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English
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Part 3 of Stellie's Elliott Stand Alone Fics
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Published:
2025-09-05
Words:
2,187
Chapters:
1/1
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30
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49
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Perchance to Dream

Summary:

You had a nightmare where you never met your husband, Elliott, as you wake and seek comfort in his arms.
Reader is gender neutral.
The only thing you have to know going in, is that Elliott does not have a good relationship with his family and comes from old money.

Notes:

(See the end of the work for notes.)

Work Text:

The farmhouse stood silent and sturdy, cradling your little family through their dreams. The walls breathed deeply, house settling around you the way it did every night, absorbing the hours of a life well lived within its walls; letting the collective memory of your love settle deep into its bones.

Your daughters lay asleep in their rooms down the hall, as Elliott wrapped himself around you like a promise. Your back to his chest, his breath sure and steady against the dip where neck meets shoulder, occasional kisses pressed devotion into your skin as you both drifted off to sleep.

Summer heat had finally broken to cool, crisp autumn nights, and you both welcomed the chance to hold each other close again without peeling apart the next morning.

Everything was exactly as it should be, so of course, your dreams decided to wreak havoc with your emotions, pulling on old hurts and unspoken fears.

In them, you were still tethered to your old life. Still trapped in a cold, loveless relationship with a partner who made you feel small. Still chained to a job that was slowly hollowing you out, still trying to live up to everyone else’s expectations of who they wanted you to be.

Wandering through the city in a daze, you knew something was wrong; the lump in your throat tugging hard and heavy on your tear ducts.

You whimpered in your sleep. Not enough to wake Elliott fully, but enough for his arms to subconsciously wrap tighter, pulling you closer in an act of comfort born from years of intuitively loving you.

You had just spotted him in your dream, his hair catching vividly in the morning sunshine; the one bright beacon in an otherwise drab cityscape. Elliott stood on a street corner, idly looking through the window of a bookstore not yet open, and somehow, dream-you panicked; knew on the spot that you needed to get to him. That this was your only chance, because he was meant to be your future, your whole world, your soulmate.

But when he looked up, polite neutral smile forced onto a face with sad, tired eyes, there was no recognition behind them, no spark to catch on the kindling of your love. No fire to ignite into the years of shared adoration between you, the family you had created together.

Trying to get to him, you rushed across the street, panic snaking through your veins as people swarmed the intersection, cutting you off.

Screaming his name until your voice was raw, you watched in misery as Elliott frowned, tucked an errant strand of hair behind his ear, and carried on. He turned the corner, each step taking him further and further away from the life you were always meant to have together, as the lump in your throat gave way to fresh trails of tears running hot down your face.

When you woke, it was with a sudden jolt from slumber so instant it felt like your body had severed you from the dream as a small mercy. Heart pounding in your chest, you felt the steady race of your pulse ringing through your ears as you tried to reorient yourself to the here and now.

Home. The farm. The girls. Elliott.

You tried to breathe, hands shakily coming to your face, realizing that tears had surfaced up from your dreams along with your consciousness. It had been so, so real. The anxiety still clung to your skin like a veil you couldn’t peel back. His body stirred next to you, but the intense panic from the emotional nightmare left you with half-formed truths playing tricks on your mind.

What if that’s not him? What if I dreamed up Elliott and his affection as a coping mechanism, and am next to a partner who never loved me?

Even though you knew it was foolish, you still steeled your nerves before your mind unlocked your body, granted it the ability to finally glance down, before letting yourself truly relax and seek out his comfort.

When you managed to look, when your eyes at last wandered, falling on those reassuring waves of red cresting the pillow, across the soft features of the man who loved you, something inside you broke, slipped past your guard as a choked sob escaped your throat.

Fully drawn from his slumber with eyelids half-open, Elliott reached out a hand to your cheek, gently guiding your gaze to the safe harbor of his eyes.

“Beloved?” he murmured, voice low and dozy, trying to shake off the remnants of sleep. “What’s wrong?” his whispered confusion was laced with alarm, becoming more alert with every sound, as you struggled to provide an explanation to assure him it wasn’t serious.

Because it wasn’t, right? You asked yourself. Not in a tangible, real-world way, but the thought of never knowing him, never finding his love had cut open some long-forgotten, scabbed-over fear you’d been keeping tucked away inside your heart.

“Bad dream,” you murmured. “We never met. I never came to Pelican Town. Was still in that old life…” The words tumbled out into half-formed truths, the sharpness of the dream dissolving around the edges, while emotions rested heavy and heartbreaking on your tongue.

“Oh, my muse,” he said, voice soft, pained at your sadness, pulling you into the orbit of his arms. “But you did come. You found me,” he whispered, as the tension in your body slowly started to ease with his touch; his scent enveloped you, warm and familiar, mixed with the crisp linen of freshly washed sheets, and the smell of autumn just outside your window. Comforting. Safe. Home.

“Ell, you didn’t recognize me,” you said, offering it up like proof, the root of the matter, the real reason it had broken your heart.

“Not possible,” he replied, instant and fierce, humming soothingly as he pressed kisses to your crown, your temple, the tip of your nose. “I’d find you in any universe. In any version of our lives where you never came to Pelican Town.”

You inhaled a shaky breath, calming at his conviction alone. “Y-you would?” The words came out softer, more fragile than expected.

“And if I couldn’t find you,” he went on, fingers tracing slow, soothing lines down your back, “I’d spend my entire life looking. I would be relentless in my pursuit, unsettled, knowing something vital was missing until you were in my arms where you belonged.” He smiled against your cheek, knowing the effect his words were having, before pressing another kiss to the corner of your mouth.

Elliott had always been good at soothing. You let yourself be wrapped in the comfort of his voice, the certainty of his conviction, and the strength of his arms. The last of your fears popped, fragile as soap bubbles, dissolving into a quiet laugh against his chest.

“Welcome back,” he purred, the rumble of his baritone low and warm in your ear. “There’s my muse, my beloved, my spouse.” Each word was punctuated with a kiss along your neck, meant to anchor you as sleep’s heavy pull enticed you under.

“I’ll be here when you wake,” he promised. It was the last thing you heard before letting go, his arms your safe haven where even nightmares dared not tread.

~*~

Elliott remained awake until he was certain you slept soundly, as if his silent watch might keep your dreams at bay. Only then did he let himself drift.

When he woke the next morning, you hadn’t moved; if anything, you had pressed closer, entwining yourself more thoroughly with him. He chuckled softly, brushing a stray lock from your face.

The crook of his neck was warmed by your steady breath; your cheek burrowed against muscle and sinew as if daylight itself could be held off by clinging to his embrace.

Your fingers were tangled in his hair, one hand cradling the nape of his neck, the other caught in strands that spilled across his back; bodies lay flush, every rise and fall of your chest pressed firmly against his own until your breaths matched the rhythm of his heartbeat.

Even your leg had slipped between his, as if the dream’s memory refused to release you, insisting you hold him close, as though distance might somehow make him vanish.

Elliott felt it in your body as you slowly started to stir. You always made the sweetest little sighs when hovering between dreams and waking; especially, he thought, on mornings when you woke feeling safe.

He hummed at the tickle of your lashes against his cheek as you burrowed deeper into the crook of his neck; his hands slid instinctively up your body as he tilted his head back, giving you greater access to the heat of his skin. You immediately took advantage, pressing a kiss to his pulse point so gentle he melted.

“Still here?” you whispered against him, and his heart clenched. He had hoped the ache of your dream had burned off like fog in the morning light as you woke surrounded by his love. Elliott pulled you closer, pressing a kiss to your temple.

“Always,” he reaffirmed. “Never going anywhere, beloved.”

“Do you remember last night, when you said you’d find me in every universe?” Your voice was low, soft, and… sad? Elliott found it hard to tell with the way you had tucked yourself so tightly against him.

“Of course I do, my muse. If you’re still troubled, please let me offer you assurances—”

He had meant to go on before you silenced him with another kiss. Your lips always had a way of harnessing the torrent of words threatening to overtake him whenever it came to your well-being.

“What if I had stayed in the city?” you whispered against his mouth. “How would you have found me?”

Elliott was bewildered for a moment before he felt the way you smiled against his lips, soft, lingering kisses brushing the corner of his mouth.

“Ohh, it’s a tale you seek, my beloved.” This, Elliott could do. He caught the playfulness in your question now; no edge of last night’s ache lingered behind.

You followed happily as he lay back, letting you readjust and settle against him, your head resting in the cradle of his arm as your hand pressed to his chest, right above his beating heart.

“If you had stayed in the city,” he began, “I’d find you in the park. Of course you’d still crave nature; regularly taking your lunch outside just to breathe in the ghost of a life you should have inhabited.” His voice grew steadier, more certain, as he painted the picture.

“You’d know deep down something was missing.” Elliott nodded to himself, sure of it. He knew you, right down to your very soul.

You hummed your agreement as he went on.

“I’d be walking, restless, the words not coming. I’d be looking for inspiration in the dappled autumn light, turn a corner, and there you’d be. Sipping tea from a thermos, looking content to the layman’s eye, but I’d recognize the sadness right away. The yearning. Because, love, you would always be what my heart was searching for in every universe.”

Elliott felt the way you nuzzled in closer at his words. He chuckled as you peppered him with a volley of follow-up scenarios.

“If I had been a fisherman?”

“You’d dock, needing supplies from Willy’s shop, and I’d be sitting there, utterly captivated as you stepped from your boat. My heart wouldn’t stand a chance against your beauty.”

It was the laugh – content and dozy – that undid him. It made him smile so wide it hurt.

“If you had become a celebrated author before Pelican Town?”

“You’d seek me out,” he said, absolutely convinced. “Attend a book signing, quote my favourite passages back to me; plucked from my pages like a gift. I’d fall madly in love on the spot,” he murmured, getting a little choked up despite it being just a game.

“…And if you never left your family?” The low hush of your voice hung heavy in the room. A distant old ache, a life he had never wanted, finally, fully absorbing him.

Elliott swallowed hard before continuing.

“I’d need you to find me – save me,” he admitted as you hugged him closer. “You would, of course. You’d breach that world somehow and show me what unconditional love was supposed to look like.”

The silence thickened as you propped yourself up on your elbow to gaze down at him, your hand trailing from his chest to cup his cheek. Elliott felt the light scratch of his morning stubble against your palm as he leaned into your touch.

“I would, you know,” you said, completely serious now, all hint of earlier playfulness gone. “I promise, there is no universe where I’d leave you alone in that life, Elliott.”

And even though he knew he had you, completely, absolutely, beyond any doubt; knew that this love was untouchable, something in him shuddered and released as he marvelled once again at all the versions of himself lucky enough to love you.

Notes:

Honestly, I don't know if this is too fluffy.
Surprise, surprise. I am once again too in my head over my writing.
The little idea for this story has completely spun an Elliott AU that I want to now write. My mind is very normal about how much I love this idea.
When you see it in the future, know that this is where the idea was born.
~*~
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