♤Espresseleine family shenanigans♤

♤ Midnight tea ♤ Oneshot ♤

(HELLO!!!! This is hurt/comfort, everyone's favourite!! It's Madeleine and Strawberry Crepe, what's not to love?)

It was a cold, dark night in October. Tuesday. Tomorrow would be the day they, Madeleine and Espresso, would finally sign Gumball's adoption papers. He had been staying with them for a week now, and everything was going incredible. Well, for the most part. It was chaotic, but no family is perfect. There would always be conflict, no matter where the child would have come from. Things did not always go smoothly when Strawberry Crepe first joined the two in their home, but they loved the kid unconditionally anyways. Madeleine was so full of love and affection, and now he could finally distribute all of it. He could not always shower his husband in all his love and affection, as he was far too busy to receive it all. Madeleine hadn't minded, the small exchanges of affection being perfect in their own ways. But more was better so, so much better. And now, with another child entering their lives, things couldn't be more perfect.

Right?

On this Tuesday night, 2 AM, Madeleine woke up in a cold sweat. He shot up in the beath, heavy breaths filling and emptying his lungs. The sweat covering his whole body clumped his hair together messily. His breath hitched and tears began streaming down his face. Madeleine rarely had nightmares, but when he did, they were *bad*. He looked around frantically before his eyes landed on his husband, still fast asleep beside him. He swallowed and gently brushed his hand against his love's cheek, resulting in a stir. "Ah. He's okay. That's good." The blonde thought to himself with a sigh. The thoughts of whatever horrors he had experienced moments prior swarmed his head, and he forced his eyes shut for a few moments. Usually he'd go to Espresso to talk, for comfort and a hug to make the worries disappear in an instance. But he couldn't get himself to wake the sleeping beauty beside him. He held back sobs as he climbed out of bed quietly, the cold air of the room quickly clinging to his body, but he couldn't be bothered with a shirt. He pulled on some sweatpants and some socks, the floor felt like ice, and exited the room as quietly as possible.

The shakily breathing knight made his way down creaky stairs, hand clinging to the railing as his vision was blurry from the tears, which showed no signs of stopping. Once downstairs, he took a few moments to balance and collect himself, letting out a shaky sigh before dragging himself to the kitchen to make himself some tea. Tea was his comfort drink. Something he had never told anyone about. He drank tea when he was devastated, distressed, scared, mad, disappointed, or just sad. Name a negative emotion, and he'll have a tea that goes with it. His habit of drinking tea at the depths of his despair was one of few things Espresso had yet to figure out about him. All his other coping mechanisms and tells he had already deciphered. From the way he chuckled when he was uncomfortable, to the way he fidgeted with his hair when he felt anxious, even how he refused to make eye contact when he was lying. Espresso could read him like an open book, solve him like a math problem. He had discovered the patterns and formulas, almost all of them, in a matter of weeks. Madeleine was....impressed, to say the least. Because, to him? Espresso was like a poem. And he had dyslexia.

Madeleine had as much information about Espresso's feelings and how to get to him, as Espresso didn't about him. But the tea was something he had hidden so well. Madeleine was an expert at hiding his feelings, always pushing negative thoughts and feelings away, deep down inside, hidden from the world. He was in no position to be upset about anything. His life was perfect. He was one of few beings, blessed by the Divine, he had the most wonderful husband he could ever ask for, and a child he cherished, with another one soon to join their close to perfect little family. Whenever he felt any negative emotion, it came paired with an overwhelming feeling of guilt. How could he possibly be upset when others were dealing with much worse? Whenever he felt bad in public, he wanted to wither away and disappear. It was not okay for him to appear unhappy when surrounded by others. The only one allowed to see him like that was his husband, who never failed to make the blonde feel better. Madeleine truly loved Espresso, and he knew for a fact that Espresso loved him back.