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The two of them hadn’t said much in the way of words since they left Bandee. The bus was silent except for the music playing through Ryan’s earbuds. The scenery passed by, their heads resting against each other’s. Naim enjoyed the peace that being with Ryan gave him, he almost felt safe. He wasn’t sure he would ever truly feel safe with the entity out there but being near Ryan helped.
He must’ve been too deep in thought because when everything finally came back to focus he realized the bus had stopped, the ride was over. Ryan was already alert and looking at Naim with a soft smile. Naim wasn’t sure what they were going to do next but he was sure they would figure it out.
“Do you wanna find a place to stay for the night? Take a break from another bus ride?”
“Maybe a place to stay? I wanna sleep in a real bed.” Naim said with a huff, he was sick of the buses.
Ryan laughed but nodded his head in agreement.
“Okay we’ll find somewhere cheap to stay for the night.”
-
It didn’t take long to find a small motel in the town they had stopped in. Naim wasn’t sure how much it cost but he hoped it wasn’t too much. Once inside the room they set down what little they had and Ryan was flopping on the bed with a sigh, Naim joining him. The bed wasn’t very comfortable, in fact it felt lumpy yet hard at the same time. It would make do for them though, it was only for the night or however long they decide to stay in this town.
“We should try and get some sleep.” Naim said, turning his head to face Ryan.
Naim would never say it but he was terrified of going to sleep. Scared he’ll wake up with that thing besides him and not Ryan. Even more scared he’ll wake up alone.
“Yeah, we should, do you wanna shower, or?” Ryan asked, trailing off towards the end.
Naim was terrified of being alone, a shower sounded like an actual nightmare. So, he shook his head no and curled up close to Ryan’s side. He heard Ryan laugh but ignored it in favor of getting comfortable in the cheap bed.
“Goodnight Naim.” Ryan said as he leaned over to turn off the small lamp that was on.
“Goodnight Ryan.”
-
Naim wasn’t sure where he was but he knew he had to be dreaming. His surroundings were fuzzy and his head felt clouded, he needed to wake up.
“Naim.” He heard someone call for him and he froze. Fear filled his body instantly.
The voice was clearly Ryan’s but something about it sounded off, like he did when the mill caught fire. Naim didn’t want to feed into it, to turn around and make eye contact with the entity that was following them. He was scared and wanted to wake up.
“Naim, look at me.” The entity said, sounding closer than before.
Naim wouldn’t give in, he wouldn’t turn around. In fact he covered his ears and closed his eyes, if he ignored it hard enough it would go away. However, that didn’t work because the next thing he knew he was being thrown to the ground. The face of the one he loved above him, hands around his throat and pushing hard.
He fought as hard as he could, clawing at the entity's face and pushing against him. It never did much, the entity was much stronger than Naim was, or would ever be. He didn’t know how long he was being held down before he started to lose consciousness once again.
“Naim! Wake up!” He heard Ryan whispering, just loud enough for Naim to hear.
Naim was crying, he couldn’t breathe, and felt like his chest was on fire. The room around him is small and spinning. He immediately clung onto Ryan, getting as close as possible without being in Ryan’s skin.
“Ryan.” He gasped out with a cry, shuddering against the other.
“It was just a nightmare Naim, you’re okay.” Ryan hushed him, running his hand through Naim's hair.
Naim knew that wasn’t true, it was never just a nightmare and he knew he would have marks to prove it in the morning.
“I’m sorry.” Naim whispered, clinging to Ryan.
“What for?” Ryan asked, he was sure he knew why Naim was apologizing.
“Everything, I’m sorry for what I did.”
“Naim, you didn’t ask for the ritual to happen, to either of us.” Ryan said, he didn’t want to get into this conversation this early in the morning.
“No but I shouldn’t have even said anything!” Naim said, getting louder than before.
“Naim, seriously, I’m not going to talk about this right now.”
“We haven’t talked about anything since we’ve left, are we ever going to?” Naim asked, pulling away from Ryan.
“Naim, I'm not going to blame you for what happened!” Ryan shouted this time, loud enough that they could get in trouble.
Naim looked at Ryan with tears in his eyes. He shook his head and looked down at his hands that were clenched tightly in his lap. Unsure of what to say other than ‘well I do blame myself’ or ‘I’m the reason Hunter’s dead’ even though he knew that wasn’t true. Naim wasn’t the one that called the deliverance healer on any of them, that was their parents, not him.
Every time he closes his eyes he sees the day he watched Ryan ritual or even his own, it isn’t fair. None of them deserved this, what was so bad of what they were doing? Of who they were loving? Naim just didn’t understand why they would do this to them.
“Naim you didn’t ask for this, I know you regret it and that you’re sorry.” Ryan said. “I know so please don’t keep holding this in.”
“I don’t know what to do anymore Ryan, I’m so scared.” Naim whispered, biting his lip to stop from crying.
Ryan didn’t say anything more, pulling Naim back towards him. He held him close, running his hands through Naim's hair and down his back. Ryan wished he could take away all of Naim's worries, even though he knew it wasn’t possible. He would just hold him close and do what he could to comfort him.
“Thank you Ryan.” Naim said with a tired smile on his face. He lifted his head and gave Ryan a small kiss.
“What for?” Ryan asked with a laugh.
“Everything.”