Shadowteer

Chapter 31

"CHRIS! Wh-what are you..." he leapt into her window and stretched. He looked around at the tissues on the floor and music blasting at maximum volume through her room.

"I was bored so I came here." Truth be told, that was only partly true. He couldn't sleep, as usual, and he kept hearing the maniacal laughter of Nightmare... himself. He needed to make sure Manon was okay. He hugged her small frame and let go when he heard her sniff, raising her chin. When her eyes met his, he shook his head quietly. They were red and puffy, clear evidence that she had been crying. "You're sad again."

She scoffed and waved him off. "I'm always sad. It's a thing."

"I get it. I was depressed before, I kinda know how it feels. Mine wasn't as bad though-" she stepped away from his embrace and folded her arms.

"I do not have depression. I feel perfectly fine-"

"Denial ain't just a river in Egypt." She rolled her eyes, giving him an "I'm done" look. He chuckled and sat on her bed. She rose an eyebrow.

"You've seen me, Chris. Now leave." She dove into her bed and covered herself with her blanket, fully aware that he was watching her. He whined childishly and straddled her, placing his head on top of hers while she was still under her blankets. She let out a squeal and huffed. "Stop acting like a child, idiot! This was funny when you were eight dude, you're killing me! I... can't... breathe..."

He struggled with her before pulling the blanket off her face.  She scowled, still being crushed under his weight. "Yo, since we're in this... interesting position, we might as well make the most of it you know?"

She rolled her eyes and blew him a raspberry. He wiped his face with unnecessary exaggeration and sighed. "I'll get up... if you let me stay with you today."

She chocked on her own saliva and coughed violently, shaking her head vigorously mid-cough. He grabbed a bottle from the shelf and handed it to her, taking off his hood in the process of running his hands through his hair. He was worried about her. He just wanted to spend the night to make sure she didn't hurt herself and make sure he didn't hurt her.

"You can't stay. My mother will kill me if she finds out I let a boy spend the night with me, especially if that boy is you, Chris."

"I feel like I should be offended but I get it. I want to stay though. Keep you safe, doll." She shoved him off her and sat up quietly. He sat next to her and noticed how she stared vacantly at the wall. It made him remember how hard it was to get out of his own depression. He wanted to be there for her before she did anything too... drastic. She sighed and let him into the blanket, turning away to hide the red creeping across her face. He stood up minutes later and watched her sleep. Peaceful, calm, broken, beautiful Manon.

He shut the door behind him quietly and went downstairs. He whistled and poured himself a glass of alcohol. He sat there, drinking glass after glass until he snapped. He couldn't hold it in anymore. He yelled and threw the glass against the wall, wincing when he heard it shatter. Tears fell from his eyes. It was inevitable. He was Nightmare, Nightmare was him and he was going to be the one to hurt Manon Chamack. Nightmare was a figment of his imagination, it was really him all along. Manon hurried down the stairs with a baseball bat in her hand, shocked when she saw Chris slumped on the floor sobbing like his brother had died. She dropped the bat and sat down beside him, ignoring the glass shards that hurt her feet and hands.

"Chris..." he grabbed her, tempted to kiss her on the lips and pressed his lips against her temple instead. She bit her lip and let him sob into her chest. "Whatever it is, it's going to be okay, please don't cry..."

"You are absolutely purrfect doll. I wish you knew. I really, really wish you knew just how amazing you were. You've got muffs on your ears though. You don't hear me." She shone a fake smile, unconvinced and helped him up. She ignored any attempts he made at helping her clean up in his drunken stupor and swept up the mess, disposed of it and walked over to him. The moon shone down on both of them like a spotlight. He took it as perfect timing and held out a hand to her. "Would you like to dance the night away with me, love?"

"U-uh... did you just say... I mean, yes- no- what I'm trying to say is there's no music." He switched on his phone and played Oh Ms Believer. She chuckled. "Chris, you're drunk. You need to sleep."

"No, I neeeeeeeeeed you. I just want to dance with you purrincess. You deserve a dance. I've heard about the guys you used to date. I know I can treat you better." He winked. She processed the information, her face turning red before she stopped herself.

"Chris, stop. You're drunk-" he pulled her into him and smelt her hair shamelessly, playing with it as he stumbled about. She followed him, trying to get him to sit down with no luck.

"I've... I've been having nightmares," he hiccuped and continued with a slur in his voice, "heck, I am the Nightmare. Nightmare and Chris... I don't want to hurt you... I never wanted to hurt you dolly..." he cried as he stumbled about and she frowned as he took her along.

"You haven't hurt me Chris and you're not going to. Everything will be okay."

"Liar. It's going to get bad, really bad. It always does. Then I'll leave again and I'll never get to tell Manon how much I love her. Do you know her? She's this pretty girl, pretty short about your height, same skin, same cupcake pyjamas which you look hot in by the way-"

"Chris, dude, snap out of it. It's me."

"Oh hey Manon. I was talking to this girl who looked just like you. She was nice. Is this the part where we kiss?" She pulled herself out of his grasp but he grabbed her waist and swayed to the song. She finally got him to the couch and he lay down, still keeping her prisoner in his arms. "You're really nice. And pretty. I love you."

"You're drunk Chris." He babbled on about how much he loved her and she shut her eyes. It hurt to hear him say all those things when he didn't mean them. He finally passed out and she was going to stand up but she felt so comfortable she drifted off.

Manon opened her eyes the next day and smiled as Chris smiled down at her. She stretched a little and held in a chuckle when he yawned. "Damn Manon, what did you do last night? I've never slept so well in my life."

"Slept? Dude, you passed out."

"I should pass out more often then. Hope I didn't do anything stu- ow... oh... no... my head..."

"You'll remember all the stupid things you said once the hangover passes." She chuckled when he moaned, barely noticing how close they were to each other until she heard a cough from the other side of the room. She looked up, her eyes widening when she saw her mother standing in a corner with an unreadable expression on her face. She yelped and fell off the couch, taking Chris down with her too. They were a tangle of limbs so it took a few seconds for them to separate. She jumped up once she escaped and turned to her mother. "Mom... You're home... why? I mean it's not that I don't enjoy your company but I thought you were going to do some work elsewhere for the weekend?"

"I forgot an important document." Chris looked from mother to daughter and got up. He stood firmly, determined to stay till Manon nudged him. He sighed, kissed her temple and walked out. Nadia waited till he was gone "I wasn't expecting all this though. You do realise that when I came to this house, there were cameramen taking pictures of you two? If this gets out, it might ruin my career."

"It's already out, actually." Manon winced when Nadia stared at her in shock. "Mom, do you watch anything other than your own interviews? We've been on the news-"

"Why haven't I heard of this?!"

"-we've even been on a talk show. The one with Serena Moreau. They think we're like a couple- but we are not together. It's been weird but we're managing and-"

"Manon I caught you here, forking with a boy and-"

"Forking? Uh... you mean spooning. We weren't even doing that we just slept together accidentally-"

"Are you serious Manon?! I have warned you, young lady! Do you want to make the same mistake I made with your father?!"

"What, giving birth to me? Yep. Total mistake. I regret it too-"

"No, you idiot!" Manon gritted her teeth and swallowed. Idiot. She hated that word so much. "I trusted that bastard with everything, my heart, my hopes, my dreams but he just left me- left us to go to war?! How dare he-"

"Wait, mom. Did you say... he left us... to go to war?" Nadia looked away, her eyes fixed on the floor. Manon swallowed. Time to get some answers. "Mom, who was my father?"