𝙷𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚃𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝚃𝚒𝚖𝚎 - 𝙺𝚎𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝙺𝚘𝚐𝚊𝚗𝚎 𝚡 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚎𝚛

Chapter Six - Alone With Coran

Your P.O.V

A cold sweat rose on my back as, once again, I was jolted awake by a nightmare. Not wanting to worry Pidge, I hurriedly slipped out of the bed and made my way to the living room, knowing no one would be awake yet. Sinking into the soft fabric of the sofa, tears pooled in the corner of my eyes.

Sobs wracked my body, making me tremble more than I had thought humanly possible. I subconsciously rocked back and forth as I cried - a hopeless attempt to escape the images spinning around my mind. Nothing seemed to settle me and being alone just made it worse. I felt vulnerable, exposed and uneasy.

"y/n?", a voice called, snapping me out of my mopey daze. I dried my eyes as best I could, turning my attention to the figure hovering in the doorway. There, tired eyed and all, stood Keith. Something that I noticed about him was that he wasn't in his usual all-black outfit, but rather some loose-fitting pants and a t-shirt.

"Hey Keith!", I said, most likely sounding a tad too bright for a girl who had just been crying her eyes out previously. He looked doubtful but, regardless, started to advance towards me. I shuffled back a bit, giving him more space and making sure he wouldn't be uncomfortable.

He sat down not too far away from me and spoke again. "Why aren't you asleep? Don't you need to be getting a good night's rest?", he asked, in more of an upset tone than an irritated one. Feeling like a small child being scolded, I looked down, finding a sudden interest in my hands.

He sighed but did not attempt to leave the room. Accepting defeat, I sat up and looked at him, taking a deep breath before speaking. "I had another nightmare but I didn't want to wake Pidge so I left her room and came here.", I admitted to him.

A silence of sorts surrounded us, the only noises heard being my shaky breaths. After a while of this though, Keith stood up and offered his hand to me. "You need more sleep after yesterday. Want me to walk you back to your room?", he suggested to me. I gave a nod, taking his hand and allowing him to help me up as I was feeling lightheaded.

We walked to my room in comfortable silence, neither of us knowing what to say but, at the same time, being at peace with the silence. As we reached my door, however, I bit the bullet and talked to him. "T-thank you. For walking me back to my room, I mean. And for being nice to me."

He stood still for a minute, seemingly dumbfounded, before giving a rare smile. "No problem. Do you need me to stay for a bit or will you be alright by yourself?" he asked. I thought about it for a second before answering him.

"I don't want you losing sleep over me, you have more important things to do. It would be in your best interest if you got some sleep.", I replied, making a point of suggesting sleep as he looked tired. Sighing, he took a step forward and looked down at me.

"I'll be fine, but I know your nightmares are worse when you're alone. Please just let me do this? I want to make up for what happened before.", he begged, leaving practically no room for discussion. So instead of replying, I opened the door to my room and walked in, being followed by a certain mullet-haired boy.

"You can take the bed.", I said, grabbing a spare blanket and curling up in the corner of the room. He shook his head lightly and walked over to me, picking me up and placing me down on the bed, lying down next to me.

"Nope, you're sleeping on the bed. You're in no condition to sleep on the floor and I'm willing to sacrifice my personal space if it means we can both sleep comfortably.", he affirmed, his tone unwavering. A strange feeling sprouted within me as he said this, something I had never felt before. Giving in, I sank into the bed next to him.

"I- uh- thanks...", I muttered as I pulled the covers over the both of us. He just gave a small smile then turned and faces the wall, falling asleep pretty quickly. I, on the other hand, tossed and turned for a while, unable to get back to sleep. Eventually, the exhaustion took over and I found myself passed out on the bed, right beside the red paladin.