~1 Year Later~

Your POV

You woke up screaming.

With a violent jolt you sat up in a cold sweat and panting you sat up clutching the duvet. It was that nightmare again, that damned nightmare...

"Hello little girl... your blood smells awfully nice."

"Oppsie! You fell over you silly little thing."

"Time for you to go to sleep."

"This game is going to be a lot of fun for me now."

Shaking ever so slightly you buried your face in your hands trying your best to calm down, which became easier when you felt a comforting hand rubbing your back.

"What was it this time?" he asked.

"A mixture of all of them..." you replied shakily.

Shadow simply stayed silent but not leaving your side. A year, an entire year spent hiding in this safe house and nothing had changed. No solution found, Scourge and his informant no where to be seen and no closer to discovering the mole.

Yet even at times like this, when you relived all the terrors you had been through it was always made easier because of him. But this comfort was actually only recent.

Over the past year Shadow had kept his promise staying outside your bedroom which was an incredible comfort. However at first you were worried that he wasn't there, so when and if you woke up you would timidly ask:

"Are you there?"

To which his reply would be a simple short:

"Yes."

Although when you did wake up as the result of a dream it was very rarely you screamed like you just did, as usually you woke up silently, maybe gasping a little. So it was hard for Shadow to know whether or not you had had a dream or nightmare. This led to Shadow ask after the previous questions.

"Nightmare or dream."

To which you would give your answer. And for a while this was the routine. You'd wake up from a dream or nightmare, exchange the usual questions, before you settled back down to sleep. Which was easier knowing you were safe with Shadow there.

However there was one night where you woke up crying.

It was the same dream with your mother. She stood in the lake under the moon, enjoyed the water, hummed that same lullaby. And then there was that same voice "so the rumors are true". It was a mans voice but you couldn't identify it.

And it was frustrating. That dream never went any further, and despite it being better than the nightmares which consisted of either those two nights you were a child or on the train, it only reminded you of how she was gone, along with your father.

Sat in bed crying you gasped a little when you saw Shadow at your bed side. He seemed to hesitate before awkwardly asking.

"Are you alright?"

You too hesitated in giving an answer.

"N-not really... I had a dream... about my mother." you said slowly.

"Your mother?"

You could see he was slightly surprised as this was the first time you had mentioned your deceased parents around him. In fact the last time you had mentioned them was when you met Sally and Bunny for the first time that night Scourge returned.

Not giving it much thought you explained your dream and how it had progressed until that night you were poisoned. He listened quietly, but you didn't even care if he was paying attention. It was just good you put into words what you dreamt about every other night.

After you tale you expected him to leave but instead he held out a pristine handkerchief.

"Here."

Timidly you took it and wiped your eyes but when you looked back up you saw him headed out the door.

"W-wait!" you called softly.

He stopped and glanced back, indicating you had his attention.

"No, it's alright." You said changing your mind.

"What is it?" He asked knowing something was wrong.

Wishing you'd never said anything you shyly carried on.

"W-would you stay? I don't... want to be alone." you confessed.

Looking down you avoided his gaze and hoped the small lamp didn't show your blush. Shadow tried, and failed, to hide how taken aback he was at the request.

"Never mind." you quickly mumbled.

Embarrassed you dived under your duvet and decided to focus on going back to sleep. But you caught onto the sound of a chair being dragged against the carpet and then it gave a small creak. You guessed correctly that he'd pulled up a chair and sat not too close, but not to far from your bed.

"I thought I already told you we can't help you unless you tell us." he said gently.

Still under the duvet you allowed yourself a secret smile, that night going to sleep had never been easier. After that night Shadow would stay with you until you fell back asleep. But he didn't start comforting you like tonight until the first time you had woken up screaming, when he held your hand until the morning. This eventually led to gradual physical contact such as now.

At the current moment though you had started to recognize that you and Shadow had gotten closer over the past year. He went from keeping his distance, barely glancing at you on the train and in the safe house, but now he was comforting you like this.

As a result your heart didn't beat faster when ever you were around him, yet you always felt safe and reassured when you were around him. And although he would never admit it to himself, he appeared to enjoy your warmth and company. 

"Are you alright now?" he asked after a few minutes.

"I think so..." you replied in a whisper.

"Do you want to try to go back to sleep?"

You gave a small nod then settling back down into bed, holding Shadow's hand tightly the entire night until morning.

~The Next Day~

"Miss (Y/N)! Quick come with me!"

Cream dashing into the drawing room snapped you from the book you were reading.

"What!? What is it!?" you asked jumping from your seat, starting to worry.

"Miss Sally is here! Come say hello!" Cream cried excitedly.

She grabbed your hand and started leading you to the main study which you had ease dropped on when you first came here. But as Cream led you you couldn't help but be reminded how Cream had grown an inch over the last year.

Reminding you how many people had put their lives on the hold for you, they were all missing out on valuable time, all because of you. And unfortunately you weren't any closer to finding your personal solution, you had been keeping various notes in the draw of your dresser in the hopes of finding a permanent solution, discretely taking books on how to kill supernatural creatures from the library.

There were many ways to kill supernatural beings, but there were currently none you could try without letting Shadow or Cream catching on.

Cream opened the door and sure enough there Sally stood, barely a difference. She greeted you with a large smile, this was the first time you'd seen her in a year.

"(Y/N) its good to see you, how are you?" she asked happily. 

"I'm okay, what about you? Why the visit?" you inquired.

"I have to say sorry as it's a purely business visit as I need Shadow to come with me on a mission." Sally explained.

"What mission? If you don't mind my asking."

However you were already feeling uneasy at the thought that Shadow wouldn't be in the safe house.

"We've gotten word that Fiona is in France, even though it's risky we can't risk that chance of letting this slip. If we can get a hold of Fiona she'll lead us to Scourge, who will lead us to his informant who is probably the mole. And Shadow's by far one of the best hunters we have." Sally explained.

"So there's a chance you might catch him." you breathed.

For so long the only thing that had been happening was the usual routine of researching and hearing the latest word from the Hunter Society from Amy, and always it was just to say they hadn't found anything.

So to hear something that might be a possible lead and bring Scourge down was a wonder. Even though catching Scourge wouldn't put an end to all this, it would definitely make things easier and erase some of the pressure. 

"Yes there's a chance, and we've got our fingers crossed. We'll send word when and if anything happens." she reassured you.

"Sally, everything's ready to go."

You, Sally and Cream turned to face Amy at the door.

"Alright I'll be right there, I'll hopefully see you soon (Y/N), Cream."

With that Sally left the room along with Amy.

"I hope there okay..." Cream said, concern in her voice.

"I'm sure they will be." you tried to reassure her.

But then you thought about Shadow accompanying her.

"I'll be back in a minute." you said.

Leaving the room you went straight to Shadow's room and just as you were about to knock on the door it opened and you stopped with your hand in mid air.

"Ummm..."

"What is it?" he asked.

You noticed the gun in his holster which he hadn't worn since the train.

"I just wanted to wish you luck, o-on your mission." you stuttered slightly.

"Thank you, but I can assure you nothing will go wrong." he reassured you.

"I don't doubt that but still." you shrugged blushing a little.

"Then thank you again, but I've got to go now." he said nicely.

"Okay, see you soon."

"See you soon."

With that he headed up to ground level, and already you were missing him. 

Sorry I know this chapter was a little shorter but we are coming up to the really good stuff now, stay tuned.