hello everyone who had decided to visit this story an who has bothered to read my A/N so I wrote this wile I was in the middle of reading the second book i think like last year and it was before the part where Celaena and Chaol actually got together. but then when they got together and broke up I kinda discontinued it. but I was going through my documents just a few minutes ago and I saw it an decided to finish it and post it. so that's what I did. hope you like it and will review and tell me what you think. thanks.

disclaimer: I don't own these characters they are property of Sarah J. Maas

Bad Dreams

Gasping for breath, Celaena snapped awake, shooting upright in her bed and waiting for her eyes to adjust to the near solid darkness settled in her room. Once her breathing calmed, she kicked her legs out of her twisted sheets and rolled to the edge of the bed.

Another nightmare.

The remnants of the dream were sketchy, snatches from here and there quickly chased to the back of her mind by the receding drowsiness.

Moaning loudly, Celaena smothered her face with a pillow and flopped back onto the forgiving mattress. Fleetfoot lifted her head and whined at Celaena from the foot of the bed.

"Oh, shut it, dog," Celaena muttered, tossing her pillow to the side.

She pulled herself to her feet and began to pace the length of her bedroom, tired, but much to riled up to sleep. Perhaps she could go to the library…

And risk encountering that thing again?

Alright, so maybe not…but where else could she go?

Without quite thinking about it, Celaena slipped on a dark cloak and drew the fur lined interior tight around her bare shoulders as she ducked out of her room. Without a destination in mind, Celaena began wandering the corridors, relishing the peace and silence only glimpsed in the deepest hours of the night.

Celaena continued drifting down corridors, brushing her fingertips against the gods awful cold stones of the wall and glancing through frosted windows, glimpsing her reflection as she ghosted by, long cloak whispering behind on the plush carpet.

Soon enough, she found herself face to face with a door. She hadn't meant to come here, of all places. Never the less, Celaena watched her hand, scarred with the bite of the ridderack, as if it belonged to someone else while it reached out and knocked quietly.

After the moment of silence that followed, Celaena should have left. She should have dismissed whatever it was that had compelled her to find her way to the door she now faced. But instead, she eased it open, cringing as the hinges binding it to the wall screamed in protest.

Peering uselessly into the darkness, Celaena whispered, "Chaol, are you awake?"

There was a shifting, shuffling noise from deep within the darkness. Celaena was glad that Chaol's room was open so she did not have to speak very loud.

A bed creaked and a dark figure appeared atop the splotch of black against black that was tucked into the far corner of the room. "Celaena?" Chaol sounded drowsy and confused, not at all as he should. "What are you doing here? Do you even know what time it is?"

Celaena, not having the faintest clue as to the time, nor the slightest care, slipped past the door and carefully stalked towards Chaol's bed.

"Celaena," Chaol repeated. "what are you doing here?"

His voice was different somehow as she neared. He stretched across his bed and she heard him knock something off his nightstand before he turned a knob and ignited a gas lamp. A warm yellow glow flared from the lamp, and light flooded into the room, chasing the blanket of darkness back, back to the farthest corners of the room.

Celaena stood uncertainly at the foot of his bed, harboring the warmth of her cloak as she clutched it tight to her body. She watched Chaol as he straightened in his bed, looked at her strangely. He threw back the covers and pushed himself to his feet, staring at Celaena as he crossed his arms against his chest.

His bare chest. The Captain of the Guard stood before Celaena in a modest pair of pants, rumpled from sleep. His eyes glowed golden in the lamplight as they bore into Celaena. "What's the matter?"

"I – I had another nightmare," she muttered. As her face burned red with embarrassment, Celaena wondered why her feet had led her there, and why she hadn't turned around and walked right back to her rooms.

Chaol frowned and leaned closer to her. "Another nightmare?" Celaena nodded. "Have you been having lots lately?"

Celaena shifted her eyes to the window. Through it she could see a half full moon hanging on the horizon, millions of stars piercing though the inky black in the sky all around it.

She shrugged.

Chaol sighed and narrowed his eyes at her. Celaena prepared for the lecture to begin, for Chaol to chew her out for disturbing his sleep and for being such a little girl that she couldn't handle a few bad dreams. But instead, Chaol shook his head at her and set about making tea.

"If you can't sleep, then a hot cup of tea should help."

"It's not that I can't sleep," Celaena snapped, crossing her arms and scowling as Chaol glanced up warily at her. "it's what happens when I am asleep! So you can keep your tea, thank you very much!"

In a whirl of fabric, Celaena seated herself on the corner of the couch, pulling her knees to her chest and clasping her arms around them.

Chaol sighed and muttered something under his breath she couldn't hear. Then, "For someone who came to my room at four in the morning, you're awfully snippy." Chaol accused as he sunk into the plush cushion himself.

"I'm not snippy," Celaena snapped, hugging her knees tighter to her chest.

"Really? You're not?"

"Not one bit!" Celaena turned up her nose and kicked Chaol in the ribs lightly with her stocking clad foot. He laughed slightly and captured her foot, wrapping his warm fingers around her ankle.

"Hey," she tugged on her foot, but Chaol held fast. "let go!" Chaol cocked an eyebrow as Celaena glowered at him.

"Tell me what your dream was," he breathed instead of doing as she said.

Celaena shifted restlessly under his intense gaze. Celaena thought that his eyes must be trying their best to bore into her and forcefully bring to light her troubles, because surely he had a reason for looking this intense.

"Oh, I would," Celaena muttered acidly. "but I don't remember. Now, can I have my foot?"

Chaol released her foot and leaned back into the couch with a heavy sigh. "So do you plan on sitting on my couch the entire night then?"

Celaena glared daggers sharp as her own at the side of Chaol's head, but his eyes were shut. She said, "No. Don't be ridiculous."

"Well then what do you plan to do?"

Celaena didn't have an answer for him. After a few breaths of silence, Chaol cracked open an eye and murmured, "You could stay here you know."

"I told you. I'm not just going to sit on your –"

"You don't have to," Chaol eased off the couch and shuffled to his bed. He pulled back the plush covers and said, "Just don't…don't tell anyone."

He slid easily underneath the blankets, settling down into the thick mattress and allowing his eyes to flutter shut. The room was quiet all but for their breathing for a moment before Celaena rose to her feet uncertainly and padded to the bedside. There was a brief hesitation as Celaena contemplated the wellbeing of the captain before she slumped into the far side of the bed. She drew the covers up to her nose and stared blankly at the ceiling.

Chaol languidly extended an arm and flicked off the lantern, inviting back the darkness held at bay by the light that had blazed just a second before.

All was quiet in the room that Celaena and Chaol now shared, both tucked into the same bad but neither touching.

Celaena's heart beat fast, but she was calm, and she could feel her mind hazing over pleasantly. She rolled to the side so that she and Chaol faced each other. His eyes were shut lightly, fluttering in the early stages of sleep. He looked young and vulnerable to Celaena, and she found herself suddenly grateful that she'd somehow wandered to his room.

"Chaol."

"Hmm?"

"Thank you."

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