3.29 am. The silence of her room almost deafening, the dark blinding. Emma almost got used to spend most of nights awake in bed, her mind wandering, forcing to keep her eyes closed, a silent prayer for sleep to come and bring her into oblivion, at least for a few hours.
But maybe that's what she was afraid of.
Her nights were filled with nightmares, voices echoing in her head, cruel images sliding behind her closed eyelids. She was afraid of the nightmares because they seemed real, too real, and she couldn't stand to loose what she had, what she had fought to obtain, all the people she loved, even if it was just a twisted game of her subconscious.
She sighed deeply and slightly turned her head to face the body of the man sleeping next to her.
A lot of things had happened in the past year, the darkness had played a main role in her life, and she almost lost everything. She almost lost him. So when the finally figured out a way to make things go back to normal, she decided to stop pushing people away and to finally reach out for her happiness (which turned out to be very similar to a certain black-haired blue-eyed man with leather jackets she knew).
He had started spending most of the nights at her apartment since she finally managed to buy the small flat facing the ocean, and after almost a month the man was still stubbornly careful about everything – every word, every gesture - probably because he knew how messed up she was, and believed that a sudden move would make her back off. Which wasn't wrong. Last year she would've freaked out if someone had mentioned moving together with him, but now she couldn't stand not being close to him for more than a day. They were basically living together, and she looked forward to a long and happy life with Killian. And she was more than ready to show him.
He was sprawled on his back, both arms stretched under his pillow, the blanked riding low on his naked torso (this habit of him to sleep shirtless something she definitely appreciated), and abstract pattern drawn by his chest hair. Without really thinking about it, she snuggled closer to him, laying her head on his shoulder and placing her hand on the spot above his heart. Her eyes closed instantly as she inhale his scent and listened to his regular and soft breathing.
Lulled by his presence, she finally fell asleep, willing to accept whatever would have come her way, as long as he was by her side.
If he woke up because of her movements she never knew, but he did exhale a sleepy moan, his arm coming to wrap around her back, surrounding her and keeping her safe in his embrace.