𝐆𝐇𝐎𝐒𝐓 𝐎𝐅 𝐔𝐒 , 𝐋𝐔𝐊𝐄 𝐏𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍

nightmare ♪ luke patterson

he let go, and you flung yourself away from him, rolling and landing harshly on the floor beside his bed. you let out a half gasp half yelp and convulsed on the floor. luke flung out of the bed to join you on the ground.

"hey! hey, relax! relax, it's me." he said harshly, trying to grab your arms to stop them from flailing.

you abruptly stopped, and let out the deepest sigh. your palms went to your eyes, and you sobbed out.

"it was just a dream." you repeated the words you had said in your prior dream, and your heart began to pound again. you didn't know how to tell between real life and dream life, the last one feeling so real.

you put yourself in a fetal position, and began to rock slowly. you knew you must've looked insane, but all you were trying to do was make yourself understand it was all over.

lukes fingers making their way up your arm startled you, and you jerked her arm away with a loud gasp. one that lead tears to fill luke eyes.

"come here, let me hug you." luke whispered.

you sighed once more, and moved your body slowly towards your boyfriend, fearing that if you looked up at his face then you'd realize that none of it was real.

the boy quickly gathered the girl in his arms, one rubbing her back and the other making his way through her hair. he felt her sticky face dig into his neck, but he didn't mind. he just wanted to hold her and make it all right.

the boy took a deep breath, his worry for his girlfriend only worsening. yes, the girl suffered flashbacks from her and the boys getting tortured by caleb frequently, but the dreams only seemed to get worse. "do you want to talk about this one?"

you kept your eyes closed, he asked every time it happened, and most of the time you said no. you figured you had to stop that, "sure."

the boy picked you up bridal style, earning a tired giggle, and brought you over to his bed. both the teens squirmed to sit crisscross, and luke kept a hand on your cheek.

"at first, it was just like any other nightmare." your voice cracked as you began, "we were with caleb, and we were all getting tortured and shocked," luke winced at your words, remembering the memories, "and i don't know if you even remember, but the sounds of you and the boys groaning and whimpering still play in my mind perfectly..." you paused to make eye contact with luke, whom nodded.

"i did. i here you and the boys too. i still hear you. i don't think i'll ever forget how you sounded that day." he tilted his head in sorrow, and scratched his chin awkwardly.

"i dont think i'll ever either." you sighed, "but anyway. usually the dream is just that, but it seems to go on hours longer than it did that day. just keeps going and going and going." you blinked, and tears fell from your eyes, but along with the sweat and tears already on your face, you didn't even bother wiping them away, "and at some point, i always look up at him. and that's the part where he talks about you. how the same things happening to you and the boys, and if we were just to join his band it would all stop." luke nodded, "but when i looked at him this time, his eyes... his whole body turned black," your words slowed as you struggled to explain, luke moved to rub your arms.

but you stopped to look warily at luke's face. it showed more worry than you thought was possible. you gulped, having to look away.

"and that was it. i just woke up." you said.
you knew that lying to your boyfriend seemed wrong, but you worried that if you finished the dream it would only make luke worry more. so, you figured, just for now, you would tell him the short version.

"that's all i remember, at least." you shook your head, proving your confusion.

"ok." luke said, squeezing your shoulders to look you in the eyes, "thank you, for telling me." he said in his sweetest voice, gaining your gaze, "i'm proud of you."

you tried to smile, but it turned into a yawn.

"hey luke?"

"hmm?" he groggily groaned as he rubbed his own eyes. the pair hadn't gotten much sleep in the past few weeks.

"i dont think i'm going back to sleep." you said, knowing dream-lukes face hid on the back of your eyelids.

"that's ok, let's get up."

the boy helped you out of the bed, now tangled between the sheets. you looked over at her bedside table, the clock showing 2:20am.

"what are we going to do?"

"put your shoes on, we're going for a walk." he said, stretching his back.

"at 2am!?" you whisper-screamed, you could not believe that this was his idea as a past time right now.

"yeah, why not?" he said as he looked over his shoulder, and he knelt down to grab his sneakers. a certain glance appeared on his face momentarily, and the world seemed to go silent.

the glance hit too close to your second dream. all of a sudden, lukes face flashed to match his in the dream, and it didnt seem to budge. the breath caught in your throat, and you strangled a gasp. the air got pulled right out of your lungs.

and just like that, the world snapped back into reality. you saw that luke had begun to slip his shoes on, and that all was ok. oxygen returned to your lungs. you were happy he didn't seem to notice.

"you coming?" luke said as he tied his shoe laces, noticing you hadn't moved.

"uh, sorry..." you gulped, "yeah."