Title: Endless Possibilities
Author: an-alternate-world
Rating: T
Characters/Pairing: Barry Allen, Eddie Thawne
Word Count: 312
Summary: A collection of Beddie/Thallen drabbles prompted via Tumblr.
Warnings/Spoilers: None for this drabble.
Disclaimer: I am in no way associated with The Flash, The CW, DC Comics or anything else related to the universe.
Anonymous on Tumblr prompted a fic which included the sentence: "Look at me. Just breathe, okay?"
He wakes with a gasp, sheets tearing off his skin at his abrupt ascent to a sitting position. His heart pounds in his chest, his breath rattling in his lungs, and he knows without checking that there are streaks of tears plastered to his face.
"Hey." A hand presses between his shoulder blades, pushing up to his shoulder to squeeze his skin and then down the curve of his spine. "It was just a nightmare."
He shakes his head, covering his face with his hands as he relives it over and over and his breathing comes faster and shorter, his chest tightening with agony as he struggles to cope. The fierce stare, the raised hand, his vision clouded with yellow and then-
"Hey. Look at me." The hand cradles his own, sliding to grasp his cheek and turning his face towards the other that's heavily cast in shadows. Strands of mussed hair fall in his eyes which glitter in the darkness, catching faint specks of light from the world beyond their window. "Just breathe, okay? Just breathe."
He trembles and loops his arms around the other male's neck, pushing his face into the bare skin of his shoulder and inhaling the familiar cologne and soap and fabric softener they use on their sheets.
"It was just a nightmare," is whispered against his ear, an attempt at comforting even though it's not really a nightmare. It's too vivid, too real…but he can't say that. "Just breathe…"
Gradually his breathing slows, his shaking stops, and he becomes embarrassed by the clinging. A kiss is nuzzled to his jaw as they lay down again, fingers entwined and a protective arm around his shoulders. He doesn't want to shut his eyes and have the same dream - again - but he knows how impossible it is to work on no sleep so he concedes to trying…
~FIN~