Work Text:
It wasn’t uncommon for Olivia to wake up to sobbing or screaming in the night. The first time it happened she had scrambled over to her husband's side of the tent, terrified, certain he was bleeding out, dying, gone. After her eyes had adjusted and she was able to scan for injury she realized that none were there. Heart pounding, eyes wet, she put her hands on his shoulders and said his name over and over again. Upon waking Henry choked on his tears and apologized, his voice hoarse from screaming, trying to smile it away already, trying to convince himself as well as her. Other nights were less terrifying, more heartrending. Olivia would wake up to her husband sobbing like a child, muffled and hiccuping, arms wrapped around himself tight. When she spoke, reaching out for him, the sobbing would stop, and he would reply to her as if nothing was wrong.
Henry wasn’t the only one who struggled with his dreams. Sometimes he woke up to Olivia taking tight, quick breaths in the dark. When she felt him move next to her she would jump, yelping as if she had been struck. She would move closer to her husband as he held her hands to keep her from pulling at her hair or scratching at her arms, kissing them and counting to help her breathe.
Some days they would be in the sitting room and Henry would drop a book he was reaching for, or knock over a cup of tea, and he would clench his teeth and stand stock still, smiling, beaming with fear, waiting for a raised voice or hand that wasn’t going to come. Some days Henry would reach for Olivia’s hand silently and she would pull it back as if she had been burned, apologizing afterwards over and over and over again.
But most days Henry would reach up and brush Olivia’s curls out of her face while she smiled and blushed. Most days they stood holding one another, Olivia resting her head on her husbands. Most days Olivia held Henry’s cold hands in her own, listening to him talk about crows or magpies. Most nights Henry woke up in the night to reach for his wife and pull her closer. Most of the time, they were happy.