Notes: This was a little one-shot I made as a birthday gift for a dear friend of mine. Don't have much else to say other than enjoy this little ficlet.

To put it in simple terms, dreams are naturally a strange element in a person's life. And with dreams, there are usually two sides of the spectrum: most people would consider it to be a normal part of life that would almost always be forgotten once waking up. And then there were individuals whose dreams would become frighteningly realistic to them, whether it was thanks to experiencing traumatic events during their past or just simple fixation.

It was safe to say that over the course of his life so far, Jeff would be blatantly grouped in with the latter.

The Charismatic Enigma had gone through numerous events in his life, many of them being too traumatizing to bring up, and even though he had somewhat successfully put the dark pieces of his past behind him, there would still be periodic occurrences where memories of those events would come back to haunt him. If there was any consolation, he at least now had someone to confide in during these moments. And ironically enough, that person was the same one he used to detest all those years ago.

Putting aside the fact that it had only been a few months before they decided to make things official, it was incredibly easy for them to take note of each other's particular habits. And that included sleeping patterns.

And with learning sleeping patterns came the not so pleasant job of dealing with the occasional nightmare.

It always happened the same way; they would both be comfortable in bed, and next thing he knew, Elias would be abruptly woken up by the sound of his partner's heart-rending murmurs of distress.

It seemed that tonight wouldn't really be that much different.

After quickly getting over the alarming sensation that something terrible must've happened, Elias sat up from the bed and turned to Jeff, whose body was trembling vigorously underneath the sheets. He tried to softly call out his name, and when that didn't work, he began to gently shake him awake. It took a minute or so, but when he finally managed to open his eyes, he couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.

"Elias…?"

"I'm right here, Jeff. It's just me." Making sure to keep his tone soft, he carefully brushed away the fringed hair from his partner's face. "Everything's okay."

Jeff let out a shaky breath before slowly sitting up with his help. "I had… it happened again…"

"I know," Elias coaxed him into an embrace, which was gratefully accepted, and began to slowly rock him, setting a rhythmic pace. Even though this was a tactic used far more in young children rather than adults, it always seemed to have the right effect for the enigma. And that assumption was proven to be correct yet again when he saw that his shaking had gradually ceased. "Was it the same dream as last time?"

"I… I don't know," Jeff rested his head against the drifter's chest, feeling exhaustion settling back into his eyes. It was already growing more and more difficult to keep them open. "But it just… it just felt so real."

Elias kept his arms wrapped around him, continuing the motion. "Do you want to tell me what it was about?"

Jeff seemed to hesitate before admitting, "Well… I'll be honest; I was kind've dreaming of you," Elias was about to crack a joke at that but decided against it when he continued, "I don't know why, but something had happened to you. Something bad… it was just like when… when you got…" Jeff grew quiet after that, but Elias still understood what he was trying to say. Despite the fact that the terrible incident happened a little more than a few years ago, he could've only wished that it hadn't come to haunt them later on during their budding relationship. "You couldn't move. You couldn't even breathe. I tried to help. I really did. But you just weren't answering. You weren't moving… and it turned out that… that you were… you…" Jeff trailed off before burying his face into his chest.

"Hey, hey!" Despite his words, Elias kept his tone soft, stopping his movements altogether once he heard him let out a choked sob. "Jeff, I promise you; everything's okay. I'm okay. I'm right here. Nothing's happened to me."

"I know," Jeff sniffed before repeating, "It just felt so real though."

Hoping to alleviate some of his distress, Elias began to rub small, consoling circles into his partner's back. "I know, love. I know. But you're safe. And I'm safe. Nothing's happened to me, and nothing will happen to me. Trust me, it'll take a lot more to make me keel over than just being hit by a car."

"I guess," The tiniest hint of a smile could be seen from the enigma, but it was gone almost as soon as it appeared. "I'm sorry you have to put up with all of this… this nonsense. I know it's annoying."

"Hey. Look at me. Look at me right now," Using his hands so that Jeff was looking at him directly, Elias's tone became firm. "Don't you dare be apologizing for something you have little control over. I put up with this because I care for you, and because I love you. And it's about time you realize that."

With some difficulty, Jeff managed to look him in the eye before finally nodding. "Okay."

"I know that you're scared; I know that you're worried that these problems of yours are going to eventually break us apart," Elias began to card his fingers through Jeff's hair in an attempt to reassure him. "but love, you're not that lucky. I'll still be here, for as long as you have me."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

"Promise you won't… ditch me?" That last part came out so quietly that Elias nearly missed it, but once he looked down, he was momentarily met with glassy, reddened eyes.

"I promise," he repeated, his voice completely serious, without a single hint of lightheartedness. "I'm right here, Jeff. I'm not going anywhere. There's no need for you to worry about that, okay?"

"Okay…" Wiping away the last of the wetness in his eyes, Jeff lay down on his side so that he was snuggled against him.

"Now that you're awake, do you want to stay up for now? Or do you want to try going back to sleep?"

Jeff gave it some thought before resting his head back on Elias's chest, the sound of a faint heartbeat filling his ears. "I think I can try it again."

Elias didn't object, and they simply lay there, waiting for sleep to return to them, all without a single word. It was only a few minutes before the realization dawned on him. Usually a discussion and some snuggling would be enough to lull Jeff back off, but he could tell that tonight was probably going to be a little more difficult. After a few more moments of awkward silence, he decided to try an alternative. Softly clearing his throat, he began to sing one of the few lullabies he pretty much knew by heart.

Goodnight, my angel,

Time to close your eyes…

And save these questions for another day…

I think I know what you've been asking me, I think you know what I've been trying to say…

Jeff immediately lifted his head up, an amused smile finally gracing his features. "Are you seriously trying to use a lullaby to get me back to sleep?"

"Well, you're smiling," Elias simply smiled back before ruffling his hair. "So I must be doing something right. Now try to relax."

Finally feeling a sense of ease, Jeff allowed himself to rest into the embrace, sighing with content once the comforting warmth that emitted from his partner began to seep into him, the sound of that gruff, yet gentle voice returning to his ears.

I promised I would never leave you…

And you should always know…

Wherever you may go,

No matter where you are,

I never will be far away…

As Elias continued to croon the lyrics to the lullaby, he could feel Jeff relax significantly. It didn't take long until the soft sound of snores reached his ears. Once he reached the end of the song, his partner had all but peacefully drifted off. Despite this moment happening from a not so pleasant experience, it still felt emotionally satisfying for the drifter, that he was capable of bringing his beloved partner back to a serene state of mind.

And if he was being completely honest, that was all that mattered in the end.