Band of Brothers Drabbles

3. Like a nightmare (Buck Compton).

A/N: Buck comforts you, because you suffer from nightmares. You tell him about your rocky life back home. 

Trigger warning!: Abuse (abusive relationship), violence. 

Please, if you get triggered by any of the two things mentioned above, do not proceed to read this story. 

Disclaimer!: the characters in this story are based on the characters of the television show, not the real men and this is in no way meant offensively or disrespectfully to those heroes. 

You were one of the few female field nurses in easy company. The guys treated you with respect, you were ladies after all, but some of them tried to encourage you to go home to your husbands. However, they didn't know how much of a blessing this training camp and the opportunity to get away from home was for you. You still shivered at the memory of you telling your husband that you were leaving. The last thing he had said to you was that he hoped you wouldn't survive the war, so he could marry someone prettier. At times, you still had to remember yourself that you were safe now, that you didn't have to worry about him anymore. At night you still dreamed of his hands around your throat, the feeling of his boots on your stomach, the way your cheek would sting after he slapped you. Some guys were worried about the way you woke up screaming at night, drenched in sweat. Others teased you about it, saying war hadn't even begun yet. You were embarrassed about how everyone seemed to know, but no one dared to ask. You hated that your screaming woke people up. You hated the effect he still had on your life, even though he wasn't around anymore. 

One particular night you were standing outside the bunks after having yet another one of those terrible nightmares. You were trying to assure yourself that it wasn't real. That there was no way he would have followed you all the way to England. You ran your hand through your hair and forced yourself to breathe deeply as your leaned you back against the wall.  You heard two boots stomping your way, you looked up. It was Buck Compton of all people. You smiled at him when he leaned against the wall next to you, clearly having gotten out of bed to check up on you. "I'm sorry if I woke you," you muttered, smiling apologetically at the sergeant. He smiled back, "It's fine (Y/N), don't worry about it."                                                                                    

You stood next to each other for a while, staring at the night sky. "Are your nightmares about war? Are you afraid?" he asked. You shook you head. You bit your lip, you wanted to tell someone about your nightmares, just to be able to tell one person about the shit you had gone through the past few years, you knew that would be a huge step for you. You wanted someone to know, but you didn't want everyone to know. Buck noticed your hesitance, "You don't have to tell me anything if you don't want to (Y/N)," he spoke, smiling at you reassuringly. "It's just that me and some of the other guys, we worry about you, your nightmares seem to be so vivid." You nodded, "Yeah they're pretty real," you muttered quietly. "Is it something you've had since you were a child? I know some people have terrible dreams since their childhood." he wondered. You shook your head, "No I used to not be able to remember my dreams, now it takes me a hot second to realize I'm actually in my bed." He chuckled, "Yeah I remember one time you almost wacked Martin across the face when he was trying to wake you, because you hadn't realized you were just having a bad dream yet." You looked at your toes, embarrassed "Oh dear God, I did."

Buck laughed, it was such a happy sound that it made you smile. "Hey Buck?" you asked, biting your lip again. "If I would tell you what I dream about, can you promise me not to tell the guys?" He looked at you, "of course, (Y/N), I won't tell anyone unless you want me to." You nodded, you crossed your arms in front of your chest as you leaned your head back against the wall, looking up at the sky. "I-" you breathed in again, "I'm married." you said. He raised his eyebrows, eyes immediately gliding towards your hands to see whether he had missed a ring. "Okay," he said, encouraging you to go on. "My husband he-" you paused, wondering how you were going to explain this, "he has quite a temper." You looked at Buck hopefully, you wanted him to get what you were saying without having to explain it. But Buck just looked at you, waiting for you to go on. "When he gets mad -" you had to pause again, trying to contain the memories that were flashing before your eyes, "he isn't himself anymore, he gets so mad that he can't control himself, and he usually takes it out on me," you rambled, glad that you got it out. 

Buck stared at you, you couldn't quite see how he was feeling. You swallowed, had you been wrong to tell him this? "Buck, listen, I know this is a subject no one talks about and that it can be considered normal.. so if you want to, you can just ignore it if you want, just forget I said anything you know? I don't want it to make you uncomfortable." you rambled on, tears filling your eyes. God damn it, why did you have to become emotional? 

Buck took a step towards you, you instinctively flinched back. "(Y/N)," he just spoke your name. You looked up at him, he didn't look angry at all. He almost looked sad. "I- God,(Y/N) I am so sorry you had to go through that, no husband should ever lay a hand upon his wife." he spoke. 

He took another step towards you, this time you didn't flinch. You leaned into his touch as he wrapped his arms around you carefully, his head resting on the top of yours. "Is that what you are having your nightmares about? About -    what he did to you?" he asked you softly. You nodded, "I know I am weak for not being able to just deal with it," you cried into his chest. "(Y/N) shhh," he responded, stroking your hair, trying to comfort you, "you are the strongest person I know." "You're just saying that to make me stop crying," you smiled. He laughed softly, "That's not true and you know it, you don't know half how much I admire you," he admitted.