The Hunters and their Prey || A Vhope story

Pull me closer

Hope kept on looking at the ceiling. It's been hours since he lay down in his bed, waiting for sleep to come and take away all of his disturbing thoughts. But it looks like the goddess of sleep has declared war on him. He looked around his little home. He had a hard time convincing Mrs Wang to let him go back to his home. He hates to be a burden to people; even if the other party doesn't feel like that, he always found it difficult to bother people with his problems. He is starting to regret it now. He felt so lonely, like he was alone in the world with no one to give him comfort. For the past three days, Jackson used to give him company while sleeping. He will simply sit in the room until Hope sleeps. Should he call him? No, he must be tired from all the running he had to do to finish the formalities to get Mark's body back for the funeral.

Funeral....that word hit his heart harder than he thought it would. Hope could feel the growing lump in his throat. He knows that he wanted to cry, but somehow tears are not willing to fall down. They instead chose to torment him more with the heavy feeling.

He suddenly felt the keys in the door making a noise, announcing the arrival of someone. For a minute, Hope was scared. Literally, a thousand murderous scenarios passed through his heart at that moment.

"Hope." Hope felt a sudden warmth running through his body after hearing the familiar voice of Jackson. All of his worries disappeared. Jackson slowly stepped inside the room and walked towards the bed.

"Sleeping?"

"No."

"I got your phone from the station." Jackson waited for Hope to say something. But only a painful silence answered him.

"I will put this on charge." Jackson moved to the table and connected Hope's phone to the charger.

"Did you eat anything?"

"Hm" Jackson looked at Hope for a few seconds and turned to leave.

Don't go...Hope wanted to say that to Jackson. But like always, it just kept sticking in his throat. Hesitating to ask for more help from the boy who looked worn out by all the running he had to do. He felt like the heaviness was returning to him. But strangely, Jackson turned back to him and dragged a chair to sit beside the bed. Hope looked at him with big surprised eyes.

"I am tired because of all the running, I will just sit here for a while. You go back to sleep." Hope looked at Jackson. A slight smile peeked at the corner of his lips for the first time after the painful loss. He knew that Jackson was lying. And Jackson also knows that Hope could see through his lies. Hope knew that Jackson is trying to help him sleep like he used to do in the past few days. But both of them simply kept their mouth shut. They understood each other's needs without saying anything.

Hope closed his eyes, waiting for the sleep to come back. But he couldn't help himself but open his eyes again after a few minutes to just make sure that Jackson was still there. The boy looked so tired. The dark circles were a contrast to his pale skin.

"You can sleep you know. There is more than enough room for two in this bed."

"No no it is fine, I am not sleepy at all. You sleep comfo.."

"I am fine. Just come and sleep. You need it more than I do."

Jackson looked at Hope for a while. Then he sighed and took off his jacket and shoes and slid under the sheets. Hope moved to the side to give him space. They lay down facing each other. It felt different for Hope. The silence they shared now felt alien. Like there was a whole new different meaning for it now. Hope wanted to move his hands to seek the warmth of the other.

"Do you wanna cuddle? It may help you sleep better."

Hope didn't say anything. He moved closer to Jackson and placed his head near the crook of Jackson's neck. The smell of Jackson's sweat mixed with the fading fragrance of his spray filled his nostrils, calming his entire body. He scooted close to him and moved his hands to the front of Jackson's shirt to slightly hold onto it. He felt weird since they were never physically this close...but it was comforting at the same time. Like this was all he needed for this entire day to feel complete. Jackson was hesitant to put his arms around Hope, fearing that it may startle the latter. But seeing the way Hope's body relaxed to his presence, he put his arm around Hope and pulled him closer. Both of them finding the warmth they needed in each other. Jackson placed his head over Hope's hair. Hope closed his eyes slowly, feeling calm. He didn't want to say it aloud, but he felt at home, he felt safe in Jackson's arms. He slept like a baby within minutes, forgetting all the worries and pain that tormented him over the past few days, without realizing the fact that the latter was also feeling the same with him. Without realizing the fact that it was the immense love the latter had for him that made him feel safe. He was not left alone in this world...There was still one person left to hold his hand. The moonlight filled the room through the window, covering both of them in a beautiful glow. Even nightmares stayed away from both of them that night, not wanting to take back that little smile which is finding its way back to the familiar lips.

I know that this one is really short compared to my other chapters. But I want to give a break to Hope from all the worries and pain he is feeling. So here you go, a little fluff-filled chapter. I don't know how good this one is since I am not that good at writing romantic stuff. But I hope that I managed to convey the warmth these two shared with each other.