We Fell In Love In October - Wintumn Flufftober

Nightmare

A/N - Who's ready for a fun game. Tomorrow is Halloween and how Flufftober proper ends is up to you - choose Trick or Treat. I obviously have more prompts so we won't be done...but still...

Autumn loved Winter more than she'd ever loved anyone or anything before. Sure she would joke and say that he was the second most important man in her life; but they both knew that as devoted as she was to Cadaver, she was even more so to Winter. He was her soulmate, the person that she had waited her entire life to find. Her favorite part of the day was falling asleep in his arms; his grasp tight around her made her feel completely safe, completely secure. It was as if nothing could harm her as long as he was there. After years of restless nights, she was finally able to get an uninterrupted night's sleep because she had Winter with her. It had gotten to a point where the second there wasn't at least a part of her touching Winter as they slept she would wake up immediately.

So she was surprised when she slowly woke up to find Winter wasn't beside her. His side of the bed was cold, so it was clear he'd been gone for quite a while. She tried her best not to worry though, her robe and slippers were set out on her dressing table as they always were so she knew Winter had been back in the room since he left. There were times that he would sneak out early to make her breakfast in bed or pick her up a coffee from her favorite cafe down the street, so she grabbed her phone to read the news while she waited for him to come back. As the minutes ticked by her calm demeanor started to fade; the words on her screen were nothing more than a jumbled mess as she tried desperately to keep her mind off her missing love.

After twenty minutes she just couldn't sit there anymore. She kept trying to be rational: he probably had to pop to the shop to get something for breakfast, the line at the coffee shop was longer than normal, or he had to drive further into town to pick up a surprise; he was always so thoughtful like that. But in the back of her mind she just couldn't shake the fact that something awful had happened; or was going to happen. So she got dressed, she was moving so quickly she didn't notice just how empty the wardrobe was. She pulled on one of Winter's hoodies and a pair of leggings, the outfit that always brought her the most comfort, and made her way downstairs. On her way down the corridor she checked in every room, hoping that maybe she'd find him engrossed in a new record or reading in his favorite chair; he wasn't.

When she finally made it to the kitchen, she found Winter. Sitting quietly with his head in his hands, staring into a cup of coffee. The sight of him immediately made her feel lighter, much more at peace.

"Good morning, my sweet."

He didn't answer; he didn't even look up. But she didn't think anything of it, it was still quite early, so she started flitting around the kitchen, making her own cup of coffee so they could share the quiet morning together. When she made her way around the breakfast bar to sit next with him, she stopped in her tracks as she noticed the bags sitting on the floor next to him. In his hands he clutched a piece of paper folded into a small square. She heard him draw in a heavy breath before finally moving his gaze from the counter.

"Autumn, I-" she heard his breath catch as he started, but after a second he continued. It was clear his mind was made up. "I was going to be gone before you got up."

"Gone?"

Autumn's voice was no more than a whisper; he thoughts beginning to race. It's happening again. He handed her the piece of paper, his touch cold and quick instead of its usual lingering warmth. It's happening again. She saw tears form in his eyes as he collected the bag's from the floor and headed toward the door. It's happening again. Autumn stood frozen, her chest tightening as she finally listened to the voices swirling around her head. It's happening again. She turned quickly running after him begging, pleading with him to stay. It's happening again.