Sleeplessness (Dirk Strider x Reader)

Sleeplessness

Sleeplessness (Dirk Strider x Reader) 1


You always had trouble sleeping. No matter what it was, you could never seem to turn your mind off or get comfortable enough in bed to drift off. It was as if your eyes could be absolutely exhausted, but still, your body gave you no peace. You tossed and turned in your bed, the usual silence of your room becoming ever-so-deafening.

This time happened to be different, though. You had invited your 4 best friends over, and most of them had stayed the night. Three of your good friends, Roxy Lalonde, Dirk Strider, and Jake English, were all strewn about your small apartment, sleeping wherever pleased them except for in your room. The last of them, Jane Crocker, had returned home early. Her father had her placed on a strict curfew and apparently there was some sort of family emergency earlier. You turned onto your side, pulling your arms out of the blanket that covered you, feeling you had once again gotten a little too warm. You hoped everything was alright with Jane.

After a good 20 minutes more of thinking and shifting around, you finally turned your weary attention to the digital clock that rested on your nightstand. Your tired, (e/c) eyes widened at the time. You had thought that you would have drifted into a restless sleep by then. The time read 3:48 AM. This wasn't good. You had work that day to attend to, work that you couldn't miss. You let out a deep sigh and kicked the blanket off of your body, bringing your exhausted - but somehow still awake - form up to a sitting position, your legs dangling off of the side. Your vision was a bit blurry but you stood up and stretched, nonetheless. It would seem you weren't going to get any sleep that night either.

You let out yet another deep sigh as you accepted your fate. You pushed your body to its feet and slowly shuffled into the bathroom, (e/c) eyes dull. You did the usual morning routine, all except using make-up to cover the dark circles that had formed over and under your eyes. You figured everyone was asleep, so you didn't need to be careful yet.

You left your pajamas on, figuring that you could get dressed later. You had on a simple, (f/c) T-shirt and some black shorts. You pulled your (h/l), (h/c) hair to the side, even though you knew it wouldn't stay that way. You made your way out of your bathroom and room and into the connecting hallway. You wanted to be sure you knew where everyone was so that you could wake them up when it was time for you to go. You found Jake almost immediately, snoring on the couch in your living room. You almost snickered, seeing him sleep. His mouth was open, slight drool making it's way down his chin. His normally kempt black hair was sticking out in all sorts of directions, the messiest you had seen it since you met him. He was wearing his usual shirt, the white one with a green skull printed on the front. He had forgotten to bring clothes to wear so he could sleep over, but it would seem that nothing stopped Jake English. His pants were discarded carelessly on the floor and that left him in his boxers, which were green with pistols patterned all over them. He was quite the sight to behold, but you decided to leave him be for the moment.

You took another look around the living room to see if there was any sign of Roxy or Dirk, and found that there was none. Roxy was probably going to be a bit hard to find. She had snuck a bottle of Vodka over to your place and had downed the whole thing before deciding it was time to pass out. You had no idea where she was. Despite that, though, you figured Dirk was going to be the hardest to find. He was always unpredictable, and you figured he didn't want to sleep anywhere that he would be vulnerable to "attack." You smiled subconsciously, thinking about him. You shook your head slightly in amusement to his antics. You wandered your apartment a bit, checking in the most unusual places for Roxy. You finally found her, curled up on top of your washer and dryer in the utility room. You grinned at the sight, putting a hand to your face.

"Oh Roxy..." You whispered. Her blonde hair was most certainly neater than Jake's, but a bit tousled here and there. She was wearing a light pink T-shirt along with some curious looking purple shorts. They had what looked like mutated cats printed on them. You shrugged it off. She was using her arm as a pillow and her purple scarf as a make-shift blanket. You shook your head, the grin still on your face as you left the utility room. Now you only had Dirk to find.


~Timeskip~


It had been about 20 minutes and you still couldn't find Dirk. You were on the verge of getting frustrated, but you always seemed to have an abundant amount of patience. You had checked everywhere, searched your whole apartment from top to bottom, even checking your own room and bathroom and the two closets that you had. You refused to go outside and look for him, though. It was in the middle of summer and even the nights felt sweltering if you happened to be outside. You let out a sigh and gave up, seeing that it was already 4:01 AM. You made your way into the kitchen. After the energy of having something to do had worn off, your (e/c) eyes drooped a bit. You steadied yourself using one of the counter-tops, scowling at your body's condition.

"Oh, so now you want to sleep? I don't think so... I've only got two more hours to go before the day begins, and I'm pretty sure that if I go back to bed now it'll be the exact same routine... Tossing and turning and spending practically an hour to just get decently comfortable." You whispered to yourself, your voice filled with exhaustion, even as you tried to convince yourself otherwise. You felt awful, but nonetheless you stumbled over to one of your kitchen cabinets to get a glass so you could drink some water. You opened it with ease and peered into it. You furrowed your (h/c) eyebrows and let out a frustrated sigh. Your patience was wearing extremely thin, even for you. It seemed that all of your cups were in the dishwasher except one.

Oh, and that one cup just so happened to be on the very top shelf in the cabinet, pushed all of the way into the back. You weren't necessarily short or tall, it was just the fact that your cabinets were too d*mn high. 'You're too tired to deal with this right now...' Your subconscious chastised you, but you reached for the cup anyway.... With no luck. Your strength definitely wasn't at it's peak that morning, and you found yourself to be light-headed by just reaching for it. You brought a hand down to your head to rub your temples, deciding that you would just have to deal without having a glass of water. Just as you were about to close the cabinet door, you felt something shift behind you. Startled, tired, and confused, you flinched and turned around only to come face-to-chest with the very person that you had given up looking for.

You blushed and looked up at Dirk to see him reaching with ease for the cup that you had abandoned. He pulled it down, still not stepping away from you, and silently held it out for you to take. You looked down and took it, trying not to study him too much. You just knew that if you did, you would end up staring at him and would probably end up unable to take your eyes off of him.

"...Thank you..." You stated softly, trying to keep the tiredness of your body from leaking into your tone. He nodded, acknowledging your words.

"Yeah, you looked like you needed help. Anyway, what are you doing up?" Dirk asked. It was clear he had been sleeping not too long ago, his voice a bit rough. You finally looked at him properly, even though he was still very close to you. He was wearing orange boxers and a black wife-beater. He still had his anime shades on, which didn't surprise you. His hair was like Roxy's; slightly tousled but still keeping it's usual styled form. You shook your head slightly, half-trying to answer him and half-trying to keep yourself awake. Clearly, your condition was affecting your thinking. At that moment, you had the most ridiculous urge to wrap your arms around him and lay your head on his chest, maybe even close your eyes for a bit.

"I think the real question is why are you up, Strider? I tried to find you a bit earlier but I figured you were sleeping somewhere no one would ever be able to find you. Like maybe on the roof." You snickered at the thought. Knowing him, that was most likely where he was. Dirk crossed his arms and looked away.

"I was 120% not asleep on the roof, (l/n). That would be f*****g ridiculous." He retorted, the denial clear in his voice. You grinned.

"Oh really?" You asked, disbelief lacing your tone. Dirk nodded.

"Yes." He affirmed. Your grin grew.

"Then how come I couldn't find you anywhere inside here, hm, Dirk?" You asked.

"....I guess you just didn't look hard enough." He said after a moment of hesitation. That was the Strider's tell. Hesitation was one thing Dirk never did, or so it seemed. You smirked in triumph, knowing you had won even if he wouldn't admit it.

"Okay, whatever you say, Dirk." You said, turning away from him to fill the now-accessible glass with water. You took a breath, your (e/c) eyes growing tired yet again as you watched the water fill the glass. You closed them briefly but immediately afterwards, you knew that was a mistake. You didn't want to - no, you couldn't open them, and you could feel the water spilling over the rim of the glass. You reached out blindly to turn the water flow off, but Dirk beat you to it, your hand brushing his as he turned the cold water off. You felt his warm fingers brush yours yet again as he took the glass out of your hand. You finally pried your eyes open to see Dirk's hand stretched out towards you. Your (e/c)-eyed gaze immediately widened and you mentally panicked, a slight blush forming on your cheeks.

"D-Dirk, what are yo-" You began, flustered, but his actions cut you off. He pressed his warm palm against your cheek and his thumb brushed the skin below your eye, his other hand raising to do the same with your other side. You wanted to close your eyes and lean into his touch; It was relaxing, warm, and comfortable. However, you restrained yourself, tensing up. Dirk was frowning, looking at you from over his shades, giving you a peek of his beautiful sunset-colored eyes as they flitted back and forth, seemingly examining something. The color of his irises surprised you... You had never seen anything quite like it before. However, you didn't want to say anything, realizing that the shades constantly covering his eyes were there for a reason. Dirk held your full attention, in almost every way possible.

"...I've never noticed it before... But the circles under your eyes are really d*mn dark, (y/n). Have you been sleeping?" He asked. Your cheeks flushed red in embarrassment from the observation and you pulled away from him, grabbing your left arm and looking away. You had become aware of what he was examining, but it was too late. 'Shoot... I didn't think he'd be up... I didn't think anyone would be up for that matter...' You trailed off mentally, recalling that you didn't put make-up on under your eyes.

"Of... Of course I've been sleeping, Dirk! Jeez, you're getting so worked up over nothing..." You lied, turning your back to him. "A-Anyway... I'm going to go get dressed. I have to be at work in an hour." You made up an excuse to get away from him, not even giving him a chance to respond to your own reply. You honestly didn't know why you were lying to him. Maybe it was because he was one of your best friends. Maybe it was because you thought it was simply none of his concern. Maybe it was because you had had a crush on him for the past couple of years, and you honestly didn't want him to see that side of you and get worried. You began walking away from him, to the direction of your room. Unfortunately, as you began walking, a wave of exhaustion flooded your already light-headed form and you lost your balance.

"(Y/n)!" Dirk raised his voice just as you stumbled, falling against the wall, trying to keep yourself up. He was immediately by your side, whispering things you couldn't quite catch. Your vision was clouded as well as dotted and you could barely see. Your body felt as if it was going to collapse under your weight. You could barely register anything. Dirk wrapped one arm around your waist, taking your right arm with his other hand and turning you a bit. He cursed under his breath, seeing your exhausted state, seemingly coming to a realization of what he had to do. He let his hand trail from your right arm down to your wrist, his touch making you shiver but feel warm at the same time. He let go completely to slip his arm under your knees and lift you up into his warm hold. Your reaction, although dazed, was almost immediate. You let your (e/c) eyes slide closed and you gripped his shirt, snuggling into his chest.


~Dirk's POV~


'D*mn... She's so adorable...' I thought to myself, looking down at the beautiful girl in my arms. I had been up already. The heat outside had reminded me of Texas, where I grew up, which forced me into the old habit of getting up as soon as the sky began getting light. That was around 4:00 AM. I pulled her in closer. There was nothing I would rather have been doing, but it somehow felt wrong. (Y/n) had no idea what my feelings were towards her, mostly because I had never given her the chance. I always tried to keep my composure around her, more-so than usual. Or, at first anyway. She always got at me eventually. H*ll, I was more myself around her than I was with any of my friends, which was why it took more energy to conceal how I felt. (Y/n) was that kind of girl. She didn't take fake sh*t from anybody. If you wanted to be someone close to her, she had to know the sides you wanted to keep hidden, and I knew that. That didn't bother me about her so much as it did about myself. I had always been told that it was better to keep everything on the inside. So that was precisely what I did.

However, with (y/n) it was very different. She saw through the inside, like I was transparent. She understood me, and she didn't ask anything from me. It was as if I was an exception. She didn't try to figure me out because she somehow already knew. I just wished that she could see through the one thing that she didn't seem to understand yet. I sighed and adjusted my grip on her, walking back to her room. I laid her gently down on her bed, hoping she would get at least a bit of sleep. There was no way in h*ll I was waking her up for her to go practically kill herself at work. It was clear that she was getting little to no f*****g sleep at all, and I despised the very fact. I picked up her cellphone, making sure her eyes were closed and that she couldn't hear anything. I stood up and ran my fingers through my blonde hair, which was a bit messed up from sleeping on the roof. That was probably a mistake, but I didn't care. Anything would have beat a drunk Roxy trying her hardest to rip the shades from my f*****g face so that she could see my eyes. I held the phone in my other hand, close to my ear as I waited for her boss to pick up the phone.

"Yes?" An impatient-sounding voice came from the other end, preceded by a low grunt.

"(Y/n) isn't coming to work today. She's not feeling well." I answered brusquely, trying to settle this as soon as possible.

"D*mn... That's the 6th time this month!" The man on the other side raised his tone a bit, showing his dissatisfaction. However, I gave less than a sh*t about his dissatisfaction. I vaguely realized that (y/n) must have been hiding this for a while - considering the fact that she never missed work unless she had to - before the man began talking again. He muttered a couple of words, most of which were unintelligible. I heard him say something about firing her, and my blood began to boil, my patience evaporating like it had never f*****g been there in the first place.

"You listen here, motherf***er... You fire her and I swear on my godd*mn life that I will find you and I will kill you. First, I'm going to break your useless, pathetic fingers. I'll do it slowly so that you feel every ounce of pain that your weak-*ss body can physically handle. Then, I'm going t-" I began threatening him, a determined glare making it's way onto my face, my voice dead serious. My fingers were turning white from gripping the phone too hard, my eyes burning with rage.

"A-Alright! Okay.... Jesus.... Sh*t.... I... I-I won't fire her, I promise!" He cut in, not even letting me finish saying what I had planned.

"You had better hope on your hella worthless life that you don't." I threatened him once more, to make sure that he understood just how serious I was. He let out a nearly inaudible whimper and agreed, immediately hanging up.

"Inconsiderate b*stard....." I muttered under my breath, flipping (y/n)'s phone closed and returning it to it's place on her nightstand. I sighed deeply, watching her from behind my shades, which were making everything appear darker. I wouldn't ever admit it to anyone, but they could be pretty d*mn annoying. I was just glad I had gotten rid of that god-awful Auto-Responder a while back. The smart-*ss never gave me a break. I walked over to her slowly and sat down on her bed's edge. I knew I was going to feel guilty later, but something came over me and I just couldn't stop myself. I ran my fingers through her (h/c) tresses. I didn't have my gloves on like I usually did, so it felt strange. However, at the same time it was an undeniably good feeling. One that I didn't want to go away. One that I was already blaming myself for savoring.

I froze as she shifted, turning her body towards me. My heart beat faster than it ever had before, but I was quickly able to calm down when I realized that she was still asleep, only facing me. 'Sh*t... That was close...' I thought in relief. She was breathing softly, her body relaxing more and more each time my fingers wove their way through her beautiful hair. I let a small smile force it's way onto my mouth and I leaned down, softly pressing my lips to her forehead before standing up. I couldn't stay any longer. If I did, I knew d*mn well that I wouldn't ever want to leave. I began walking away, but something was tugging at the hem of my black wifebeater. Though surprised, my expression still remained calm and collected as usual, but not for long. I looked back to see (y/n) gripping my shirt. My eyes widened from behind my shades, shock overwhelming my features.

"Wait...."

And with that one simple word, everything changed.

~~~~~~~~~

A/N: Oh my goodness.... I am so sorry... I know I said that I was on a hiatus. I was simply contemplating my life at the moment, and this idea surfaced itself through my own experiences of not being able to sleep for the very same reasons that the Reader cannot sleep. It never fails. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this. This will most likely only have another part.

Thank all of you so much for your support and for reading this story!