Don't Worry • Credence Barebone X Reader

Thirty-One

"The soup looks a amazing." You said, breaking the silence. "You made it all by yourself?"
He nodded in response. You smiled and ate a spoonful of soup. "Mmm! It's delicious!"
"Thanks." He breathed out, a little flustered.

You ate as much soup as you could, you felt bad for not eating it all, but you still felt sick.
He took the tray and put in down in the kitchen. When he came back up, you were staring at the daisies beside you.
"Do you-" he started. "Do you want me to- to read to you?" He asked timidly, bringing a book out from behind his back. You pressed your lips tightly together, trying not to smile. "I would love that."
He took the chair by your dresser, put it beside your bed, and sat down. Shifting awkwardly in the chair, he opened the book in front of him.
You watched him, a small smile on your face. He was completely adorable.

He began to read. His voice was shy and quiet. He stumbled over a few words, his face burning from embarrassment. But he kept going and you loved every minute of it.
You cuddled deep under the covers, closing your eyes, just listening to his voice.

After a while Credence noticed that you were breathing heavily, you had fallen asleep. He gently closed the book and set it on the table. He stood up, leaning forward to kiss you on top of your head. Then he quietly went downstairs so you could rest.

About an hour later you woke up. You were so thirsty, so you slipped out of bed. Your head felt heavy and you felt weak as you walked down the stairs. The sun had set, so the apartment was pretty dark. The only light coming from the living room. You were quiet as you crept into the kitchen, getting a glass from the cupboard. You looked around the apartment and noticed how clean everything was. You smiled to yourself, knowing it was Credence.
He sat in the living room, on the couch. He was hunched over his notebook, drawing. Hearing a noise, his head shot up to see you, holding the empty glass, looking at him.
"Hey, what are you going?" He asked sweetly. "I- I was thirsty." You told him. He stood up. "You could have called for me." He said, walking over to you. "Go back up, I'll bring you some water." He took the glass from you, placing a kind hand on your arm. You nodded and went back up to your room.
A few seconds later he came up with the glass of water. "Thank you." You said before you took a sip.

"I'm going to go to bed." Credence said a few minutes later. "Okay."
You yawned. He stood there, his hands in tight fists, arms pressed against his sides. The room was dim, the only light coming from the lamp on your bedside table. "Good night."
You said, breaking the silence. "Good night." He said quietly.
"Thank you for taking such good care of me." You smiled at him. He gave a small, breathy laugh and said, "Well after everything you've done for me, it's the least I could do."
You looked up from your lap to see him looking back at you with so much emotion in his eyes. You gave him a sweet smile and held out your arms, inviting him into a hug. He quickly walked over and sat down in front of you on the bed, wrapping his arms around you. You hugged his neck and rubbed his back. He held your back tightly, burying his face in your neck. "I love you, Credence." You whispered. He hugged you tighter and told you he loved you too.

It was much later into the night and you were both asleep. You in your cozy bed and Credence on the couch. You were in a deep sleep as you began to have a nightmare. Credence woke to the sound of you shouting and crying out in your sleep. He ran up the stairs to see what was the matter. You were flinching and shaking your head as you continued to cry out. He came beside you and placed a gentle hand on your arm, gently shaking you. "Y/N." He said in a worried tone. But you didn't wake up. He kept nudging you and saying your name until your eyes shot open. You saw Credence's sweet face through the blurry vision of tears. You sat up, still crying. "S-Sorry I woke you." You said, with a shaky voice. "No, it's fine." He said, kneeling on the floor, beside the bed. He gently rubbed your arm, trying to comfort you. You sat there wiping away tears, trying to stop crying. "Do you- do you want to tell me about it?" He whispered. Your body wracked from your heavy breaths as you tried to find the words.

"She- she was beating you and- and." You began to cry harder and Credence moved his hand into yours that rested in your lap. "And all I could do was watch it." You continued. "I couldn't move to help you. I just had to watch you in pain." You burst deeper into tears, covering your face with your palms. Credence wrapped his arms around you, you resting your head on his chest. "Shhhh." He comforted you. "It wasn't real."
"But-but it was. It was real. I had to just sit at home or be at work, scared out my mind that you were in trouble. That you n-need someone to come rescue you. I wanted to rescue you... I should have just gotten you out of there." At this point you were sobbing uncontrollably. He held you as you covered your face, his chin resting in your head. "Y/N, you did rescue me."
"No, I didn't. You came to me when I thought you were dead. I didn't do anything. I should have gotten you out of there when you need help. By the time you came to me she was already gone." You rambled, not sure if you were making any sense.
You both sat there in silence for a few minutes, him holding your shaking body.

"Y/N." His voice was just above a whisper. "Before I lived with you, when things were different. You were the only thing that kept me going. You were the only thing that gave any glimpse of happiness." He paused, thinking of the right words to explain. "The way you looked at me after we bumped into each other, when you noticed my scars. I couldn't believe that someone could care about someone they didn't even know. That someone could care about me" He sighed, remembering the moment. "That whole day I couldn't get you out my thoughts. And then later you found me at the rally. I couldn't believe I was actually seeing you again." He paused. "Y/N, you helped me even when you weren't with me. You gave me something to hold into. So please stop beating yourself up about something that's not true."

You both sat there, the words floating around the room. He never loosened his grip around you. You never stopped thinking about how much you wanted to take away ever bit of pain he had ever experienced. You just wanted it to be you and him forever, nothing else.
"Never go away." You whispered. You weren't even sure if he heard you. He lifted one hand to hold your head and said, "Never." With that you began to cry again, nuzzling deeper into him.

After a while of embracing, he loosened his grip and you sat up. You sat there, hands in your lap, head bowed. He lifted his hand up to your face, gently rubbing it with his thumb. "You're burning up. You need to sleep." He said. You nodded and laid back down, your head pounding from the hard crying and the fever.
He got up from the bed as you crawled back under the blankets. "Do you- do you want me to stay with you?" He said, shyly.
"I don't want to get you sick."
"I don't care."
You gave a weak smiled and said, "Okay." You scooted over and pulled the blankets up for him to lay down.
He crawled in and laid on his side, facing you. You and him laid there just looking at each other.
He moved your hair from your sweaty forehead and leaned in to kiss it. You reached up, touching his hand that rested on your cheek. You found his other hand and held them both in between you. Your fingers were intertwined, squeezing tightly. He kissed the back of your hand and scooted closer to you so your foreheads rested against each other. "I never want to be without you." He whispered. You looked back at him and smiled. "You never will."