Dunkirk One Shots

1: Adjusting

Lilah knew it was going to be hard for Alex to adjust back to life back at home after Dunkirk. He went through unimaginable trauma that he would have to live with for the rest of his life, trauma that she would never understand. The days were tough, but the nights were worse.
"Li, I'm sorry for waking you again..." Alex rubbed his sore eyes after waking up from another night terror.
"It's okay, I just wish you'd talk to me... I want to help you." She begged.
"There's nothing you can do now but go to bed babe." He leaned over and lightly touched her lips with his and turned back over to sleep once more. Lilah closed her eyes and tried to think of life before the war. She imagined Alex smiling down at her when they went on a picnic by the lake, how he moved a wisp of her honey blonde hair out of her face and gently moved closer to her and giggled to himself, oh how daft he was! She remembered when they were young and he would throw pebbles at her window some nights and sing songs to her from down below. She could hear them now...
'Wait..' she thought to herself. What she heard was no song. She was jolted awake by the sounds of Alex yelling for help. He tossed and turned and roughly grabbed at his pillow. It looked like he was ripping it to shreds with feathers flying all over the room. Alex told her again and again to not wake him when he has night terrors, he's afraid he might be violent.
'I can't let him just suffer like this... I have to wake him.' She thought to herself. She turned on the bedside lamp and and watched him struggle in his sleep. She gently shook his arm and whispered his name.
"Alex.."
Nothing.
"Alex it's just a bad dream, wake up..."
It seemed to be getting worse.
"Alex wake up!!"
Alex screamed something inaudible and jolted up and wasn't fully aware he was awake. He felt a weight on him from behind and quickly turned around and threw the figure off of him. Before he had time to open his eyes fully, he heard the sound of glass breaking and a loud thud. He turned on the light and saw a frightened Lilah on the ground, with a wounded arm.
"Li...." Regret surged through him as he saw the love of his life reduced to such a fragile state. He did this.
"Alex it's okay it's fine I'm okay it's just a little blood I... oh my god... Alex I... oh my god." She looked down to see a shard of glass stuck in her arm from the lamp. She didn't realize how violent he could be. Alex threw the covers off of him and rushed to her side. Before he could, Lilah was already up and and her way to the bathroom.
"Lilah I can't tell you how bad I feel. Oh fucking hell. Please I'm so sorry, let me look at it."
"No Alex, just get- just go back to bed, I'll fix this" she was in shock of what he'd done.
"Li, come here, please." He begged.
Before he could get to her, she shut the door to the bathroom and clicked the lock.
His heart dropped.
She's scared of me. She locked the door so I can't get in.
He knocked on the door.
"Lilah?"
"Lilah???"
She wasn't answering him. He then heard small sobs flooding the deafening silence.
"Lilah, please.. please let me know you're okay. Please?!"
Lilah was sitting in the ground with her bandaged arm sobbing about Alex. She was scared of what happened to him, not him. She just saw a side of him that she never thought that she would know.
Outside of the door, Alex was in a panic. He needed to get in there. He needed to see that she was okay. He rushed to his nightstand where he had a variety of items. He opened the drawer where he found his notebook, reading glasses, a piece of Lilah's wedding gown sown into a handkerchief (one he never thought of using because he was afraid of ruining it) a candid photo he took of Lilah at the beach and a knife. After reminiscing about all of his old treasures, he grabbed the knife and began picking the lock. It clicked open without trouble and he opened the door to find a weeping woman on the ground with her face in her hands.
"Alex I'm sorry I just needed a moment to myself." She stifled out through sniffles.
"You have nothing to be sorry about. I hurt you." He was ashamed of himself. The only thing he was fighting for at Dunkirk, he hurt. Alex kneeled down to Lilah and examined her swollen face from her sobs. He gingerly moved a piece of hair out of her face and she looked up at him. She remembered her favorite memory of him. He was still the same man. And he will always be.
"I love you Alex."