It was the middle of the night when you woke up. That was the third night in a row you had woken up from a nightmare, but none of your bad dreams had compared to this one. Not even close. In this dream, you had come close to losing the man you loved. You'd seen him near death, tortured, and in incomprehensibly bad pain. You'd seen an unknown assailant attack him, then leave him lying on the ground, his white shirt stained with blood, his eyes shut tight as he tried not to scream in pain. Your eyes had become cloudy with tears as you'd bent over your companion, trying to help and comfort him as much as you could. Luckily, before your subconscious situation could get worse, you sat up in bed with a small whimper as you woke up.
You turned on your side. Sidney was lying right next to you, fast asleep, his head resting peacefully on his pillow. It took you a minute to realize that you had been dreaming.
You lay back down, shaking, and as you reflected on the horrors you had just witnessed, you began to cry. You tried to keep your sobs quiet so as to not wake up Sidney, but fortunately for you, Sidney always seemed to have a sixth sense when it came to you being upset. You could hide negative emotions from most people, but not from Sidney. As you lay with your back to him, trying to keep quiet, you felt a hand rest on your shoulder as Sidney said, "What's wrong, darlin'?"
You didn't answer immediately. Your sobs prevented you from getting your words out properly.
"Did you have another nightmare?" he asked in a gentle voice.
You nodded, still shaking in terror.
"You wanna talk about it?"
You took a shaky breath before you managed to say, "It...it was horrible...you...you were at-attacked and a man stabbed you and you were...on the g-ground with blood all over your shirt...and I-I was trying to help you and...and..." You couldn't bring yourself to say anymore. Tears poured from your eyes in torrents, similar to the slight rain that had begun outside.
"[Y/N], look at me." You turned around, still shaking, and faced Sidney. He said in a firm but gentle voice, "I'm right here. I'm okay. And I'm not going anywhere. It was just a nightmare."
"B-But what if you really do get attacked?" you sobbed.
"I'm not gonna let that happen," said Sidney. "And even if someone did try to attack me, I'm pretty good at defending myself."
You nodded. "That's true."
"Yeah," said Sidney. "And I'm also really good at defending you. So don't you go thinking that somethings gonna happen to you, too, darlin', We're both safe here. I'm not gonna let anything happen to either of us, okay?"
You nodded. You felt a little better, but you were still shaken from your dream. Sidney could tell as much and said, "Come here, baby," as he pulled you gently into a hug. His arms felt strong and protective and you immediately felt much safer. You rested your head on his shoulder as he whispered, "It's okay, baby, I've got you. I've got you." He hugged you a little tighter to reassure you, and your crying began to fade a bit. The rain outside was pouring in buckets, and lightning flashed and thunder crashed outside the bedroom window. But it didn't bother you. In fact, you liked thunderstorms, especially when you were inside. Something about being inside during a storm made you feel cozy, especially when you were with Sidney. 'Cuddle me?" you asked.
Sidney smiled, and you both lay back down on your pillows, which somehow felt fluffier to you than usual. Sidney lay flat on his back as he invited you over to him, and he put his arms around you as you snuggled into his side. He felt warm and cozy, and as you rested your hand on his chest and draped an arm across his stomach, you felt much more at ease. And you just lay there, feeling the warmth come off him as you listened both to the rain outside and to Sidney's heartbeat, both of which made you feel relaxed and sleepy.
Sidney kissed your head and said, "You feeling better, darlin'?"
You nodded and hugged Sidney's belly with your arm. "I love you so much."
"I love you too. Goodnight, sweetheart."
"Goodnight, Sidney."