Chapter Text
A sudden sound works its way into his subconsciousness, jolting him awake. He's usually a heavy sleeper, so this is out of the norm. The sound echoes through the house again, makes him bolt from his bed and with his heart in his throat he runs out of his bedroom. Taking two steps at a time, he dashes up the stairs, nearly tripping and falling on his face. He knows he should knock, but all rational thought is overridden by the gut-wrenching scream of his name. He barges in through the door and doesn't remember crossing the distance to the bed before sitting next to the hunched over figure in the middle of it.
Colby knows he needs to make his best friend snap out of it as soon as possible before he damages his vocal chords. He reaches over and flicks the bedside table lamp on. There's no reaction and the sobbing continues.
"Sam," he raises his hand and places it on his shoulder. Sam is shaking and his skin is clammy. He barely acknowledges Colby but does look his way. Colby thinks he has never been so scared until this specific moment - Sam is technically looking at him but it feels like he's looking through him, no recognition on his face whatsoever. The utter despair on his tear-streaked face breaks Colby's heart. He shakes Sam's shoulder harder, but again, it doesn't work.
"Sam," he gently cradles Sam's face in his hands, trying to get him to focus on the sound of his voice and his eyes. It's not working. "Sam. You're okay. You're safe." Colby runs a hand through the messy blonde strands of hair. "Sammy." At last, that seems to make Sam snap out of it briefly.
"C-C-Col-," he's unable to finish and his breathing is erratic, which alarms Colby, his heart beating loud in his ears.
"Yes, it's me, I'm here." In desperation, he takes one of Sam's hands and places it on his chest near his heart. "You're okay. I've got you." That makes Sam cry harder, his breath stuttering further. "Breathe, baby. You need to breathe, okay? Come on, breathe with me." Colby guides Sam through some deep calming breathing exercises. It's slow going, but eventually Sam's breathing improves and Colby's own panic lessens.
He gathers his best friend in his arms in a tight hug. The position they're sitting in is very uncomfortable, but neither God nor Devil himself could drag him away. He's shirtless and Sam's blunt nails are digging into the skin on his back, but he uses the bit of pain to ground himself, be there for his best friend, his other half, his partner in crime.
Colby has no idea what kind of nightmare could affect Sam like this. He's seen it only twice before years ago, right after the prank he so deeply regrets to this day. But they've been good, things have been going well between them. So well, in fact, that they talked about taking their relationship a step further and try going on an actual date.
He doesn't know how long they sit there like this, until Sam's cries turn into soft whimpers. His lower back is starting to cramp, so he withdraws a little, which makes Sam tighten his hold on him.
"P-p-lease, don't go." A small hoarse voice washes over his neck. His chest aches because it sounds so unlike Sam.
"I'm not going anywhere, I promise. Just trying to get more comfortable. I'm old." Normally, that would get him a chuckle or a snort, but he only gets a shaky exhale in response. He lays back against Sam's pillow, stretching his legs and bringing Sam with him. Their legs are tangled and Sam buries his face in the side of his neck.
They stay in silence until he feels Sam's breathing has evened out, though he still trembles every so often and the arm around Colby's waist tightens occasionally as if to remind Sam he's still there. Colby is not letting go of Sam anytime soon, so he awkwardly reaches for the duvet and covers them both.
"Do you want to talk about it?" He asks quietly. Seconds, minutes tick by without a response. Colby loses track of time after about five minutes and when he thinks Sam has fallen back asleep, there's a soft answer.
"You died." He hears Sam swallow and things click into place. "And I had to keep...existing." His choice of words leaves Colby stunned. They talked about it briefly and jokingly on Anthony's podcast but never beyond that. He doesn't like to think about it, but the reality is, one of them is going to die first no matter what. He's always hoped that he'd be the first to go because he doesn't think he can handle losing Sam. Witnessing how much a nightmare affected his best friend, he's not so sure. His hold on Sam tightens and he presses a soft kiss to the top of the blonde head.
"I'm here." He doesn't placate Sam with promises of always being there and not going anywhere. He knows far too well how unpredictable life can be and it can take a split second for lives to change.
Sam slowly reveals as much of his nightmare as he can remember. As he stutters through the details, tears roll down his cheeks and onto Colby's neck. Colby squeezes him tighter as he finishes. Frankly, the nightmare sounds horrific. He has no idea how he would cope if he was in Sam's dream situation. He wishes he could take on Sam's pain instead and delete the memory of the nightmare permanently from Sam's brain.
"Hey, I'm here," he repeats to assure Sam but also a part of himself.
He cups Sam's face and his heart breaks when watery, red rimmed eyes lock with his. To his surprise, Sam's hand covers his to hold him in place, turning his head slightly to press a kiss against their matching tattoo on Colby's wrist and then trailing upward to the co-joined skull tattoo representing him and Sam on his forearm. His heart thunders against his ribcage and the familiar urge to kiss Sam resurfaces. However, Colby refuses for their first ever kiss to be when one or both of them are upset, but that doesn't stop him from pressing a kiss to Sam's sweaty forehead.
They lay wrapped around each other, letting Sam calm down in silence. Colby's adrenaline fizzles out and he feels exhausted, but he refuses to fall asleep before Sam does. Judging by the way a soft finger traces his heart tattoo over and over again, Sam is still very much awake.
"What do you think brought that on?" He asks quietly and the finger stops briefly before resuming it's trek, leaving goosebumps in its wake.
"I don't know. I was watching some Solby edits before I went to bed," Sam trails off and Colby has to smile despite the situation. He can't make fun of Sam for something he's guilty of doing himself, indulging a little in browsing the Solby hashtag on multiple platforms even before they agreed to take their relationship to the next level.
"One of them did have the prank in it." Sam doesn't need to elaborate because Colby knows instantly. His first instinct is to apologize but as he opens his mouth, he can feel Sam's head give a little shake. "No, don't. It hasn't affected me like that in years, so I don't think it's because of that. My brain is just weird sometimes."
"I like your brain," Colby whispers and his pulse jumps when Sam nuzzles his jaw, warm lips brushing over the spot gently.
"Good." There's a sigh from his best friend and Colby feels Sam relax against his body, sinking into the mattress.
When Sam's breathing slowly evens out, Colby watches him sleep for a long time before he too succumbs to sleep.