It was dark. And cold, and Jack was trapped. There was nowhere to go, his lungs were full, and he could feel himself fading. His body wouldn't move, no matter how he tried to do it. He couldn't even bend a finger.
No.
No.
He had to get free. Free of the dark, free of the cold. There was something above him, something the cold was hiding. He wanted to grasp at it, try to get it back, but he was trapped, slowly being dragged down fathering into the inky darkness.
"Jack!" A voice, a muffled, far away voice rang out through the dark.
"Jack!" It continued, slowly getting closer, louder. He knew that voice… who was it? "Jack, wake up!" Was he moving? It felt like he was moving, but he couldn't make himself do it. Something was moving him.
Each movement, each time he heard the voice he got closer to the surface. He couldn't tell he was, not until he broke free of the dark and his eyes shot open. He gasped for breath, his chest rising up as he sucked in all the air he possibly could.
"Oh, Jack." The voice whispered, sounding relieved. "Oh thank god." Now the voice had a body. A girl. One with long blond, almost golden, hair that was pulled back. Her big green eyes stared at him, trying to assess if he was alright. Who was this girl?
Rapunzel.
How had he forgotten? The darkness had tried to take her away. Away from him. Or had it tried to take away him? He couldn't remember, everything felt blurry.
"That's it." Rapunzel cooed to him as he gasped for breath. "Just keeping breathing. You're breathing again, thank god. You scared the hell out of me." She shook her head.
"Wh-what?" He managed after a minute of breathing. The rising and falling of his chest had finally calmed to a steady pace. He looked around. Their bedroom.
"You scared me, Jack." Rapunzel whispered, running her hand through his hair. Tears stung her eyes. That was wrong. She shouldn't be crying. Jack sat up, reaching out to cup her cheek in an effort to comfort her. "You- you stopped breathing."
Jack's eyes widened. Stopped breathing? Again? "I- I did?"
"Yeah." She nodded, rubbing a tear off her cheek.
Ever since the accident, where he almost drowned, he hadn't been right. Nightmares, mental problems, physical ones. Drowning… watching his sister actually drown had severally damaged him.
Why would Rapunzel stay with him? He could never figure it out. All he was was a problem that she had to deal with.
He scooted closer to her, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her close. "It's okay." He whispered, kissing the top of her head. "I'm breathing again, it's all okay." He nuzzled into her, knowing that was a lie.
It'd never really be okay for him.