Borrowed Time

Chapter 121

The bed next to Juliette was freezing cold when she woke up, squinting around the still dark room... What the fuck? Where was Esme? It was rare that they left the bed before morning, where could they possibly be? She checked her phone... 1:30AM... Okay, so where were they?

She heard a soft crash from the kitchen followed by a muffled swear... Esme. A smile spread across her face before she could even try to stop it and she threw the blanket back, stretching as she yawned before padding out to the kitchen, leaning against the counter that they had their back turned to as they cleaned something up off the ground.

"Couldn't sleep?" She asked, and they jumped, smacking their head lightly on the counter as they let out another quiet curse, turning around to look at her with a little frown as they shook their head.

"I had a nightmare... Haven't had one in a while, and you looked so peaceful that I figured you didn't want to be disturbed." They explained, and Juliette rolled her eyes and sighed, pulling Esme in by their waist to hold them in her arms, one hand going up to tangle in the back of their hair, stroking their head lightly... She wanted to be there to support them, even if it meant missing out on a few hours of sleep.

They were more important than REM sleep, and she would always stand by that. Who needed solid rest when they could be talking to Esme Panchek, right?

"Baby..." She pulled back from their hug, placing a hand on their cheek. She smiled at the way that Esme turned their face, pressing a gentle kiss to her palm without breaking eye contact... That always made her feel so good, so loved. "Wake me up next time, it's what I'm here for." She insisted, and they furrowed their brows, shaking their head a bit... This wasn't up for discussion, but alright, you can try... Cuteness would only get them so far.

"But you looked so cute, I couldn't do it..." They reasoned, and Juliette rolled her eyes. Cute or not, they really needed to learn to lean on her in the same way that she leaned on them. She knew it was hard, she knew it felt impossible but that didn't change the fact that it fucking needed to happen.

That was part of a partnership; they both needed to lean on each other for support, otherwise it was imbalanced.

"And I'll gladly sleep again when you're sleeping next to me, but we're supposed to support each other, it's what we're here for." Juliette reminded them, and they sighed, leaning forward to rest their forehead against hers as they let their hands slide around her waist, pulling her closer. She smiled, pressing herself against them. Mine.

"I'll try that next time." Good. She cupped their cheek, pressing up slightly so that she could kiss them softly, hoping that the kiss could communicate things that she might struggle to say... That she was here, that she might not always be the sturdiest person to lean on, but that didn't mean that she didn't want to try...

That Esme could rely on her... Make it clear... Make it clear...

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Juliette asked, and Esme gave her a confused look, like they had no idea what she could possibly be talking about, but she felt like it was pretty clear... She wanted to know if they wanted to talk about what was going on, what the nightmare had been, what had brought it about...

Sometimes it could be therapeutic... that was something that Juliette would preach to everyone else even if she never wanted to acknowledge it on her own.

"Talk about what?" They asked, and Juliette fought the urge to roll her eyes as she sighed, shaking her head... C'mon honey, you know what I'm talking about... Gonna need you to open up to me, it's the only way that I can help you out.