All You Could Do {Indiana Jones x Plus Size History Professor Reader}
Request: You sleep over at Indy's, it's the first time you find out that he has nightmares. Some of the stuff he's seen has left a lasting impact, all you can do is hold him.
Requested by @hufflepuffing-all-day-long
Part of my Plus Size History Professor x Indiana Jones series and part of my Plus Size Reader x Character series!
Staying over at Indiana’s was always a fun experience. After a long day at work with students who liked to comment and question everything, you enjoyed curling up with him. You usually learned lots of new things about him, grew closer in ways you could’ve never imagined and got to experience some real, true love. Though, in the many months that you’d been dating Indy and out of all of the nights you spent entangled under the sheets with him, you had never once known him to have nightmares. You had once thought that the brave adventurer was untouchable but of course he wasn’t. He was human, he was a man who had been through tough adventures and had seen horrific things.
You were woken up by Indiana’s yells and his jumpy movements. You scrambled upwards in a hurry, thinking that there was a fight breaking out. Quickly turning on the lamp on the bedside table, you realised that there wasn’t a fight at all. It was Indiana and he was still asleep, thrashing next to you in bed, a sheen of sweat on his bare chest. A nightmare.
“Indy,” you said, almost fearful to wake him, “Indy.” You placed a calming hand on his arm which was absolutely the wrong move. He grabbed your wrist and sprung up, eyes wide, “Indy, it’s me. It’s me, you’re okay!” You tried to soothe him as quick as possible, tried to eliminate the fear of danger immediately.
You continued to soothe him as his grip on your wrist loosened completely and you carefully touched his back, trying to calm him as efficiently as you could. Releasing a breath, Indiana let his shoulders sag, allowing your touch and listening to your words of comfort. Ever since he started adventuring, he had nightmares. They didn’t come as often but when they came, they were ten times more intense. He hadn’t mentioned to you about his nightmares, he thought that he had them under control but after a particularly trying day at work, he couldn’t control them as best as he thought.
His heart raced and he couldn’t quite control his breathing. He’d never had a nightmare while you were staying the night and he was almost scared to look at you. You sensed his apprehension and your hand grazed his arm, “Hey, look at me...” He turned to you and you could see the fear in his eyes, “Everything’s okay.”
He allowed you to pull him back down to bed and allowed you to pull him to your chest so that he lay on your breast. You pulled the covers around the pair of you as you held him in your arms, “Do you want the light on or off?” You asked him softly. His hands gripped onto you, his body pressed flush against you. One of his hands gripped onto your side, tight enough to pull you close but not tight enough that it would hurt or bruise you. He needed to feel your softness, needed to feel you next to him. The dregs of the nightmare still twirled around his mind, snippets of gore and violence and pain. Usually you felt self conscious if he was touching near your stomach like this, touching your stomach rolls but this was bigger than you, it wasn’t about you anymore; it was about him and ensuring his safety and comfort.
“On.” His voice was weak and hoarse.
All you could do was lay there and hold him, rubbing soft patterns onto his back and onto his arm. It made you upset, that he struggled through nightmares without your knowledge. You weren’t upset that he hadn’t told you but more so that he usually went through them alone. Indy was taking deep slow breaths, trying to calm himself down and trying to focus on your heartbeat. The soft beats of it grounded him, kept him focussed and allowed him to focus on something that wasn’t violence and gore.
Time had passed but you weren’t sure if it had been a minute or thirty, the two of you stayed in the exactly the same position unmoving and silent. It was you who spoke first, “You don’t have to talk about it,” you whispered, “it’s completely up to you... Just know that I am here to listen always and I don’t think any less of you. I love you, Indy. I want you to know that you’re safe here.”
He nodded against you and continued to count the beats of your heart. He hadn’t spoken about his nightmares to anyone. He hadn’t felt the need to. He was a grown man and honestly, he felt a little ashamed that someone like him was plagued by them. He appreciated what you said, he appreciated that he didn’t have to talk and that you didn’t think less of him. That was part of the reason he hadn’t told you about them. He knew that you wouldn’t have judged him but he was still worried about it and he thought he had it all under control.
It was a long time before he spoke again and he didn’t say much, “They started a few years ago, brought on by my adventures, I thought I was getting over them but obviously not.”
You pressed a gentle kiss to the top of his head, letting him know that you were listening and hearing him without saying anything. Silence wrapped you both in its comfort once more as you both settled and calmed down. You moved a little and Indiana jumped, hands digging into you once more as a sign of desperation that he needed you, “It’s okay,” you hushed quickly, “just getting comfy.” You lay a gentle hand on his hair, playing with the tousled tendrils, “I love you, Indy.” He didn’t respond and he didn’t need to. You knew he loved you and you knew that he was going through a lot right now. Again, this was above you, it was about him and you just wanted to offer him safety and solace. Instead, he gave your hip a gentle squeeze.
Neither of you spoke the rest of the night, all you could do was hold him. You would hold him all night, until the two of you eventually fell asleep and you’d still be holding him in the morning when you both woke up. In the morning, after coffee, he would talk about the nightmares and tell you more about them but right now, as you lay in the dim lit room, all you could do was hold him.
