never grow up, criminal minds

046. back to work

Clara trudges back to her room after going to the bathroom. She tiredly rubs her eyes, stopping when she hears noise from her dad's room.

She pushes his door open, going inside. She notices him moving around, his face in its usual scrunched up position.

She looks around before grabbing an empty hanger that's on the closet door. She walks over to the bed and holds an end of the hanger out.

Clara gently nudges Spencer's chest with the hanger. After that doesn't wake him up, she continues to poke him in the chest and arm with the hanger.

"Dad." She calls, Spencer jolting awake.

"Hmm?" Spencer looks around as he wakes up. "Wha..." He frowns. "What are you doing with a hanger?"

"Making sure you don't grab me." Clara says.

"So you grabbed a hanger?" Spencer asks.

"Well, I have a baseball bat, but... figured that may not be very smart." Clara shrugs.

"What are you doing?" Spencer asks.

"You were having a nightmare." Clara says.

"I-- sorry." Spencer rubs his eyes. "I didn't mean to wake you up."

"You didn't. My bladder did." Clara says.

"Go back to sleep, Clary. I-I'm fine. You don't have to worry." Spencer says, lying down, turning his back to her.

Clara shrugs, putting the hanger back and going to leave. She stops when she's at the door, pursing her lips and looking back to her dad. Quietly sighing, she shuts the door to the ajar position it was in before.

Clara turns to face the bed, her nose scrunching up as she considers.

"Okay." She whispers under her breath. Clara walks over to the bed and goes to the empty side of it. She pulls the covers back, Spencer opening his eyes when he feels her get in the bed.

Spencer frowns, giving her a weird look, watching her lay down and get comfortable.

"What are you doing?" Spencer asks.

"You had a nightmare. I can stay." Clara says.

"Clary, you're the child. We literally had an argument about this." Spencer says. "I am the adult, I can take care of myself."

"Okay, well... I had a nightmare." Clara says.

"No, you didn't." Spencer gives her a look.

"I mean, unless you plan to carry me back to my room, you can't really get rid of me, so." Clara clicks her tongue, lying on her side.

Spencer's lips quirk up, smiling at her as she pulls the blanket up more.

Spencer quietly sighs, closing his eyes to fall asleep, but his mind drifts to the possibility of hurting her while he has a nightmare. The possibility of causing any bruises or squeezing her too tightly prevents him from sleeping.

Clara sighs, practically able to sense his discomfort. She opens her eyes, looking over at him, finding his hand. She reaches out, grabbing onto one of his hands. Spencer frowns when he feels her grab his hand, opening his eyes to look at her.

Clara already has her eyes shut again, holding Spencer's hand in hers, easily falling back asleep.

Spencer watches her fall asleep, her breaths evening out as she drifts off. Her grip on his hand loosens as she sleeps.

Spencer sighs as he notices the unsettling feeling in his chest still built up. Even as he starts to attempt sleep, he still finds himself unable to actually fall asleep.