I am so sorry for not posting a new chapter for Mute! Believe me, I am working on it. I hope this can keep you guys happy until I get it finished!
Tierno didn't know what to do. His best friend, Trevor Kerns, was panicking. And he felt absolutely useless.
The taller boy was not oblivious. He had known for a few years now that his best friend suffered from horrible nightmares almost nightly – he only discovered this because Trevor had woken up in a panic one night and had called him until he felt like he was able to go back to sleep. He had no idea for how long he had had them or what they were about, though. That was something the shorter boy had never told Tierno.
Unfortunately, this was the first time that he had ever seen how bad these nightmares actually were. And he was clueless as how to help.
Trevor was shaking, curled up in a ball on the air mattress he had insisted on sleeping on. He had abandoned his blankets, which were tossed on to the floor, and had his hands over his ears. He kept on opening and closing his mouth, like he was trying to say something but had lost his voice. His eyes were shut tight – Tierno was betting that he was holding back tears.
He had never seen his best friend like this, and he never wanted to see him like this again.
"Trevs, do you want to talk about it?" He asked, mentally hoping that the shorter boy had heard him. Thankfully, he had, but shook his head. He still hadn't opened his eyes. Tierno looked at him, worriedly. There had to be some way to help calm him down. He couldn't let him fall asleep without making him feel calm and safe. He just couldn't.
The taller male racked his brain for something that could help. A game might help, but he had the feeling that Trevor wasn't going to be speaking any time soon, so that was almost immediately crossed off. Listening to music probably wouldn't be of much help either. Studying the Pokédex and learning about which Pokémon had been recently discovered was probably one of the things that were worth a shot to try.
"Do you want to go look and research some Pokémon?" Trevor shook his head again, his eyes appearing to be shut even tighter than they were before. Tierno briefly wondered if his nightmare had something to do with Pokémon, but didn't ask. He knew that if the shorter boy was ready to talk about his nightmares, he would. He just couldn't push the subject.
Tierno went back into his brainstorming mode. Trevor might like to read something, but he would hate it if he damaged his books with tears. So that was out. As was writing – the shorter boy hated damaging important papers of his. The only other thing that came to his mind was – oh, yeah, that would work.
"How about you and I watch one of your favourite documentaries? We can set up a blanket fort and get some of your favourite food. You can pick which one we watch and I'll get everything set up." He suggested. This time, Trevor nodded and got up. He was still shaking badly, but not to the point of earlier. However, he was still avoiding Tierno's gaze, making him wonder if this was how bad his other nightmares got. "Babiri muffins, some chocolate Moomoo milk, and shortbread, right?" Trevor nodded once again, and with that, Tierno was off to his best friend's kitchen to go hunt down the food.
0o0o0
When Tierno got back with the food, he was surprised to see that Trevor had a few tears rolling down his cheek. He didn't say anything for a moment, deciding that even if he had to take up permanent residence in the Kerns house, he would help decrease the severity and frequency of these nightmares. Quickly, he placed the food down on Trevor's main bed, and walked over to his friend. The red head noticed him and tried to wipe away his tears.
"Dude, did you really think that I was going to judge you for crying?" Tierno asked. When the shorter boy finally made eye contact with him, Tierno could see both the unshed tears and fear in his grey eyes. He held out his arms, silently gesturing that Trevor could hug him if he needed. "I've known you for nearly seven years. I'm not going to judge you for any kind of emotion." Once he said that, the shorter boy practically latched onto him for a hug.
At first, Tierno didn't know what to do. He was stunned that the red head had actually hugged him – he usually didn't like hugging others. Once the shock had resided, he slowly wrapped his arms around him. The shorter boy was still shaking, either from crying or from the fear of his nightmare, but after a few minutes, the shaking slowly subsided. After it did, Trevor slowly pulled out of the hug and gestured towards the snacks and movie.
"Right, movie. Laptop still on the top shelf?" He asked, waiting for Trevor to nod. When he did, Tierno made his way over to his shelf and grabbed the old laptop. "We're watching it on the air mattress, right Trevs?" Another nod. He took the heavy device over to the air mattress, grabbed the blankets and wrapped them mostly over Trevor, and then went to pick up the food. As steadily as he could, he brought the food back and placed it beside the laptop.
"So what movie are we watching?" Tierno asked. Trevor quickly picked up the DVD box, allowing the black haired boy to read it. Once he did, he grinned. "The Legends of the World, huh? Let's start it!" The taller boy put the disc into the DVD player of the laptop and waited for it to start up.
Much to his surprise, Trevor picked up his left arm and wrapped it around the blankets covering him. Tierno begun blushing heavily, thankful that the laptop wasn't too bright, but didn't move his arm. Instead, he grabbed the shorter boy and placed him in front of himself, and wrapped both of his arms around him. For a brief moment, he wondered if he had made a mistake, but his worries were soon extinguished when Trevor leaned back onto his stomach.
0o0o0
Tierno was surprised when he woke up the next morning. The laptop had been shut to decrease the risk of a fire, the snacks had been moved so that they wouldn't get knocked over when they were sleeping, and Trevor was still fast asleep in his arms. The shorter boy's slight snore was the only sound in the entire house and, unlike earlier, he had a small smile on his face. Seeing the smile made the black haired boy relax greatly, since it meant that whatever nightmare had taken hold of him last night was gone.
Hopefully for a long time, too.
Deep down, Tierno knew that his hope was almost impossible. Whatever Trevor's nightmare was about would probably reappear sooner rather than later. He knew that, when that happened, he had to be there for the slightly older boy. He couldn't leave him on his own to be subjected to its torment. That was something that he couldn't allow. With his heart and mind set, he ever so slightly strengthened his grip on Trevor's unconscious body.
Which, whether miraculously or not, woke him up.
Trevor groaned quietly, wrapping the blankets around him tighter. "Five more minutes, Amber." He said. Tierno laughed briefly before the shorter boy pulled the blankets over his head. "Stop shaking the bed, sis."
"Trevs, it's me." Tierno whispered, watching as Trevor practically pull out of the hug he had had him in for who knows how many hours. The red head looked scared for a brief moment, like he was remembering the nights' events in seconds. When the fear disappeared, the taller boy gave him a small smile. "Morning, sleepy head."
"Tierno!" He exclaimed. "About my nightmare -"
"You don't have to tell me about it, Trevs. Not unless you're ready."
"Thank you for helping me with getting over it. It means a lot." Trevor continued, ignoring Tierno's interruption. He suddenly appeared shy and unsure, not knowing what else to say. Touched, the black haired boy gave him another smile.
"Don't worry about it. You're my best friend, I had to help somehow."
"Thanks, Tierno."