The Nightmares That Wouldn’t Stop

Maddison’s POV

I woke up screaming.

My entire body shaked violently as I gasped for air. Sweat covered my skin and my chest rose up and down painfully fast.

“Liam!”

The name left my lips before I could stop it.

For a second I didn’t know where I was.

The nightmare still clung to me tightly.

Liam crying.

Fernando dragging him away from me.

Emma smiling while holding my son.

I pressed my hand against my chest as I struggled to breathe properly.

The door suddenly opened.

Damian rushed inside immediately.

“Maddison?”

I looked up at him, my vision blurry from tears.

His eyes scanned me quickly before he crossed the room in long steps.

“You’re shaking.”

I didn’t realize it until he said it.

My hands were trembling badly.

Damian crouched in front of the bed carefully. “Look at me.”

I tried.

But my breathing wouldn’t slow down.

“It was just a dream,” he said quietly.

“No.” My voice cracked instantly. “It didn’t feel like one.”

My throat burned painfully.

“He was crying,” I whispered. “I could hear him calling me.”

Damian’s expression softened slightly.

“You’ve been through trauma.”

I laughed weakly through tears. “That doesn’t make it hurt less.”

Silence filled the room for a moment.

Then Damian slowly reached for the glass of water beside the bed and handed it to me.

“Drink.”

My fingers brushed against his again as I took the glass.

That warmth returned instantly.

Soft.

Dangerous.

Comforting.

I hated how safe I felt around him.

Because safe things didn’t last in my life.

I drank slowly while trying to calm down.

Damian stayed there quietly the entire time.

Watching me.

Waiting.

Not forcing me.

That alone almost made me cry harder.

Fernando never waited for me to calm down.

He only got angrier whenever I cried.

The thought made my stomach tighten.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered automatically.

Damian’s jaw flexed slightly.

“There you go again.”

I frowned weakly. “What?”

“Apologizing for breathing.”

Heat rushed to my face immediately.

“I’m not—”

“You are.”

He leaned back slightly, still watching me carefully.

“You apologize when you cry. You apologize when you speak. You apologize when you’re scared.”

I looked down at my hands.

Because he was right.

And somehow… I hadn’t noticed before.

My voice dropped to almost a whisper. “Fernando hates it when I cry.”

The room went still instantly.

Damian’s expression changed slowly.

Dangerously.

“What does he do?” he asked quietly.

Fear crawled into my chest immediately.

Even now… speaking badly about Fernando felt wrong.

Like I would somehow be punished for it.

I swallowed hard.

“He says crying is manipulation.”

Damian said nothing.

So I continued softly.

“He says weak women cry because they want attention.”

A silence followed.

Heavy and Sharp.

Then Damian stood up abruptly and turned away from me.

His shoulders were tense now.

The air around him felt colder.

I instantly regretted speaking.

“I shouldn’t have said anything,” I whispered quickly.

Damian turned back immediately.

“Why?”

“I don’t know.”

“Yes, you do.”

My throat tightened.

Because I did know.

I was afraid.

Afraid that if I said too much, people would leave.

Or look at me differently.

Or think I deserved it.

Damian stared at me for a long moment before speaking again.

“You’re scared of your own thoughts.”

The words hit harder than they should have.

I quickly looked away.

Tears gathered in my eyes again.

“I used to think things would get better,” I admitted quietly.

Damian stayed silent.

“Back then Fernando wasn’t always angry.” I swallowed painfully. “He used to smile more.”

I laughed weakly at the memory.

“I thought if I tried harder… if I became better… he would love me properly someday.”

The tears finally fell.

“But nothing was ever enough.”

My chest hurt badly now.

Not physically but emotionally.

Years of pain felt trapped inside me all at once.

“I changed everything about myself for him,” I whispered shakily. “The way I dressed. The way I talked. The people I spoke to.”

My breathing became uneven again.

“I stopped working because he didn’t like it. I stopped leaving the house because he accused me of embarrassing him.”

Damian’s eyes darkened more with every word.

“But Emma…” my voice broke. “Emma gets everything so easily.”

The image of them together flashed in my mind again.

On my bed.

In my room.

With my son calling her mommy.

Something inside me cracked completely.

A sob escaped my lips before I could stop it.

“I hate her,” I cried softly.

The confession shocked even me.

Because I wasn’t someone who hated people.

But Emma…

Emma smiled while destroying my life.

Damian moved closer slowly.

Then carefully…

Very carefully…

He sat beside me on the bed.

I froze slightly.

His movements were slow enough not to scare me.

Gentle enough not to make me flinch.

“You don’t have to keep carrying this alone,” he said quietly.

My lips trembled.

Nobody had ever said that to me before.

Not once.

I looked at him through blurred vision.

“Why are you doing this for me?” I whispered again.

Damian’s gaze held mine steadily.

And for the first time since meeting him…

I saw something vulnerable in his eyes too.

“You looked at me that night like you were drowning,” he said quietly.

My breath caught.

“And I knew exactly what that felt like.”

Silence fell heavily between us.

Then slowly…

His hand moved toward my face.

I stiffened instinctively.

But he didn’t touch me immediately.

He paused.

Waiting.

Giving me a chance to pull away.

When I didn’t…

His fingers brushed softly against my cheek, wiping away my tears carefully.

The gentleness nearly destroyed me.

Because I had forgotten people could touch without hurting.

A fresh wave of tears rolled down my face instantly.

Damian’s expression tightened slightly at the sight.

“You deserve better than what they did to you,” he said quietly.

My chest tightened painfully.

No one had ever said that before.

Not once in my entire life.

And somehow…

Hearing it from him made me break even more.

I lowered my head suddenly and cried.

Not quietly.

Not carefully.

Years of pain poured out of me all at once.

And Damian stayed there through all of it.

Without judging me, without getting angry and without making me feel afraid.