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Chapter 16: Take It As It Comes

You awoke the following morning with your head on Noctis' chest with an arm wrapped around you protectively. Most likely from all the crying you did, your eyes felt sore and puffy. You really wished you didn't have to open them for the day. Shifting your head a little to look up at Noctis, you saw he was already awake and reading something on his phone again. He glanced down at you with worried eyes, putting his phone down and brushing your hair away from your face to get a closer look at you. He frowned having noticed you avert your gaze from his.

"How are you feeling?" He asked softly.

"Horrible. I woke you all up so late last night," You mumbled, hiding your face in his chest. You felt his body shake as he chuckled at you. Noctis gazed down at you with an amused eyebrow raised.

"You have a horrible nightmare or flashback... whatever it was. And you're worried that you woke us up in the middle of the night?" Noctis seemed to be quite gifted in making a person question themselves.

"It's not something I'd normally share..." You mumbled, turning to face away from him, your head rolling and landing on his bicep. Your eyes widened feeling how firm it was, as he also shifted a little to lay on his side, his chest pressing up against your back. This is not good for my poor heart.

"I'm not saying you should. It's up to you who you share whatever you want," Noctis assured, knocking his forehead onto the back of your head lightly, "What I'm trying to say is. We all are too far into things now for you to be hiding anymore. We all want to be there for you if things become too unbearable. We're all worried that something will trigger you and because you won't let us in, we won't be able to comfort you when you need it most," You let Noctis' words sink in, smiling a little to yourself and shuffling a little to face him again. Your (eye color) eyes met with his crystal grey ones as you pondered on how to explain to him the darkness that plagued your sleep almost every night. You admired Noctis' face only for you to squeak in panic when you realized how close your faces were.

"What happened? Is Noctis trying something weird on you?" Prompto called as he unzipped the tent and entered in panic. Naturally, it was Prompto who had stumbled upon the moment when Noctis propped himself up, with you lying on your back, your head still resting on the very forearm that was supporting him.

"Is everything okay in there?" Gladio's voice also rung with concern.

"Yeah. I think I just ruined their alone time," Prompto replied with a sheepish grin. "Hey (Your Name)." He greeted, his gaze warm and rather mellow compared to usual.

"Hi Prom," You responded, getting up from your back and stretching a little.

"Lunch is ready so come on out," Gladio informed popping his head in the tent.

"Lunch? Have I been out cold for that long?" You looked to Noctis who shrugged in response.

"Maybe it's cause you had a warm body pillow," Prompto snickered as he got out of the tent.

"Honestly..." You heard Noctis mutter frowning. He turned to look at you again, nudging his head towards the tent entrance.

"Yeah I could really use some of Ignis' cooking right about now," You sighed, combing your hand through your messy bed hair. You were hoping your morning appearance didn't look strange or unkempt, inwardly smacking yourself for becoming self-conscious.

"Afternoon (Your Name)," Ignis greeted, "Feeling better?"

"Much better. Thank you," You thanked, taking your plate from him with a weak smile.

"Don't force yourself (Your Name). We know you want to smile for us, but we understand if it's hard to," Ignis advised with a rare smile.

"I'll keep that in mind. Thank you Ignis,"