also helped me with my sister. You're a great friend, you're funny, you're smart, and considerate."
He stared at me for a moment, almost completely stunned as his cheeks turned to a rose pink color. He smiled brightly, "I..uh.." he started, though not knowing how to finish his sentence. He looked away again, "T-Thank you." He quietly stuttered, his voice almost hushed to a whisper.

I softly chuckled, "Of course. Don't feel that way about yourself Zander. You're never a burden to me." He smiled again. "And also, thank you for you know..holding my hand earlier when I was afraid." I shyly said, scratching the back of my neck. Zander sweetly laughed, "Of course, there's no need to be embarrassed about that." He assured me as he placed a hand on my shoulder. I smiled and pulled him in for a hug, he hugged back. I sunk into his embrace and closed my eyes as I rested my head on his hair. His hugs were always so comfortable and so reassuring, I didn't know how to explain it. The smell of his nice perfume, and his shampoo just brought a sense of security to me. It felt like a safe space, no matter what happened I felt like if I got a hug from him, every problem I had would just vanish. We let go of the hug, "Are you feeling any better?" I asked, he nodded. "Much better."

"I don't know if you remember, but what did you see in that nightmare?" I asked, I've been eagerly waiting to ask this question the entire time since we got back. He looked a little worried for a moment, "Remember the painting we saw? With me in it?" He asked while fidgeting with his hands, I nodded. I still couldn't quite get that painting out of my head. It was so horrifying and so ethereal at the same time, it made me feel things I never knew I could feel. "The exact same thing happened in my nightmare. The exact same thing that has been haunting my nightmares for the past four nights." He explained, looking quite distraught. I looked at him in surprise, "You've been having the same nightmare for four nights as well?" I curiously asked, taking note of the changes in his facial expression. "I get nightmares quite often, so I didn't think this through all that much." He halted and hesitated for a moment, "But..having the same nightmare four times in a row made me confused." He looked down and frowned. "Usually in my nightmare, I'm stuck on the main deck of the ship. I can't move any further without some kind of creature chasing me, the nightmare ends when it lunges at me, and assumingly attacks me." He quietly repeated, a stern tone in his voice.

I carefully listened and made sure to give him a sign to go on. He looked up at me and we made eye contact, I gave him a 'go on' look. He quickly understood. It was quite fascinating how we could communicate with only our eyes sometimes. "This time, it felt more real. I'm sure I entered it somehow, I found an invisible wall. I'm assuming that was possibly the barrier between my nightmare and reality." He sighed, "I tried breaking the wall with my fists but only ended up causing damage to my knuckles. My blood made some kind of code on the ground," he squinted his eyes, attempting to remember. "Then, I saw myself behind me. He simply looked at me and then said 'Wake Up.' and that's where it ended." My eyes widened, how on earth was this possible? Did he somehow break the laws of physics or something?