I could feel my stomach twisting into knots each time Tim let out a moan, his pale form soaked in sweat and his face contorted into one of pain and anguish.

I felt so useless as I watched in writhe beside me, tormented by the horrors in his own mind. Each time I had woken him before during the night he would shiver and sob for a while before trying to fall back asleep, only for the nightmare to start again.

Glancing at the clock I felt a cold dread run through me that is was now seven in the morning and starting to grow light outside the window. I thought about the nine o'clock lecture I had to give and groaned feeling both aggravated by Tim and guilty.

Slowly I eased myself from under the covers and headed to the bathroom to get ready, consoling myself with the thought that I could work from home in the afternoon and catch up on some much needed sleep. Brushing my teeth I stared down at the sink resolutely when Tim's moans then turned into screams of terror, to the point that I could not take it any longer and marched to the bedroom to shake him awake.

I had startled him and he drew back from me in fear, clambering to the other side of the bed. His eyes darted around the room, evaluating the situation and he watched me carefully.

"You were having a nightmare," I told him with very little empathy and went back to my morning routine, abandoning him in the knowledge that I couldn't be late for the third morning in a row. I could hear him snivel quietly and head into the kitchen.

He would probably want a cigarette but I had put a stop to it owing to how bad his nerves were, the last thing he needed was the nicotine addiction. I missed them myself, having agreed to stop if he did. For all I knew he was probably sneaking them every so often anyway.

I had to repeatedly step around him in the kitchen as he kept getting in the way, unsure of what to do with himself as he opened random cupboards and vaguely glanced at the contents before closing them again.

"Tim what are you doing?"

He shrugged at me and finally settled on getting some fruit juice from the fridge, drinking it straight from the carton.

"I told you to get a glass when you want something," I huffed at him and he glared straight back.

"Why? You're the only other person who lives here," he replied moodily.

"We could have guests," I chided, getting more fed up as he continued to drink from the carton.

Pouring myself coffee I let it cool as I got changed for work, Tim watching me the whole time from each different doorway. I used to find it endearing when he followed me around like a little child but now it was getting on my nerves.

"Do you want something," I asked rudely and he looked at me a little taken aback.

"No," he replied icily and stalked off to the living room, no doubt to read one of his stupid romantic novels and cry woe over the fact that I wasn't like the characters in his book. I shook my head, tired, irritable and exasperated before going to throw my coffee down my throat and find my papers.

"Did you move the papers from my desk," I called in to him after I had grown tired of searching through all the paperwork on my desk. He didn't reply and I had to go to the living room so that he would hear me. He looked up, sure enough from a novel and looked at me expressionless.

"Did you move my papers?"

"No."

I thought he had been annoying me before but it had reached a whole new level know as he looked at me with a bemused expression. I huffed before grabbing my coat and my keys, not stopping to kiss him goodbye before reaching the front door.

"Have a nice day," he called sarcastically and I slammed the door behind me.