A/N: Title and verse below from "As I Am" by The Goo Goo Dolls.

"I tried so hard to make it, then I watched it slip away

The hardest thing we face is the silence of the space

At times, I feel so empty through the day

I'm calling for you again, you always guide my way"

Kyo still has nightmares a lot.

Even though it's been months since that night in the rain, and years since Tohru saw his True Form, those moments still haunt him in his sleep. And they're so real. The amount of detail his brain can come up with to torture him would really be rather amazing, if it weren't so awful.

Tonight is an odd combination of the two different situations, which makes it less realistic, but even more miserable.

"Kyo, please...isn't there any way I can get you to see the truth? I love you, and nothing you say is going to change that!"

He doesn't want to see that truth. Doesn't want to feel it. Love from Tohru Honda is good and pure and true, and it's something he doesn't deserve. Kyo has become accustomed to a world in which he ruins everyone who loves him. No one deserves to be shattered by such a selfless emotion, and especially not Tohru.

So he runs, like the coward he knows he is, the coward he knows he's always been.

But then, suddenly, instead of falling off the cliff, Tohru's launching through the air into the flooded water behind her, at the hands of his True Form. The vile creature he'd once been, that he tries so hard to believe he's not anymore.

He springs up into a sitting position, a choked sob snagging in his throat.

Fuck. He had a nightmare again? That's the first time this week. He thought it was getting better. Although…

Seeing the love of his life bleeding on the ground and knowing that if he had just stayed and talked to her like a rational adult, things would have turned out so differently...how does one recover from something like that?

He's not so sure that he ever will.

He looks to his left to see Tohru sleeping next to him. She's on her side facing him, her eyes closed, long hair fanned out across both of their pillows, her breathing even and deep.

She's okay. She's not bleeding. She's certainly alive.

And she's still asleep. Usually, he accidentally wakes her after he has a nightmare. He'd never do it on purpose, but it is comforting to have her to hold onto after such an awful dream. He grinds his teeth and swallows his pride.

"T...Tohru."

She's always been a rather heavy sleeper, so it's not surprising that his timid whisper doesn't wake her up. He reaches out with a shaking hand and puts it on her cheek. "Tohru…"

"Mm…" She hums, shifting in her sleep. Her eyes flutter open. "Kyo-kun…" Her voice is raspy and thick with fatigue, and it makes him feel guilty for waking her up. She looks at her surroundings, clearly a bit confused about being awakened, before her gaze lands on his face. He isn't sure what kind of expression he's wearing, but it makes her gasp. "What happened, what's wrong?!"

"Dream," he mumbles, because he thinks that's all he can really force himself to say.

She sits up and scoots closer. She's got this down to a science by now. "Is it okay if I touch you?" He nods, and she reaches out to him, cradling his face in her hands and rubbing at a tear with her thumb. When did he start crying?

"What was it tonight?"

"Both."

She winces, and it makes him feel terrible for burdening her with his innermost demons again, even though he knows that's not what she meant by the expression.

"I'm so sorry, Kyo-kun," she whispers. "What can I do to help?"

"Just...be here. Please." He hates the tremor in his voice, the way it makes him sound like a lonely child begging for any bit of attention he can get.

"Of course. I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere, not ever."

Kyo nods a bit and leans into her touch. She pulls his head down onto her shoulder. He nuzzles his face into the crook of her neck.

"I just...I don't get it," he whispers. "Why were both things there? You getting hurt, and—and my True Form?"

Tohru hums, considering this. "Earlier, you were pretty stressed about getting everything together for the move."

"B-but, that has nothing to do with what I dreamt about," he protests weakly, inhaling deeply in an futile attempt to stifle a sob.

She shrugs a little and tilts her head down to kiss his temple. "Dreams are weird."

They're quiet for a minute, Kyo just clinging to her and trying not to cry harder, before Tohru adds, "I wish you wouldn't call that your True Form, though, Kyo-kun."

That catches his attention, and he pulls back so he can see her face. He sniffles. "Eh?"

"That was the Cat Spirit's True Form. Not yours."

"The Cat Spirit was me."

"No, the Cat Spirit was just staying inside you. You're Kyo-kun, and only Kyo-kun. You used to put up this tough act to try and protect yourself and the people around you, but that wasn't really you. Your True Form is this sweet, goofy, smart man that I love so much."

Kyo can't help but chuckle a bit at that. "That was so cheesy."

She shoots him a heart-melting grin. "But it made you smile. And it's all true."

He shakes his head fondly. "I love you, you dork."

"I love you too, Kyo-kun."

He sniffs again and wipes at his cheeks with his sleeve.

"Do you want to try and go back to sleep? Or do you want me to make you some tea?"

"It's late and we have school tomorrow. You should go back to sleep. I shouldn't have woken you up in the first place...I'm sorry."

"Do not apologize," she says firmly.

"...'Kay."

"And I was up already," she fibs, as if there's no way he knows the truth.

Instead of pointing that out, he says, "Tea would be good. Thank you."

"Want to come with me?"

He nods, then trails behind her down the stairs. She turns on the kitchen light, and they both blink against the sudden harshness of it. She puts a hand over her mouth and yawns, so he knows she's actually tired, but also knows she'd rather die than admit it.

He leans against the doorframe and watches as she makes the tea, her motions practiced and polished—water into the kettle, kettle onto the stove, burner on, canister of tea bags out of the cupboard and in front of his face for him to choose one. He picks at random, not having the energy to put too much thought into it. It's ready quickly, and they sit at the living room table together, mugs clutched tightly in their hands to try and block out the chill of the Tokyo early-spring night. Tohru leans her head on Kyo's shoulder and yawns again. He chuckles.

"Go back to bed, dummy."

"No," she insists again, raising her mug to her lips. "Not until you feel like you can, too."

"You're so stubborn."

"Mm-hmm," she agrees simply, and he can't help but laugh a little. At least she's not afraid to admit it. He's never experienced it, but he's sure there's a certain kind of content joy in being able to accept part of yourself so simply like that.

There's a comfortable silence, which Tohru then breaks by asking, "What are you thinking about?"

"Mm." He takes a sip of his tea, then continues, "What you said about my—er, the Cat Spirit's True Form."

"What about it?"

"I like the idea of that not being me. Of it not being my True Form."

She nods against his shoulder.

"But I don't know how I feel about being called goofy and sweet," he teases.

"You call me those things all the time," she points out.

"That's 'cause you are."

She sighs, and he can tell it's part-frustrated at being teased, but mostly relieved that he's joking with her instead of crying. It makes things so hard for her when he cries, he knows, but he still can't always control it. He's just awful like that sometimes.

"You've been taking on everything by yourself, Kyo-kun," she says after a minute. "Let me help you get ready for the move more. Maybe your dreams won't be so awful if you're not stressing all the time."

He shakes his head. "You gotta study for finals with Yuki. You missed so much school…" Because of me, is left unsaid.

To clear the mood, she announces in a chipper voice, "But I'm resilient!"

He chuckles. "Yes, you are. But still."

"Then wait for me. Finals are this week. We can get everything together after that."

"Okay," he agrees, because he's well aware that she just won't let it go otherwise, and it's too late at night to try and argue with someone as stubborn as a bull.

"Thank you."

Then, the next thing he knows, she's asleep again—he can tell because he feels her drooling on his shoulder a little bit. He tilts his head down to try and get a better look at her face. Surely enough, she's completely zonked out. He smiles a little, kisses her head, and resigns himself to the fact that he's about to spend the rest of the night at the chabudai with his sleeping girlfriend on his shoulder. And he really doesn't mind; he can't think of a better way to wind down.

A/N: Hi, hope you liked day 2! I had this done yesterday and then just couldn't make my mind find the energy to proofread and post it lol. I should have day 3 up today, as well.

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