I could hear a familiar voice calling my name from down the corridor, yet no matter how much I ran, it only seemed to get further away from me. I soon recognised the voice to be Connor's, and when I eventually arrived in his room, he was sprawled across the floor and his face was distorted as he screamed and cried out in pain.

"Don't let them get me, Troye!" he screamed, his voice cracking as he said my name. I tried to move forward, but my legs seemed frozen in place. I couldn't get to him, and it was as though an invisible force was dragging him away from me. The next thing I saw was the blood, and there was a lot of it. It was pooling around his forearms as he lay helplessly on the floor, the puddles of crimson enlarging in size as he continued to bleed.

"They're coming for me, please don't let them get me! Help me, Troye! Please!" Connor begged, the colour draining from his face as his level of fear increased. I tried to run to him but I couldn't move, terrified of what was happening. Who was coming for him? I couldn't see anyone in the room and it was dark everywhere - there was no one around.

"Who's coming for you?" I screamed, trying my hardest to get Connor to hear me over his screams of pain and terror.

"Troye!" he cried. I managed to find the strength to move and I ran to him, my arms outstretched as I reached for his hand. In my hurry, I tripped and collided with the floor with a thud, which had more than likely knocked me out. The last thing I heard before I blacked out was Connor screaming my name.

My eyes snapped open and I could feel the cold sweat on my face as I jolted upright. Looking around, I realised I was in my own bed and everywhere was still and quiet. Despite realising that what I'd just seen had all been a nightmare, I couldn't stop the violent shaking throughout my body. The image of Connor in the dream, sprawled helplessly across the floor and bleeding to death kept replaying in my head, and it made me feel both sick and like I just wanted to cry. Slowly, I climbed out of my bed and shivered when my bare feet first made contact with the cold floor underfoot. When I reached my doorway, I poked my head out and checked that the coast was clear before stepping out and walking down the corridor.

When I reached Connor's room, I was slightly more at ease when I found him fast asleep in a similar position to the last time I'd seen him asleep: his mouth slightly open, his eyelids fluttering slightly as he dreamed. I felt bad for disturbing his peace, but all I needed was to hear his voice and to make sure he was okay.

"Con?" I whispered, waiting silently for a response. Nothing. "Connor!" I whispered slightly louder than before, and I was relieved when he eventually stirred and his eyes slowly prised open.

"Troye? It's still dark, what's up?" he asked, propping himself up on his elbow and rubbing his eyes lazily.

I stepped into his room slightly. "I had a nightmare. You were in it."

Connor stifled a yawn and sat up, patting the space just in front of him. I slowly crossed the room and sat in front of him, sort of grateful for the fact that it was still dark so he wouldn't be able to see my appearance. "Wanna talk about it?"

"I tried to save you, you were bleeding - bad. You kept saying someone was coming to get you and you kept screaming my name and asking me to help you, and I tried, I really did try but I just couldn't get to you and-"

"Hey," Connor smiled sympathetically, patting my shoulder with his hand. "It was only a dream, it's okay. I'm fine and so are you."

I sighed heavily and looked to the floor. "I'm sorry for disturbing you."

Connor shook his head. "Its okay, really. I don't mind."

A brief silence fell between us before Connor spoke again. "You should probably get back to bed, you'll be tired in the morning otherwise."

"I, um.. Could you, I mean.." I began, but I couldn't seem to get my words out. Connor raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Would you mind staying with me, just for a little bit? I'm pretty shaken up about it."

Without hesitation, Connor nodded and pulled back his duvet. "Of course. Come on, let's go."

Together, the two of us walked back to my room and I climbed into bed. Connor pulled my duvet over me and I felt a slight pressure on the bed beside me as he sat down, absent-mindedly stroking my hair as he stared up at the ceiling. I was quite surprised with how quickly I felt relaxed and how I wasn't anywhere near as shaky as I had previously been. My eyes eventually fell shut, and I listened to Connor's quiet humming as he stroked my hair, gently lacing his fingers through my curls.

"You didn't have to stay, I'm sorry for being so childish." I said through a yawn.

"Stop talking and go to sleep, it's okay - really. I don't mind. I'd rather know you were calm and feeling okay again."

I smiled to myself, nestling deeper into the pillow and eventually feeling myself begin to drift off to sleep whilst Connor continued to hum an unfamiliar tune. As I began to slip out of consciousness, I heard Connor whisper something just loud enough for me to hear.

"I promise I won't leave until you're peaceful. Until then, I'm right here."

a/n: i'm sorry this was a shorter chapter, when i'd planned it out i thought it would be longer but apparently not, so sorry about that !! the next chapters will be longer again i promise :)