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This wasn’t the first nightmare that Sunshine has ever had before, but it was the first nightmare that had been this intense. They knew that the nightmare would begin, Elliott would appear, end the nightmare, and the two of them could spend the rest of their sleep together on the beach or somewhere that could keep Sunshine’s mind off of the trauma that dumped them into the nightmare.
However, this was not the case.
Sunshine’s vision was clouded in darkness, hearing the lulling theme of “You Are My Sunshine” playing somewhere in the background. It was a slightly slower tempo, the notes sounding lower and the gentle hum of the music making their heart race.
Sunshine rubbed their eyes roughly with the backs of their hands, opening them to now be sitting in that car again. Both of their hands were gripping the steering wheel, knuckles white as their eyes were peeled on the road.
All they could think about was the incident with Blake. He replayed it over. And over. And over.
Sunshine came back to their senses, gasping and slamming on the breaks as they swerved off of the road-
Reset.
Sunshine was back in the driver’s seat of the car, hands still tightly gripping the steering wheel. Their chest was moving quickly as their breathing picked up, the tempo of the lulling music also increasing in the background. They swallowed a lump in their throat, trying to take a deep breath to calm their breathing. Maybe if they just tried to slowly pull to the side of the road then they could stop the car and wait it out. Sunshine turned on their right turn signal, gently steering the wheel to the right. All they heard was a blaring car horn, vision flooding with white headlights, ears filling with their own screams and-
Reset.
Sunshine couldn’t take it. They couldn’t take the repetition again, especially when this was all in their own head now. This wasn’t being controlled by someone else, this was purely their own traumatic thoughts flooding into their dreamscape.
Their hands were shaking, Sunshine now fully hyperventilating as they were struggling to focus on the road. Their eyes were flooding with tears, slowly breaking out into full sobs. They weren’t focused on the road anymore, knowing things would just end the same and repeat until they woke up.
Reset.
Wait. This... was different. Their hands were over their ears, heavy sobs leaving their lips. Sunshine’s eyes were tightly shut, trying to ignore their surroundings. “Make it stop, make it stop...” These words were consistently leaving Sunshine’s mouth along with rough sobs, their shoulders violently shaking.
Elliott’s hands gently pressed against Sunshine’s shoulders, his frame kneeling next to theirs. “..Sunshine? Hey, Sunshine, take a breath, it’s me! It’s Elliott, you’re okay.” His words were gentle, his voice quiet and timid so he wouldn’t scare them.
Their head shot up, looking at him, tears running down their soft cheeks, eyes totally bloodshot with a quivering lip. “Please let it be over... please, Elliott... please tell me that you’re real.” Their hands were gently removed from their ears, Elliott’s warm hands clasping theirs. “I’m real, Sunshine, I’m real and I’m here. It’s over now.”
Sunshine quickly wrapped their arms around his neck, sobbing heavy sobs into his shoulder. His hands went around their waist, rubbing their back gently. “Sunshine, please, take a breath. You’re going to make yourself sick if you don’t calm down for me. Please, okay?”
They pulled their head back, looking at him. Tears still poured out of their eyes, replacing the dried tears with fresh ones.
“I don’t think I can be strong anymore.”