Nightmares & Cuddles

"Babe? Are you okay?"

Hannah felt a nudge on her shoulder. She bolted up in terror, seemingly calming up a tad when she was met with her girlfriend's concerned expression. She said nothing, opting to wrap her arms around her companion instead.

"You're here..." she mumbled and rested her forehead on Amanda's shoulder. Seeing that Hannah was in need of comfort, the maroon-haired girl held her, closing her hands behind the other's back securely. Amanda let one of her hand slip down from her shoulder blades to her waist, stroking her back in up and down motions in an attempt to comfort her. In the meantime, Hannah was looking down at her lap, short, scarce breaths escaping her as she tried to calm down her rapidly beating heart.

In all honesty, Amanda wasn't that good when it came to comforting others but she decided to try anyway. "A nightmare?" she asked softly and felt the other nodding not soon after.

"Need to talk about it?"

The British girl shook her head and hugged her just a bit tighter, a gesture Amanda reciprocated. They stayed like that for quite some time in complete silence, Amanda basking in Hannah's presence and the latter enjoying the comfort her partner provided. When they pulled apart, the usually brash American cupped the other's cheek with one hand, brushing a strand of her currently dishevelled hair that had stuck on Hannah's forehead in a surprisingly gentle manner, and planting her lips on her temple. That was when the auburn-haired girl realised the state her shirt was in; it was drenched with sweat and sticking on her skin. She made a mental note to change it when she gets up.

"Feeling any better?"

"Yeah," she nodded, "thank you."

Amanda smiled, "sure thing."

They both had an extremely short staring contest with lasted for only a few seconds - a minute max and ended with both of chuckling. Hannah's mood seemed to be better now, or so it seemed. The aforementioned girl got off and rushed (or maybe walked fast would be more suitable; she had some class and manners, after all, even in her own home). After changing to one of the usual tank tops that were used as pyjamas, she crawled back to bed where Amanda waited before closing the lights as soon as she made herself comfortable.

"Hey."

"Hm?"

"I can't sleep."

The room was lightened again. "Are you still scared?" Amanda asked. Hannah, being too embarrassed (or maybe a bit proud) to actually admit it, responded with a question.

"...Do you mind watching a movie? I'd like to stay up a bit more."

The taller girl just nodded, taking the evasion of her question as a positive answer. She sat up, leaning on her left hand for support while running the other through her maroon locks in an attempt to get her messy hair to stay in place. "Not at all," she shrugged with a yawn.

-x-

Soon they were at the living room, huddled together on the couch with warm tea on the table. Amanda was laying on her back, occupying almost the whole thing with her head resting on the soft armrest, and Hannah using her as a pillow, the other's head resting on her chest. She seemed to be completely calm; after all, she was so focused on her girlfriend's steady breaths and soothing heartbeat that she had almost forgotten about the nightmare altogether. The Brit sighed in contentment; being like that in the comfort of her home, in her partner's embrace with their arms wrapped around each other made her feel so safe, so... happy. It was moments like this when she felt that she felt like she could take on the whole world, and she felt so grateful she had the maroon-haired girl in her life. And she would never change these feelings for anything.

Hannah looked up.

"Hey, Amanda."

With the sound of her name, the other girl looked down with a blink. "Yeah?"

"About that nightmare," the auburn-haired girl started, "you'll never leave, will you?"

"Of course not," Amanda scoffed playfully, "you aren't getting rid of me that easily."

Hannah's previous expression morphed into one of relief. "Promise?"

"Promise." The American gave her grin and leaned down for a chaste kiss, one that she felt her partner smiling at.

When they pulled back Hannah, with her heart warmed, made herself comfortable on the nook of her girlfriend's neck, humming in approval as she felt slender fingers being entangled in her hair. The mix of Amanda's soothing gestures and her uneasiness from before only contributed to the sleep that started to tug strings of her consciousness, soon rendering her incapable of keeping her eyes open any longer. Some minutes later, Amanda looked down at the sleeping girl and let her lips curve upwards to a smile when she felt Hannah's calm and slow breaths at the side of her neck. She turned her head to the side as slowly as she could as to not disturb the angel she called her girlfriend and planted a soft kiss on the side of her head.

"Goodnight, Princess."