Mihashi's trying not to wake Abe. It's not like the nightmares are new, although the content has changed somewhat since he started at Nishiura and then again, more recently. And they're silly, he knows they are, because Abe's right here, he's close enough to touch and he's not going anywhere, he promised and he's kept that promise, there is no reason for Mihashi to be afraid. He's not, usually, at least not when he's awake, but sometimes he wakes up shaking and crying with incoherent panic and he can't quite get himself to calm down.
The last time this happened he slipped out of bed, curled up on the floor with a blanket and a pillow so the involuntary motion of his fading sobs wouldn't wake the other boy. But the next morning Abe found him there and yelled at him until Mihashi promised to not leave the next time. That means the only thing to do is to bite his lip and try to breathe slowly, try to steady his shoulders so the mattress doesn't shift under him.
He's in the midst of this failing attempt when there's a muffled inhale and movement from behind him. Mihashi goes still with cold panic a moment before Abe says, "Ren?" with his voice heavy and rough with sleep. "What's the matter?"
He's not angry, just sleepy. Mihashi takes a sharp breath. "N-nightmare." It's easier to talk in the dark, when he's not watching Abe's face for the shadow of irritation to come down over the other boy's features, when it feels a little like he's talking to himself in the black of the room.
A sigh, movement. When Abe speaks again he sounds a little more awake. "You should have woken me up."
"B-b-but -" Mihashi starts, trying to put words to a protest so ingrained in him that he can't even form it as a coherent argument. "B-but -"
"It's okay." An arm curls around Mihashi's waist, pulls him backwards over the bed until his shoulders run into Abe's chest. Abe yawns, goes on speaking. "You're fine, I'm here." He's talking softly, the words coming out thick with sleep and slow with impending unconsciousness, but the comfort of the words and the weight of his arm around Mihashi pulls apart the climbing panic under the smaller boy's skin. Mihashi takes a deep breath, and when he lets it out it is barely shaking at all.
Abe's head bumps in against the back of his neck; Mihashi can feel the other boy sigh warm against his skin, the faint press of lips in an idle kiss before Abe goes on talking in a low mumble almost lost against Mihashi's skin. "'S okay, everything's okay." He slides in closer, fits his knees in against the back of Mihashi's like he's a protective wall forming himself to fit the other boy's frame. "'M not going anywhere, I've got you. You're safe, you're happy, you're okay."
Mihashi's breathing is coming steady, now. He shuts his eyes and Abe's voice rolls over him, soothing even when the words fade into incoherency as the other boy slips back into sleep. He can feel Abe breathing slow behind him; as the other boy falls fully asleep he leans in against Mihashi, the weight of his shoulders pressing the smaller boy down against the mattress like a heavy blanket. With that security curled against him Mihashi sighs, and breathes, and sleeps again.
There are no nightmares, this time.