WIRED (dan howell au)

chapter eight ~ friend

I'm screaming. I'm screaming like I never have before.

I hear someone jump up in the bunk bed above me. They move closer to me and I quickly defend myself.

"Get away from me!" I'm confused with reality and dream. I can't tell them apart.

The person moves closer.

"Don't touch me!"

"Hazel, it's just me! It's Dan!"

I stare at him, trying to figure out who he is.

These dreams really screwed me up this time.

"I'm sorry..." I start to cry harder.
"Hazel! Hazel, please calm down. It's fine." Dan, why do you even try? No, scratch that. Please do try. It always seems to help.

I try to steady my breathing. In through the nose, out through the mouth.

My screaming is reduced to sobbing and shaking.

I realize that I'm sitting up in the lower bunk, Dan is seated next to me. He's hugging me and rubbing my back. How does this boy calm me down so fast? Only God knows.

My sobbing and shaking is now reduced to whimpering and crying.

My ultimate weakness is my past.

My past is the one thing that can tear me down.

Stupid, stupid past.

"Shh, it's okay. It's okay," Dan is really helping. Why haven't I met him earlier? I've been struggling with these dreams for 7. Fucking. Years.

"Thanks, Dan. I'm good now," I say as I wipe my tears and unfortunate memories away. I lean back away from him and go to sit on the edge of the bed. He shifts and places himself beside me.

"Do you always have these nightmares?"
"Yep."
"Every night?"
"I've had the same dream every single night for the past 7 years and it still manages to scare the hell out of me."
"Oh, wow. I'm sorry to hear that. No wonder you refused to sleep."
"I wish I knew how to stop it."
"Me too. But, like I said, I'll try my best to help."
I look up from that spot on the floor that I was staring at and into his eyes.
I point to the ground, "That's where one of the bullets hit."
"Bullets? What? Was your nightmare something that has happened before?"
"Yeah. It was all real."
I see his eyes widen, showing more white than anything else. "Hazel, Jesus Christ. I didn't know that, I should've known. I-" He runs his hands through his hair out of frustration as I cut him off.
"You shouldn't have known because we only met a few days ago. Stop being so protective over me, Dan."
"I'm sorry," his face goes a shade of red. "But can you tell me what happened?"
"Yeah."
"Is it seriously that simple?"
"All you needed to do was ask."
He sighs, "Get on with it then."

• • • • •

I tell him everything. Everything that lead me here. Everything I told you. He listens the entire time. But around half way through, I yawn.

"You could finish after you get some sleep, it's fine."
"No, it will take me a long time to fall asleep again."
"Okay, whatever you say."

I continue.

The last thing I remember telling him was about how my grandpa got traded for me and then I fall asleep.

• • • • •

I wake up a few hours later and I actually feel like I got some rest for once. No nightmares? That's strange. What changed it? Maybe it was different because I told someone about it. I guess it lifted quite a bit of weight off my shoulders.

I open my eyes and see... nothing. Black? What? No, wait. Why is it so warm? And why is it... breathing?

Shit, that's Dan.

I scramble away, which is hard to do because I am literally 3 inches away from the wall and his arms were wrapped around me.

His eyes flutter open not soon after.

"Hm?" He rubs his eyes and wanders into consciousness, "Oh, fuc-" He backs away but that results in him falling off the bed.

I can't help but to laugh. He sits up from the floor and starts laughing just as hard as me. I love when he joins in with my laughter.

"Real smooth, Dan. Real smooth"
"Oh shut up."

I kind of get the feeling that we are friends now. I can trust him. But it's still possible that he is a spy or something and can backstab me at anytime. I stop laughing. My face goes dark.

"What's wrong?"
"N- nothing." Damn my bad lying skills.
"Hazel..."
"Are you a spy? Are you working for my father? Why is my dad still looking after me? I told him not to send another spy after me!" I blurt out everything.
"Woah, woah, Hazel. Slow down. I'm not a spy. At least, I don't think so." I give him a stern look. "Hey, I'm sorry. I don't exactly remember anything about myself."
"Yeah, sorry. Never mind."
"And what do you mean by 'another spy'?"
"A year after the... um... 'The Incident,'" I make quotation marks with my fingers. "My father disappeared but he sent someone to look out for me. This guy pretty much stalked me. It didn't exactly end well," My gaze drops down. I may or may not have killed him. I was scared and he tried to harass me, okay? And he was the one who gave me the scar on my face. You would've done the same thing... No, maybe not. It depends on who you are.

"Hey, it's alright. That was a long time ago. Now, how about some breakfast?"

I nod. Whatever will take my mind off things.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A/N:
Hey everyone. Just an update, but I've hit a bit of a writer's block and I'm having a tough time with that. Hopefully, I'll overcome it soon, but right now I won't be posting a new chapter as often.

Thanks for reading!
- Han