The Cursed Princess Club fanfic: The Secret of The Plaid Family

Ch. 10

Ch.10(Filler Chapter)

Whitney and Frederick sat on two small logs across from each other eating their breakfast of speared deer meat and ginger tea. While the day around the two was bright, sunny, and serene, the atmosphere between them was heavy and awkward. All throughout their meal, Whitney would take a few concerned glances at the teenage boy.

He looked terrible.

His eyes were bleary and red, sporting huge bruised bags under them, giving him the appearance of an elderly racoon. His blond hair was now starting to get long and shaggy; The hay colored locks grew into a spiky, matted mess that almost reached his shoulders and hung in his eyes, nearly covering his face. Frederick chomped his food with all the zeal of a statue and seemed almost lost in his own world. His dull green eyes stared off into the under brush, focused on somewhere seemingly far away from here.

(Oh no.... I have to say something.)

After a month of living together, Frederick began to have horrible nightmares that usually had him whimpering and fitful tossing and turning;  Whitney only knew about them because of his sharp hearing. He didn't think too much of it at first, since the nightmares only lasted about 5 minutes and he seemed fine during the day. But in the last few weeks, Frederick started showing signs of sleep deprivation; During the day, his movements were sluggish, he was constantly yawning, and he would space out randomly.  Whitney tried to ask him about it but Frederick told him he was fine.

But last night further cemented his worries.

Whitney was awaken from his slumber by a loud scream. He jumped onto his hands and tips of his toes with his back arched and his claws piercing the soil, scanning his surroundings. He looked over to the tree house and saw the canvas rustling as the teen inside flailed around violently; His shrieks reaching a feverish fear filled pitch that made his skin break out in goosebumps. In the span of 3 seconds, Whitney rushed over and climbed up the tree to Frederick's side.

"Hey! Frederick, wake up! You're ok! Wake up!" Whitney yelled out, shaking the boy's shoulder. Frederick's eyes flew open when he felt someone shaking him. With lightning fast precision, he swung out his fist to the offender like a cannon. Whitney gasped as he felt the hit land in a very sensitive area. The night ended with Whitney hobbling down to the ground, holding his crotch and quietly screaming at every wrong move.

Now here they were eating awkwardly, both parties at a complete loss on how to start a conversation in a non-embarrassing way. Whitney decided to make the first move.

"Did you have any trouble going back to sleep?" Frederick snapped his attention to him, seemingly just remembering where he was. His pale face went red as he bowed his head and fiddled with his plate. "I'm really sorry, Whitney. I didn't mean to hit you like that... I just felt someone shaking me and I didn't know it was you and-" His words rushed out like a verbal river, his face getting redder and redder. Whitney held up his hands and said, "Hey, Hey. Its ok. It was a really dumb idea to wake you up like that when you were obviously freaked out enough already. But... Are you really ok? You've been having these nightmares for about a month now... And you don't look like you've been sleeping well lately."

Frederick smiled wearily and scratched the back of his head. "Its nothing really. I'm just not used to sleeping out in the woods yet, that's all." Whitney's grey eyes softened as he stood up.

"Frederick, It might help to-" Whitney paused as Frederick quickly gathered their makeshift plates, "No, no. Everything's fine. It's so silly. I don't even remember what my dream was. You just relax and I'll just wash our dishes before we sent out. Ok? Good! See ya."

And then he quickly walked toward the river and then speed walked further down stream, leaving Whitney standing by himself with the smoky remnants of the fire. He frowned as he rubbed his temples. (This is bad.... Well, I can't force him to talk if he doesn't want to, but... I'll just have to wait. He'll talk when he's ready.)