Bolting up right a scream ripped through the air, it took Stiles a second to realise that scream was coming from him, anther second passed and suddenly he was in his dad's arms, soft reassurances being whispered into his ear while his dad rocked him gently. It reminded Stiles of the nights after his mother died, waking up in the throes of a panic attack, his dad holding in a way that felt both tight and gentle.

"Shhhh you're okay"

He wasn't though, Stiles gripped the arm around his chest tightly, and sagged back onto the firm chest behind him, his father understood the action for what it was immediately, Stiles needing psychical assurance that he wasn't alone.

"I got you, you're okay"

Stiles felt a strong hand grip his hand, stilling the trembling, his screams replaced with silent sobs, his father's presence breaking through the fog of terror.

"You're okay, Daddy's here"

Daddy.

He hadn't been daddy for a long time; it dawned on Stiles he wasn't the only terrified person, currently laying in his bed. After a while the sobbing turned to silent tears, and the panicked gasps turned into slow steady breathes, Stiles unconsciously breathing in time with the man behind him.

He felt a hand go gently through his hair, and he let himself, be laid back down on the mattress, immediately curling into his father's chest, still trembling hands gripping the white t-shirt tightly.

"It's okay; close your eyes, Daddy's here"

He didn't want to close his eyes, that are what got him into his situation in the first place, but as the adrenaline wore off , Stiles could feel his body betraying him, eyes lids suddenly growing very heavy he tried to resist, after that nightmare he didn't want to ever sleep again. His father sensing his rising distress as he struggled with staying awake, moved the hand that had been stroking his hair, to his back and began rubbing circles firmly but gently through the red material.

"Shhhh, Sleep now"

His father's arms had always been a safe place for Stiles, from the time he was little and would come running into the open arms with various scrapes and bruises to when his mother died, but he wasn't a little boy anymore and his Daddy couldn't protect him from what was happening, and they both knew it.

But for now, in the middle of the night, just for the moment he let himself believe that everything would be okay, that here in his father's arms nothing could get him, that he was safe. The circles on his back continued lulling him to sleep.

"Daddy's here"

And he was.