Outside Work We... •[TNN One-shots]•

Nightmare Fuel •|| WINTUMN + ARRI ||•

Prompt: Winter wakes up from a nightmare.

His eyes snapped open.

Darkness. The ceiling above him. His chest rising and falling in sharp, uneven gasps.

The air in the room was thick— too thick, pressing down on him like a weight he couldn't shake. His throat felt tight, raw, as if he'd been screaming. Sweat clung to his skin, damp and chilling, his body trembling like the nightmare still had its claws buried deep in him.

For a moment, he was still there.

Still trapped in that endless, suffocating void.

The blood. The silence. The gaping, black emptiness where they should have been.

And then—

THUD.

A muffled groan. A sharp inhale. A tangle of limbs colliding with the floor.

Winter lurched upright, the movement almost violent, his breath a ragged gasp. His heart slammed against his ribs, his pulse roaring so loud it drowned out the remnants of sleep.

The space beside him— empty.

No. No, no, no—

He turned so fast his vision swam.

On the floor, tangled in a mess of blankets that had once been wrapped around all of them, were two familiar figures.

Autumn. Arri.

Winter’s breath caught in his throat so sharply it hurt.

They were there.

Alive. Whole. Blinking up at him with matching expressions of sleepy irritation, squinting through the darkness as they tried to make sense of what had just happened.

Arri winced, rubbing her shoulder where she’d landed. “What the hell, Winter?”

Autumn groaned, scowling as she massaged her arm. “Did you just throw us off the bed?”

Winter didn’t answer. He couldn’t. His chest felt too tight, his hands still shaking. The adrenaline wouldn’t fade, wouldn’t let go of him.

They were okay.

They were okay.

But the fear was still there, curling around his ribs like a vice, whispering, What if?

His next breath caved in his chest, uneven and stuttering, sharp with something dangerously close to a sob.

Autumn pushed herself up with a groan, stretching out her arms before sending him a glare. “You are officially banned from sleeping in the middle.”

Arri huffed, still sprawled half on top of Autumn. “I thought we were safe from your sleep violence.”

Still, Winter said nothing.

Instead, before they could move, before he could lose them again, he grabbed them.

Pulled them in. Held on like they were the only real thing in the world.

Autumn barely had time to react before she was crushed against his chest, Arri tangled between them, all three of them wrapped in a desperate, clinging embrace.

Neither of them pulled away.

Autumn stilled against him first, her breath warm against his neck. Then she shifted, one hand threading gently through his hair, the other pressing firm and steady against his back.

Arri, despite her usual protests about affection, didn’t squirm. Didn’t complain.

She just exhaled softly against his shoulder.

Winter’s fingers curled into the fabric of Autumn’s shirt, into the sleeve of Arri’s hoodie, gripping tight, too tight, like if he let go—

They’d disappear.

Like they’d slip away, swallowed up by the nightmare, gone forever.

His voice, when he finally found it, barely sounded like his own.

“I had a dream.”

Autumn’s hold on him tightened. “A bad one?”

Winter swallowed hard, nodding. His throat burned. “I lost you.” His voice cracked, breaking apart on the words. “Both of you. And I—”

He couldn’t finish.

Autumn didn’t hesitate. Her arms locked around him, strong and unyielding, like she could anchor him in place. “We’re here,” she murmured, quiet but fierce.

Arri, still half-asleep, softer than usual, mumbled against his shoulder, “It wasn’t real.”

Winter sucked in a sharp breath, his lungs shaking.

No. It wasn’t real.

But God, it had felt like it was.

So he held on.

Held onto them anyway.

Just in case.

[A/N: Told you I'm being nice. :) BisexualAshie04 janiceswifeyy myeonnanna_ there, I'm sorry. Don't hurt me. :)]