Kingsofsorrow on tumblr requested a Jackunzel drabble inspired by Andrew Petetson's song "In The Night". The idea behind the lyrics fit Jack (or at least, my Jack) pretty well.
In The Night
Something the others don't seem to understand is that the nightmares are always there. Always lurking on the edges of his mind. Waiting for a moment of weakness. For the moment his guard slips, and they can go to work on his brain.
He can go days, weeks, sometimes even months, without them. But that doesn't mean they're not waiting in the wings.
It's why he doesn't like sleeping.
The nightmares don't come every night. But he's had so many in his life, it's impossible to forget the possibility.
Sometimes they're small. An unsetteling, rather than a full on terror.
The terrors mean it will be at least a day before he sleeps again.
Usually they're somewhere in the middle. Enough to jolt him awake. Not enough to keep him from falling back asleep that night.
That's what it is this time. Enough to make his brain send a burst of cortisol into his bloodstream. To cause his heart to beat harder in hia chest.
He wakes up breathing hard. Eyes snapping open.
The room around him is already starting to brighten. The first rays of dawn sneaking in through the window. Hazy through the morning mist. But enough to chase away the darkest shadows in the corners of the room.
He takes a deep, shuddering breath.
Not real, he tells himself.
Not real.
Not real.
Not–
The bed shifts, and he hears a deep inhale, mixed with a small humming groan.
He lifts himself off his stomach onto his elbows, and looks over.
Rapunzel hums again as she rolls over in her sleep. Away from the light coming through the window, probably disturbing her sleep.
She seems to glow as the predawm light touches her. And Jack can't resist reaching out to brush a lock of hair off her temple.
She turns her face into his touch. And it draws him in. Shifting onto his side, he presses a kiss to her forehead. He's close enough now to feel her warmth. The one thing that can reassure him.
The one thing that can remind him that the morning always comes. And he can make it through this, just like he's made it through every time before.