Nightmares

Magenta remembered the night when she made that fateful promise.

It was dumb. Her brother would have told her that it was foolish to make a promise that she couldn't keep.

And she wouldn't have made the promise a couple of months ago before Columbia had truly become Magenta's friend.

Her best friend.

And, of course, Magenta wouldn't have made the promise if she didn't have a huge, whomping crush on Columbia.

The last thing Magenta expected to see when she walked into the room she and Columbia shared was Columbia sobbing on the bed. Well, it wasn't the last thing she expected to see. Columbia cried a lot. But it usually wasn't this loud.

"Collie?" Magenta called, turning on the light. The light spilled across the floor, illuminating all of Columbia's old dolls and magazines that the girls had never bothered to pick up. The light fell across Columbia's shaking form. "Vhat happened?"

After a few seconds of agony, Columbia finally lifted her head from the pillow, revealing her wet cheeks and red eyes. She sucked in a couple of shaky breaths as Magenta sat down next to her. "Genta." Her voice broke, and Columbia dissolved into tears once again. "I'm sorry."

Magenta helped Columbia sit up properly while the sobbing girl simply cried. "Columbia," Magenta started firmly, her voice breaking a bit when Columbia met her eyes. "Columbia, don't be sorry. Don't ever be sorry." Magenta began to rub her back as Columbia attempted to wipe her tears away. "Vas it Frank?"

This caused another onslaught of tears, and Columbia buried her head against Magenta's shoulder. "Yes," she whimpered. "Yes, it's Frankie. I can't believe him." Columbia pulled away from Magenta, wrapping her arms around herself. "Mags, I hate him!"

Magenta leaned back against the pillows, a frown over her red lips. "Collie, it is going to be okay, you're going to be okay."

Columbia shook her head, tears continuing to slip down her cheeks. "I hate him. I hate him. But... I love him too."

Each word felt like a dagger in Magenta's chest. It felt like her heart was being ripped out and stomped on.

But she loved Columbia and would do anything for her.

"I'm not going to let anyzing happen to you," Magenta whispered, wrapping her arms around Columbia.

"Promise?"

"I'll protect you. I promise."

And they stayed like that, curled up on the bed, for hours, until Collie fell asleep.

...

Her screams stabbed Magenta in the heart.

"How could you!? This is your fault, all your fault, Magenta!" Columbia's voice was full of pain and suffering- things she had never really experienced until today.

Magenta stumbled to her side, falling to her knees beside Columbia's form. Magenta had to do something, she had to save her. Columbia was going to die, and it was Magenta's fault, all her fault.

"Collie," Magenta said, tears streaking down her cheeks and falling toward the ground. She never cried. Ever. But, as she looked at the disgust covering Columbia's bloodied face pushed her over the edge. "Collie, I'm so sorry, so, so sorry. Let me help you, please-"

"NO!" She pushed herself away from Magenta, then doubled over in pain. "Get away," Columbia rasped. "You've done enough."

She was curled up on the ground, and there was blood. Lots of blood.

Magenta didn't know what had happened, but she knew that it was her fault.

"You..." The dying girl looked into Magenta's eyes with hatred. "You promised to protect me. I guess you lied about that too."

And then her eyes went glassy, and Magenta's world was over.

Magenta woke up sobbing.

"Magenta?" Columbia's soft hands ran through Magenta's untamed hair. "Were you having a nightmare?"

Magenta nodded, shaking with tears. She rested her head against Columbia's chest.

It's surprising how easily Magenta calmed down once she was in Columbia's warm embrace.

"Shhh, it's gonna be alright. I have nightmares too," Collie said, knowing that Magenta wasn't ready to talk yet. "About you. Not you," she said hurriedly, seeing Magenta's expression. "About this... I don't know. A different version of you. About... um, the fear that you're gonna leave me one day." Her lips pulled into a frown. "I'm not good enough for ya, and I know that. I mean, you're literally from another planet. And I'm... just a regular girl."

"You do not really believe zat, do you? Collie," Magenta said, "look at me. I have nightmares about me not protecting you. I would never be able to leave you."

"I just... I don't know, Mags, I just... I keep havin' the same dream, where you look at me, and you tell me that you never loved me and that you were leavin' to go back to your planet with Riff. And I always let you go in the dream 'cuz I love ya."

A tear slipped down Columbia's face, and Magenta reached up to wipe it away. Her nimble fingers traced Columbia's soft skin. "My nightmares always begin with you..." Her voice broke. "You are always lying on ze floor, bleeding out. And it's always my fault. I didn't protect you. I broke my promise."

"We're a messed up bunch, don'tcha think?"

"Definitely," Magenta said, chuckling softly. "Listen, Collie, I hope you know that I love you. I love you so much."

"Ya know, I always thought that 'love' started with an 'L,' but it actually starts with 'U.' Crazy, huh?"

"You are a dork," Magenta said, but a grin was spreading across her face. "A massive dork."

"You love me though," Collie said, lips twisting into a grin.

"And you know I can't help myself when you're acting like a dork." With a smile, Magenta leaned into Columbia and kissed her.

Maybe those fears would follow them around forever, but it would be worth it if they had each other.

...

Hey guys! I hoped you liked my one-shot!

Unfortunately, I don't own Rocky Horror Picture Show or any of the characters. They all belong to Richard O'Brien.

In case you're confused, in the first scene, Columbia and Magenta are still friends and nothing more. But in the second scene, well, let's just say that Magenta finally got the guts to admit her feelings to Columbia, only to find that she felt the same way. And now they're dating. And they don't really talk about Frank anymore.