A/N: So I said on Wattpad that I'd make a Gnomeo and Juliet one shot series back in like May and now I'm finally doing it. It's so strange that I haven't written one shots in like, a year I think? I'm so off my game.

Well, as usual I'm starting off this one shot series with a bit of angst and comfort. I can't help myself, especially cuz well Gnomeo & Juliet provides a lot of angsty potential. I mean these mfs must be scarred after all the shit they went through and I refuse to believe that dance party ending happened right after all that. So here we'll be exploring some of Juliet's trauma because I said so.

(TW: mentions of death and suicide)

General P.O.V.

Sleep didn't come so easily for Juliet these days. She was lucky if she was able to sleep for more than an hour. It was strange. During the daytime, she was fine. She laughed and made jokes, offered sweet affection to the love of her life. Nobody would've ever suspected she was a victim of countless nightmares. But when the sun went down and everyone was fast asleep, Juliet was restless. She sometimes dreaded just shutting her eyes, fearing that she would see a certain image that was forever burned in her brain ever since she saw it. Of course now she knew it wasn't real. But still, that didn't prevent her subconscious from tormenting her with that dreadful memory.

The day it happened wasn't too long ago, but it was long enough that one might assume she'd gotten over it by now. The day she and Gnomeo's secret love was revealed, and the Reds had chased him out into the street for supposedly "killing" one of their kind. While out in the road, a truck had drove by and the sound of something being smashed was heard by everyone. When the truck was gone and the dust had cleared, a pile of shattered ceramic pieces was revealed to the horrified crowd. Everyone was fooled into thinking it was Gnomeo, that he was run over and killed by that damned truck.

Nobody took it lightly, especially not his mother. But Juliet? Oh, words couldn't describe just how shocked and horrified she was by the sight. In that moment, she had felt her entire world crumble around her and suffocate her in the debris. She felt like she had actually died with him, and truthfully, she wanted to. She didn't want to live in a world without Gnomeo, and in the moment she thought she'd lost him, she tried to run out to him and would've gotten herself killed had her father not stopped her. Looking back on it now, she was partially grateful that her dad held her back and prevented her from getting smashed, since it turned out Gnomeo didn't die that day and what they all saw was just a broken teapot that fell off the truck.

Juliet was eternally thankful that Gnomeo thought quickly enough to grab ahold of the truck before it hit him, and she was especially relieved that she and him somehow survived a gigantic lawnmower crashing into them. She didn't know how they both survived all these near-death experiences, but however it happened, she was glad. Now the feud between their gardens had ended and she could finally be with the man she loved. With him and their families, they were rebuilding their garden and she couldn't be happier.

Well, she could, actually. She wanted so badly to move on from that depressing part of her life and to be happy with Gnomeo. But being constantly reminded of his false smashing was holding her back from being truly happy. Every time she closed her eyes at night, all she could see was the broken blue pieces scattered about in the road. All she could hear was that dreadful sound of something shattering beneath the tires of the truck. It made her sick just thinking about it.

Tonight was no different than any other night. Juliet was laying on the ground with Gnomeo fast asleep right beside her, loosely holding her in his arms while she stared up at the ceiling of the greenhouse. While the rest of the gnomes slept in their garden, she and Gnomeo would spend their nights in the Old Lawrence Place where they first met. They loved their families and were glad they were all getting along, but the couple needed some time to themselves every so often. And after all they went through, nobody objected to their need for privacy.

While Gnomeo slept rather peacefully (for the first time in years), Juliet just gazed aimlessly at the clear night sky, tapping her fingers against her stomach as she got lost in thought. She wanted so badly to fall asleep and finally get the rest she needed, but she knew if she did, she would receive anything but rest. Instead, she'd just be tortured by night terrors. She sighed softly and turned her head to look at the man sleeping next to her. She smiled weakly, enjoying the sight of him at peace while also feeling a tinge of jealousy that he was able to sleep soundly.

After a while of just looking around, Juliet finally decided to face her fears and try to get some shut-eye. Admittedly, she was getting tired and if she didn't power through the nightmares, then she would just be exhausted the next day and frankly she wanted to avoid that. She gently kissed Gnomeo's cheek before nuzzling into his arms and closing her eyes. Gnomeo unconsciously held her closer as she relaxed herself, forgoing all bad thoughts as she eventually drifted off to sleep.

At first her mind was blank. Nothing happened and nothing disturbed her from her rest. This only lasted about an hour or so, before the memories came flooding back like a hurricane.

There he was, out in the road, being thrown around against his will by several passing cars that just barely missed hitting him. He was frozen in his pose, unable to do anything to stop himself from possibly getting smashed. Everyone in the alley just stood there frozen as well, the Blues hoping he would come back unhurt while the Reds prayed for this to be his demise. At the front of the crowd, Juliet watched helplessly as her beloved came so close to dying multiple times in less than ten seconds.

Once the cars stopped coming in every direction and Gnomeo came to a stop in the middle of the road, Juliet unfroze herself and was about to make a run for it to save him. She came so close to finally having a life with him away from their feuding families, she was not about to lose him now. Not like this.

Just as she moved from her pose, her father did as well and grabbed her arm, pulling her back away from the sidewalk. "Are you mad?!" He asked in disbelief, keeping a rather firm grip on her to prevent her from escaping.

"No!" Juliet yelled as she yanked her arm away, taking a step closer to the road. "I love him!"

Her words earned an abundance of gasps from the other gnomes, but she didn't care. She had to get to him and fast, before anything else happened to him or both of them. Her father still held her and kept her in place, refusing to let her risk her life for someone who was supposed to be her enemy. Gnomeo's mother then demanded that someone do something. Juliet was desperately trying to, but to no avail. Her father wasn't letting go.

Just then, a large Tempest Teapot truck came barreling down the street in Gnomeo's direction. Before anyone could comprehend what was happening, it ran right over where the Blue gnome was. A loud shattering sound was heard just as it passed, setting everyone on edge as they realized what had occurred.

The truck then disappeared from view, leaving a cloud of dust behind as it trailed forward. Juliet stared ahead at the road, her eyes full of fear and worry as she prayed to god she didn't hear what she thought she did. As fast as it appeared, the dust dissipated into thin air and revealed the pile of ceramic in the street. One piece struck out the most, and that was the curved, pointed Blue tip that everyone knew was Gnomeo's hat.

Everyone let out of horrified gasp as realization hit them. Juliet felt her entire body go numb at the sight, like her heart had actually just broken into pieces right then and there. She nearly almost passed out. For the longest moment, she was frozen in shock, unable to process all that she'd just lost in less than a second. Gnomeo, the man who'd stolen her heart from the moment they locked eyes, the man who would give up everything he cared about just to be with her, the man who gave her a purpose to live, was now nothing but a pile of pieces laid out in a road.

"GNOMEO!" She screamed, finally breaking free of her father's grasp and making a run for it. She didn't look back and she didn't even look to see if any cars were coming. All she could focus on was her true love's dead body out there in the street. Her only focus was him, and the fact she'd just lost him forever. Her blood ran cold as she got closer, getting a better look at the pieces of her love. It couldn't be him, it just couldn't. She did not risk everything just lose him to some truck.

Everything around her disappeared as she ran out into the street and fell to her knees, sliding over to the remains of the man she loved more than anything. "No, no, no, please no!" She murmured, picking up a couple of pieces in her hands and examining them through her teary eyes.

Her stomach twisted in a knot as she then picked up the pointed piece in the middle, and was immediately confirmed that this was none other than Gnomeo. Her hands trembled as she dropped all the pieces and covered her mouth, sobbing in disgust and horror.

"No..." She whispered, tears falling down her face like waterfalls. "No, no, god, please no. NO!"

She held herself together for as long as she could, but by now she had no more strength left in her. She collapsed onto the pile and bawled uncontrollably, allowing her grief to take over her thoughts. How could this have happened? Why did it have to happen? Gnomeo didn't deserve to die, especially not like this. He might've made some mistakes in the past, but none of them warranted an unmerciful death.

The worst part was Juliet could've done something to prevent this. She could've defended him more to the Reds when they accused him of killing Tybalt. She could've tried saving him when they all chased him through the alley. Or perhaps this whole situation could've been avoided had she listened to him about the whole wisteria incident back in the Lawrence Place. Maybe if she wasn't so angry and had actually stopped to let him explain, they wouldn't be here right now. Gnomeo would be alive and well.

Instead he was dead. He was cruelly exiled and killed for something that wasn't his fault. And it was all because of her. If it wasn't for her, he'd be alive right now.

Juliet sobbed hysterically as she desperately clung onto the piece of his hat, gritting her teeth as the weight of guilt crushed her chest and prevented her from breathing. "Oh Gnomeo, I'm so sorry!" She cried out, although it came out incoherent due to her hyperventilating. "I'm so sorry! I'm sorry! Please come back to me! I'm sorry!"

She held his hat even tighter as she quivered in mourning. She experienced loss before, but nothing could compare to losing Gnomeo. Now that he was gone, there was nothing left for her. No reason to smile, no reason to laugh, no reason to love, no reason to breathe. He was her everything and now she had nothing to live for.

"Gnomeo, I'm sorry!" She cried one last time, as if it was going to bring him back from the dead. But she knew, even in her moment of vulnerability, that was never going to happen. Gnomeo was dead and it was all her fault.

"GNOMEO!"

Juliet let out a gasp as her body shot straight up from a lying position. She panted and eyed her surroundings, confused at first as to what she was doing back in the Lawrence Garden. This was normal for her whenever she awoke from her bad dreams and it usually took her a minute or two to come to grips with reality.

"Juliet?" A gentle, concerned voice came from beside her, causing her to flinch and nervously look around the area. She then finally spotted the man she previously thought to be dead, sitting up right next to her with a look of worry on his face. "What's wrong? Are you alright?"

Juliet's breath slowly returned to normal as she calmed down, looking into his eyes for a second. She let out a shaky sigh of relief and wiped some sweat from the side of her forehead, realizing where she was. "Y-yes, I'm fine." She answered, somewhat embarrassed that she'd been caught. Normally whenever she woke up, she was quiet and never disturbed Gnomeo from his sleep. But this time, the dream was far more graphic and intense, so it wasn't a surprise she woke up screaming.

Still, she hated that he was awake now. Normally she was careful about not waking him up after having these nightmares. She never told him about it before and honestly, she didn't want to. Gnomeo had been through so much already, the last thing she wanted was to burden him with her paranoia.

"You don't seem fine." Gnomeo said, furrowing his brows as he observed her expression. That look on her face was anything but "fine". The pale complexion, the shrunken pupils, the beads of sweat around her face. That was the look of someone who witnessed something traumatic and needed comfort immediately. "What happened? Did you have a bad dream or something?"

Juliet looked away, her eyes fixating on the ground. She refused to respond, as she was too embarrassed to admit it. Saying it to anyone else was hard enough, but to Gnomeo? Where would she even begin?

However, her silence gave him all the answers he needed. He scooted closer to her, concerned but also curious to know what kind of dream caused her to wake up so abruptly and scream his name in utter terror. "Do you want to talk about it?" He offered, gently placing his arm over her shoulder.

Juliet closed her eyes, once again being taunted by the image of his shattered, lifeless body presented in front of her. She hated her mind for replaying that moment so vividly every night, often adding it's own twists every now and then. She cringed, trying to push the thought out of her head before she let it get the better of her. But it was too late. Every time she saw it, she would break down and feel the crushing weight of guilt all over again. This time was no different.

Suddenly, she burst into tears, hugging herself as she thought back to all she felt in her dream; guilt, sorrow, regret, grief, and suicidal. Honestly speaking, after she witnessed his "death", she had wished to join him. And if her father hadn't glued her to her pedestal, she would've taken matters into her own hands. Of course, in the end she was glad she didn't, but in that moment she wasn't thinking clearly and everything she cared about was gone. What else was she supposed to do?

Gnomeo frowned, surprised by her sudden tears. He wrapped his arms around her and brought her closer to him as her head fell onto his chest. "Hey, hey, it's okay." He said softly, resting his chin on top of her head. "You're okay. It was just a dream. You don't have to talk about it."

"Oh Gnomeo, I'm so sorry..." She whispered, in the same tone she used in her dream.

Gnomeo raised a brow, baffled by her random apology. "For what?" He asked, making it clear how confused he was. What on earth was she sorry for? She didn't do anything, and her having a nightmare certainly wasn't what she was apologizing for, since that was beyond her control.

"It's my fault you almost got killed that day." She said, knowing he would know exactly what she was talking about. "I could've done something to stop it..but I didn't. I— I couldn't. I failed you. I'm sorry."

Gnomeo's confusion turned into shock in a matter of seconds. He glanced down at her, bewildered by the fact that she was blaming herself for something that wasn't even her fault. "Where is this coming from?" He swallowed, knowing he had to be careful as to how he approached this delicate subject. His false death wasn't something they talked about much and there was a reason for that. It ripped open too many painful memories for both of them and they tried to avoid that as much as they could.

"My dream.." She muttered, taking a couple deep breaths so she could speak more clearly. "I— I dreamt about that day when we all thought you d-died. Except this time..you actually did die. And..and I just—" She stammered, unsure on how to explain what she was feeling at the moment. She then sighed and lowered her head even more, staring at the floor. "I can't handle it. The thought of living without you, it's just..it's too much! I can't sleep anymore because every time I do, I think about what could've happened to you and— and..."

She wasn't sure where she was going with that last part, so she left the thought unfinished and just continued to cry. She buried her face into his chest, muffling her sobs as she trembled in his embrace. "I'm sorry." Was all she had left to say.

Gnomeo was frozen for a minute, allowing his beloved cry as much as she needed. He aimlessly rubbed her back in a soothing manner, hoping it would provide some solace while he thought of what to say. What could he say? The woman he loved was still grieving his death, and he wasn't even dead. She knew this, but a part of her still kept that heavy weight and reminded her every night of what could've happened that day. He didn't blame her. If the roles were reversed, he'd probably be crying just as much as she was right now.

"No Juliet, I'm the one who should be sorry." He said after a moment of silence—aside from her crying. "I didn't do much to help the situation either, and I wasn't able to make it back to you to tell you I was still alive. But none of that was your fault and we both know it."

"But I didn't listen to you about the tulips." She murmured quietly, sniffling a bit. "Maybe if I did, Benny wouldn't have found us a-and.."

"That wasn't your fault either." Gnomeo said, somewhat firmly. He hated listening to her blame herself for situations that were out of her control. "You were upset and you had every right to be. What I did was stupid and wrong. And Benny finding us wasn't on either of us, okay? We couldn't have known any of that was going to happen."

Even though she appreciated his attempt, she didn't feel any less guilty about what happened. A piece of her died that day she thought she lost him, and that piece had yet to be revived. She wanted to believe him, she truly did. But something prevented her from letting go of the guilt and feeling at peace.

Gnomeo took her head in her hands and gently lifted her face from his chest, but her eyes remained shut even though she was facing him. "Look at me, Juliet." He said, running his thumb under her eye to wipe away a tear.

Juliet hesitated at first, then slowly fluttered open her watery eyes and gazed directly at him, letting out a quiet sob. Gnomeo cupped her face and leaned in closer, looking deep into her eyes as he spoke seriously, "None of what happened that day matters. And you know why? Because I'm alive. Yes, I could've died, but I didn't. I'm alive and I'm here with you. And I'm never leaving you again, you hear me? All that time I spent away from you was torture and I'm never letting that happen again."

Juliet sniffed and offered him a small, weak smile. She placed her hand over one of his, nuzzling her face against his palm. "Promise?" She whispered hopefully.

"I promise." He nodded, rubbing her cheek with his thumb. "I'm here, Juliet. I'm not going anywhere."

Juliet stifled a sob as he said those four familiar words, as seriously as he did the day he said them to her the first time; the day they both almost died together. He meant them then and he meant them now. He truly was never going to leave her, not if his life depended on it.

She gave him a quick kiss before pressing her forehead onto his, taking one of his hands in hers and lacing their fingers together. Gnomeo smiled softly for a moment, knowing she believed him judging by the fact she was a lot less tense now. He continued to caress her cheek with his free hand as he gazed at her with nothing but love and relief. He, too, would never understand how they cheated death that day the feud ended, but he counted his blessings everyday that they got to live and he could finally be with the love of his life.

"From now on, when you have a nightmare, wake me up and tell me about it." He said. "I don't care how late it is or how tired we are. Just tell me, okay? You shouldn't have to deal with this alone."

Juliet nodded, closing her eyes. "Okay, I will." She agreed, squeezing his hand. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about this before. I just..didn't want to bother you."

Gnomeo chuckled and shook his head, moving his hand down to the side of her neck. "You could never bother me, love. I don't mind being there for you when you need me. That's what I'm here for."

Juliet smiled sweetly before they leaned in and pressed their lips together in a loving kiss. Juliet wrapped her arms around his neck while his made their way to her waist, pressing her up against him as they kissed deeply. Surprisingly neither of them were that tired at the moment. Sleep was the furthest thing from their minds, but this time for Juliet it wasn't due to dread. Now it was because she was so lost in the man that changed her life forever.

Soon Juliet slowly laid back down on the floor, pulling Gnomeo on top of her, their lips still locked on each other. After the dream she just had, this was exactly what she needed right now. Yes, Gnomeo's words were a great comfort, but sometimes actions were more assuring for her and this kiss was a reminder that he was indeed still alive and still all hers. No, the guilt wasn't going to go away so easily. Who knows, maybe it would stick to her for the rest of her life? But as long as Gnomeo was around, she knew she'd be okay. He made a promise that he was always going to be there for her and he always kept his promises. There was no doubt in her mind that he wasn't going to be hers forever.

"I love you, Gnomeo." She mumbled against his lips, refusing to break away for even a second. She held him even closer, tilting her head and smiling into the kiss.

Gnomeo couldn't help but grin as well. Her smile was always so contagious, especially right now after he longed to see her happy. "I love you, too, Juliet." He whispered, "More than you'll ever know."

A/N: and there we have it! The first of hopefully many one shots! It's not my best work but I'm pretty proud of it. Let me know what you'd like to see in this series. I'm not always the best at taking requests but I'll happily listen to any ideas you guys have. Anyway, that's all for now, til next time hehe