Marvel One Shots

Nightmares (Steve X Reader)

You quietly enter bed, careful not to disturb Steve, who is peacefully asleep beside you. His mouth is slightly open, his arms fanned out to the side. You chuckle, gently kissing his forehead.

You snuggle under the covers, opening your book. You only have about a hundred pages left and you just have to finish it tonight. You keep your lamp light on and hold your book high enough to shield the light from Steve's eyes. You don't want to wake him up. He had a rough day with the rest of the Avengers. A new threat seems to be lurking and they want to be prepared.

After finishing your thrilling book, you let out a long sigh and close it. You set it on your night stand and shut off your light. You wiggle deeper under the blankets and close your eyes.

Just as you began to drift off, you hear the sound of thunder booming in the distance. You have always loved thunderstorms. They give you a sense of excitement, especially when lightning lights up the dark night sky.

Beside you, Steve lightly groans and rolls over. You pop open one of your eyes, seeing if he is awake. He stops, laying flat on his stomach again. After waiting a few seconds, you figure he was just moving in his sleep.

You close your eyes again, burrowing yourself deeper into your blankets. The sound of rain pounding on the roof and the thunder puts you at ease and you almost instantly fall asleep.

xxx

Your eyes bolt open. The storm was now above you. The thunder and wind are shaking the house. Each struck of lightning brightens the room and sends an ear shattering crash of thunder.

Steve is trembling beside you, his hands clenching the sheets. He's mumbling in his sleep, his eyebrows furrowed in fear.

"Steve." You say, reaching out to him. You've never seen him like this. There have been plenty of storms that have passed over you, so you're not sure what's going on.

"Buck." He begins to pant, mumbling more afterwards, but you can't understand him.

"Steve, wake up." You say, beginning to shake him.

He begins threshing, his breathing quickening. "(Y/N)."

"Steve, I'm right here. You gotta wake up." You say, shaking him a bit more.

"Bucky. Bucky." He wails, tossing his head back and forth. At the next flash of lightning and boom of thunder, his eyes pop open. "Bombs. You gotta get down." He shouts, overpowering you and pushing you down on the bed.

"Steven, it's me. It's (Y/N)." You exclaim as he covers your body with his. He's trembling above you, gripping the sheets around you tightly. "Steven, please look at me. It's okay. It's okay." You say, grabbing his face.

His skin is pasty white and his blue eyes are wide in fear. His bottom lip trembles as he glances around the room. He looks down at you, seeing himself hovering over you. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." He cries, crawling off you.

"It's okay. We're okay." You say, grabbing his hand.

"I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean to wake you up." He repeats, laying back down. He covers his hands over his face.

You pull him close to you, wrapping around him. "Steve, it's okay, I don't care. But I need to know if you're okay."

"I'm fine. It was nothing. You need to get some sleep." He brushes off.

"Please talk to me. I want to help." You say, crawling onto him and resting your head on his chest. His heart is pounding loud and fast in your ear. You've never seen this side of him. You want to be able to help him through whatever is haunting him at night.

"You don't have to do that. I can handle it." He says.

"Steve, if you think I'm going to judge you, I won't. I love you, every little thing about you. Whatever you tell me isn't going to change anything. This won't change the way I see you in the slightest. I just want to help." You say.

He shakes his head. "No."

"Steven." You softly say, grabbing his face. He looks down, his tears wetting your thumb.

He is silent for a while, the only noise coming from outside. The storm is now past, only lightly thundering. He takes a deep breath, his body shaking. "(Y/N), it's just so awful." He croaks.

You gently run your hand through his now damp hair.

"Sometimes my mind plays tricks on me at night, taking me back to the war. Sometimes it takes me back to battles and I see all of the wounded and dead. Sometimes I watch Bucky falling from the train on repeat over and over." He sniffs, trying to keep his composure in front of you.

"It's okay now. Bucky is safe and sound just across town." You comfort.

"I know, but it just seems so real. I should have reached just a bit farther. I could have grabbed him. I could have stopped him from being taken by Hydra if I was just one foot over. I could have saved him." He insists.

"There's nothing you can do about that now and there's nothing you could have done then. What happened is done." You say. He softy nods, but you know he doesn't agree. He will always blame himself for Bucky's torture. No amount of persuasion can change that.

"But those aren't even the worst ones." He says, grabbing your attention again.

He gently takes your hand, holding it against his cheek. He is silent again, his blue eyes tracing up and down your face.

"What is?" You softly ask.

"The ones where you are in their places." He whispers. "I'll be walking by soldiers and instead of seeing some strangers, I see you."

You feel your throat tightening, trying to hold back tears. How has he been putting up with these without telling you? "Steven, why haven't you told me this before?" You ask.

"I didn't want to scare you. I'm supposed to protect you." He softly says, running his hands through your hair.

"It's okay for other people to protect you, too. Like right now." You say. You let out a sigh, rolling over and holding him in your arms.

"This does feel safe." He chuckles, through you can tell he feels awkward. He's always the one holding you, the one protecting everyone from danger. He's never on the other side.

"Good. That's what I was trying to accomplish." You smile, kissing his cheek. You can't close your eyes, in fact, you can't even think about sleeping until you know he's okay. You stay awake, holding him tightly until you feel his heart slow down and his breathing deepen.

"Goodnight, (Y/N)." He softly says.

"Goodnight, Steve." You whisper back.

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

Eventually, a soft snore echoes in the room. You allow yourself to relax. You continue to hold him tight throughout the night, ready to be there for the next nightmare, but one doesn't come. He sleeps soundly through the night and, for once, you don't mind pulling an all nighter. Especially if it's for Steve.

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