requested by and dedicated to RockNRoller666
also took a while, i literally have no clue how this request is a month old. but here it is, hope i did it right!

~ Bad Dreams ~

I awoke with a start, my heart pounding and my hair sticking to my sweating forehead. My breathing was heavy and panicked, and it had quite a right to be. I'd been having bad nightmares lately, but nothing had ever compared to that. Jeez, it was awful.

Minutes passed, and I still hadn't calmed down. I was so freaked out I decided to just give in to my most basic instinct and call Nikki.

"(Y/N)? Are you okay? What's going on? Do you have any idea what time it is?"

"Yeah, two in the morning. What, He Who Doesn't Sleep was sleeping for once?"

"Uh, yeah, actually. Seriously, is something wrong?"

"Well... I..." Now the whole thing seemed kind of silly. Hearing his voice had calmed me down, and it no longer seemed like that big a deal.

Suddenly, part of my dream flashed before my eyes, and it was so vivid and disturbing that I shivered and was thrown back into my terror. "I had a dream."

"So what's your point, Martin Luther King Jr.?"

"Really, Nikki. It was really bad. I just... wanted to hear your voice, I guess."

"Aw, well you heard it, now go back to sleep."

"Nikki..."

I heard him softly sigh before asking, "are you okay?"

"I-I don't know. It was really scary."

"You wanna tell me what it was about?"

I spent the next ten minutes describing in detail what the nightmare had been like, and when I was done he didn't speak for several moments.

"Nikki?"

"My God, (Y/N), I'm sorry you dreamed that. That's fucking terrible."

"Yeah, um, I don't really want to go back to sleep. I don't wanna risk having to see it again."

"You won't. Just... think good thoughts?"

"That doesn't work. I keep having these stupid bad dreams, and nothing works to get rid of them."

He sighed again. "I'll be there in ten minutes."

Nikki actually got there in nine, but it's not like I was going to complain. There was a light knock on my door and I opened it to an adorable sight. Nikki was standing there in a Mötley Crüe T-shirt and striped pajama pants, holding a black blanket and rubbing his left eye. His hair was less frazzled than it usually was, but still pretty messy. He looked like a kid.

"Hey, we're twins," he said with a yawn, pointing to my shirt. I was wearing a Mötley Crüe shirt as well.

"Yeah," I laughed. Then I looked down and noticed he was wearing socks but not shoes. "Why don't you have any shoes on?"

"I couldn't find them. Quit checking me out. Actually, quit judging me."

"I wasn't-- never mind. Come on, don't just stand out there like a weirdo. Thanks for coming, by the way."

"What is this, a social gathering? Okay, I'm gonna close my eyes now. Just lead me to your room. Man, I'm tired..."

He actually closed his eyes, and I rolled my own before grabbing his arm and pulling him into my room. He opened his eyes only to look for the bed, then crashed down on it and wrapped his blanket around himself. I laughed when I noticed it had the Mötley Crüe logo on the back.

"What's with all this Crüe stuff?"

"It's free," he said in a low voice, not bothering to open his eyes. "What, I can't wear my own band's stuff?"

"No, no one said that," I said, turning the light off. "But you know damn well you'd still get it even if it wasn't free."

"Damn straight," he said, and I could tell he was close to sleep. "It's stylish."

"Sure, Nikki, sure. It is."

"Thanks. I'm gonna sleep now. Wake me up if anything," he said, then started to snore.

Big help he is, I thought to myself as I settled in next to him. Best boyfriend ever. Lucky for me, I was able to go back to sleep despite his snoring.

Well, that was an awful dream. I hope I have a good one now.

Ah, shit. This is the same stupid bad dream. Wait a minute... is this a dream? I can't tell...

Wait, no. This isn't a dream-- this is real. Mother of-- I think I'm having a heart attack.

Then I was waking up again, but this time someone was shaking me awake.

"Hey, hey, wake up!" The one shaking me said.

I realized I was kicking my feet and trying to say something, but I wasn't sure what it was and I couldn't stop. I was drifting back to consciousness, and the dream I'd been having was both fading and becoming clearer at the same time. The movement stopped and I was pulled against their chest, at which point I finally fully woke up.

Okay, now that I could fully recall it, I had to say that had been the worst nightmare ever. Worse than the one I'd had earlier that same night. It had just seemed so real. Tears were stuck in my eyes and I realized I was crying hard into Nikki's chest.

"You're okay, I got you," he said, hugging me and gently stroking my hair. "Nothing's happening. You're safe. It was a bad dream."

"Nikki," I whispered, trying to blink away the tears so I could see.

"Shh, it's okay. I'm here. I'm here."

My heart was still pounding. That dream had been sent straight from the pits of hell. But Nikki's embrace made me feel better and slowly brought me back to reality, where everything was okay.

"Thank you," I said, snuggling further into him and his warmth. "I would probably have had a huge panic attack if you weren't here."

"As if that wasn't already one," he said, putting his chin over my head and lightly pressing down. "Seriously, it's okay. I would never let anything happen to you-- go back to sleep if you want, and I'll stay awake and make sure those damn dreams stay the fuck away."

I laughed and sniffled. "You don't have to do that, Nikki. Go to sleep with me and join me in my dream, it'll help more."

"Okay, I'll try," he said. I closed my eyes, and in a little while (by some miracle greater than the one that had occured to let me sleep through Nikki's snores) I was able to go back to sleep.

I woke up for the third and last time at eleven-thirty the next morning. Nikki was still holding me, and I could only imagine how numb his arm must be.

"Finally sleep well?" Oh, so he was awake. I looked up at him to find him gazing down at me with soft eyes.

"Yeah," I responded. "Thanks, Nikki."

"Nothing to it. Uh, stay here," he said, gently pulling his arm out from under me and sitting up. He rubbed his eyes and yawned before getting out of bed. I stayed there like he'd asked, and a little while later he brought me breakfast.

"You didn't set anything on fire this time," I commented.

"Hey, that was a weird accident and I don't even know how it happened. Just eat this."

I laughed and did so, noting how good the meal actually was. But as I did, a little bit of embarrassment over the previous night (er, morning) crept into the back of my mind, and when I was done I said a quiet thanks and nothing more.

"Something wrong?" Nikki set the plate on the nightstand and sat down on the bed.

"I'm sorry I made you come here I'm the middle of the night over a stupid dream. Man, it's just embarrassing."

"No it's not, (Y/N). The dream wasn't even mine, but the way you described it-- fuck, I'm glad it wasn't. You had every right to be scared."

"But I interrupted your sleep..."

"So? I slept way better here and it's not like I'll die if I miss ten minutes of sleep."

"Still, I'm sorry. It just seems kinda silly now."

"It's not," he said, putting a hand on my back and gently moving it up and down. "Seriously. Besides, sleeping here wasn't any kind of bother-- it was better than sleeping alone at my place."

A little smile crossed my face at his attempts to make me feel better. "Alright, well still. Thanks for being there for me."

"That's what I'm here for. Well, that and you, but that just goes in circles and it's obvious anyway."

I laughed. "I'm glad to see you're still you."

He laughed as well and grabbed his blanket, putting it around himself and then wrapping his arms around me to cover me with it as well before kissing me. "Only for you in these times of need."

***

yeeet until next time :)