And They Were Roommates...

Chapter 6

Skeppy found himself quickly falling into a rhythm of spending his days with Bad and his nights with Crimson. His lack of sleep continued to grow and tire him out more so than before, but he didn't feel like stopping his plans to get a full eight hours of sleep. There's only so many hours in a day and Skeppy didn't feel like wasting ⅓ of them sleeping.

Skeppy yawned as Bad sat down next to him at the table in the kitchen. Skeppy took a sip of his coffee and Bad shot him a concerned look. "You look like you haven't slept in weeks, Skeppy."

"I'm alright..." Skeppy said, knowing he was lying. "I'll be able to get some good sleep soon, I'm just busy lately."

"Skeppy, you can't just choose not to sleep. I know I drink a lot of coffee, but you've been drinking more than me!" Bad looked genuinely concerned. "I'll call Emma if you want, we can both take the day off so you can sleep," Bad offered.

"You think she'd be okay with that? There isn't really anyone to cover our shift..." Skeppy felt a lot slower and as if his train of thought couldn't stay steady on one track.

"She can cover the shift, Skeppy. You need rest, it's okay to take a break."

Skeppy looked up at Bad and sighed. "Ok, I'll take the day off..."

"And Skeppy," Bad added.

"Huh?"

"I'm not sure you should go to work tonight," Bad said.

Skeppy knew he couldn't just stay home when Crimson was expecting him, so he figured he would just try and get enough sleep to still go out that night. He didn't turn to look at Bad, just letting his unfocused gaze rest on the steaming cup of coffee that sat in front of him. He had been sleep deprived before, sure, but this was probably the worst it had ever been. He crammed something into every moment of his day, leaving an hour or less to sleep.

It had been fine for a bit, coffee could keep him going for a few days, but the sleep deprivation caught up to him and he knew that if he continued like this, he'd end up doing some major damage, but he couldn't stand the thought of missing time with his two favorite people. He looked over at Bad, who stood against the wall, texting on his phone. For a moment, the appearance of Bad flickered and looked as if Crimson was standing there.

Bad's brown hair shifted to an ashy gray, his green eyes turned to a glowing white and his pale skin darkened into a charcoal black. He saw Crimson standing there in front of him, but he knew that he wasn't actually there and it was just a side effect of how tired he was. "Emma told me that she could cover the shift for us, come on Skeppy, you need to sleep."

Bad pulled Skeppy back towards his bedroom, which was now quite dark thanks to the black curtains he had bought. He laid down on the bed, thinking of all the times he longed for a moment to sleep in the past 6 months, but now he didn't want it. He used to live for his moments alone outside of work and fighting Crimson. His mind told him he needed to sleep, but his heart told him he didn't want to be alone.

"Hey Bad?" He asked into the darkness, noticing Bad's silhouette standing in the doorway.

"Yes, Skeppy?"

"Can you stay here for a little bit? Just for a few minutes..?" Skeppy felt a little silly asking, but he listened to his heart.

"Sure," Bad said, shutting the door and sitting down on the edge of Skeppy's bed. "Skeppy, can I ask you something?"

"Yeah?"

"Why is it that you keep yourself so busy all the time?" In the darkness, he couldn't see Bad and it reminded him of when Crimson would talk to him in the dark of the office.