"Lucas, are you okay?" Maya asked and Lucas nodded and put down a card. It was Saturday and the friends were all hanging out in Maya's room playing a couple of games. After an hour or so it was just Lucas and Maya.
"Lucas. What's wrong you barely talked to us at all. Are you okay?" Lucas nodded.
Maya crossed her arms and waited for him to give a different response. "Come on."
Lucas sighed. "I'm just really tired and I cant't think straight."
Maya slid next to him where he was sitting on the floor leaning against the side of the bed. "I noticed. You've been like this for the past few days and every time I ask what's wrong you say nothing and that you're okay. So tell me the truth."
Lucas fiddled with his fingers. "I haven't exactly been sleeping the past few days. Maybe an hour or two..."
Maya pressed her lips together when hearing this. "Is it nightmares?"
Lucas nodded, but didn't say anything else. Instead his body shuddered as if remembering his night torments.
"Why didn't you tell me?" She asked quietly.
"I didn't want you to worry"
"I'm your girlfriend. You can tell me anything. I just want to make sure you're okay." Maya took his hand and intertwined their fingers. "You want to tell me about them?"
Lucas shook his head.
"Ok." Maya leaned her head against his shoulder. "It's okay."
They stayed like this for a while until Lucas began to speak. "In the nightmare, it's dark and I'm walking alone." Maya lifted her head and listened as he spoke. "I walk and walk and then I see my family. I start making my way towards them until this dark figure appears. I can't see his face, but he's threatening my family. I try to fight and I try to save them but I can't. Then the figure pulls me away down a dark alley...where I see my friends and the same thing happens. I fight, but I can't win. Then I see you...and it happens again. And the figure just stands there and laughs telling me over and over again that I'll always be alone."
Lucas finishes telling the nightmare and a tear falls from his eyes. Maya lets go of his hand and instead hugs him tightly. She uses her finger to wipe the tear away. "That'll never happen. Your family is with you. Your friends are with you. I'm with you. We're safe and so are you."
Lucas nods, but Maya can see that he's still hurting. She stands up and extends her hand to help him up. She motions for him to sit on top of the bed as she goes and gets her guitar.
"I wrote a song. Want to hear it?"
Lucas gives her a small smile. "I'd love to."
She plays the song to try and calm him down. After she finishes she can see that it worked at least somewhat. She places her guitar down and sits next to him on the bed. She pulls him down so that he's laying his head against her lap and holds his hand as she begins to soothly sing again. After she finishes the song she can see that he has closed his eyes. She smiles and slowly moves away so that he's laying down directly on the bed. She gently lifts his head to readjust the pillow and lets him sleep.
Maya keeps busy by doing homework and sketching. An hour later she can hear Lucas begin to become restless in his sleep. She quickly walks over and sits at the edge of the bed. "It's okay. Everything's fine." She gently rubbed his back and shoulder. He wasn't away yet, but he was still clearly having a nightmare. She kneeled down and kisses his cheek. "No nightmares. Just restful sleep." She whispers in his ear. "I'm right here." She stayed beside him until he was no longer grunting in sleep. When she saw that he was peacefully sleeping again she went back to doing what she was doing.
An hour later Katy came into the room. "I was wondering if you and Lucas want to..." She paused when she saw Maya hold up a finger to her lips and shhhhed her. "He's sleeping." Maya whispered. Katy nodded. "Sorry. I'll come back later." She whispered back and gently closed the door behind her.
Many hours later Lucas finally awoke. "Hey sleepyhead. How'd you sleep?" Maya smiled as she saw him getting up.
Lucas smiled when he saw the clock. "I actually slept for more than an hour?"
Maya nodded. "Yup you missed lunch and dinner, but I'm sure there's still some you can-"
Lucas interrupted her with a kiss. "Thank you."
Maya smiled. "I'm just glad you were able to sleep."
Lucas hugged her tightly. "I couldn't have done it without you... maybe I should sleep here more often." Maya laughed. "Yeah I'm not sure my mom or Shawn would like that idea." Lucas laughed too. "You're right." He looked at her and smiled. "I'm lucky to have you."
"Back at you, Huckleberry."