Work Text:
Viv slipped out of bed as quietly as she could and headed for the balcony. The cool night air was refreshing, and it helped to drive the last remnants of her dream out of her head. She only vaguely remembered it now; hands reaching out for her, trying to catch hold of her, to stop her from running. It was far from the scariest shit her subconscious had ever made up, but there she was anyway, on her balcony at whatever-o-clock in the morning, trying to get her breathing under control.
She knew exactly why she was having trouble sleeping, too, and she thought that should get her off the hook, as if knowing the precise shape of her anxiety would make it go away. It was a nice thought, like in a fairytale where you just had to figure out the monster’s name and it would leave you alone. But she’d known this particular monster’s name for a while, and it hadn’t had the decency to shove off yet.
“Viv, darling?”
Viv hadn’t clocked the balcony door sliding open, but now Lizzie was out there with her, all cute and bleary-eyed and messy-haired and wrapped up tightly in a robe. “Sorry,” Viv said. “I didn’t mean to wake you up.”
Lizzie waved it away, like she always did. “It’s no trouble. Don’t apologize.”
“Still dragged you out of bed,” Viv muttered.
“You don’t have to go, you know.”
“I know.” Viv blew out a breath. “I do, though, don’t I? It’s just my mum.” Hopefully just her mum. That was hard enough sometimes, but once Viv had shown up for their monthly lunch and her fucking dad had been there. She’d turned around, walked right back out the door, and gone home and had a panic attack. Thinking about it now still made her hair stand on end.
“You should come back inside,” Lizzie said. She touched Viv’s arm, but didn’t grab or pull. “We don’t have to go back to bed, but it’s cold.”
“You can go back to bed,” Viv said, but she already knew it was a losing argument. And it was cold. “All right, all right. I’m coming.”
“Thank you,” Lizzie said, and now she did gently tug Viv along, steering her back inside the flat. And of course Lizzie was right: it was warmer and more comfortable, and with Lizzie at her side and the last vestiges of the nightmare fading, Viv could feel something close to safe.