She sat straight up, biting her lips to keep from crying out. It had been a long time since she'd had this old nightmare, and she cursed herself-that now the stupid thing would come back
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He jolted hard and sniffed the air, his eyes darting around the room. Wrong, very wrong. He looked down at the woman curled up against him and growled softly, untangling himself from her grasp and getting to his feet, his breathing slightly elevated, his heart pounding a little. Wrong.
He didn't say a word, simply pulled on a shirt and his trousers, his shoes and socks and left. In the morning someone would explain to her, but for now he needed to get home.
He slipped inside the house quickly, not even bothering to turn on any of the lights, simply made his way upstairs.
"Echo?" he said, his voice gruff, yet the emotion underneath it was unmistakeable - he was afraid.
She glanced up at the doorway, her body relaxing immediately when she realized it was him. "Edward," she said softly, reaching out for him. She needed his comfort, and she needed it immediately. "You came... I wasn't sure you would. I thought maybe you wouldn't hear me, or that Henry would have firm enough control that you wouldn't be able to come to me." She was keeping her own emotions in check, just barely.
He smiled just a little as she recognised him, but then she always would, he was her husband after all. Neither of them had ever made that mistake and for that, especially now, he was glad. He moved to her, stripping his shirt off and laying down on the bed, pulling her to him and cradelling her close; "I will always find you, Echo" he murmured, stroking her hair, her emotions stoking his own as they always did. "I am stronger than Henry, you know this, and anyway, he wouldn't deny me this"
She nodded just a little, her body relaxing fully against his. "I know you will," she said, "I know, for certain, but my mind likes to torture me with the idea that you may not..." She shuddered just a little, burying her face into the pillow, just the fact that he was there a comfort beyond any other. "And I know you are, my love, but that doesn't stop me from worrying that sometime he will find strength enough to hold you back." She turned her face into his neck, closing her eyes tight. "I hate that I took Henry from Dawna for such a stupid thing... it's just a dream, but it was horrible this time. Worse than normal." She knew she was babbling, but just the sound of her own voice was a comfort in the quiet. It was too quiet sometimes, now that their children were grown.
"I know my love..." he murmured, but it hadn't, not for a long long while, so why now? It made him upset and frustrated and helpless that he couldn't ease her pain, couldn't stop the nightmares. "He won't..." he swallowed hard. He wasn't going to lie that he worried about that too, every single fucking day but what could he do? Could only continue to co-exist with the other part of him and hope that it continued to go smoothly even though that hadn't always been the case. "It wasn't a stupid thing, Echo" He half wanted to ask what her dream had been but he knew that would only make him more angry, the old feelings being dragged up that he thought the two of them had buried a long time ago.
"It was just a dream," she said again, feeling his upset like a weight on her chest. She always could, but this time was almost more overwhelming than usual. It was this old hurt, this old fear, that had been dealt with nearly 22 years before, but the fact that it kept coming back up was frustrating... "It WAS just a dream... a stupid fucking dream..." She ran her hand over his skin slowly, the familiar smooth scars under her fingers nearly hypnotic. "He just did as he'd threatened... and when I woke up he was using my own knife on me, hurting the ba... killing. Killing Kie. And I panicked. It's worse now that I know what we would have lost... Now that I know the man he is, the idea of our lives without him is horrifying." She shook her head again, the feeling she'd woken up with, the pure panic, settling in her stomach as a dead weight.
He shivered a little as her fingers drifted over his skin and it helped to calm him just a little but it wasn't enough, he wanted to help her. "Stupid fucking dream" he growled softly, but the anger underneath it was unmistakable, the fact that he was holding so much inside so different from the man he had been. He listened carefully, trying to keep his emotions in check. He stiffened at the mention of Kieran. "But he didn't, Kieran;s okay...he will always be okay..." he stroked her back, neck and shoulder slowly, needing to be of comfort.
"Indeed," she murmured, the anger in his words and his actions actually helping. It always did. His anger was frequently her comfort, after all. "You can be angry, my love," she said, knowing he was holding it back. "Be angry and upset and even take it out on me, if you like, it might help us both..." She held him tight, feeling the stiffening and understanding completely. "I know he's okay. I know better than most, love. I did give birth to him, as you know. I've watched him extra carefully as he's grown... I've always been irrationally afraid he would be taken from us..." She relaxed into his touch further. It felt so comfortable, so tender, and she rested her cheek against his chest.
He let himself feel that anger just a little bit more, feel it burn through his veins just a little bit more, waking him in ways so few other emotions did. He growled a little louder, his body stiffening just a little bit more. He would allow himself to get angry, but wouldn't take it out on her just yet, the panic within him still fresh for the catharsism of their violence to be of any use. "I know, I was there too" he laughed quietly. "And he won't be taken from us, with the last breath in my body I will protect you all" he smiled as she relaxed into his touch, feeling himself relax just a little too. God he loved her, even if he hadn't always been able to admit it.
He didn't say a word, simply pulled on a shirt and his trousers, his shoes and socks and left. In the morning someone would explain to her, but for now he needed to get home.
He slipped inside the house quickly, not even bothering to turn on any of the lights, simply made his way upstairs.
"Echo?" he said, his voice gruff, yet the emotion underneath it was unmistakeable - he was afraid.
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