Nightmares
Alicia tosses and turns in bed, thrashing around. She wants to stop, but she can’t. The nightmare of coming home and being jumped by the frat brothers who had put her in the hospital appears to be one she isn’t allowed to wake up from. Right as the main frat brother punches her-
Alicia jolts awake in a cold sweat! She looks over to where Leighton is sleeping peacefully and a wave of relief washes over her. She slowly lays back down and kisses Leighton’s forehead. Leighton grumbles something as she cuddles closer to Alicia. And as comforting as her girlfriend's presence is, Alicia barely sleeps for the rest of the night.
“Alicia… Alicia… ALICIA!” Tova yells, startling Alicia awake. She looks around and Ginger, Tova, and Lindsay staring at her in confusion.
“Ah, sorry. I didn’t sleep a lot last night. What are we talking about?” she asks with a yawn.
“We were just going over final details for our booth for Campus Day.” Lindsay responds.
“Oh, okay.” Alicia says. “Honestly, everything looked good to me. I think we should call it a night.” She says. Her friends look at her with confusion but they close out the meeting and go their separate ways.
“Hey you!” Leighton says when Alicia walks into the kitchen. Leighton is standing over the stove stirring penne pasta into a pot of boiling water.
“Hey yourself!” Alicia says, wrapping her arms around Leighton from behind and kissing her cheek.
“How did the meeting go?” Leighton asks, turning to Alicia, who shrugs.
“It was alright, I fell asleep towards the end but we’re ready for Campus Day.”
“Fell asleep? That doesn’t sound like you.” Leighton says with concern.
“Yeah… I just didn’t sleep well last night. I think it’s just stress.” Alicia says, giving Leighton a quick peck on the lips.
“Alright… dinner should be ready in like, 30 minutes since I still have to do the veggies and sauce, if you wanna go rest your eyes for a bit.” Leighton says.
“Are you sure? I can help out!” Alicia says and Leighton shakes her head with a smile.
“No, seriously, go lie down. I’ll wake you up when it’s time to eat.” Leighton kisses Alicia’s forehead and sends her off to their bedroom.
Alicia is hit by more and more punches and kicks from the frat brothers. They spit on her, call her homophobic slurs, and throw heavy rocks at her. The nightmare escalates more and more. And just like before, as one final punch hits her-
she jolts awake, again covered in sweat! Alicia gasps for air and wipes sweat from her forehead. As she sees the bedroom door open, she manages to regulate her breathing enough so Leighton won’t notice.
“Hey, you’re up! Dinner’s ready!” Leighton chirps. Alicia must still look uneasy because Leighton’s brow furrows. “Baby?” she asks, moving to sit next to Alicia on the bed.
“Sorry, I’m here!” Alicia says with a small smile.
“Are you okay? You look like you’ve just seen a ghost.” Leighton asks with concern in her voice.
“I’m fine! I’ll be right out!” Alicia says, kissing Leighton’s cheek quickly. Leighton nods and walks out of the bedroom and Alicia quickly moves to the bathroom to make herself look a little more normal.
Punch after punch after punch and kick after kick after kick come down on Alicia again. The frat brothers keep calling her slurs and throwing rocks… but this time they have knives. And they’ve made it their mission to literally tear Alicia to shreds. Alicia can feel herself thrashing around in bed again, but she can’t wake up. It’s not until a frat brother stabs her face when-
“Alicia! Alicia wake up!” Leighton urges, shaking Alicia awake. Alicia’s eyes shoot open and she sits upright in bed. She can feel her body drenched in sweat.
“Alicia, hey, look at me. Look right here!” Leighton says, carefully holding Alicia’s face in her hands to make her girlfriend focus on her.
“It’s okay, baby. Breathe. Breathe.” Leighton says softly. Alicia tries to look around the bedroom but Leighton continues to hold her face.
“Nope, no, keep looking at me and breathe. In… out.” Leighton says, demonstrating. Alicia does as she’s told, never taking her eyes off of Leighton.
“Leighton… I-”
“You were having a nightmare. And a pretty realistic one, apparently.” Leighton says softly as she turns on the lamp on her bedside table.
“I’m gonna get you some water, I’ll be right back.” Leighton says reassuringly. When Leighton comes back with Alicia’s water, she goes into the bathroom and runs a washcloth under some water before going back to Alicia and sitting next to her in bed. Alicia sips the water down in between a few unsteady breaths, but Leighton rubs her back in order to calm her down.
“Baby… I understand if you don’t want to talk about it yet. But if you feel comfortable, can you tell me what this nightmare was about?” She asks as she wipes Alicia’s forehead with the washcloth. Alicia nods slowly.
“That night when those frat brothers beat me up. Except… it’s more violent. They have weapons and call me slurs.” Alicia says softly. Leighton nods and just listens, continuing to rub Alicia’s back.
“I’m sorry I woke you up.” Alicia says sadly. Leighton stops and holds Alicia’s hands in hers.
“Don’t apologize! You did nothing wrong, you were scared and your body had a natural response. And I’m glad it woke me up because now I know that you have been struggling.”
“Really?”
“Really. But sweetie, I think that if the nightmares are getting this intense, you need to see someone about it.” Leighton says, cupping Alicia’s cheek with one hand.
“You’re right. I’ll start seeing a therapist.” Alicia says. Leighton kisses her girlfriend’s forehead before helping her lay back down comfortably. She then goes to put the washcloth and cup away before coming back and laying down next to her.
“Here, baby, let me hold you.” Leighton says, opening her arms up to Alicia, who moves over and allows herself to be held by Leighton, who softly kisses the back of her neck and shoulders. And maybe it’s the fact that Leighton is holding her so tenderly, or that she finally told Leighton what was going on, or maybe it's a combination of both. But either way, Alicia is able to sleep peacefully.