Me Too *Mcpriceley*

Chapter 9 - 0:00

TW: If you get anxiety easily, skip forward to the "***"

Connor opened his eyes to find himself in his room in the house. Wait... This was definitely the house but this wasn't his room. He sat up on the bed and looked around. There were Star Wars decorations covering one half of the room and a single Disney poster on the side of the room where he had woken up. Connor smiled despite himself. He was in Kevin's room. The funny thing was, though, that he didn't remember falling asleep in here. He knew that he definitely wouldn't have gone to bed in Kevin's room due to the risk of others finding out about them. He looked back down on the bed to see that he was all alone in the room. Yawning and stretching, Connor stood up and looked at the small, digital clock on the nightstand but it made no sense. 0:00 pm. 

"K-Kevin?" He called out, getting a little nervous, never taking his eyes off the clock. He heard movement coming from outside the door, but he couldn't force himself to look away. "K.. Kevin? Is that you?" He called louder and more desperately. The noise stopped. All of it. There were no birds chirping, no rain falling, no wind, no creek, nothing. All he could hear was his own heartbeat pounding in his ears like a drum, causing pressure to build up in his head. It felt like it was going to burst. "Kevin?!" He called, tears building up in his eyes. Suddenly, the clock changed.

0:01 pm.

Sound returned to his senses and he let out a breath. He could hear birds chirping and the creek babbling. It didn't sound quite right, though. The birds sounded frantic and the creek sounded more like boiling water than it did rushing water. Connor tore his eyes from the clock, which was now flashing, and ran towards the door and frantically turned the handle but it wouldn't open. That's when he heard it - the other sounds that had returned. Banging and screaming came from the outside of the door. Warped voices called for him to let them in. Connor felt his stomach drop and he could tell that something bad was happening. Something very bad was happening. The screaming and knocking only got louder and louder as he backed away from the door until he hit the wall. Louder and louder as he slid down the wall, tears finally escaping down his cheeks. Louder and louder as he buried his head in his knees. Louder and louder as he screamed for them to stop. Louder and louder as he shook and choked on his own tears. Louder and- all went silent.

Connor hesitated to move from his spot. The room was finally silent, but not eerily silent this time. The birds returned to normal and the creek rushed along as usual. He continued to silently sob into his knees and try to take shaky breaths but it felt like his throat was closed up. Suddenly, he felt a gentle hand on his shoulder. Connor gasped, his throat finally letting air in as he did, and looked up in fear only to see Kevin's worried face looking down at him. He looked frantically at the clock and saw the time. 

0:02 pm.

"K..Kevin?" He asked weakly, his throat sore from all his screaming and calling. 

Kevin's gentle smile rested on his face as he reached down a hand to help Connor up. He took it cautiously, the feeling that something bad was happening still in his stomach. He stood up and Kevin held his arm as he pulled him closer so that his lips were at Connor's ear.

"It's warmer here than it is up there, huh?" He whispered, his cold breath sending shivers down Connor's spine. He pulled his head back and desperately looked into Kevin's eyes, searching for some sort of emotion but they were cold as his touch. Connor pulled his hand back and backed himself against the wall only for Kevin to follow him. He rested his hands against the wall on either side of Connor's head and he quickly realized he was trapped.

"Kevin... knock it off." He begged, tears still streaming down his cheeks as he squeezed his eyes shut and turned his head so that he wasn't facing Kevin. Suddenly, the screams and desperate knocks at the door returned as the creek began to boil and the birds began to scream. This time, though, the people outside of the door were begging for him to come out.

"You belong with them..." Kevin whispered coldly against his ear. He felt the closeness of Kevin's body leave and he opened his eyes to see Kevin calmly walking to the door.

"No! Please!" Connor called frantically but it was too late. Kevin opened the door and thousands of people with distorted features rushed around the room. They were all screaming some lost cause as they rushed the room around him and Kevin, who just stood at the door calmly. Kevin was knocked down back onto the ground and he curled his face into his knees once more, screaming and sobbing. He could feel it as the room began to heat up hotter than any summer day. He felt his skin start to burn in the searing heat as the warped and distorted figures swarmed around the room wailing, screaming, and calling out for help. Louder and louder as Connor screamed in both pain and panic. Louder and louder as he called out for help. Louder and louder as Kevin's voice rang out above the rest.

"You belong here!" He would shout. "This is where you belong!" His voice began to deepen.  Connor felt as if someone were squeezing his throat but he couldn't look up. He gasped for air and tried to flail his arms. "Your soul belongs to me!" Kevin boomed, his voice now deep and raspy.

***

Connor's eyes flew open and he shot straight up in his bed in his own room. He reached for his throat and gasped for air, tears stinging his eyes. He heard movement on the bed next to him and he looked over to see Kevin sitting up next to him and rubbing his shoulder.

"Hey, hey, hey..." He cooed. "It's okay... It's okay... It was just a dream... shh..." He murmured in a soft tone. Connor's breathing slowly became steady and the tears slowed. He turned and buried his face into Kevin's chest and he let himself release the sob that had been building in the back of his throat. After a few minutes of Kevin gently petting his hair and telling him that he was safe, he sat up slowly and looked at the clock on his bedside table.

2:14 pm.

Connor let out a breath and turned back to Kevin, who looked worried. He remembered that the two of them were sitting on the bed, Connor wrapped in Kevin's arms, reading A Series of Unfortunate Events: Book 1. He must have fallen asleep while they were reading. "Do you want to talk about it?" Kevin asked gently. That's something Connor loved about him: he never forced him to do or talk about anything. 

Connor nodded his head gently. "I... I woke up in your room and it was really quiet. All I could hear was my own heartbeat. And the clock... It had a weird time on it. Time was moving really slow, I think, but everything was happening so, so fast. And then you-" He stopped abruptly and he could see Kevin's concern. 

"It's okay, darling... You don't have to tell me." He soothed, obviously sensing Connor's distress. 

"No," Connor shook his head. "No, I want to tell you." He paused for a second, trying to figure out how to avoid mentioning Kevin's part in his dream. "There was banging and screaming at the door and... someone opened it and a bunch of terrible people swarmed in and they were screaming. It was so loud..." He squeezed his eyes shut for a second, reliving it. "And there was this voice screaming out telling me that I-" He opened his eyes again, a small tear trickling down his pale skin. Kevin gave him an encouraging nod. "Telling me that I belonged there... That my soul belonged there." Kevin nodded and rubbed circles on Connor's back, taking his hand in his free hand and using his thumb to rub it.

"It's okay... I'm here for you and you're safe now. It's not true, you don't belong in that place. You're perfect and I won't let anything bad happen to you." He whispered, kissing the top of his head. Connor smiled softly and snuggled into Kevin's warmth. He was safe.

A/N: 

I'd like to call this chapter... How I Realized I Forgot to Take My AntiAnxiety Meds This Morning.
Seriously, writing the dream kinda ruined me so haha. Whoops!

I've kinda been putting off writing a hell dream because you see them in every fanfiction and, though I love reading them, I was kind of hesitant about writing one. But I actually kinda loved it, so woo! I realized last night that each chapter basically covers about an hour of time MAYBE, but it's fine. Don't question it. Also, I realize this chapter is kinda short but I'm planning on not leaving my room at all today and just writing all day so there'll be a lot more coming soon. I'm also planning for the next chapter to be fairly long.

Thank you all so much for the support! It really means so much to me and I love seeing all your feedback! See you in the next chapter~