Disclaimer: I do not own Mark, April, Roger, or anyone else mentioned in this story. Do I look like Jon Larson to you? No? GOOD! Now that that's cleared up... on with the story!
Nightmare
April woke with a small scream, sitting up and half expecting to see a dark figure poised to grab her and drag her into some nether-world. A couple of panting breaths, and she realized she'd woken up. With a sigh of relief, April turned to make sure she hadn't woken Roger.
He wasn't there.
Rational thought fled for a moment, so hard to keep hold of in the night, and she began to panic before she remembered that Roger was in Scarsdale, forced home for some family function. With a sigh, April flopped down on the pillows and tried to go back to sleep. She found it impossible, however. Her back was exposed. She couldn't put it against the wall the way she could when she was little, and Roger wasn't in the bed to hold her. She felt smaller and more like a little girl than she had in a long time, alone in a dark, cold, creaky room.
Maureen. She'd go stay on the futon in the living room with Maureen. Except Maureen had just moved in with her newest boyfriend and wouldn't be back until they broke up – probably in a couple of weeks, sadly. Who else was in the loft? Tom! But no, Tom and Benny shared a room, since they'd been best friends for years and there were only so many rooms... their room wasn't even a real room, but a sort of… half-walled, half-curtained corner of the living room. That left Mark.
April wrapped her blanket around her shoulders and padded to Mark's door. It was shut but not, she found as she tried the handle, locked. She opened it, and it creaked loudly as she peeked her head into Mark's room. He had apparently been awakened by the creak, and he rubbed his eyes a little and peered sleepily at her.
"April? You okay?" he asked in a sleep-scratchy voice. April opened the door a little more so she could step in, drawing her blanket closer around her to ward off the cold.
"Um… I was just…" she realized how ridiculous her question was, and had sudden serious doubts about her sanity. "Well, this is gonna sound silly, but…" but she was scared and that was the truth. It may have been irrational, but a childhood nightmare can be frightening to a small-town girl in a big city. "I had a nightmare and I was wondering if…" she took a deep breath, hoping wearily that Mark wouldn't think she was crazy. "I was wondering if I could stay in here with you?" Mark looked taken aback.
"Well, I don't…" April tried to ignore the urge to shut the door (which was open behind her back, and who knows what monster was sneaking up on her?) and hide in the corner with her back against the wall. She held her breath, and Mark's expression went from confused and skeptical to understanding. "Yeah, I guess so." He answered finally with a smile, and scooted over to make room for her. April closed the door behind her, shed her blanket, and quickly but gingerly slipped into Mark's bed, her back to him for cover. It took a while for her to fall asleep, even so – every little noise or shadow held menace and set her heart pounding.
Finally, though, she did fall asleep, only to be plagued again by the dark figures of her dreamland nether-world. She was about to be dragged into some dark pit when suddenly a strong but gentle pair of arms wrapped around her, and the shadow-creatures fled. April found that, in her dream, she couldn't turn around to face her rescuer, but when he spoke, it didn't matter that she couldn't see him.
"Sweet dreams, Aprilest," he whispered, and April made a mental note to thank Mark as she floated into a much happier dream