Scholarly (Yelena X Reader) ON HOLD

Chapter Eighteen

CONTENT WARNING: Very brief mention of past SA. Light smut. 

 I turn over yet again, unable to fall asleep. I'd been laying in the dark room for the past hour waiting in vain for sleep to take me.

Yelena seemed to have no such problems. Her soft snores drift over from where she lays on the edge of the bed; giving me as much space as possible. Though I appreciate her respecting that I may need space, I also can't help but miss the calm I felt when she held me earlier.

Fuck it.

I move closer to her, reaching out a hand to tentatively poke at her back. It takes a few tries but eventually her snoring subsides and she turns. It's too dark to make out her features but her tone when she speaks is full of concern.

"Are you okay?" she asks quietly, a bit bewildered.

"Yes," I whisper quickly, not wanting her to worry. "I just can't sleep and was wondering if you could come a little closer..." I trail off, realizing how juvenile my request sounds.

Yelena doesn't miss a beat, immediately moving closer to me. My hand is grasped in hers as we both lay facing one another, inches apart.

"Can I touch you?" she asks softly and I nod before remembering that she can't see me in the darkness.

"Yes," I reply. She gently pulls me to her, nestling my head against the crook of her arm as she settles onto her back. The arm I'm laying on wraps around me protectively and I relax against her. I rest my hand against her stomach; her other hand soon coming up to twine our fingers together.

It's silent for a long moment, the sound of her heartbeat and our combined breaths soothing. Before long I find my eyelids growing heavy, my body finally allowing itself to relax.

"Y/N?" Yelena whispers as I'm beginning to feel sleep's grasp on me.

"Hmm?" I murmur, not hearing what she says next as I finally surrender to my exhaustion.

I wake to an empty bed; a heavy feeling building in my chest as everything that happened the night before comes back to me. I sit up, scanning the room for Yelena. Disappointment seeps in when I see she isn't here.

Fear that I scared her away blossoms in the pit of my stomach. The entire situation had to have been confusing and overwhelming for her too. I try to reign in my doubts as I move to the edge of the bed; my bare feet coming in contact with the cold floor. Overthinking has never done me any good.

I stand and pad over to the door leading to the living room, pushing it open and venturing out hesitantly.

"Yelena?" I call out into the still apartment. The only sound that answers is the small sigh from her cat as he stands and stretches from where he was lounging on the couch.

I walk to where he waits; scooping the ball of fluff up into my arms and plopping down on the couch with him.

"Where is your mother?" I ask the cat; knowing full well how crazy I'd look, were anyone to overhear me. He just looks up at me of course, eyes half closed as he purrs away.

I sigh and scratch behind his ear as I try to weigh my options. If Yelena truly had left because she regretted bringing me here then it would be best for me to make myself scarce before she returned from wherever she was.