Chapter Text
Eraser jolted awake, cold sweat beading his forehead. He shivers and feels his eyes welling up and his nose stinging. He turns to his side and clutches his blanket tightly, trying to keep his sobs quiet so as to not wake Pen, who was sleeping soundly next to him, up. His chest heaved, and he hugged the blankets tighter. Tears ran down from his eyes, down his nose, onto the pillow.
"Eraser? Are you alright?" Eraser didn't respond nor look at him, but he could tell by the weight next to him shifting that Pen was sitting up now, probably wearing a concerned expression on his face. "Y- Yeah. I'm g- good," Eraser tried to respond, but he couldn't stop himself from stuttering. He felt a gentle hand on his back.
"Honey, it's okay, I'm here." The weight shifted again, and Eraser turned to his other side. Pen was now on his side as well, holding his arms out as a gesture. Eraser nodded and choked on another sob as Pen wrapped his arms around the smaller boy, letting him rest his face in the crook of his neck.
"I- I had- had a dr- dream a- and you- you d-" Eraser broke down into even more quiet and bit-back sobs. Pen nodded and gently caressed his back, whispering in his ear.
"I'm okay, I'm alive. It was just a dream, I'm here."
It took a few minutes before Eraser could calm down, his sobs becoming sniffles, then sniffles becoming silence.
"Thank you. I love you. Goodnight," Eraser softly murmured before closing his weary, burning eyes and drifting off to sleep once more. Pen held him a little tighter, as if he was going to float away any second now.
"I love you too, sweet dreams."