shiver | wilbur soot

16

hope awoke in an unfamiliar setting, not in her own bed like she was expecting and it was not long before all the unpleasant symptoms hit from the consequences of drinking too much. her head was sore, a sickly feeling rumbled in her stomach and her entire body ached. even trying to remember anything from the night before made her head even worse, but her memories were hazy and she quickly remembered why she never gets so drunk - it would make her sick.

rolling over, she glanced beside her and noticed wilbur fast asleep, soft snores escaping his lips and his head buried into the pillow. she then glanced down at her clothes, noticing that she was wrapped up in one of wilbur's t-shirt's and a soft smile tugged at her lips, realising how considerate and caring he was to say she could barely remember a thing.

this was one of the rare occasions that hope had fallen asleep in wilbur's bed. sometimes she would have a nap in his bed whilst he was busy, but he would never mind as they were in one another's company. there had been a couple of moments where she had fallen asleep and slept all night because wilbur did not want to wake her up from her slumber and slumped himself on the sofa or in the spare bedroom.

she slowly lifted her body up and spotted her phone resting on the beside table. grabbing it, a groan left her throat from even the smallest of movements making her hangover worse. aimlessly scrolling through her phone for a little while, all she could try do was piece together what on earth had happened the night before and why she ended up in her best friends bed. did she really get that drunk that she could not drag herself home? did she really get so drunk to a point where she threw up? the one thing she hated most in the world.

wilbur began to stir beside her and he stretched his slender body out, nearly pushing hope out of the bed because he completely forgot she was laid beside him, "oh, sorry hope." he groaned, his voice rough.

"it's fine." she sighed.

"how are you feeling?" wilbur asked, turning his head on the pillow to face hope.

"like shit." she huffed.

wilbur pulled out his bottom lip, he felt sorry for her. even though he had a hangover himself, he wanted to put hope first, "i've never seen you that drunk before."

"i haven't been that drunk in a long time." she shook her head, "you know? because of the fear of being sick and things. i guess i got a little bit carried away last night."

"yeah." he nodded and offered her a sympathetic smile, opening a long arm out wide for her, "come here." he gestured.

hope narrowed her eyes at him, staring at him suspiciously, "are you sure?"

"hope, it's a cuddle," he chuckled, "and you're hungover. it's obviously needed."

"okay." a soft smile tugged at her lips, shuffling her fragile body over so that her head was resting on his shoulder.

"i don't know why you were so unsure, you cuddled me last night too."

"yeah," she muttered, "but we were both drunk, we get more touchy when we're drunk." she laughed awkwardly. it was true, with the slightest amount of alcohol in their systems, they always needed some form of contact. whether it be hope resting her head randomly on his body, like last night, or him tracing circles on the back of her hand which rested on a table whilst he sat beside or opposite - the most simple, platonic forms of contact seemed to have so much unwritten meaning to the two of them.

they sat in silence, checking their phone's every so often. hope listened to the sound of wilbur's heartbeat thudding into her ear whilst he traced circles on her shoulders, rhythmically moving his fingertips up and down her arm. the only sounds that filled the room were soft sighs and heavy breaths as they attempted to cope with their hangover's. it was not long before hope succumbed to the tiredness consuming her, her eyelids felt heavy and she struggled to keep them open, leaving her fast asleep on wilbur's chest.