Fire. Fire everywhere. The world had transformed into a blurry haze of orange, yellow and red that travelled throughout the house like a ghost, destroying everything in its path. Sharp crackles and the crunching sound of wood filled the room, muffling Taehyung's cries for help. He was crouched under a small table in the corner of the room, his eyes wide in fear as he observed the flames that were getting closer and closer to him. He could feel the scorching heat on every cell of his body, causing beads of sweat to run down his small face.
"Mom!" He called for what felt like the hundredth time, but to no avail.
"Dad!" He tried again.
No answer.
Meanwhile, the flames were drawing closer, surrounding him from all corners. There was nothing he could do, no where he could run. He was trapped.
The fire had finally reached him now, engulfing him into its blazing arms. The only thing he could feel was the scorching heat that burned through his clothing, marking his back with a searing imprint. He could only scream as he felt severe pain, not only from the flames, but also from the possibility of losing his parents.
"Taehyung, Taehyung," he suddenly heard Chaeyoung's voice and looked up with hope, but saw no one. He looked around in confusion, still unable to locate her.
"Tae," her voice echoed around him as if coming from above, and he felt his arm being shaken vigorously.
Taehyung suddenly jolted awake in bed, his breaths coming out in rapid, short, puffs and his forehead glistening with sweat. As he tried to calm his rapidly beating heart, he looked up to see Chaeyoung sitting on the edge of his bed. The open window beside his bed was the only source of light in the room, but he could still clearly see the concern lining her pretty face.
"Chaeng," he leaned back against the headboard of his bed tiredly, "where are we?" he asked in an attempt to reorient himself.
"The lakehouse," she responded softly, dabbing the sweat off his forehead with the sleeves of her shirt, "you were having another nightmare."
Taehyung sighed and closed his eyes. He'd been doing pretty well for the past month, completely nightmare-free, but he should've known better than to believe he'd ever be free from their clutches.
Unfortunately, nightmares were a common occurrence in Taehyung's life – one he'd been forced to accept. The majority of these dreams surrounded the fire that killed his parents more than 10 years ago, but he also regularly relived the terrible experiences of torturing and killing people. Despite how awful he felt on these nights, a part of him felt like he deserved them – like it was part of the world's way of repaying him for all his wrong doings. Somehow, Chaeyoung always knew when these were happening and helped him through it. She was his rock, his refuge.
"How did you know?" He asked, beginning to calm down his breathing.
"Tae, you were screaming," she replied, her eyes wide with fear, "I've never heard you scream like that."
He unconsciously reached for her hand, squeezing it lightly, "sorry for waking you."
She looked down at where his hand was intertwined with hers, allowing it to remain like that for a couple seconds before pulling away, "I'm going to grab you some water."
"I'm still mad at you, by the way," she threw over her shoulder as she walked away, heading towards the kitchen.
Taehyung smiled at that, even though he was feeling dehydrated and nauseous as a result of the nightmare. Only she could make someone smile during their most painful moment.
She came back quickly, carrying a large glass of water in one hand and a juice box in the other.
"Okay, you're going to drink all of this water first," she said, handing him the glass and watching him gulp it down approvingly.
"Good boy," she said playfully, "now, onto the juice. Get that blood sugar up."
"Yes, Nurse Park," he rolled his eyes, before chugging the entire box in less than a minute.
"Now, sleep," she commanded, pointing to the bed.
Taehyung slid his back down the headboard until his head rested on his pillow again, closing his eyes briefly, "I don't know if I can."
She looked like she was contemplating something for a minute, biting her bottom lip as she spaced out. After several bouts of crossing and uncrossing her arms and walking circles around his bed, she finally exhaled heavily and stood beside him.
"Move over, then," she said while lifting the blanket and climbing beside him onto his bed.
"What are you doing?" he asked in surprise, but moved over to the right side of the bed.
"Helping you fall asleep," she said matter-of-factly, turning on her side to stare at him.
Taehyung turned towards her so they were eye-to-eye, their bodies close enough for him to instantly feel warm. They just laid there for a couple minutes, silently gazing at each other – as if they'd forgotten what the other one looked like in the past 4 days.
"I thought you were still mad at me," Taehyung murmured with a small smile and a questioning brow raised.
Chaeyoung frowned at him, "I am. But, this is a special circumstance."
Taehyung's smile grew wider, reaching his eyes and making them light up with the cheery glimmer that was so characteristic of him. He used the back of his index finger to lightly stroke her cheekbones.
"I'm sorry, Chaeyoung. I should've told you-" he began, his tone full of sincerity.
"Shh," she hushed him by closing the gap between them and wrapping her arms around his waist, "we can talk about that later. Try to get some rest right now, you look exhausted."
Taehyung automatically relaxed into her arms, wrapping his arms around her as she nuzzled her head into the crook of his neck. He couldn't believe how much he'd missed her soothing voice, her soft hair, her warmth, her scent. More than anything, he missed her company. Just a couple minutes of talking to her was enough to relieve his stress, and not talking to her was like torture. He missed his best-friend, and holding her in his arms right now, he finally felt at ease for the first time this week.
"I missed you so much, Chaeng," he whispered, his chin resting on her head lightly.
She sighed deeply, "Me too."
Suddenly, she pulled her head back slightly to look into his eyes, "were you dreaming about the fire?"
With a wary look, he nodded. He hated worrying her, and wouldn't have told her about the nightmares if she didn't figure it out for herself. Every time it happened, he was almost certain that it caused her more stress than it caused him.
"Are they always about the fire?" she searched his eyes, her brows furrowing with concern, "because, sometimes you say different things. You even shout differently."
"Most of the time, they're different versions of what happened in the fire, but sometimes..." he trailed off, avoiding her eyes.
"What?" she encouraged him to continue, her hand tilting his chin to meet his gaze again.
"Sometimes, they're about the things I've done as a Griffin," he confessed, gazing into her eyes to gauge her reaction.
He was surprised when she nodded, her face full of understanding, "I expected as much," she murmured, "you're too soft for those things not to affect you."
"Did I say anything during this dream?" he asked softly, part of him dreading the answer, and another part of him curious.
She nodded, her expression softening, "you called out for your parents.... And then you just started screaming. God, I'll never forget the sound – they sounded so painful and torturous-"
Her expression had faded into a scared and helpless look, and her eyes were shining with tears. Taehyung's heart ached for being the cause of her worries. He pulled her close to his chest again and kissed her head gently.
"It was so scary, Tae," her voice was muffled against his neck, her breath tickling his skin slightly, "I never want to hear that sound again."
"It won't happen again," he said with a soft chuckle, but they both knew it was an empty promise.
"If it does, I'm putting you up for adoption," she muttered, and he could practically feel her pout against his neck, "there's no way you're disturbing my sleep like that again."
Taehyung laughed, his body shaking against hers, "deal."
Slowly, their bodies melted together, moving simultaneously with each inhale and exhale until they comfortably fell asleep until the morning – with no trace of nightmares to disturb their peace.
~*~
A/N: Sorry for the late update :( it's wedding season where I am, so I've had tons of events to attend. I'm still always thinking about this story, though! Thank you for your patience and support <3 you guys are the best motivators!