She was having a nightmare, Greg was sure of it. Because it was the middle of the night, and she was making noises, little panicked sounds, breathing really fast and she sounded scared. And that wasn’t good. Because she was his sister, and she shouldn’t be scared, not when he was around. Not when he was right there on the other side of the curtain.

“Marcia?” he whispered hesitantly, then raised his voice a little. “Marcia?”

She continued tossing and turning.

Greg frowned, then slid out of bed. Quietly, he pushed the curtain aside. Marcia was tangled up in the sheets, her nightgown ridden up to her thighs. He blinked and glanced away.

Quietly, he crouched down next to her bed, his hand hovering near her shoulder. “Marcia?” Cautiously, he touched her. “Wake up.”

She shuddered beneath his hand, then abruptly came awake with a whimper. “Greg!” she said, eyes wide.

“You were dreaming,” he said. “It sounded like a nightmare.”

“I. It was.” She sniffled. “It was awful.”

Greg leaned closer to her, hesitantly sliding his hand up to brush over her hair. “It’s okay, I’m here now. Do you want to talk about it?”

She closed her eyes, leaning into his touch. “I looked horrible, Greg. My hair was all tangled and my clothes were out of style and my mascara was running and everyone hated me! And they threw things at me, and ran me out of school and told me I could never be prom queen!” Despondent, she covered her face with her hands.

“It wasn’t real, Marcia,” he soothed. “It was just a dream. You look lovely.” He paused, and gently pulled her hands away from her face. “You’re beautiful,” he said softly, looking into her eyes.

“Greg,” she said, and then pushed his hands aside and pulled him to her, clutching him tightly in her arms. He stiffened, surprised, before relaxing and pulling her closer, holding her just as tightly. After a minute she released him, then looked down, tucking her hair behind her ear.

He cupped her face in his hands, urging to her to look back up at him. “You’re beautiful,” he said again, low and intense. “Beautiful.”

“Really?” she started to ask, and then he leaned forward and kissed her.