@llovelykris I got your ask and I do enjoy it a lot, but please understand I did change the prompt slightly, so I could feel as comfortable I could with writing it ❤️
Tw // nightmares, night terrors, mentions of death
—-
It’s the fourth night in a row this shit woke you up.
Tonight, the nightmare completely had you blindsided, a deep-rooted terror that you should be completely accustomed to facing, but tonight for one reason or another, this one in particular was… aggressive.
Maybe it’s because Bakugou was right next to you. Maybe it’s because it’s been a few days since you heard from your family. Whatever the case, it snapped you cold out of a sleep, and you were far from being ready to sleep again, where as nights just prior, you'd been able to doze back off.
With a small grunt of effort you swing your legs over the side of the bed and toe on some slippers, letting your exhausted bones shamble you into the kitchen. You rest your pounding head against the coldness of the fridge and after waiting a moment for your world to stop spinning, you grab the container of grapes, letting the initial tartness ground you.
It was just a nightmare. Just a fucking nightamare, why is this the nightmare that's going to keep you up?
“The hell are you doing up?”
You turn from your bowl of grapes to face your interrupter, whose hair is somehow more wild and crazy, and his cheeks rosy from being pulled from sleep. You shrug and look back down at your fruit, “just… couldn’t sleep.”
“You were knocked out when I got up to pee an hour ago,” he says, voice grumbling. You chuckle softly at the silly phrasing, and you grab a grape, holding it up for him to take with his teeth. He does, and he opens the fridge to take a sip of milk straight out of the carton.
You scoff, “I told you not to do that.”
“And I told you that you’re not usually supposed to see when I do it.” You offer him a string of laughter, grateful for his attempts of making you at ease. There’s a low arm that wraps around your waist, and a forehead that rests against your temple. “You wanna talk about it?”
“You’ve got milk breath,” you tease. You earn a pinch to the ribs to make you yelp and squirm slightly away from him, and he chuckles before pulling you back and closer.
“Don’t be a damn ass. Don’t want you stayin’ up if it’s something we can work through together.”
Goosebumps raise over your skin and you gnaw at your lip, fingers messing with the container you’re holding. You take a deep breath, waiting for him to press and pry further, but he doesn’t. Katsuki never does, even if he wants to pretend like he’s not, he’s the most patient and understanding soul that you’ve had the privilege to know, and right now, you hate him for respecting your boundaries. You want him to jump to conclusions and make his own judgement about you and your struggles, but he doesn’t. He just lets out rhythmic breathing against your pounding head.
“I just had a nightmare,” you say, minimizing the magnitude of your distress. “It’s fine.”
He snarls softly in the back of his throat, “stop lying to me, fucking god. This isn’t my first rodeo, I can read you like a book. Spill, or we’re gonna keep our asses planted right damn here.”
You gnaw at your lip and gently pull away from him. You do anything and everything to avoid having to talk to him: putting the fruit away, filling a cup with water before chugging it down to relieve your cottonmouth, cracking your toes against the hardwood, anything to break up the silence.
But he’s not budging.
It’s something you both admire and hate about Katsuki, when his mind tells him something is important, he’s not moving from it. It’s a healthy form of communication, up until you literally would rather do anything but talk to him.
And even then, he’s unrelenting.
“You’re gonna love me regardless of what I say, right? This won’t make you unlove me?”
“I’ll give you a firm ‘probably,’” he says in an attempt to lighten the mood, but you don’t laugh. He sighs softly and nods, “of course not. There’s minimal you could do to make me not like you, unfortunately.”
That, finally, does make you laugh, and you nod softly as you try to find the easiest way to explain your trauma from these nightmares, your fears and concerns, yet familiarity with them and how sometimes, that’s the scariest part of them all.
They’re so familiar. They’re so vivid. Sometimes, you can’t tell which is real. And that’s terrifying, and something you never thought you’d have to face with Katsuki.
“They’re… theyre dark, Katsuki,” you say lowly, averting your gaze. “There’s a lot of destruction and death and shit I don’t want to face in real life, death and shit for people I love most, and they’ve plagued my nightmares for years and it’s just something I have to deal with now. And I try to keep them out of my life if I can help it.”
He says nothing, you almost wonder if he feels guilty for “forcing” you to say what happens- he never actually forced you to say it, but Katsuki roams in his own layer of insecurity for pushing you. You sigh and angle your head to look at him, his eyes soft and teeth sinking into his lip.
“But… but I can’t,” you snarl softly, brows furrowing slightly. “I’ve tried so hard for years, I’ve done everything I could do to break these damn terrors but nothing fucking works, and sometimes, I just need to not be near people when they happen because I’m terrified they’ll become real, okay?”
He moves his gaze softly, “you’re… you’re really strong for having to go through that.”
You snort, “yeah. Thanks.”
“I mean it.” He takes a small step back to give you some room, eyes gently flicking up and down as if to ensure you were alright. “That’s some traumatizing shit. And I wish I could make it easier.” His words have you softening, shifting to rest back into his arms. You burrow your face in the dip of his pec’s, and his arms tighten around you protectively.
You sigh, “it’s just… hard to tell people about it. This shit doesn’t make me a bad person, and it’s always taken so far-“
“Of fuckin’ course you’re not a bad person,” he grumbles, pulling back again to have you look at him again; there’s confidence in his gaze, and it has you reeling slightly. “You’ve got no fuckin’ say in what happens in your dreams, and anyone who’s made you feel bad about them isn’t someone who deserves your damn time.”
You swallow back your embarrassment and look at him pitifully, “you don’t think I’m… bad? Or scary?”
He rolls his eyes, “do I fuckin’ seem like I’m scared to you? I’m up at ass crack of morning, freezing my balls off to coddle you in the damn middle of the kitchen. You couldn’t scare a bunny if you tried, let alone my stubborn ass.”
His grumbles do have you laughing watery against his chest, closing your eyes and just letting the relief of his lack of judgement course through your heavy veins.
“You don’t have to worry about them becoming real. I’d never let shit happen to you, or your family, or friends, or anyone; especially the shit your mind conjures up. Never.” His words are firm and comforting, and they have your eyes closing as you’re soothed.
These terrors may haunt you. Who knows when they’ll break. But as long as you can talk about them, discuss them with someone you worship and adore, maybe, just maybe, you can gather the strength to get through a night’s sleep.
One of peace. One you’re convinced you now deserve.
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“Branch?”
John’s voice was soft and patient, almost a little hesitant like he was talking to a scared animal. Branch wasn’t sure if he should be offended or appreciate the quiet. He just stared ahead with a deepening frown, his oldest brother - wow, Bruce wasn’t his oldest brother - looking at him with all the calm in the world. He wasn’t bothered.
“You’re going to have to step of the brake if you want to go anywhere,” John continued, mildly amused.
He was sitting in the passenger seat of their grandma’s vehicle. There was no one else around. Branch was sixteen and was barely in the class to learn how to drive. His grandmother couldn’t drive very well, much less teach someone like Branch but then his oldest brother who he practically didn’t even know existed just showed up one day. Next thing Branch knew, said oldest brother offered to try start with him. To try and start teaching him a few of the basics. Their grandma jumped at the chance. Part of it was to give him a step up in learning how to drive. Part of it was probably because Branch didn’t have any friends or interact with anyone. So there Branch was, gripping the wheel with almost white knuckles and putting half his weight into the foot on the brake.
“I know.”
“Why are you so nervous?”
“I’m trying to control thousands of pounds of metal,” Branch muttered like it was obvious. Which it was. Cars were dangerous and he wasn’t looking forward to having to drive them. “I could hurt someone.”
He could see John’s soft smile in the corner of his eye. If nothing else, this was amusing to him but Branch didn’t seem to see it in a condescending way which was strange. “Buddy, we’re in an empty parking lot.”
“I know.”
“Do you want to go home?”
“No.”
“Are you sure you want to do this?”
Branch paused, chewing on the inside of his cheek. “Do you think I can?”
He didn’t hesitate. “Yes.”
“You sound so sure.”
That was kind of incredible. Branch and John barely knew each other and he had been so quick to have this kind of faith in him. He believed it too. There was something about the way he spoke about most things, with a confidence and assurance lost on Branch, that made the younger simply believe him.
“It someone like me can learn how to drive a tank, then you - who is leagues smarter than me or anyone I know - can drive this dinky little car. I promise.”
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