Aeipathy • Paul Lahote

Night Terrors

She shot up in bed, panting and slightly panicked, not knowing why she woke up in such a state. She took a few breaths, calming herself down, before the screaming started. Charlie had told her about her sister's night terrors, how she woke up from screaming herself awake before brushing it off and sending Charlie back to sleep. With Edward returned home, Bella had been positive that the dreams would go away. However, it looked like they'd be sticking around for a bit.

Estrella jumped out of bed, sliding her slippers on as she walked out the door of her room and rushing down the hall. She waved Charlie back to bed as she passed him, rubbing his eyes and only beginning his walk to Bella, and he turned back as he saw her pass. The door was easily pushed open before her hand even lifted and she saw Edward slightly hovering over the brunette with a panicked look on his face, not knowing what to do.

Deciding that she'd have a talk with him about disrespecting Charlies rules later, she pushed him away and waved him off before sliding into bed next to her sister and holding her close. She hugged the older girl close to her, keeping her arms tightly wrapped around her before running one of her hands through the girl's hair. Slowly, Bella's screams quieted as the brunette woke up, but she fell into sobs as she did. "I thought they would stop," she whispered through her tears, adjusting to wrap her arms around her sister in return.

"It's okay, Bells," Estrella mumbled, pressing a kiss to the top of the girl's head. "Things like this won't disappear in the blink of an eye but we'll get through it together, okay?" She felt her sister nod. "Do you want me to tell you a story?"

Bella let out a giggle at that before nodding again and listening with a soft smile as her younger sister launched into a story about a talking bunny who cursed like a sailor. The moment paralleled many times from their youth when Estrella would climb into Bella's bed in the middle of the night, begging for a happy or funny story to distract her from the nightmares her brain had cooked up. It didn't take long for Bella to fall asleep, and Estrella took that moment to look back up at Edward.

She knew her sister was fully asleep, so she wasn't worried about the brunette waking up to their whispers. At her raised eyebrow, he sighed. "Charlie's rules are you're not allowed in the house."

"Technically he said I wasn't allowed through the front door," he responded, awkwardly rubbing the back of his neck.

"Technically, you knew what he meant and still decided to disrespect it. You do know why he set those rules, right?" She sent a glare to the boy in front of her. "He doesn't want Bella becoming overly dependent on you again. I know you swear up and down that you won't leave again, but either way, it's unhealthy. She needs other friends, she needs to be her own person and not only wrapped up in you. Because, as you saw, she's still suffering from when you left the first time.

"I know you're probably here because she wants you to be, but you also need to be responsible. You need to understand how unhealthy it is for her. I know you love her and I know you care about her, but you need to approach this as a responsible adult and not as someone blinded by love, okay? Let her be her own person. Try and convince her to spend time with her friends outside of you. I know that she would have a lot of fun if she went to hang out with Angela, for example. And try to not crowd her. You don't need to spend the nights here as she's asleep and you could both do with some healthy distance. Okay?"

She let out a long breath as she finished, and he nodded. "You're very wise despite your youth," he commented, making the ginger snort a quiet laugh.

"No, I'm just removed enough from the situation to see things a bit clearer," she responded. "If Bella was looking at this as a friend rather than someone in love, I know she'd see the same thing. And so would you. I know Rose sees things similarly, she's just not the best at properly expressing her concerns or thoughts."

Edward laughed at that. "Tell me about it," he chuckled. He then dropped his smile, looking at the ginger with worry in his eyes. "Are you going to stay with her?"

"I'm not going to leave until we're both awake in the morning," she said with a nod. "I promise. I'm going to be here for every nightmare and, honestly, once she's out of the house for the day, I'm going to put protections on her windowsill to make sure that no one with ill intent will be able to get in, okay?"

He nodded at that, feeling comforted and walked towards the window. He sent her another smile before climbing out, shutting the window behind him. She sighed, relaxing fully before letting her eyes flutter shut, still holding on to her sister.