Nightmares

Baz woke up feeling like something was wrong, and almost instantly he figured out what it was: he was in Simon's bed, which wasn't very uncommon since Simon had gotten his own apartment, but what was strange was that Simon wasn't in the bed next to him. Baz got up, quietly making his way through the apartment. No lights were on, but finally he found Simon in the living room, sitting in front of the huge window that overlooked the street below. He looked lost in thought, but Baz could tell he'd been crying, and he looked like he was shaking.

"Simon?" Baz asked quietly. Simon jumped a foot, then relaxed a little.

"Sorry, Baz, I didn't mean to wake you."

"Simon, why are you sitting here alone in the dark at two am?" Baz asked.

"I...I had a nightmare," Simon admitted. "But it's not a big deal, so don't worry about it, okay?"

"You're an idiot," Baz said, sitting down next to him. "If it wasn't a big deal you wouldn't be sitting here, you'd be back in bed. What happened?"

"I...I...Baz..." Baz wrapped his arms around Simon, trying to still the shaking that was getting progressively worse.

"It's okay, I'm here. I'm here, Simon."

"I was back with the Mage and...and the Humdrum. And Ebb, she...and then Penny was on the floor in a pool of blood, and you-" Simon choked and clutched at Baz's pajama shirt. "You were...on the floor, even worse than Penny...and the Humdrum was winning, and the Mage was even more evil than he actually was. And then everything just-" Simon stopped talking and buried his face in Baz's chest. Baz felt like he was dying inside; Simon was in so much pain, and Baz couldn't do anything to help. Instead of saying anything Baz just held Simon tightly, doing his best to shield Simon from his own thoughts.

"Simon...I can't say it will be okay, because I don't honestly know. But I can promise you that I'll be here whenever you need me. No matter if it's two in the afternoon, or two in the morning, you can call me and I'll be here. I promise."

"Baz, you don't have to do tha-"

"Like hell I don't." Baz pulled Simon just far enough away from him to look him in the eye. "I love you, and I'm not going to let you fight through this alone. Not when you don't have to. I spent long enough watching you worry about things all alone when we were in school, and now that I can do something about it, you'd better believe I'm going to."

"Okay," Simon mumbled. Baz pulled him close again, then took his hands.

"Do you want to go back to bed?" Baz asked. Simon nodded, and let Baz lead him back to bed. Baz crawled in, pulling Simon with him until Baz was wrapped around Simon like a blanket. Baz ran his fingers through Simon's hair, and kissed every inch of him until SImon fell asleep. Baz knew he couldn't make things better over night. But he could help.