Bad Dreams

Chapter 1

    "Goodnight," I sighed as Arin and I fell asleep side by side for the first time.
    "Night," he replied sleepily; today had been a busy day for us.
                               • • •
    I observe my surroundings wildly. I was stranded in the middle of the ocean. No land or civilization in sight, I panicked. I couldn't keep up swimming for much longer; I felt exhausted, as if I had been there for hours. A pain shot up my leg. Then, I was being pulled underneath the water; the shock of this winded me. I can't breathe! I need to breathe!
    I don't look down. I already know what was happening. I was being killed by my worst fear, a shark. I don't want to see it.
• • •
"Dan?! Wake up!" Arin was shaking me.
"A-Arin?" I was still in a shock.
"You must've been having the worst dream," Arin gave me a sympathetic look that melted my heart, "Are you okay?"
"It was just a dream," I whispered to myself.
"That's right," Arin smiled in mild relief, "Are you alright?"
    "I'm fine... It was just a bad dream."
    "Okay, but do you wanna talk to me about it?" Arin was awake who knows how late worrying about me because I had a bad dream.
    "I'm sure it's nothing, really!" I smiled reassuringly to Arin.
    "Okay," Arin reluctantly let me sleep, "Wake me up if you need anything else."
    "Thanks," I gave him a quick hug, "Goodnight."
    "G'night," Arin was back asleep in moments.
    I lay down, unable to sleep as quickly. I did fall asleep eventually, but was met with about the same nightmare. This time, I wasn't awakened. I got eaten alive that night.
    "Morning," Arin stretched, waking up, and seeing the distressed look on my face, "Hey, what's up?"
    "Had another nightmare," I grumbled, "Same one as last time."
    "Same one, huh?" Arin asked, "What was it about?"
    "I was stranded in the middle of the ocean, and I was slowly eaten by a shark," I blushed, realizing what I was bothering him for was stupid.
    "Aww," Arin seemed very sorry for me, "It's okay... I'm sure you're going to be fine, right?" He gave me a hug, "I'm here if you ever get scared."
    "I know. Thank you, Arin," I return the hug, "It really means a lot to me."
    "C'mon, let's get breakfast," Arin left the bed, and I follow close behind him.
    "Yeah," I grin; finally, we could get past these pointless nightmares.
    We went through our day, same as we normally would. Those dreams- no, nightmares- were, for some reason, always on the back of my mind. I knew that's just what they were, nightmares, that's it, but dreams do have real life meanings. What could this mean? Am I gonna get eaten? I laughed at the thought; that's probably not it. I usually let things like this go very easily, but I couldn't help but ponder those nightmares all throughout the day. I hadn't had a nightmare in so long, and this one just felt so real. Arin seemed to take notice of my worry. He's the last person I would want to worry. He just doesn't have to worry about me.
    "Dan, are you okay?" Arin asked me occasionally.
    I would always respond with something along the lines of, "Why wouldn't I be? I have you with me!" or "Don't worry about me, I'm okay!"
    I, however, wasn't entirely honest. I was going to be okay, though. I can't let something as small as a bad dream faze me, now can I?