Paper Rings & Dirty Dreams - JakexMC [18+]

In silence, with blindness, through darkness, I'll walk with you

Demons come knocking. Jake almost lets them in, but Manon is there to coax him out of hell and into the light. Ends with a burst of pure happiness.

The title is from the song: Die For You by the Seige
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Ten months before the wedding

Manon woke abruptly, panic clawing up her neck and heart bouncing off her ribs as Jake's pained shout echoed in her sleep-dulled ears. Her gaze flew to him. His eyes moved rapidly under his eyelids, mouth working and clenching shut, hands fisted in the sheets as sweat slid down his face—or maybe tears. A whimper left her at the thought as he writhed and moaned. She shook out of her panic and swiped the wetness away from his stubbled face. Her quivering hands fluttered over him as his breathing became erratic. She shook his shoulder. You weren't supposed to wake a dreaming person; it could make them remember the dream more vividly, but she was unnerved. He had more than a few sleepless nights while virtually gunning for everyone after him every day. His only other case was a cold one they'd agreed to take on together.

Well-versed in the demons of dark dreams, Manon was helpless as Jake struggled and whined low in his throat, animalistic and heartwrenching. It tore something deep inside her as his legs thrashed and his jaw ticked. His teeth gritted so hard, their grinding made her worry he'd snap them, and her hands trembled as she smoothed them over his cold, sweat-damp face. Soothing words tripped off her tongue, going rigid when he went still and held his breath. A too long moment, her heartbeat pounded in her ears as she cooed at him, telling him he was safe and loved, he was free and could leave this terror whenever he wanted. It fell on deaf ears; he was locked inside it, and she felt useless as he jolted and let out a sound so pitiful tears stung the back of her eyes.

"Manon..." he whimpered, so much anguish and agony in that one word, her throat thickened, and she got up on her knees to hover over him.

Laying a hand over his frothing heart, she muttered, "I'm right here. Come on, love. I'm here. Come find me."

A too-loud gasping breath, his hands pulled and twisted the sheets, muscles straining, and she stupidly worried he'd tear them in half if he didn't wake soon. She finally understood how horrific watching her battle her past in her sleep must've been for him, and she hated it. This wasn't a foe she could fight for him. Brute force and reckless acts wouldn't help him, and she didn't know what to do. She touched him, smoothing shaking fingers over the taut skin of his chest and desperately trying to bring him back to her without scaring him. His breath came in hitched gulps, stuttering and unnatural as his body bowed, and he bared his teeth at the ceiling. It slowly sunk in as he whimpered her name again. He wasn't scared for himself; something was happening to her in his dream, and he couldn't bear it.