#for ppl wondering this isnr ship its sibling like

[puhpandas]

Contentment

(1,485 words)

Evan has a nightmare during a sleepover with Gregory and accidentally wakes him up in the process. Gregory, of course, offers him comfort. Even if he is delirious from sleep and spouting nonsense.

Evan doesnt know what time it is when he gasps awake from his nightmare. Its sometime late, if the pitch blackness of the room and faint sounds of cicadas and crickets outside are any indication. Gregory is still sleeping soundly adjacent to him on his bed as he huffs for air, unfiltered fear gripping his lungs.

He props himself up on his air mattress, trying to calm his hammering heart as the fluffy throw blanket Gregory had given him to cover up with slides off of his shoulders. Flashes of the frankly offputting nightmare appear over his eyes in the dark, and he tries to rub them away with his clammy, shaking hands.

It's not the first time Evan's had nightmares like these. Far from it. Sometimes, he'll shoot awake in his room and think he sees shadows of what monstr of the week he'd dreamed about in the corners, and his stomach will be so on fire he'll be shaking intensely, unable to fall back asleep.

That's what's happening now. Allthough its frustrating how much his brain seems to hate him, Evan cant find it in him to be annoyed right now. He almost never can. The fear that he'd experienced in the dream has clung to him like a tick, and it makes his breaths shaky and harsh.

Sweat clings to his clothes, soaking theough and making his skin sticky. Albeit shakily, he moves off of the air mattress, too paranoid to stay on top of it lest he somehow gets the bed Gregory's family had generously donated to him dirty. He shifts near the middle of the side of Gregory's bed, sitting on his carpet and curling up as small as hes able.

He tries really hard to stay quiet for Gregory, but this is a particularly bad one. That feeling he always gets when he has a nightmare, and wakes up feeling off and disoriented is sticking with him. His heart thrums uncomfortably in his chest, and he clutches his knees he has pulled up to his chest, trying to will the anxiety away.

Despite how hard he tries, his eyes blow open when he let's out the smallest whimper, the terror and the dark getting too much. He holds his breath, staying completely silent for what feels like hours as he strains his ears for signs of Gregory waking up.

His heart has long since stopped when he risks a glance behind him. It's the exact same time Gregory stirs just enough to land a hand on his shoulder, and Evan startles hard, gasping harshly.

After he wills his heart to stop almost imploding, Evan breathes out, trying to calm down. Guilt curls in his stomach when Gregory raises his head from his pillow, eyes bleary and hair sticking up. His face is just visible over the edge of the bed, and Evan's only able to see his expression because of the moonlight shining through the blinds.

The hand squeezes a bit tighter, and then "Ev'n?"

Evan's brows furrow, the feeling of fear and guilt mixing together into an ugly poison in his gut. He shakes his head, trying to will the unease to fall away. This, undoubtedly, is worse than before.

"Its me." He replies, after a moment, soft as ever. He swallows thickly, before, "I-- I'm sorry I woke you up. Just go back to sleep, please. I-- I promise I'm okay. You don't need to worry about me."

Despite Evan's attempts, it seems even through Gregory's barely-awake state he can still call Evan's bluff. Evan watches Gregory's form under his blanket shift, rolling out of view from the edge of the bed to closer to the wall.

"No you're not." Gregory tells him, voice rough from sleep. His words slur in that way that tells you the person you're speaking to isnt fully aware. "I h'rd you. Just... if somethings wrong jus... come up here."

Evan's eyes widen, and panic grips his insides at that. "No, no!" Evan attempts, waving his hands even though Gregory probably cant even open his eyes enough to see him. "I dont need you to do that, I swear. I'm fine. You take your bed and I'll have mine."

Evan has calmed himself down from nightmares plenty of times before. Even if it did take almost an hour or more each time. He doesn't need Gregory to offer his own bed to him.

But Evan should know by now that Gregory wont allow him to suffer in silence. No matter how much he insists. So really, when Gregory flails a hand around and off of the bed, tugging at Evan's sleeve and mumbling things about 'Not leaving you to be scared', he shouldn't be suprised.

Still. When Evan eventually climbs into Gregory's bed and tucks himself under the thick comforter, the sheets coming pre-warmed, its almost like the unease and anxiety of his terrifying nightmare melts off a little. Especially since he can feel the almost personal heater-like warmth of Gregory's back pressed up against his side.

Gregorys bed is just a twin, so it takes some squeezing, but they both fit. Before, Evan would just have Fredbear to tuck under his arm when he inevitably had to try to fall back asleep in his own house. Never in a million years did he consider going to his Father or Michael for comfort. The idea of having a person to keep him company never crossed his mind.

When Evan has calmed down significantly since climbing in bed, he relaxes some more, finally feeling more fit to sleep as he says, "Thank you, Gregory." Evan shuts his eyes, body still faintly trembling but feeling more relaxed. "...I do feel better. A lot better."

Evan thinks Gregory may have nodded off already when he doesnt respond right away, but then he shifts slightly. "T'ld you." He mumbles. "...You gotta stop being scared of bothering me. I want you to feel better more than having m' bed I sleep in every day."

Evan chuckles slightly. "Night, you mean." But warmth overcomes the last bits of chill in his stomach when he smiles earnestly into one of Gregory's pillows, tugging the comforter above his chin. "And... I will. From now on. You just might have to knock some sense into me first."

"I will." Gregory replies. He's still awake somehow (if you describe this as being 'awake') despite being dead still against Evan, as unmoving as a boulder. Then, to Evan's amusement, he mumbles, "I gotta learn to knock sense into things somewhere. H'w'll I be able to join the... the laser force if I dont?"

It takes a moment for Evan to process it, but then he cant help the giggle he stifles into Gregory's comforter. "The laser force?" He prompts.

"Mhm. Theres... laser guns, and I have to track down three targets bef're theyll let me join."

As Evan's eyes grow more and more tired from how comfortable hes becoming tucked safely into Gregory's bed, Gregorys comforting presence at his shoulder, and warmth surrounding him and pulling him more and more under, he just smiles, cheek smashing into the plush of Gregory's pillow. "Heh. You can do it, Gregory. I believe in you."

"Mm. I'll st'll come visit you... even after I'm deployed." Is the last thing Gregory says before his words trail off and his body goes completely slack against Evan, signaling hes asleep.

Evan has one more round of quiet, silent laughter before his eyelids slip shut, as heavy as iron, and his body relaxed. He falls asleep himself, smile on his face and any remnants of terror from his nightmare wiped away.

Evan's last thought is how much more being in Gregory's bed, in his room, in his house, feels like home than his own room, where he could really never fully relax. Where the threats were real.

When they wake up that coming morning, any of Evan's previous unsettled feelings are completely absent, replaced with amusement and contentment when he peels his eyes open to sunlight peeking through the blinds and Gregory's face smushed into his pillow, drool stained into the case. Gregory wakes up to Evan's giggles, and after realizing what, or who hes laughing at, grabs one of his plush pillows molded like something and begins pelting Evan with it.

Naturally, Evan shrieks, throat dry in that way that only happens when you've slept good, and shields himself. When he throws the comforter off of himself, falling onto the air mattress and bouncing, he laughs even more.

Evan grabs his own pillow from what was supposed to have been his bed for the night, and strikes back, getting a few hits of his own in.

Gregory's room is filled with laughter that morning, between Evan and his best friend, and later, when he has time to reminisce on the night, he realizes he had gotten no more nightmares.

ao3 link

#evan has anxiety #and he feels like gregory is doing him a favor by being kind to him #so also guilt issues #with people sacrificing things no matter how small to help him #maybe he just cant fully grasp the concept of someone caring about him #maybe he'll never fully unlearn that #pandas writes #my fics #flashlight duo #flashlight duo modern au #gregory and evan #evan afton #fnaf gregory #oneshot #gregory #evan #for ppl wondering this isnr ship its sibling like #found family type