Author's Note: I'm still alive. My mental health is slowly starting to get better...maybe? I'm working on it. I'm trying to get back into writing with small chapters and moments like these. I know it's not a chapter update in the actual story, but it's something, right? Thank you all for your continued support of this story even though I'm still at the beginning of season 1 and season 2 is...half over? Almost over? I don't know but I am trying. I sincerely hope this flows and makes sense. I hope you enjoy this.

There will be no set order or time frame to these until I can figure out what I'm doing. That's just the way these updates are going to go. All mistakes are mine, just not this world or characters. I like to play, I do not own.

John blinked awake as he felt the form next to him shift and shudder slightly in her sleep. He knew immediately who it was, having had only one bed partner in the short time that he'd finally found her and began their relationship. Their bond and his possessiveness didn't allow for anyone else.

Lauren

Normally, she was half-tucked/half-sprawled on his side and chest, the bond and his inclination to touching Lauren having slowly chipped away at her hesitation for touch-intimacy until within a few days of them sharing the bed...she had started showing him she was a cuddler and basically a koala in her sleep when given the chance.

John loved it.

Not only because she was freely and openly searching for him and touching him, but because it also helped him when it came to moments like these. Moments where her sleep was anything but peaceful. Moments and nights where nightmares snuck in and did their best to wreak havoc in her head.

They weren't every night, but they had happened enough that he had gained some knowledge about how to deal with her nightmares and her reactions afterwards.

Those nights usually went one of two ways.

John either woke her up and soothed her afterwards or was able to calm her down in her sleep. When he had to wake her up, he found that he usually had to deal with a quiet and moody bondmate later on that day. If he was able to calm her down while she was sleeping, then he found that she fairly easily went back to her koala impression and he was able to get some rest while keeping watch and having the bond wide open so he could get ahead of any more nightmares. She could still be moody the next day, she'd just be less moody.

Lauren didn't usually have more than one during the night, but his bondmate tended to surprise him and her nightmares were one of the surprises he didn't like. John understood them and why she had them, but he didn't like them.

John was brought out of his momentary thoughts as he felt Lauren shudder again; this time with a small whimper escaping the sleeping petite blonde.

He slowly moved his hand up and down her back in an attempt to comfort her while sifting through the bond to see what he could sense from her nightmare.

Fear. Panic. Pain. Loneliness.

Pretty much all the same feelings that he'd gotten from her nightmares before and thankfully no new ones had entered the mix. He flooded feelings of comfort, safety, protectiveness and love through the bond to her, figuring he'd try to soothe her while she was sleeping before waking her. None of them had been getting enough sleep, and he didn't like that the dark circles under Lauren's eyes were getting darker.

John would wake her if he had to, but his first instinct was to try and keep her sleeping.

Lauren hadn't talked to him yet about what the nightmares entailed but she had come to him for comfort after they had had a few conversations. He knew that physical/touch intimacy was and could be easier to deal with than emotional and mental intimacy; their open bond not-withstanding, and his bondmate wasn't the most open person either. John could wait for her to initiate the conversation as long as she kept coming to him.

Granted, he wasn't a saint and he wasn't the type of guy to let things go for long, but he'd already made more leaps with Lauren than he'd expected to this early in their relationship, so he could afford to have some patience.

If she moved to another bed, all bets were off.

Right now though, his bondmate was slowly starting to calm down which meant he didn't need to wake her up.

Her feelings from her nightmare were slowly being replaced by warmth and calm, and her shuddering with the whimpers had stopped. John knew from his limited experience that that night's nightmare was over and the mood might be iffy in the morning, but for the moment, his petite bondmate was safe in his arms doing her best to mimic a koala in her sleep.

John slowly let the small amount of tension fade from his body as he felt Lauren sink deeper into the sleep she needed; the nightmare slipping from her mind completely.

John closed his eyes, letting his body rest and his mind relax into the emotions that were swimming between him and Lauren.

Tomorrow was another day, there were no sudden emergencies they needed to deal with right at that moment and Lauren was safe in his arms where she belonged.

Tomorrow, with all of its uncertainties and plans they needed to work on, was another day.

RIght now in this moment, with Lauren safe, sleeping and content in his bed and arms, was all John needed.