The Fall of the Aftons

146: Michael Afton

Michael's eyes fluttered open. Last night had been a long night. It was just nightmare after nightmare after nightmare. He hadn't gotten any good sleep. He doubted he ever would now that Evan was dead.

He yawned, reaching up and rubbing his eyes. Well, he tried to. His arm was pinned to his side. But why? He looked down at his arm, surprised to see that Noah was holding him down. Noah's arms were wrapped around his arms and chest, one of his hands snaking up to cover his mouth, and Noah's legs were wrapped around him, too.

"Are you awake?" Noah asked quietly, his voice barely louder than a whisper.

"Y-Yeah, I am," he mumbled, turning his head at an awkward angle to look at his friend. "What are you doing in here? I thought that you were going to sleep in Alexandrai's room."

"I came in here to cover your mouth so you'd stop screaming. You were screaming and thrashing in your sleep, and you were waking everyone up," Noah explained, then laughed softly. "You're strong as shit, did you know that? I probably have bruises from you now."

"You do? I-I-I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you." His eyes started to burn with tears, so he pulled himself out of Noah's arms and scooched away from him. Why do I keep hurting the ones I care about? "If I'd known you had come in here with me, I would've gone to sleep in the garage."

"No, you wouldn't have, 'cause I would've made you stay with me. It's wet and cold outside. I don't want you to freeze."

"Why? I deserve it," he said, sniffling softly.

Noah frowned and scooched over, then dragged a sobbing Michael onto his lap, hugging him close. "Calm down," he said softly, chuckling to himself as he wiped away Michael's tears. "You're getting so worked up over kicking me in your sleep. You had no control over it, Mikey, you don't need to cry. I won't die from a bruise. I'll be perfectly fine."

Michael leaned into Noah's gentle touch, sniffling softly. "You're too nice to me sometimes," he mumbled, rubbing his eyes. "Thank you."

Noah grinned. "Of course! You deserve someone to be nice to you. You're so nice to everyone you meet, even those who hate you. You need someone who'll treat you as nice as you are to others." He studied Micahel's face for a moment before smiling wider. "I think I'll be the one to do that. You don't have anyone else anymore."

"Hey, I still have Elizabeth and Henry," Michael said defensively, frowning.

Noah shrugged, giving him a goofy grin. "I'm still taking on that role. That way, in case anything else happens, you're still guaranteed to have someone."