Prompt: 27 "Shush, it's okay. I've got you."
It was about 3 in the morning when James felt a body twitch in the bed next to him. He looked over at George. His face looked distressed, all pinched together, and he was damp with sweat. James jostled his shoulder a bit, trying to wake him up from whatever nightmare he might be having. He remained fast asleep. "George," he said, grabbing his shoulders and jostling him again. "George wake up!"
George woke up gasping for air, "Oh my god, oh my god. Am I awake? Is this real? Am I awake?" His breathing was ragged, like he was either one step away from hyperventilation or crying. James pulled him into a hug, and George melted into it. James felt George's breath quicken and his chest started heaving. James felt his shirt dampen with George's tears. He didn't want to push him to speak about what happened, though he was curious. He just wanted to be there and comfort him. George looked up at him with tears streaming down his face, lip quivering.
"I just...nothing was real...and I just couldn't wake up," George started in between gasps and sobs. "And everything was...a nightmare and...I just kept...waking into...another nightmare. Just nightmare...after nightmare...after nightmare. And it just...wouldn't stop." At that point, he broke down into uncontrollable sobs, head hung and hands clutching James's for dear life.
"Shush, it's okay. I've got you," James said, worried he didn't know what to say but knowing he had to try to say something. "This is real. I'm real. Everything is okay." George just nodded and continued to cry, quietly this time. They stayed like that for a while until George had cried all his tears and calmed himself down a bit more.
"James?" George asked shyly, looking up at him again.
"Ya?"
"Could-could you just lay with me and-and hold me for a bit?"
"Of course," James said with a smile. The two of them laid down face to face, legs and arms intertwined and foreheads touching. They laid like that, measuring their breaths against the other's and living in the comfort of the other's presence until they fell asleep.