A/N: This is actually taken from my original ending for ch.24 and combined with a scene that was running in my head all day yesterday. On Monday things will resume schedule and we'll be back to your regular April/Andy programming!

Enjoy.

Everything in April's head was that dream and all the agony she felt there suddenly real. Her eyes were hard to open in the early morning, the slightly cold air in the bedroom alleviated by covers and Andy's furnace of a body, but she looked over and saw that he was definitely there. Reaching over to his side of the bed April rubbed his shoulder and half expected him to vanish. When he only grunted she breathed a sigh of strange relief.

Closing the slight distance between them, April hiked her knees up around Andy's leg and nestled her head into the sweaty arm she grabbed. That felt more comfortable and real than anything she had dreamed. Still, something was on her mind. Something from the dream - nightmare, really - was bothering her return to sleep.

"Andy," she whispered.

He responded with a snore and an attempt at rolling on his side, which only brought April to his back. Digging her hands into his sides, she tried a different tactic.

"Wake up Andy," April tried again, clawing into the pleasant squish of his sides.

"Ow!" he yelped suddenly, turning around with a distant expression.

Instead of saying anything or going back to sleep, Andy shot his hands under her shirt and tried of all things to tickle her. Sadly, with him close and nuzzling her neck in concert with his hands, it was working and before long April was choking out laughter. Rolling in bed, April tried to stop the squeal that inevitably came out of her mouth but with Andy's beard scratching all along her neck it was a lot easier said than done. Eventually Andy dragged her by the waist to straddle him and left her with a self-satisfied smirk. Somehow Champion remained asleep on his pillow on the floor, ignoring the two of them and their early morning.

"Morning," he slurred, his hands still on her hips.

"Hey," April answered, trying to remember why she was waking him up. "I wanna talk."

"Isn't it super early...? What's up?" Andy asked with that dumb, barely conscious grin on his face. "We could just do it."

"That's a pretty good offer but this is kinda serious," April said before she leaned down and left him a brief kiss on the lips.

"Oh, okay," Andy shook his head and clearly tried to wake himself up a bit more. "All right, I'm game."

"Cool," April refused to leave her current spot, especially with Andy's hands idly moving along her lower back. "Um, I had this dream and it was dumb but... you know I love you right?"

"Uh, yeah," he told her like that was one of the dumbest things he'd ever heard her say. "I think you can tell I love you too."

"Shut up," April teased with an eye roll and a playful smack to his chest. "Andy, I don't like talking about this stuff. Don't make me ask you again!"

"All right, all right I know, okay? I love you too, babe," Andy smiled and pulled her back down to lie across him.

"I know you do, but I wanna make sure you know," she mumbled into him.

It was impossible for her to really say it in the way she wanted, but April was going to try anyways. That dream would probably haunt her for most of the day and she didn't want to leave the house without him knowing all the things she was terrified he didn't know or believe.

"I do... are you okay?" Andy looked down and April met his eyes.

"Yeah, I'm fine," April rested her chin on his chest and continued, "but I'm just..."

"If you don't wanna say it you don't have to," Andy assured her, bringing his hands to her shoulders. "We don't need to talk about stupid emotional stuff if you don't want, babe."

"Andy, you know you're important to me right?" she said quietly, marking his chest with imprints of her nails that left squiggly trails of paleness before returning to the slightly darker skin tone. "Not like that I love you, because I do, but... ugh, this is stupid."

Andy laughed but when April looked at him, and she knew that he would know that stare with the tightly pursed lips and searching eyes, he stopped and reconsidered her words. She couldn't deny that, despite how amazing and fun but somehow comforting and relaxed their life was, in some way Andy still saw her as mostly uncaring. It was a fun bit to play on for a while, it still was, but April didn't know if Andy truly knew that what she was saying was reality.

"So you're not messing around?" Andy asked seriously.

"No," she said quickly. "You know when I'm screwing around and when I'm being serious, dude."

"I know, I know!" he nodded before grinning and continuing. "I'm just super tired still and kinda, uh, distracted."

"Andy it was kind of a nightmare and it scared me," April suddenly switched, trying to get him to focus. "It scared me because I didn't know if you knew this stuff. Like, that I really super do love you or that you might think I'm disappointed in you or whatever."

"What?" Andy said incredulously.

"God, this is dumb... just know that I'm so happy with us and you're one of the only things that I actually care about," April got out in a breath. "Except y'know, a person and-"

Andy interrupted her with a kiss, breaking her words and train of thought simultaneously. After only a few, sadly short moments, Andy pulled them apart and held her face in his hands like she always did when April thought he wasn't paying enough attention to what she was saying. The returned gesture was, strangely, almost enough of a confirmation for her.

"I know you and if you didn't love me, you'd be gone. But you're here," Andy said, punctuating that by moving her back to sitting atop him. "You're here and, trust me, I know it."