❝I need to put me first❞ | Being back home isn't as good as Rose thought it would be, living surrounded by a family she doesn't know is taking a toll on her. As Rose tries to deal with her amnesia while she also comes to terms with trying to find ou...
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*I screamed, my hand outstretched, but all I could do was watch as Owen fell into darkness, his fingers grazing mine as I was too late to catch him. "OWEN!" my shriek was loud and painful as my stomach twists and sinks. I turn in time just to be back inside a car that flies through the air, smashing into the desert as it crumples and flips, throwing me around inside. Once it settles on its head, I groan, crawling out just to look up and see a gun pointed at me before hearing a bang*
"NO!" I scream, sitting up as I clutch my sore throat; glancing around, I notice the familiar space of my room in the garage. Rubbing my eyes, I look at the clock on the bedside table. It is 5 a.m., not early enough for anyone to be awake but too late for them to still be out partying.
Throwing the covers off me, I get up and pad through the garage and over to the room below Han's office. Pushing open the door, I carefully peek inside, seeing the older man sleeping alone and looking just as troubled as I felt.
His eyes open with a spring, and my heart hurts at the familiar pain in his eyes, haunted by his own nightmares. He wordlessly lifts the covers, and I sneak into his embrace, cuddling into him like a kid clinging to their parent.
"It won't last forever," he whispers to me, his voice low, but I can hear the hope in his tone. He doesn't want to forget the trauma of what happened, but he also knows it gets easier. That sleep won't come with the additional challenge that comes in the form of nightmares.
I just sighed into his chest knowingly; even at my age, I knew better. It wasn't cynicism at this point but realism. "Nothing lasts forever."
The two of us fall into an uneasy light sleep, just holding each other, anchoring ourselves to the only thing we really have. The only tangible piece of our lives that, even though forced together through pain and trauma, is the only true thing the other has.
Hours later, as the sun starts to fill through the windows and the open garage door, Han and I shuffle into the main seating area of the garage where the kids had been sleeping in the pods. Though their shocked and surprised gazes were soon on us.
"'It's not what it looks like," I grumbled, sitting on the couch with my coffee, kicking my legs up on the table as Twinkie immediately gazes at them. "No Twinkles. Not for you," I say dryly, wagging my finger at him as he quickly looks away.
Han snorts as he drops by my side, and they continue to stare at us.
"So-... if it's not what it looks like?" Reiko starts, seemingly the only one brave enough to question either of us, well, either brave or nosy. I wasn't sure, but she seemed the type to be both. I can't actually blame the kid; I was probably similar at her age. "I mean... I heard a scream a while ago.." She says with a blush.
I freeze, but it's only visible for a second. Han frowns and glances at me knowingly. Running my finger over the lip of the cup, I sigh tiredly. "I get nightmares. Bad ones." I say as the three of them gaze at me, surprised by my answer.
