ANONYMOUS NIGHTMARE: Steve did propose to Catherine, she said yes, and they are happily on their way to being married, having kids, the whole works.
It’s not the kind of nightmare he wakes up from with a start, or a cold sweat, or tears, or a yell. Those, he’s used to, accepts them as a regular, if unsettling, side effect of his job and life.
This is different.
This is worse.
This is the kind that’s settled so deep in his bones and gut when he wakes up, that he’s sure, for a few seconds after, that it’s true. That when the sun comes up, he’ll have to go into work and grin and congratulate Steve and tease Cath and in a few months he’ll have to stand up there as best man and smile like he’s not cracking apart, piece by piece.
It’s the kind that feels so real, he’s off-kilter when he wakes up, wondering how that could all be true, but certain it is.
Making him turn to the warm weight next to him. Slide a hand, followed by the rest of his arm, across Steve’s stomach, and tug himself closer. Mouth and nose against the side of Steve’s neck, until he can breathe again.
He doesn’t even care if it wakes him up. He just needs the reminder.
















