"Emily!"
The brunette jumped when she heard the Irish man's booming voice, and she turned around quickly, her stomach beginning to ache as she saw the anger on his face. It had been awhile since he had been this angry, and she couldn't hide the fear in her eyes as she moved closer to her.
"Ian? What's going on?" She questioned, a million different things running through her head. What had she done wrong? Had she done anything to upset him? She was trying to figure out what could have made him so angry. Even though she was thinking hard, nothing came to mind. She couldn't think of any possible reason as to why Ian would be mad.
Ian stepped closer to her. "Get up."
Emily looked up at the man in front of her, fear in her eyes as she got up off of the bed. She didn't dare say a word, just looked at him as she waited for him to say something, anything. She was so nervous about what he was angry about, what she had done wrong. It had been weeks since he had been this angry, and she was pretty scared at the current moment.
As Ian raised his hand, Emily flinched, and she immediately regretted it. She knew that when she flinched, Ian tended to hit her twice as hard. She was partly surprised that he would hit her while she was pregnant with their child, but the rest of her wasn't surprised at all. In the back of her head, this was something that she had wondered about since she found out that she was pregnant. Ian wasn't the type to come home and beat her every night, but he had no problem smacking her around every once in a while. She wondered if he would stop because she was pregnant, but his raised hand about a foot from her face answered her question. She should've known that he wouldn't change just because she was pregnant. As his hand began to make it's way to her face, Emily closed her eyes, anticipating the sting of his strong hand colliding with her cheek.
That's when she woke up. She jumped, her eyes darting around the room as she sat up. Her sudden movement woke up Ian, and he sat up as well, looking at the brunette next to him. She was holding the sheet up above her bare chest, and her breathing was heavy. Once his eyes adjusted to the light, he could see the fear in her eyes, and he frowned as he looked at her. "Emily? What's wrong, love?"
Continuing to stare into the darkness, Emily just shook her head. She didn't want to try to explain to Ian that she had had a bad dream about him hitting her. She knew that sounded pathetic, and she didn't need Ian to reassure her of how absolutely stupid it was. "Nothing, I'm okay. Just a bad dream...you can go back to sleep, Ian."
Ian frowned as he reached over and rubbed her shoulder. Her skin was cold, which was odd considering the sweat that was dripping down from her neck. "What was it about, love?"
Still not wanting to tell him, Emily shook her head once more. "Ian, it's okay. It was nothing...you have to leave early in the morning, don't worry about it."
"You don't have to tell me about it...but I just want you to know that I want to hear about it if you'll tell me." He leaned over and kissed her temple, frowning when he felt the sweat there as well. "I don't mind being a little tired tomorrow. I'd rather be tired than go back to sleep thinking that you'll be up all night thinking about your dream."
He had her there. She was truly amazed by how sweet he was to her. It was less surprising to her as the time went by, but when they had first gotten together, the actual care and concern he had for her came as a surprise. "It's stupid, Ian...I don't even know why it scared me so much." The brunette frowned. "I was just sitting in the bedroom, and you came in and you were angry...and you hit me." She took a deep breath and sighed. "It just seemed so real...I couldn't believe that you had hit me when I was pregnant. But it's stupid, I'm sorry. I'm really sorry that I woke you up for that."
Ian shook his head as he moved closer to Emily, wrapping his arms around her. "It's not stupid, love. And you don't have to be sorry for waking me up." He leaned forward and pressed a kiss against her cheek. "I want to be here to listen to you talk about your dreams. All of them. Your bad ones, your good ones, your happy ones. And I want you to know that you can always wake me up to talk about anything." He rubbed her arms and moved his hands down to her stomach. "But don't be afraid, love...I know my temper can get the best of me sometimes, but I'm going to try my hardest not to hurt you or our baby."
Ian rested his chin on Emily's shoulder, and the brunette leaned back into her fiancé. His words and his touch made her feel a lot better. It was weird how he could calm her down like that. She wasn't used to another person having that affect on her. But she liked it. She was glad that she didn't have to self soothe all the time anymore. She was glad that Ian could help calm her and improve her mood.
"Thank you." She whispered, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes for a moment. "I mean it, thank you so much, Ian."
Ian pressed another kiss to the back of her head, letting his lips linger for a few seconds. As he pulled away, he took in the scent of her shampoo, strawberries and cream, and he ran his hand through her hair. "You don't have to thank me, Emily. I love you."
"I love you too, Ian."
He moved back to his side of the bed, lying back down and holding out his arms. "Come here. Let's try to get a few more hours of sleep before I leave."
Emily nodded, lying down and letting herself fall into Ian's arms. Surprisingly, after her dream, she felt a lot better with him holding her. She really didn't think that telling him about her dream would do any good, but she was more than glad that she did. She couldn't believe that she had fallen for this man so hard, so quickly. But at this point, she wouldn't have it any other way.