Endure // N.H (PAUSED)

5

Lynette

My eyes fly open as loud cries are heard. At first, I thought it came from me because I had a nightmare but I realize that it wasn't me.

I grab my flashlight, get out of my cot, and walk out to the lowly-lit hallway. I follow where the noises are coming from until I come across a door that's slightly ajar. My body shivers slightly as I enter the dark, unknown bedroom.

I slowly walk to the cot and my stomach does somersaults when I see the cries are coming from Niall. He was thrashing around in his cot, whimpering, his shirtless torso was covered in a layer of sweat and tangled in the covers.

I start to panic because, even as the head of the medical department, I've never dealt with something like this before. I would have these "episodes", like what Niall's going through right now, but Louis was the one that was always there to calm me down. Even though I get them, I don't know what to do when it's happening to someone else.

Going with the first thought that comes to my head, I place the flashlight on the nightstand and climb onto Niall's cot. I pin down his thrashing body by straddling his waist and grab his shoulders, shaking him.

"Niall, wake up!" I say loudly, shaking him but nothing happens.

"LYNETTE!" He yells and I froze. He's having a dream about me? "Don't take her away from me you son of a bitch!"

"Niall, please wake up!" I beg, my voice rising along with my fear.

His body continued to thrash around underneath me and my fear continues to escalate. My frantic eyes spot a metal canteen on  his night table and I immediately grab it. With shaking hands, I splash the water on Niall's face and he suddenly sits up, crashing into me and knocking me off of his lap. As if on instinct, I crawl back into his lap and wrap my arms around him, pressing my trembling body into his sweaty one. I feel his arms wrap around me and I tighten my grip.

"What happened?" I whisper in his ear, my voice and breathing uneven.

"Nightmare." Niall whispers in my hair, gently running his fingers through the ends.

I pull away and he looks at me, his blue eyes filled with confusion. "Want to tell me about it?" I ask shyly, trying to hide the fact that I already know that I was apart of his nightmare.

Niall's blue eyes darken slightly and I start to regret asking him in the first place. I feel his body shift below me. Niall leans his back against the wall and pulls me close to him so I'm still in his lap. I bury my face in the crook of his neck and I feel his warm, rough hands slide under the fabric of my tank top, rubbing circles on my lower back.

"We were back in Dublin," Niall sighs and I tense, already knowing where he was going with this. "It was a perfect day. Sunny, blue skies, birds chirping. You... you..." He stuttered slightly.

"Niall, you don't ha--"

"Yes, I do. I need to get this out of my brain."

I stay silent and let him continue. I skim my fingertips on his abdomen and he starts to calm down.

"You and I were healthy, no scars, no war,  everything was perfect. You told me to come find you and I started chasing you through the meadow. Then I suddenly couldn't find you." He tensed as did I but I stayed silent. "I started screaming your name but you never answered. Then I heard you scream my name as if you were calling for help and I ran towards your voice. When I found you, you were in front of a Strainséir and it was holding a gun to your head. You had tears coming down your face and you were begging me to run but I didn't listen. Instead, I stayed and tried to spare your life, replace it with mine but it didn't want to. It shot you and..." He fell silent and I felt drops of water fall on the top of my head. I also felt my own tears streaming down my own face.

I remove my face from his neck and my heart shatters at the sight of Niall crying. My trembling hands find themselves on his damp cheeks and wiping away the tears cascading down his cheeks. His glossy eyes continue to stare at me until I feel him getting closer.

Our faces were centimeters apart and our chests were touching. My hands on his cheeks and his on the back of my thighs, pulling me closer as if I wasn't close enough. I feel my breath start  to rapidly slow down as I feel the heat between us rise.

I catch him glace down at my lips then back to my eyes. I feel my cheeks start to burn and I look down at my lap shyly, dropping my hands from Niall's cheeks and covering my face.

Niall tucks his middle and index finger under my chin and bring my head up so I'm looking at him again. His other calloused hand leaves my thigh to cup my face in both hands. He leans in slowly and I mirror his actions.

"Is this alright?" Niall murmurs and I internally chuckle at how childish he sounds.

I lean in closer and brush my lips against his until he crashes them together. It was sweet and gentle at first until the hunger started gnawing at both of us, turning it lustful and passionate. Niall's hands attach themselves on my waist and mine run through his dirty-blond hair. It felt so right to be kissing him and the fire in my chest kept burning. Or maybe my emotions were fooling me and this is just temporary bliss. We break the kiss but our foreheads still touch. We're both panting slightly but we don't dare to move a muscle.

"Can you stay with me?" he blurts out and my body tenses, my head bowing again. Realizing what he said, Niall starts muttering apologizes and planting kisses on my exposed shoulder. I bite my lip to hold back my moan. Finding the courage, I pick my head up and kiss him, him responding instantly.

"I'll stay." I mutter into the kiss before pulling away.

Niall lays down and I curl up next to him, laying my head upon his chest. Listening to the sound of his heartbeat, my eyes start to get heavy and I drift off.

"My heart is yours and only yours." was the last thing I heard Niall mutter before falling completely into a deep sleep.