My Best Friend the Drummer [Gareth Emerson x Fem!Reader]

12

TW: Mentions of Nightmare (Car accident) and mentions of death

You shot up in bed, breathing heavily. The nightmare replaying in your mind from seconds before. You looked around the room, taking a second to process where you were.

Gareth's.

You sighed softly and looked around the room again, the moonlight shining in through the thin curtains. Although you've slept in this room hundreds, maybe even thousands of times, each time it continued to make you feel more alone. It was a weird feeling, really.

In this room, that was basically yours, it didn't feel like you were 'at home'. There were no posters, no pictures, no nothing. Just a terrible white floral wallpaper that clung to the walls around you. You searched for your phone in the huge bed, finding it under countless blankets.

You checked the time, the bright light from your screen blinding you: 2:30 am. Certainly Gareth still had to be awake... right? You swung your legs off the bed and stood up slowly, fixing the huge shirt you stole from Gareth to wear to bed. You grabbed your phone and walked towards the door of the guest room, opening it slowly and quietly. You tiptoed out of the room, walking quietly down the hall to Gareth's bedroom.

You stopped in front of his bedroom and placed your ear to the door, hoping to find a clue on if he was awake or not. You heard soft snores from the other side of the door and frowned, he was asleep.

You still reached for the door handle, opening it slowly to peek your head inside the small room. You hated disrupting his sleep, but after a bad dream you didn't really have a choice; you didn't want to be alone right now. You looked in and smiled slightly, hearing the snores grow louder now that the door was open. You tiptoed in and stood by his bed, placing your phone quietly on his nightstand. You looked down at him, watching him sleep peacefully.

He was lying on his back, snoring to himself. His curly hair was a mess in his face, and his shirtless chest rose and fell gently with each breath he took. The chain necklace he always wore was lying loosely around his neck, and in his arms was the little stuffed dog he won hours before at the fair.

You sighed softly, lifting the comforter that sat on the lower half of his body. You slowly crawled in, trying to not wake him. He stirred slightly, causing you to freeze in your tracks. After holding your breath for seconds he continued to snore, rolling away from you.

You let out a breath you didn't realize you were holding and laid in his bed, staring up at the ceiling. The posters on his ceiling staring back at you. You closed your eyes, only to be met with the same images that woke you from your slumber earlier.

The crash.

The screaming.

The crying.

The blood.

Watching Gareth be pulled out of the car.

It was all too much, even if it was just a dream.

You felt the tears well up in your eyes and you tried to blink them away, trying to stay quiet. But you failed. You sniffled slightly, the tears starting to pour out of your eyes. Gareth must have heard you because he rolled over to face you again, looking towards you. He sat up in his bed and looked down at you, confused at first as to why you were in his bed. Until he saw you crying, then he sprung into action.

"Hey, woah, (y/n), sweetheart, what's wrong?" He asked softly, throwing the stuff dog toy towards the end of his bed. "Hey, it's ok, deep breaths," he touched your arm slightly causing you to jump. You shot up in his bed and looked at him, tears streaming down your face.

"I-I..." you started, shaking your head. "I had a bad dream..." you said between tears. "We were in the car, and, and we crashed, and you died and it felt so real." You cried harder, falling into his chest. He wrapped his arms around you and pulled you close to his body, rocking you back and forth gently.

"It's okay, I'm right here." He said softly, rubbing your back slightly. "And I'm not going anywhere, I promise you that." He kissed the top of you head gently, holding you tighter. He continued to rock you back and forth gently, humming softly as he did so. You took a couple deep breaths and pulled away slightly, looking up at him. "See, I'm right here." He reassured, moving your hair out of your face.

You stared at him for a second, blinking away the excess tears before you sighed softly. "I'm... I'm sorry," you started, looking away from him. "I didn't mean to wake you up."

"Don't be," he said softly, placing his hand underneath your chin. He moved your head slowly so you were looking at him and he smiled softly. "I just want to make sure you're okay," he reassured. "I can sleep later, we can sleep later. Hell, it's summer; we can sleep all day tomorrow, I don't care. But for now I just want you to know I'm right here." He kissed your forehead softly, his arms still wrapped around you. "Remember, you're stuck with me." You giggled slightly, smiling a little.

"Thanks, Gare." You whispered, looking up at him. "I uh, I should probably get back to my bed..." you trailed off, looking around his room. He shook his head slightly, releasing you from his arms.

"No, I think you should stay here. That is, if you want to," he suggested. "I know you, I don't really think you want to be alone right now." You shook your head and looked at him.

"Is that okay?" You asked softly. He nodded and smiled slightly.

"Yeah, if it's okay with you." He scooted over a little to give you more room in his bed and laid down, looking at you. "Come here, princess," he said quietly, opening his arms for you.

You laid down gently, resting your head on his bare chest. He wrapped one arm around you, pulling you close to him. You rolled to your side, trying to get comfortable. Eventually your head was on his chest, one arm was draped over his stomach and your leg draped over his. He rubbed your side slowly, tapping his fingers along the cloth of your shirt softly.

You let out a content sigh, feeling safe in his arms.

"Thank you," you muttered into his chest quietly.

"Hey, anytime," he replied, kissing the top of your head again. "You're just really lucky I was wearing boxers to bed tonight," he joked, laughing to himself. You shrugged.

"I mean, it'd be my own fault if I saw something, I kind of did sneak into your room and bed without asking," you replied, moving your hand up to his chest. You placed it under your head and propped yourself up, looking up at him. He was staring down at you, smiling softly. "Why are you smiling at me like that?" You asked.

"Well," he started, running his free hand through your hair, pushing it out of your face again. "I've never had such a gorgeous girl in my bed," he added, smiling more. You blushed slightly and shook your head.

"You're such a kiss ass, you know that?"

"Is it really kissing ass if it's true?"


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Author's Note: the actual fluff I am writing is making me so 😮‍💨 I hope y'all are enjoying this story, thank you for all the votes, comments, reads, feedback, etc. I love you all and am working on a new chapter now that should be up soon🫶