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Bendy woke with a start sucking in heavy, shuddering breaths, pushing the heels of his palms into his eyes trying to steel himself from what he’d seen. Pulling his hands away and opening his eyes to the room caused him to gasp.
Was that him in the closet reaching out?!!?!
Running to the light switch and flipping it up illuminated the room and closet in question. It wasn’t him. It had been a hanger jutting out from the closet. He clutched his chest trying to keep his heart from thudding it’s way out through his throat.
Swallowing thickly he moved back to his bed stopping to pick up his plushie from the floor where it had likely fallen as he had tossed and turned. Sitting upright he clutched the toy close to his chest. It had been a while since he had a nightmare like that. The last time had been in the studio when…
He shook his head, heart hammering slower and slower, he needed to think rationally. Henry was in the room just down the hall, Boris and Alice in opposite rooms from each other one door down, there wasn’t anything to fear.
He didn’t hear the footsteps approaching his door. Looking up when the door creaked open he found himself staring at Henry’s concerned face. Henry didn’t say anything as he made his way over to his bed and sat by his side.
“Are you okay? Why’s your light on?” Henry asked.
“No… Thought I saw something.” He quietly replied.
“Bendy…” Henry looked down to the little devil who had curled in on himself further against his side. “Do you want to talk about it?” Henry asked out of custom, receiving a slight shake of Bendy’s head. “I get it. We all saw a lot in there. In fact I was expecting this.” Henry wrapped his arm around the demon and gave him a sideways hug.
“Wait what do you mean?” Bendy looked up confused.
“Well I know you had a rough time in there and I was wondering when you’d have another nightmare. It’s not uncommon for someone who dealt with so much to have them. I still get them sometimes from the war. I’ve got something that might help, I know it helped me when I was still dealing with the worst of my nightmares. Let me grab it real quick.” Henry got up and shuffled to the hall closet. Pulling out an object and returning to the room. When he returned he didn’t immediately come back over, instead kneeling next to the wall and fiddling with something down low. Henry return to the doorway where the light switch was located, he flicked the switch down and Bendy noticed that he could still see everything in a dim light.
“Night lights are pretty useful.” Henry chuckled turning to leave.
“W-wait,” Bendy gently called out, mindful of the others who were still sleeping, “Could- could you stay with me for a little while? Just until I fall asleep. I kinda don’t wanna be alone…” He trailed off, unsure that his request would be answered.
“Of course Bendy.” Henry smiled and came back over to the bed wrapping Bendy up in a tight hug.
“Thanks Henry” Bendy smiled into his shoulder. Released Bendy slid back under the blankets and clutched the plush version of him in his arms. Head resting on his pillow he looked over to Henry who had settled into the arm chair near his bed. Henry started quietly humming one of the songs from the cartoon. With the gently light and the quiet hum Bendy started to feel his eyes droop shut. Determined to stay awake a bit longer so that he could make sure Henry was with him, he tried to fight it, but to no avail, the little demon found that sleep had overtaken him.
Bendy woke up the next morning to sunlight gently hitting his face. Yawning wide and rubbing his eyes he found a surprising sight. Henry was sleeping in the armchair next to his bed, blanket draped over his torso and legs. Henry must have grabbed his blanket and stayed with him all night. Smiling wide he crawled up onto Henry’s lap and gently shook his shoulder causing Henry’s eyes to flutter open blinking against the sunlight.
“Morning Bendy.” Henry greeted, voice rough still from sleep.
“I thought I asked for you to stay until I fell asleep not stay with me all night?” Bendy prodded a gloved finger at Henry’s face causing the man to wake up again from dozing off.
“I wanted to make sure you didn’t have another nightmare.” Henry’s words were slightly slurred still from not being a hundred percent awake. The man had never been a morning person, requiring two cups of coffee before he was fully awake. “Besides, I wanted to make sure I was here for you if you needed me.” He yawned out.
“Thanks Henry.” Bendy hugged Henry tightly which Henry returned in kind.
Bendy was happy here, he had finally found his home, he had finally found his family.