This was another ask meme prompt. Three in one, actually: Break Away, Insanity, and Cookies. Hopefully I blended them all well.
Even though this is being posted late on Valentine's (and the prompts happened to be sent by girlfriend), this once again has nothing to do with Valentine's.
He should have known better.
He should have realized that watching that movie would trigger the memories.
He had just been lounging back in bed; he had a horrible headache that morning, and Randy went out to buy groceries on his own. Julian had channel surfed for a while to entertain himself, and eventually stopped on a horror film that looked fairly interesting. He hadn't outgrown his interest in all things creepy, and decided to watch.
But then the movie got to a point when the characters got trapped in another dimension. A dark dimension full of monsters. They were alone there and had no idea how to get out.
It was just like the Land of Shadows.
Julian began trembling. The memories started flooding in.
He shut off the TV. He grabbed his phone. He texted Randy, "COME HOME."
He set the phone back and dug his fingers into his hair.
He felt his heartbeat accelerating. It got harder to breath. Suddenly he felt a lot warmer, and he could detect a faint, acrid stench in the air. It felt almost as if he were back at that horrible place again…
He started to slip into that state of mind, of feeling like a helpless little child. It was a typical reaction to trauma, or to remember trauma, for him. He remembered being like this when he nearly got killed when trying to get the Golden Doctor's Note during freshman year, and then several times during his time in the Land of Shadows. Thankfully, nothing that bad had happened to him since then. But when he remembered those dark times…
He curled up into a ball. "J-Julian want a little snacky…" he whimpered to no one but himself. He slipped his thumb into his mouth and lay there idly.
He remained in that trance for a while, unsure for just how long. Even when Randy loudly kicked the door open and slammed it behind him in a frenzy. He hadn't even realized his boyfriend had returned for another several minutes. He finally broke out of the trance then. He found himself Randy's arms, hearing him hush him and saying over and over that it was going to be okay. He felt like himself again, realizing he wasn't in that horrible place anymore. He was at home, with the man he loved.
"R-Randall…" Julian said weakly.
"Shh," Randy cooed, cupping his face in his hands, wiping away tears he hadn't even realized were there. "You're okay. You're okay now."
"I…I'm okay," Julian choked out. He nuzzled against him, feeling him hold him closer.
They stayed like that for a while. After that, they snacked on some cookies Randy had picked up from the store. Julian lightly nibbled at his, feeling his boyfriend holding his hand the whole time. His grip felt tight and warm and secure. Julian was grateful, tightly holding onto that contact. He didn't want to slip into that state of mind again. But he was assured by the fact that if he ever did, Randy would be there to break him out.