Instigator

In The Dead of Night

In the dead of night, who's there to listen to the quiet contemplation, to acknowledge the sound of the baby crying in the apartment upstairs, or watch as the stars sparkle in the pitch black sky.

Y/n was awake, experiencing it all. Wrapped tight in the embrace of someone she couldn't stand a few weeks prior. Her eyes stuck on the clear night sky just outside the window.

"Josh." She whispered, lightly shaking the arm he had wrapped around her waist.

He hummed a response, pulling her closer into his chest.

"Josh, I have to pee, please let me go."

"As long as you come back and cuddle." He mumbled, his voice raspy with slumber.

"Hmmm- no promises."

"Then I'm just not gonna let you go."

"Fine- I promise I'll come back, can you let me go now please?"

"I guess." He groaned, moving his arm off of her.

Y/n sat up, moving to the end of the bed and placing her feet on the cold hard wood floor. Her whole body shivered at the feeling of the cool air hitting her body, the t-shirt she had put on before falling asleep doing little to keep her warm. She picked up her sweatpants from the floor, pulling them on as she stumbled towards the bathroom.

She did her business, and as she reached for the doorknob, she prayed that Josh had fallen asleep once again. She found that he had allowed himself to settle onto his stomach, falling asleep across where she once was. Her thoughts wandered to the warmth he radiates, the comfort of being wrapped up in his arms, and she took a step forward.

She plucked her phone off of the nightstand, and slid her socks on, grabbing her hoodie and quietly making her way out of his bedroom. She walked quietly down the hall, ignoring the dim light coming from the tv as she walked towards the front door, picking her shoes up off of the ground and reaching for the doorknob.

"Y/n?" Jake said.

"Fuck." She murmured, slowly turning to face him.

"What are you doing here?" He asked, rubbing the back of his neck, clearly on the verge of sleep.

"Do you really wanna know?"

"I mean, kind of."

"I was hanging out with Josh-" She explained, trailing off at the end of her sentence.

"At two a.m?"

"Yea, I uh- needed someone to talk to, and I figured you'd be sleeping and Sadie is, well- Sadie."

"Last time I checked you and Josh didn't get along."

"I was having a really hard time, okay?"

"I would've woken up if you called-"

"You've been busy though, I figured you needed sleep."

The two fell into a tense silence for a few minutes, staring at their feet.

"Hey, I don't want you to feel like things are awkward now. Maybe we should- talk about it or something?"

"Can we just forget about it?"

"Oh, yeah. For sure, if you want to we can. Yeah."

"You don't seem to sure-"

"It's fine, I promise. I don't want to make you do anything you're not comfortable with."

She walked up to him, wrapping her arms around his torso.

"You're my best friend Jake."

Jake's shoulders dropped slightly at the words, they pierced through his ears with a stabbing pain.