A light knock woke him from his sleep. "Jules?" he heard from the doorway. Julian sat up and rubbed his eyes.

"Em? Is that you?" he said in her general direction. His eyes were slowly adjusting to the darkness, and he could see Emma standing hesitantly in the doorway. The moonlight coming in from the window washed her out completely. Her blonde hair was almost white, and her skin was made of porcelain. Tear tracks ran down her face. Her eyes remained striking blue. Julian thought she looked like a ghost, hauntingly beautiful. "What time is it?" he asked.

Emma hesitated before answering "Three."

Julian smiled humorlessly. He pushed the covers off himself and padded across the floor to where she stood. Without saying a word, he spread his arms, and she fell into him, shuddering against his bare skin. "Its okay, Em. You're okay. I won't ever let anyone hurt you." Emma responded by pulling him closer, tugging at the skin on his back.

Julian hated these nights. Ever since her parents death, Emma was plagued by nightmares. From the little information she had told him about them, Julian gathered they were extremely disturbing and always left Emma screaming and crying. It had taken her months before she had said anything about them to him. She had shown up for training one day, skin pale and bags under her eyes, bigger than he had ever seen. Julian and sat with her for over an hour, trying to get her to tell him what was wrong. When she finally told him, he was furious. He had yelled at her "Why haven't you told me! Next time this happens, come to me straight away!"

That was four years ago. Emma had nightmares so often that it wasn't unusual for someone to find them sleeping together in the morning. Julian even found it difficult some nights to sleep without her there. Despite this fact, Julian hated when she showed up in the middle of the night. Emma, who was stronger than himself and braver than anyone he knew, who could hit any target presented to her without a second thought, was brought down by these nightmares. It infuriated Julian, because he couldn't protect her from them. He was supposed to be her protector, and yet he couldn't even help her get a good nights sleep.

He stood holding Emma until she calmed down. He pulled away from her and took her hand. She followed being him as Julian led her to his bed. He fell onto it, dragging Emma with him. Julian lay on his back, and Emma was tucked under his arm, cheek pressed against his chest. He rubbed her back soothingly. "I hate that I cant stop this," Julain said.

"Its okay, Jules. Its not your fault that I cant handle a few nightmares. Im such a coward," she said, self-loathing full in her voice. Julian froze.

"Emma. You dont really think that, do you?" Emma placed a hand on his chest and sat up on her elbow. "Julian, I cant sleep through the freaking night because I had a bad dream. How is that any kind of brave?"

Julian sat up, took her face in his hands and leaned in so close that he could count the freckles on her nose. "Emma, you listen to me right now. I have never met anyone braver than you, and its unlikely that I ever will. You are strong Emma. You dont let your fear own you, and I have always admired you for it. I strive to be like you every single day. You are strong, and you are brave. I dont want to hear another word otherwise, okay?"

Emma had tears shining in her eyes. Instead of answering, she threw her arms around his neck and buried her face in his chest."Thank you," she whispered. Julian fell back onto the bed, Emma still wrapped in his arms. After a few minutes, she whispered, "You do protect me." Julian furrowed his brow in confusion. "What?"

"From the nightmares. You protect me."

"How?" Julian asked, pulling his head back to look at her.

"I have never once had a nightmare when I was sleeping in your arms."