"No! Stop! Get away from me!"
It wasn't how most people woke up. But then, One wasn't most people.
The eighteen year old had been enjoying a peaceful sleep when he was woken by a scream.
One's eyes snapped open and he pulled himself into a sitting position, listening out for another scream.
"Stop it! Don't hurt me!"
Yep, that was definitely Six.
Must be a particularly violent nightmare.
One was used to Six having nightmares; The schizophrenic little artist had been plagued by them for as long as either of them could remember. But One could never remember Six screaming out like this.
...
Oh, what the hell. He knew he wouldn't get any sleep if Six kept on like this, and besides, he felt like Six needed him, or needed just generally someone.
Grabbing the flashlight that stood on the bedside table, One made his way over to Six's room. The screams were getting louder by this time, and he briefly wondered why nobody else was awake yet. But then, they were all rather heavy sleepers.
One pushed open the door and shone the flashlight at Six's bed. Two and Five had made a little safety rail to clip onto so said bed, because Six had a tendency to throw himself off when he'd had a particularly bad dream. It did make it feel a lot like a cot though, apparently.
"Six..." One sat on the end of the bed and took the younger boy's shoulder. "Six, wake up. You're dreaming."
...
"Six, wake up."
...
"Wake uuppp~"
...
"WAKE UP!" By now One was shaking Six's shoulders in his haste to get him out of the dreamworld.
Finally, Six's eyes snapped open with a gasp and he fell forward into One's chest, somehow managing to throw his arms around the leaders' neck at the same time.
"Uhhh..." One wasn't expecting this. Looking down at the now-hysterical child in his arms, he winced. He really wasn't good at this comfort stuff.
Awkwardly, he started to rub Six's back, in the hope that this would have some sort of calming effect. "Eh...Shh...You're going to be...okay...?" Damn, he was wishing Two was here. Two was a lot better at this sort of thing.
It seemed to help, though, as Six calmed down a little and started to mutter something. By now, One was getting into the swing of things, and had started to rock Six as well.
"Shh...it's okay...you're going to be okay..."
And Six looked up.
There was an awkward silence for a moment before Six squeaked, "One?" Tears were still running down his face as he continued. "I..I d-didn't expect you to do...th-this..."
One gently pushed his head back down and started to rock him again. "Unexpected doesn't mean bad."
"N-no..." Six mumbled into One's pyjama shirt, "It doesn't~"
They stayed like that for a while, until the sobbing ceased completely. Six clung to One tighter and closed his eyes, looking absolutely exhausted.
And for some reason, One started again.
Eventually, the grip on One slackened, and only then did the latter realise what he'd just been doing. Trying and failing to keep back a smile, he gently prised Six away from him and laid him back down, tucking him in. Spying a forlorn-looking toy bunny on the floor, he picked it up and tucked it in next to Six.
Six stirred in his sleep and clutched the bunny, a faint smile appearing on his face.
One was full out grinning now, and he picked up the flashlight and turned to leave. He stopped at the door, turning back around to whisper "Goodnight, Six." And with that he walked away.
Six slept better the rest of that night then he had for a long time.