Heart of Patchwork

Chapter 13: Nightmares Aren't Fun

(We're starting things off a liiiiittle differently. Bear with me here. Also uh, slight blood warning. Nothing too bad.)

It was about 4:35 when Chris "woke up". Or at least, he thought he woke up. He slowly blinked his eyes open, trying to figure out what in god's name caused him to wake up. He groaned a bit, slowly sitting up. He could faintly smell... something, but he wasn't fully sure as to what it was as he wasn't fully awake. He looked over at the clock on his nightstand, noting the time.

Finally, he was able to wake up more. That's when he realized that the scent in the air was... metallic in nature. He tensed up a little. Something wasn't right here. But what?

Slowly, he turned to look at Kitsune who was still sleeping beside him. She faced away from him, so her face wasn't visible to him. It didn't take too long to realize that she was completely still. Too still. He couldn't even see if she was breathing.

"Kitsune..?" He slowly reached his hand over, gently grabbing her arm. That's when he realized something else. 'Why does she feel so cold? I don't like this one bit..' Hesitantly, he rolled her onto her back- eyes widening as he finally saw it.

Her throat was cut.

Blood seeped out of the wound, which explained the metallic scent in the air. A little bit of blood seeped out of her lips. Her eyes WERE open, but they no longer had any life in them. She was dead. No doubt about it.

Chris could only stare in shock, in sheer disbelief and horror at what he was staring at. "No... No, no, no, no, no...!" He picked up Kitsune's unmoving body and cradled it in his arms, being unable to do anything about the tears that pooled in his eyes.

"You're not dead- you're-you're just messing with me! Wake up! Please, wake up!" He begged, hoping to god that this was some fucked up joke as tears dripped down his face.

This had to be a nightmare...

---

With a loud gasp, Chris shot upright in bed. He covered his mouth, panting and shaking as tears fell from his eyes. It was a nightmare. Thank god.

With a shaky breath, he looked over at Kitsune. Still very distraught from his nightmare, he quickly became panicked when he saw she was facing away from him- just as she did when the nightmare first started. Quickly, he shook her shoulder- wanting confirmation that she was ok. "Kitsune- wake up. Please." He urged.

Kitsune groaned a little, waking up. "Chris...? A-Are you ok- what-" She paused, noticing his expression as she opened her eyes. She sat up quickly, becoming very concerned. "H-Hey... Why are you crying...?" She asked, placing her hands on his cheeks.

Chris stared at her in silence, more than relieved that she was alive. Biting his lip, her threw himself into her arms- nearly knocking her over. Kitsune yelped out of surprise, feeling the taller male hug her tightly as he quietly sobbed into her shoulder.

She froze in place a little, completely caught off guard to see him in such a state. He cried in front of her once, yes. But last time, it was silent. He was very clearly frightened. The redhead frowned a little, hugging him tighter as she ran her fingers through his hair. "H-Hey, don't cry... Shhh, shhhh... It's ok, I've got you..." She tried to soothe him.

The male gripped onto the shirt that Kitsune wore, as if scared letting go of her would mean her actual death. He was overwhelmed with emotions. Fear, sadness, relief, and embarrassment. He woke up his girlfriend because he had a nightmare. He felt weak. He wasn't supposed to be weak.

Kitsune hummed a little. 'I've never seen him so scared before... I don't think I'll ask about what happened- not right now...' She thought to herself, resting her head on his shoulder. "Listen, I... I'm not gonna ask what you saw... I can tell you're upset, and I doubt you want to talk about it right now... But whatever it was... It's ok... I'm ok, you're ok, we're ok... Everything is ok..." She whispered, kissing the top of his head.

Slowly, Chris had finally calmed down. He wiped his eyes, sniffing a bit. "...I'm sorry I woke you up... Again... I'm twenty years old- I shouldn't be waking you up every time I have a nightmare..." He sighed, facepalming at himself. "How humiliating... I hate being weak in front of others..." He muttered.

"W-Who the hell said you're weak? Crying is ok. Y-Yeah, I don't like crying in front of people either, but that's for... other reasons... I-I don't think it's weak." Kitsune remarked, moving his hair out of his face.

"I think it's the opposite: crying in front of others doesn't show weakness- it only shows you're handling a lot. It's ok to be emotional. But I-I think I get it... Men don't really show emotions very much... Besides... If you just keep it in all the time, then you're just going to end up hurting even more..." She said, hugging him again. "So please... Don't feel so bad about crying in front of me... I'm here for you- no matter what." She stated, nuzzling his shoulder.

Chris was silent for a moment before finally smiling a little, holding her close. "Alright... You're right..." He said, still holding her to his chest as he laid back down.

"I do hope you don't mind this too much, darling. After... what I just experienced, I think I'd feel a lot better if I knew for certain that you'd be ok." He stated. Kitsune giggled, missing his nose. "I don't mind at all. Whatever helps you feel better." She smiled. Slowly but surely, the two of them fell asleep once again.

They'd definitely end up sleeping in the next morning, but hey, it was most definitely worth it.