Creative Writing: Neil's Nightmares

Neil had suffered his fair share of nightmares. It wasn’t exactly like he had had an idyllic childhood; there were obviously things that were going to haunt him in his sleep. His mother’s death had tormented him for years. They had gotten better, though, with time and the knowledge that Andrew was there to anchor him when he managed to force himself to return to consciousness. Of course, Andrew was no stranger to nightmares, either. On his worst nights, he sat on the roof with a cup of coffee and a cigarette. Some nights Neil joined him; other nights he sat in bed and waited for Andrew to return. It depended on how much space Andrew needed after reliving who knew what in the hellscape of his nightmares. Andrew’s eidetic memory couldn’t help any, either.
Andrew hadn’t explicitly told Neil what his nightmares …show more content…
He didn’t want to, but if Andrew needed space to fall apart and pick up the pieces on his own, he wasn’t going to deny him that.
Andrew didn’t answer. After waiting for another few seconds, Neil moved to stand, not wanting to push Andrew too far too soon. Andrew lifted his face just enough to glare at Neil. The way he curled so tightly in on himself made him seem too afraid and too much like he was trying to hide for the glare to be effective, but Neil got the message and sat back down.
He didn’t know where to look. Staring at Andrew felt a little creepy and more than a little invasive, but there was nothing else in the bathroom to look at. So he settled for staring down at his palms, twisting his fingers carefully together. He didn’t know what to say or do to maybe make things easier for Andrew. After a moment, he glanced over at Andrew again and found Andrew already watching him contemplatively. Neil met his gaze and held it, trying to convey with his eyes everything that would only end with violence if he vocalized it. I’m right here, I’m not leaving, you’re safe, I promise. I’m not going anywhere. Please trust