She nodded jerkily, but hesitated to let herself lean into the comforting touch. She hadn’t forgotten his reaction earlier. Part of her was convinced this was still part of the dream, though at least that meant it had turned from nightmare to something more innocuous. But Derek had been confusing before she fell asleep — it was okay for him to offer comfort, to read to her, but it wasn’t okay for her to seek it? She frowned and bonked her head on her knees.
Of course, dreaming or not, it didn’t really matter. All her short memories were nightmares. She shivered again and gave in to the arm around her shoulders, turning to bury her face in his chest.
Derek let her get close to him this time, figuring that she just needed the comforting touch to calm down. His little sister had been the same way when she was younger. She would always crawl into his bed in the middle of the night after a bad dream, waking him even when she tried not to. He patted the young woman’s back, softly rubbing circles into the fabric that was there. “Everything is okay. You should get some more sleep.”
She shook her head, clinging harder. /Nothing/ was okay. She didn’t even know if she was dreaming or not. Probably — Derek would never let her this close in the waking world. She was going to have to leave the one place that seemed to offer any safety, go back out into fear and danger.
She didn’t even realise how much of her fear and heartache she was broadcasting for him to feel. She hunched her shoulders up around her ears and started to cry, silent and ragged.