Between the Cracks // 𝓕𝓻𝓮𝓭 𝓦𝓮𝓪𝓼𝓵𝓮𝔂

49. Shut Up, Fred

Quite a cute chapter! To make up for the recent heart-shattering ones :)

Chapter 49: Shut Up, Fred

Leigh found herself waking from slumber in a dark room. Her head was foggy, and nothing but a faint strip of light from the moon outside lit up the room. Her eyes roamed across the space surrounding her, soon recognising herself to be on the couch in the twins' flat. She stretched, pulling herself into a seated position, and first then noticed the blanked which was pulled over her body.

Her gaze wandered throughout the room, George's door fully closed while Fred's door was slightly open, a faint light shining through the open frame.

With another yawn Leigh stood up, deciding to pull the blanket around her body and take it with her as she moved towards Fred's open door.

A soft light welcomed her as she peeked through the door's slit, seeing Fred's shadow upon the wall. She pushed the door open, the view meeting her fully. Him sitting on the edge of the bed, head buried in documents, hair lying messily across his forehead. An empty plate laid upon the top of the cabinet by the door.

At the sound of the door creaking open his head shot up, gaze quickly meeting Leighs. The corners of his lips turned upwards in a welcoming smile. "Oh sorry, I didn't know you were awake."

Leigh, still drowsy with sleep, rubbed her neck gently while narrowing her eyes against the light filling up the room. "What happened?"

His hand holding the documents lowered itself towards his lap. "You fell asleep is what happened," he spoke with a grin. "We came upstairs 5 minutes later only to see you passed out like a log."

Her mind briefly wandered over to the blanket which covered her as she rose from sleep – wondered if that was the doing of Fred or George.

"Whats the time?" she mumbled.

"About 6. Not too late, don't worry. I was planning on waking you if it got too late."

She nodded quietly, peeking down towards the documents in his hands after a moment. "What are you upto?" she murmured silently, taking a few steps closer before adding: "It's late"

He smiled at her apparent concern. "Just some final work stuff."

Another yawn passed her lips. "You really are a hypocrite. Telling me I overwork myself."

He smiled, let out a chuckle, looked on adoringly as she yawned and rubbed the side of her neck. "Do you want some food? There's some leftovers on the stove?"

Leigh gave him a thankful look, yet shook her head in response. "No, thanks."

His eyebrows furrowed together at her words. "Are you sure? You've slept quite a while."

"Yeah, I'm good."

He looked her over a final time before giving her a nod. "Alright. You want me to walk you back? It's dark out."

She shook her head once more, stepped closer to him and peeked down onto the papers in his hands. The faint smell of Leigh's shampoo entered Fred's nostrils.

"Are you sure? I wouldn't want you to go alone."

Leigh bit her lip, gaze still fixed on the papers in his lap, tracing each and every word as a sentence grew on her tongue. Finally she forced herself to spit it out.

"Can I stay here tonight?"

A moment passed, nothing but silence filling the space around them. Fred wasn't prepared for the question.

"Here?"

She garnered the courage to look up at him uncertainly before she withdrew her gaze and directed it to the floor. "I don't have to. I know the last time was a mess," she quietly huffed out, rubbed her cheek. "I know that..," she trailed off frailly, looking away towards the wall. "I just... it would feel...nice...to stay here."