I'm the Bad Boy's Princesa

Nightmares

"There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."
‭‭Galatians‬ ‭3:28-29‬ ‭NIV‬‬

🔗Serena's POV🔗

"No, pain... too much pain. I don't want it. Please, stop. Please!"

"Serena!"

My eyelids fly open as my hair is pushed away from my face and fingers pull at my knuckles. Looking down, my vision still slightly blurry, I realize with horror that my fingers were digging into Jacob's skin. My blunt nails are tainted faintly with blood and his skin is broken. Tears prick at my eyes.

"J-Jacob? I'm sorry, I'm so sorry--"

"No, Princessa, no. This isn't your fault. It's okay." His hand cover my cheeks and the other moves to play with my hair. "Deep breaths, baby, deep breath."

His words calm me a bit, but it only brings me back to the memory of my dream. "He was here. I mean, I was there. Again. The pain kept coming and coming. I couldn't stop. It wouldn't stop. He was so close. I saw his eyes. But... they were bleeding. Jacob, his eyes were bleeding! All the other men were just silhouettes but their eyes were white. They wouldn't stop looking at me! I thought they were going to drain the life out of me. The pain is still here. I can feel it every time I wake up. It won't leave! I can't--I don't want to sleep anymore. It just won't go away."

"It's okay, it'll be okay. He's gone. He can't hurt you."

"But he already hurt me, now he's in my mind. Jacob, I'm so tired."

He holds me tighter. "I know, I know. I'm sorry."

Sobs wrack through me. "How... how many nights has it been?"

He's silent for a moment and that fact cuts through me like a dull knife. "Five."

"I'm so tired. Why won't he leave me?"

He sits up, curling me into his chest and wrapping the blanket around me. My eyes shut, flooded with water, as he begins to sway us side to side. A kiss is transferred to my temple as he continues his movements. My cries lessen in sound, resulting in mere sniffles here and there. Jacob does not stop swaying, nor does he remove his lips from my temple. This alone could bring my tears back tenfold. How many times have a woken him up since I got back home? At least three times every night. I can see the bags beneath his eyes darkening, and that brings onto me extreme guilt. I don't want him to suffer just because I can't get over this.

"Serena."

My body jumps. "Yes?"

"You don't have to feel guilty. I'm here due to my free will and my love of you."

"That seems worse."

"How?"

"You shouldn't have to deal with this because you love me."

He grips my shoulders, raising me to eye level with him. He then grips my chin with one hand, the other arm wrapped around me. "I love you, and therefore will deal with the crap you're going through. I love you and I will take care of you. Loving you means that I will see the worst of and in you, and vice versa. I choose to stay and help you heal because I am utterly in love with your entire self. And your entire self includes the nightmares you get from going through something you shouldn't have. I love you, Princessa. I'm not letting you go because of waking up at night to help you. Understand?"

I hiccup. "Yes."

"Good. Now let's get you some water for your throat."

"Okay... Can... can you carry me?"