I found you

[7] Nightmares

A quiet ringing interrupted the playful fight. It was Ayan's phone. They immediately stopped talking.

"Fuck! One of my friends is calling!" Ayan panicked. He actually had planned to call them, but after getting distracted by a certain someone, he totally forgot about it. Ayan hesitated but ended up taking the call nervously. Meanwhile Akk, frozen in shock, was listening attentively.

"Hi...Yeah, everything's alright...I'm at a friend's house...No, I'm ok...Sorry, I just woke up...I can't tell you where I am right now...I'll come when I'm fully recovered again...No, I'm really fine...Don't worry...I'll explain later..." Akk noticed Ayan getting overwhelmed by the many questions from the other side.

"Yeah...I'll see you...Thanks for worrying... Ok, Bye..." Ayan quickly ended the call, seemingly relieved that it was over now.

"Everything's alright?" Akk asked him slightly worried.

"Yeah...they're just concerned about me. Understandably. I would be too if one of my friends was missing." Ayan smiled, thinking about his friends. Akk could see that Ayan genuinely cared about the people close to him and subconsciously wished that maybe one day he would become one of those people.

"Thanks, for not telling them where you are." Akk said gratefully.

"No worries. I don't want them to see me like that, too." Ayan chuckled embarrassed and stroked nervously his injured leg.

"Do you want some snacks?" Akk tried to change the subject and opened one of the drawers where the snacks were stored.

Hearing that Ayan nodded happily. His eyes were glowing with joy. One thing Ayan loved almost more than art was snacks, especially sweets. So when Akk handed him a pack of cookies he immediately opened it and devoured one with relish.

They were so delicious that Ayan grabbed another one and ate it with equal pleasure, even making some cute noises after every bite to show how tasty they were, while Akk was just watching Ayan eating the cookies and acting like a little kid that got a reward from his parents. Akk smiled at this cute sight.

When Ayan felt someone was starring at him he turned his head to Akk who was still mindlessly starring at Ayan.

"Do I have something on my face or why are you staring at me?" Ayan asked Akk directly, startling him. Akk, now coming to his senses, felt caught. His face immediately turned red again.

"W-what? I'm not staring! Y-you're just imagining it. Who would wanna stare at your face? Don't be so full of yourself." Ayan just shrugged, not entirely convinced, but just let Akk be.

"Well...um...I don't wanna stress you, but do your parents know anything that you're here?" Akk, finally getting himself together, asked Ayan with a more serious tone.

"My mother is on business trip and won't get back until next week." Ayan just explained, suddenly looking a bit sad. Akk only nodded, not daring to question Ayan about his father because he felt that it was inappropriate to ask. But he was relieved that at least with Ayan's parents things wouldn't get any more complicated.

"So...Do you wanna do something? It's only 8pm. Or do you wann rest?" Akk asked Ayan. Ayan thought long about what he wanted to do. In the end he decided to go to sleep because he was still really exhausted.

Akk went to his room with Ayan to get some clothes for himself to sleep on. Ayan actually wanted to sleep on the couch in the living room because it was still Akk's bed and he felt that Akk had done enough for him. But Akk refused.

"No, you're still injured. You need to rest. Don't worry about me."

Ayan, still feeling guilty, tried everything to convince Akk to let him sleep on the couch but Akk didn't change his mind. So Ayan had to sleep on Akk's bed tonight while the other got some bedcovers and pillows so he could sleep on the couch.

Before Akk could even leave his room, Ayan had already fallen asleep. Akk was astonished at how someone could fall asleep so easily when he himself struggled to fall asleep almost every night and stayed up most of the night. But he remembered that unlike him Ayan was still exhausted and injured from yesterday's events and needed to rest.

Akk decided to shower to clear his mind because he was starting to think too much again and he didn't want that right now.

-

Today was one of those nights where Akk couldn't sleep. It was already 1am and he was wide awake. At least he didn't have school tomorrow. Akk thought to himself and stood up. Too many thoughts were non stop running through his mind.

Akk briefly thought about taking the sleeping pills his doctor had prescribed, but immediately changed his mind as Akk didn't like the thought of being knocked out by some pills when anything could happen to him while he could do nothing to defend himself. Akk knew he was being paranoid but he had his reasons.

Akk then got up and went quietly to his balcony to smoke a cigarette. Akk wasn't a heavy smoker. In fact, he hardly ever smoked. But now Akk was getting really stressed out and he didn't know why, making him even more irritated.

Outside Akk could see the moon slightly shining through the clouds and unlike yesterday, even the stars in the sky. It was getting quite chilly and Akk could feel a light breeze, but it was still warm enough to go outside without a jacket.

He took a cigarette out of the pack and lit it. After taking a puff, Akk immediately felt the sedative effect he had been craving before and eventually calmed down.

After finishing the cigarette and feeling less stressed, Akk went back inside and was about to go back to sleep when he suddenly heard someone from his room sobbing and crying. It was Ayan.

Akk immediately ran to his room and saw a panicked Ayan crying in his sleep and moving frantically. Akk instantly knew that Ayan was probably having nightmares and rushed to him to calm him down, but the other boy pushed him away and even hit him. But Akk didn't budge. He heard Ayan mumbling something and tried to listen when suddenly Ayan started screaming in his sleep.

"D-DON'T TOUCH ME!!! P-PLEASE, STOP!!! GET OFF ME!!! PLEASE..." The crying didn't stop while Ayan begged for his life. The scream became more and more hysterical.

Akk was very worried about Ayan because things were getting really serious. Akk could only imagine what Ayan could have been through, but he didn't know what to do in such cases. He couldn't shake Ayan to wake him up because that could potentially make things worse. So Akk tried to calm him down verbally.

"Ayan! It's me, Akk. Everything is alright! Please, calm down! You're safe here. Ayan, please calm down! Everything's gonna be fine. I'm so sorry..." Akk tried to comfort Ayan. But it didn't work. Ayan was still panicking and Akk became desperate because he didn't know what to do to help him. It seemed like nothing was working

Suddenly Ayan grabbed Akk's arm, trying to hold his hand.

"Please, make it stop! Help me, please..." Ayan's cry for help became weaker but he was still panting and violently shaking.

Akk who thought that it was now ok to touch him hugged Ayan tightly, trying to comfort him the best as he could. And it seemed that it was somehow working. Ayan's breathing slowly returned to normal and he stopped shaking. His crying didn't stop but it became quieter until Akk could only hear him sobbing softly as he felt his shirt getting wet with Ayan's tears.

Akk kept patting Ayan on the back and whispering in his ear that everything would be fine. And soon they both fell asleep on Akk's bed, still hugging tightly as if they only had each other.