Guest UnfortuNATE

Chapter 4: A Nightmare

"Dia!"
Diamond bolted, sitting upright with a muffled scream, almost bumping her head with Spade who was hovering over her, concern etched on her face.
"Are you okay?"
Heart regarded her with a concerned frown as she reached out to check on her forehead as she was sweating profusely like she had just ran a 10 km marathon. Even her clothes were damped.
"You were writhing and groaning in your sleep as if you were fighting someone in your dreams, we were trying to wake you up for the last 30 minutes but we just couldn't wake you," Spade's voice was laced with worry.
"A nightmare's all. I'm fine, really." She assured them, though she was still breathing hard and her cheeks were wet with tears. She knew that had been just a dream, a nightmare actually but she could not make her heart stop racing. It had seemed too real.
"I'm sorry for waking you all up," she sheepishly murmured in a small voice.
"Hey, what are you being sorry for?" She was taken aback by Ace's stern voice. "And that was not 'a nightmare's all'. What could have happened when you weren't been able to wake up? A nightmare doesn't take that long, Dia. Fuck, we're trying to wake you up for half an hour. There were even times when you had been struggling to breathe and I don't fucking know what to do." An awkward silence filled the room after Ace's angry outburst. She then stood up and turned to leave. "I'll get you a glass of water," she announced in a shaky voice.
Heart offered her an apologetic smile. "Don't take it to heart, she ain't angry at you, you know that."
Diamond brushed her off with a sad smile. "I know. We've been friends for so long now, I know her."
They all knew that Ace struggles in expressing her feelings and she often mask her concern for them with anger.
"She was just too worried. You should have seen her almost lost it when you were unresponsive," Spade explained in a low voice, a little later. "She was cursing at herself for not being able to wake you up despite doing everything. She looks so helpless. It's as almost as she had been having flashbacks of that night..." she trailed off, not wanting to say more but the other two understood immediately.
Diamond's heart ached for Ace and she can't help the guilt that is now starting to eat her out when she realized that she might have brought back Ace's worst nightmare.
"Hey, it was not your fault. None of us saw this coming," Heart assured her, gripping her hands and rubbing her back when she noticed Diamond start to grow uneasy. "Stop blaming yourself for something you don't have a control over with. You know she hates seeing any of us like this."
Diamond nodded and quickly forced a smiled when she saw Ace coming back with a glass of water. They pretended not to notice her eyes now turned red that meant she had been crying. They were guessing it's what took her long to return with the water.
"Thank you, Ace."
Ace nodded, she seemed to be fumbling with her words so Dia reached out to hold her hands, offering a smile.
"Hey, I'm so sorry about earlier. I said things that I shouldn't have and I knew I hurt you. I let my emotions get the better off me, I'm a fucking asshole." Ace apologized through gritted teeth and they all knew she was being angry at herself. They knew she hated being the reason for her friend's pain and now, she just had an angry outburst. She wasn't able to control her emotions and became overwhelmed, reacting in a way she shouldn't.
"Nothing to be sorry about, love. I hold nothing against you." Diamond was quick to throw herself at the other girl for a hug. The others followed suit, staying like that for 5 minutes or so.
"Do you hate me?" Ace whispered in a sheepish tone, trying to lighten up the mood.
"How could I ever hate on someone I love so dearly?"
"But I'm an asshole."
"Our asshole, and we love you for that. The fool, the crybaby and a bitch, look, we're a bunch of losers who just happens to be best friends."
Somehow, that remark from Heart made them laugh, finally easing the tensed and heavy atmosphere. They were back to being giggly in no time and started bantering with each other again like nothing happened.

"You can tell us now, Dia. If you want, that is..."
As she meets Ace's gaze, she can't help but shudder as she looked at those pair of dark eyes, reminding her of the terrible dream she just had.
"Not that I don't want to, but..." she turned to look at clock at their bedside table. "It's the middle of the night, we can talk about this in the morning."
"Or we can talk about it til the morning?" Spade offered with a reassuring smile.
"As if we'd be able to go to sleep now? No, darling, we're not letting you bear that nightmare alone," Heart chimed in, though letting out a suppressed yawn.
"I'm sorry for waking you up guys," she can't help but mutter when she regarded their sleepy eyes.
"One more apology and I swear to God," Heart glared at her. "Don't even stop to think if you're being a bother to us because you never are and never will be. We've been friends for so long now, think back. Was there any moment where someone was left to deal with her shits alone?"
Diamond shook her head. She understood that her friend is just trying to say that they knew her too well, that if she won't talk about it now, she would be haunted with that dream over and over again until it will completely eat her out. Not that they were trying to make her uncomfortable by forcing her to relive that nightmare but they had talked about this once.
She used to refuse telling them about her nightmares before, until it completely got to her mind and screwed her up, not once but twice. They just don't want that to happen again.
Remembering that, she can't hold back the tears that she had been struggling to hold at bay, not from fear but by the overwhelming love she has for her friends at that moment. She could feel how much they really cared for her especially when they came close to envelop her in a hug they knew would make her feel safe.
"Shhhh, honey. It's okay, we're here."
Her eyes shot open wide with terror when she heard Ace whispered in her ear, she felt like being taunted by her nightmare again but when she felt Ace rub her back, she was reassured that everything's going to be alright and that was just a dream.
Gaining courage from her friends, she propped a pillow at their bed frame and started to narrate to them her dream, gradually losing her fear as Spade and Heart plays with her hands on each side and Ace situated herself by their feet, listening intently.
"It had seemed too real."
The three other girls sat there in silence, she now wonders what's going through their heads at the moment.
"Ace, let me check your phone."
Heart was the one who broke the silence, making them raise their eyebrows at their friend who scrambled to get the phone.
"What? Just checking..."
She just let out an annoyed sigh when they kept staring at her before typing in Ace's password and checking her inboxes.
"None. There was none."
She rolled her eyes when she saw her friend's teasing grins.
"Chicken?"
"Duh, it's a nightmare, just a dream. It doesn't make me wanna hide under the covers, in fact, I found it quite interesting. It could be an inspiration for a new book you would be writing next, Ace."
Diamond chuckled and she knew Heart is right. When she told them about it, she even felt a little foolish for being scared of a nightmare but, it really was a lot different when she was having that dream.
Her fears were gone now only because she was with them and she felt safe in their presence.
"It makes me wonder though why Nate failed to show up last night."
Spade let out a yawn after voicing out her thoughts that she knew was running through her friends' minds as well.
"Go to sleep already, we'll find out eventually. It's almost three in the morning," Ace smiled as she watch them take turns letting out a yawn, eyes starting to droop. They all nodded in agreement. She then rose to switch off the light before lying down between Heart and Diamond.
"Goodnight, guys."
"Morning, you should say."
"Whatever, shut up already."
Heart put a hand over Spade's mouth, shushing her.