~.: "Must Have Been the Wind" :.~
~.: Alex Benjamin :.~
~.: Tim's POV :.~
A blood curdling scream sounded down the hall as I sat up right in my bed, my heart pounding at a thousand miles a minute. What the heck was that?! I thought bewilderingly as I threw my blankets off and scrambled hurriedly off my mattress, snatching my red and white jacket off my chair along with my jeans so I could change into something more decent before investigating the noise. The screaming had only just started and a sneaking suspicion told me I knew where the screaming was coming from, anxiety pooling in the pit of my stomach as I haphazardly managed to throw on a fresh change of clothes before rushing out of my bedroom into the hallway.
"LEAVE ME ALONE!" I swallowed thickly, recognition coursing through every fiber of my body as another chorus of shrieking sounded around the corner, but before I could run toward the source, another door flew open not too far away from where my bedroom was and Acacia's head popped out of the doorway. Her eyes were narrowed in agitation, red hair wild with restlessness as Jared's head peeked out of the doorway slightly above Acacia's.
"What the fuck is going on out here?" She grumbled as I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly.
"Just go back to whatever you were doing," I murmured, glancing anxiously in the direction of the sobs and screams coming from what I knew would be Lexie's room. I shouldn't have left her alone, she was too unstable and upset to be by herself in the dark... "I'll take care of the noise, sorry for waking you guys up," I mumbled before hurriedly striding towards Lexie's assigned bedroom, not giving my older sister a chance to further complain about the newbie anymore.
She already hates Lexie enough so if she finds out the screams and sobs are coming from Lexie's room, there's no telling what she'll do for disturbing her and Jared, I thought with an irritable grimace, recalling the fight that broke out between Acacia and Lexie yesterday after the mission. As I approached Lexie's bedroom, another shrill scream reverberated through the wall followed by a loud crash. What the hell is she doing in there? It almost sounds like she's fighting someone?
"STOP TOUCHING ME, RYAN-!" Lexie sobbed in frustration through the door as I paused with my hand on the metal doorknob, raising an eyebrow confusedly at her outburst. I thought Ryan was dead? How can a dead person be hurting her? "I didn't kill you! It wasn't my fault! It was an accident!!" There was another crash and I narrowed my eyes, steeling my nerves and twisting the doorknob to reveal Lexie cowering in a corner, her face in her hands as sobs wracked her entire frame. I frowned in concern, taking in the state of her bedroom as I warily stepped into the room before glancing around in bewilderment.
"Lexie?" I murmured, turning toward her as she let out a soft whimper and slightly uncovered her face to peek up at me from her little corner, "I... I thought you were in trouble- You were screaming so I was afraid that maybe someone broke into your room...but there's nobody in here except you..?" I began cautiously, slowly approaching her in a non threatening manner, recalling a similar situation I'd been in when encountering a schizophrenic villain a long while ago with Batman one year during patrol, "Are.. is everything okay?" I asked gently, crouching a little ways away from her as I waited for her to calm her frantic breathing.
For a few moments, there was only silence between us, other than the frequent hiccuping in between the soft whimpers that she was letting out as I sat there calmly. She's still pretty shaken up, I noted silently in my head as I watched her trying to get her breath back, I need her to see that I'm not going to hurt her. I shifted a little in my crouching stance so that I was leisurely sitting in a more comfortable position before fixing my gaze on Lexie once more who was now in a seemingly calmer state of mind now, her eyes still red-rimmed and puffy while a small patch of ice was forming around her corner of the room.
"Do you wanna talk about what's going on..?" I inquired timidly, leaning back patiently as she drew in one final steadying breath before sitting up a little bit and attempting to rein her ice powers back under control, "You don't have to if you don't want to...but I'd like to at least find out if you're okay. Especially after all that just happened in here," I murmured gently, crossing my legs and setting my hands down in my lap while Lexie raised a sleeved arm to wipe her face one more time.
"I, I don't know what happened," she shakily began in a broken voice due to how much she'd used it while screaming not even a few moments ago, "I- I was sleeping and then I had a really bad nightmare... then I woke up and there was Ryan standing over me," Lexie closed her eyes tightly as another tremor took over her small frame and I moved forward, thinking she was about to collapse from the emotional strain she was under at the moment, but when she didn't, I backed off and waited for her to continue speaking, "He.. he kept yelling at me... telling me I killed him," she whispered softly, staring at her frost covered fingertips instead of looking at me.
I frowned softly as she pulled her hands closer to her chest and looked towards her window at the night sky outside, "Are you sure you woke up to actually see your brother? Maybe you were just imagining it?" I carefully murmured, glancing around the room once more. There was no sign that nobody else had been in the room and there no indications that there had been a forced break in of any kind. "Sometimes nightmares can feel so real that our minds can play tricks on us," I sighed, rubbing at my tired eyes as I turned to face Lexie once again. Her ice blue eyes were watering again behind the lenses of her white rimmed glasses and I pursed my lips anxiously, wondering if I hadn't said the right thing.
"Maybe... maybe I was just imagining it..." She murmured quietly, rubbing her arm uncomfortably as she bit her bottom lip, "It... it just felt so real..." She shuddered before moving her blonde hair out of her face and meeting my gaze tentatively. I cocked my head at her worriedly, raising an eyebrow at her.
"Do you... do you want me to stay here with you..?" I awkwardly offered, rubbing the back of my neck anxiously as my heart raced a little at what she must be thinking, "I don't want to leave you alone if you saw something that really scared you.." I managed to murmur anxiously as Lexie stared blankly at me for several moments. Idiot, she doesn't need you to play guard dog-
"I-I mean," I found myself stammering before I could stop myself, "I don't have to stay in this room with you because that- would probably be really creepy! I meant that I could- move into the room beside yours since it's empty, yknow?" I awkwardly rubbed my elbow as I inwardly face palmed myself for sounding like such a complete moron, "I'd be right next door so if you needed anything I could just run to your door instead of down the hallway,"
Lexie started laughing softly at me and I blushed embarrassingly hard in response, "That.. that would actually be really nice, Tim," She murmured quietly, a soft half smile on her lips as her pale blue eyes met mine, "Thank you."
