A/N: This is my first story here. I'm pretty excited about it, actually!
Elias wakes up screaming. He's had another dream, the kind that muddles in his brain, almost as though he has been speaking another language as he dreams. His nightshirt is drenched in sweat, as are his sheets. His breath comes in heavy pants, and he can feel tears sliding down his cheeks and dripping onto his collar. In his mind's eye, he can still see the raging fires that tore down a distant city.
His roommate is there before he knows it, and a pair of strong arms wrap around him from behind. He leans into the touch gratefully. Greg strokes his hair in a soothing rhythm. "Shh," he murmurs. "It was just a dream."
"Just a dream," he repeats frantically. "Just a dream. Just a dream." One hand grasps at Greg's arm.
"That's right. Everything's going to be all right." Elias shivers.
"What time is it?" Greg shrugs. He tips his head to both sides, stretching.
"Four thirty." Elias lets his head fall onto Greg's shoulder. "What were you dreaming about?" Elias shakes his head. "Oh. Okay. Go back to sleep." Elias feels Greg's arms pull from around him, and the bed tips as he stands. "I'll be right in the next room. I can call Justin."
"I'm okay." He is already falling asleep, and as he closes his eyes, he faintly hears Greg say something, and the sound of a door slamming shut.
He is cold. His body shakes as he crouches behind a broken bureau. A bullet flies past him, grazing his cheek. He bites back a hiss of pain, reaching up with one hand to brush his fingers across the graze. They come away bloody. Behind him, someone screams. It's not a voice he recognizes, but it cuts through him nonetheless. They are his brothers, every one of them.
"Lesgl-" That was Joly's cry. He turns in time to see his friend tumble from his standing point on the barricade. He wants to call for the battle to end, but he knows that they must keep fighting for the people. In that moment, he is afraid.
The scene changes almost as suddenly as it began. He is standing alone in an empty café. Well, almost alone. There is another man there, but for all it counts, he could be dead as well. He is slumped over the table at which he sits.
The door shakes, and then bursts open. Soldiers pour in, shouting commands. Enjolras backs up a pace. There is one last shout, and then there is silence as he faces off with the armed men.
The silence is not much, but it is enough to wake the unconscious man. He raises his head, his eyes meet with the cornered man, and he stands. "I am one of them. Why not kill two birds with one stone?" He smiles, and the smile is sad. "If you permit it."
"I do." Enjolras smiles and extends his hand. Grantaire's rough fingers close over his delicate ones. They meet each other's eyes. Neither of them flinches as the bullets find their mark.
Elias sits bolt upright in his bed. He's broken out in a cold sweat sometime during the night, and his shirt is definitely going into the laundry. Instead of trying to go back to sleep, he heaves himself out of the bed. His hands shake as he peels of his shirt and throws it in the general direction of his laundry hamper. He removes the sheets as well. They will need to be washed before he can sleep in them again. His pillow is streaked in blood. He reaches up to touch his face. He's bleeding where he bit his lip in his sleep.
The clock reads 7:30, so he doesn't bother with pulling out new sheets and trying to go back to sleep, despite the fact that it's a Sunday, and he doesn't have any classes. Instead, he checks that Greg is still sleeping before heading into the bathroom for a long shower. He washes the blood off of his face and examines it in the mirror. There are dark circles under his eyes, and there is a tiny graze across his right cheek. It looks as though it has been there a while, but he knows it has not.
He debates going outside for a walk as he is eating breakfast, but when he stands, he is hit by a dizzy spell, and he decides against it. The sun is shining brightly outside. Greg gives a holler of surprise from his room, and Elias smiles. He always does that. He never can remember the Shining poster that he hung above his bed sometime during freshman year. He hears Cal's voice from across the hall, grumbling about some medical text or other, and Justin's happy laughter. When he looks out the window, he sees more of his friends. James is turning cartwheels on the grass while Cain spots him. Brad is stretched out on the grass. There is medical tape across his knuckles from where he slugged a particularly nasty jock.
A rap on the door causes Elias to look up. Greg is already at the door, chatting animatedly with Justin, who, despite his pallor, has a wide smile plastered on his face. "…Need to speak with…just want to check in… heard the screaming." Greg nods and stands aside so that the smaller boy can enter. He brushes past and into the dorm room. Elias waves at him.
"Hey." Justin grins.
"Hey." He clears his throat awkwardly. "Are you okay? I heard you screaming." Elias nods.
"I just had a bad dream," he says.
"You're seventeen," Justin mumbles. "Those kinds of dreams, the night terrors, they shouldn't be happening. That's- that's a common symptom in little children." He wrings his hands together nervously. "I wish I were a proper doctor. Then I could make sure you weren't going crazy or something." Elias shakes his head.
"I'm not going crazy," he laughs. "Just not sleeping very well. It's boarding school, and finals, and we're all so far away from home. It's just bad dreams." Justin sighes.
"Maybe so," he says. "But I don't like the thought of a friend of mine loosing sleep at night. It's not healthy. You'll get sick." Elias leans forward and hugs the other boy.
"I'll be fine. The worst that could happen is I'll end up with a bit of a headache a couple days a week." The corners of Justin's mouth pull into a frown.
"Come see me if that happens," he says, already heading for the door. "Take care of yourself, buddy!" Elias stares at the little green bottle of hand sanitizer swinging from his belt-loop, a small smile twisting on his lips.
"I'll try."