Nightmares

Chapter 2

Ever since the event took place, Ninten's terrors have gotten worse. During the day, he would suddenly yelp in fear, or he would start crying for no particular reason. Early in the morning, when he walks into the kitchen for breakfast, he'd wrap his arms around Lloyd, whimpering words that were inaudible. At night, he would talk in his sleep. Sentences like "Don't hurt me!" or "Leave me alone!" would escaped him. Some nights he would ask Lloyd if he could sleep with him, and obviously his friend would oblige. Crawling into bed with Ninten was normal for Lloyd. Others would think he was gay, but he would always say the same thing;

"A lot has been going on, and Ninten needs me to help him because of it."

Most of his friends took this in as if it were dirty, replying with; "Ew, that's messed up." and "You guys are freaking sixteen!" Others wouldn't understand fully, but they did understand that Ninten was traumatized from whatever was bothering him.

When Lloyd had told the brunet about it, he suggested he words his reply differently, then he had started to cry. Yet again, Lloyd had rubbed his back to support him, which had calmed him down. Lloyd had noticed that after a few weeks of dealing with his companion, Ninten was calming down more quickly. When Lloyd had headed to the store, he left his friend Ana to watch over his roommate. When he arrived back, Ana had said that Ninten had been crying since you left the block. Lloyd watched as she tried to calm him, but couldn't. He soon took over and took hold of Ninten's hand. slightly squeezing it, while his arm wrapped around the brunets back, holding him close. Ana watched quietly in surprise as Ninten stopped crying.

"How?" She asked, highly confused on how he dealt with it so well.

"I have been doing this for about two weeks now." He simply replied. Ana dropped her purse she was holding, she knew Ninten was having a rough time, she just thought it was only for a couple of days. Since Lloyd had told her about it when he needed her to come "babysit" him.

"Two weeks?" She asked in disbelief.

"Not exactly." He said slowly, Ninten soon pulled him closer, then buried his nose into his friends shirt.

"Mmph..." He mumbled through Lloyd's polo. Lloyd sighed and told Ana about everything that has happened before these two weeks, remembering to keep quiet after figuring out Ninten was sleeping peacefully.

A few weeks after Ninten had helped save the world, him and Lloyd had moved into a small house. Ana had suggested that they live together to spend some time with each other. since Ninten hadn't been talking to him all that much.

When Ninten awoke, he would usually say a simple "morning" to his friend, who was always making them breakfast. It hadn't been long before Lloyd had found out what Nintens favorite meal was, so he made ribs. When Ninten walked out of his room, he rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. When he found that he wasn't, he plopped down at the kitchen table and gobbled them up. What touched Lloyd's heart, were his friends words;

"These are the best ribs ever!"

Since then, he and Lloyd had gotten more friendly with another, instead of Ninten's "Morning's," Lloyd achieved a very energetic greeting. Sometimes this greeting caused Lloyd to feel... Different.

When Ninten had gone to bed that night, Lloyd did some research on why he was feeling this way. The younger went wide-eyed to find that he was developing a small crush on his roommate. He closed his laptop and jumped into bed, wanting the next day to begin.

But something different happened.

Around three in the morning, Lloyd was woken up to a yelp. He shot up and opened his bedroom door, scanning the area for an intruder. No one. He walked down the hall towards Ninten's room, where the sound of wheezing increased in volume. Realization hit Lloyd roughly as he opened Ninten's door, He trudged quickly towards his friends dresser, and grabbed an Inhaler from it. he handed it to Ninten, who used it. His wheezing and coughing slowly decreased, and he could breath normally again.

Lloyd wasn't really thinking on what he was doing, as he pulled Ninten into a hug. Surprisingly, the brunet leaned into it, burying his head into Lloyd's body.

The next morning Ninten groggily trudged into the kitchen, no greetings took place. When this happened three times in a row, Lloyd started to worry. He observed that Ninten would occasionally fall asleep right where he was, and would wake up with a short sentence, different each time. This caused Lloyd to panic.

One night Lloyd felt as if he needed to check on his companion, when he opened the door, he found out why Ninten was acting weird every morning.

He wasn't sleeping.

Ninten was on his bed, eyes tightly closed, and he was hugging his knees. Lloyd walked over, but his friend didn't see him right away, so when Lloyd was close enough, Ninten started to cry.

"D-Don't hurt me! Please! I'm begging you!" He stuttered in between cries. Lloyd was horrified Ninten thought that he was going to hurt him. So his immediate reaction was to walk slowly over to him, telling him;

"Ninten, I won't hurt you, it's me Lloyd..." Slowly sitting on his friends bed, he wrapped his arms around him, telling him that he was going to be okay. as the brunet continued to blubber about how he was too young to die, and other things similar to that.

Lloyd ended his story, Leaving out the part about his feelings, which he still had today. Lloyd ran his fingers through Ninten's brown locks, causing the sleeping child to smile slightly.

"Anything else I should know?" Ana asked, as Lloyd continued to run his fingers through his crush's hair.

"A shadowed enemy attempted to hurt him... Luckily I was there quickly, and I lead him to the living room..." He started, "After throwing an item at the shadow." Lloyd left out the part where the two boys had arrived, Ninten shifted in his sleep, and tightly squeezed Lloyd, then started smiling. Ana watched in awe as the two cuddled, Lloyd couldn't help be smile as well, his cheeks turning a shade of pink.

"I'll leave you two alone, I need to head out." Ana said, turning away from the boys. She walked out of Lloyd's room, and exited the house,

Ninten shifted in his sleep and said a quick sentence that changed Lloyd's mood, a mood which would stay for a couple of years;

"I love you..."

What Lloyd didn't know, was that Ninten was awake for most of the conversation, including now.