5H Short Stories/Preferences

Rhythm of Love (Dinah/You)

Prompt: You can't fall asleep, so your girlfriend Dinah sings to you.

"Go Go Go!", you whisper-yell at the screen. "Come on!"

You're currently playing FIFA 16, and you're not doing the best job of it. There's still no score to speak of, and it's starting to piss you off. You're usually better at this. Although to be fair, when you've played this in the past, you've usually had some hours of sleep behind you. You can't seem to sleep tonight, though, for some reason.

"Sweetie?", you hear a tired voice say. "You up?"

You see, out of the corner of your eye, your live-in girlfriend, Dinah, entering the small family room of your apartment and rubbing her eyes tiredly.

"I'm up", you respond.

"Why? It's midnight." She further enters the room and plops down on the couch next to you. Her clean scent fills your nose right away.

"Couldn't sleep."

"Y/N, you need to get some sleep", she protests.

"Fine", you relent. "I'll come to bed as soon as I score a goal."

"And if don't score for three more hours?"

"Then I'll go to bed in three more hours."

"Y/N, please stop the game and come to bed", Dinah asks.

"Okay", you tell her, pausing the game as you speak. Then you get up to turn off your XBox, and Dinah's eyes follow you throughout the process. As you begin to trudge towards your bedroom, you feel Dinah lightly grab your arm, guiding you.

"I know where our room is, Dinah", you gripe.

"I'm making sure you actually go to bed and not tricking me", she explains.

"Is that really necessary?", you ask.

"Well, if you did, it wouldn't be the first time."

"True." And it is. You do have a history of not doing what people tell you, Dinah included.

The two of you finally reach your shared bedroom. The second she lets go of your arm, you flop onto the bed. Normally, the second you hit the mattress, you feel tired, but not this time.

"I don't think it's gonna happen tonight", you say. "I'm just not feeling the 'sleep' thing."

"If you don't feel it now, you'll sure as hell feel it in the morning."

"Well, what do you suggest I do?"

Dinah opens her mouth to answer, then closes it just as quickly. She raises her index finger in the air, asking you to wait a moment. You narrow your eyes quizzically at her as she proceeds to search a different corner of the room. She starts going through some of the stuff that's lying around-you two don't clean as much as you should-and then picks something up-a ukulele.

"You actually learned to play that thing?", you ask., slightly surprised.

"Of course!", Dinah exclaims, almost offended. "I wasn't gonna let this gift go to waste, so I taught myself how to play."

"And you think this is gonna put me to sleep?"

"It's got a soothing sound", she assures you as she makes her way back to you and the bed. "Now close your eyes."

For once, you do what she requests. You feel the blankets being pushed up to your chin as well as a shift in the weight of the bed. Then comes the strumming of the instrument, followed by Dinah's sweet melodic voice.

My head is stuck in the clouds

She begs me to come down

Says "Boy quit foolin' around"

I told her "I love the view from up here"

Warm sun and wind in my ear

We'll watch the world from above

As it turns to the rhythm of love"

We may only have tonight

But 'till the morning sun you're mine, all mine

Play the music low, and sway to the rhythm of love

At this point in the song, exhaustion begins to set in. The ukulele, it seems is doing the trick.

My heart beats like a drum

A guitar string to the strum

A beautiful song to be sung

She's got blue eyes deep like the sea

That roll back when she's laughing at me

She rises up like the tide

The moment her lips meet mine

We may only have tonight

But till the morning sun, you're mine

All mine

Play the music low

And sway to the rhythm of love

Although you're tired now, you can't help but smile at your girlfriend's' words. She's always had a knack for making you feel special, and that's a great thought to fall asleep to.

When the moon is low

We can dance in slow motion

And all your tears will subside

All your tears will dry

And long after I've gone

You'll still be humming along

And I will keep you in my mind

The way you make love so fine

We may only have tonight

But till the morning sun, you're mine

All mine

Play the music low

And sway to the rhythm of love

Play the music low

And sway to the rhythm of love

Yeah, sway to the rhythm of love

The song ends there, and all that's left is the sound of two people breathing. Dinah can see that you're definitely asleep, and smirks at her victory. She sets the ukulele on the dresser before leaning over and kissing your head. Then she walks over to her side of the bed, climbs in, pulls the cover up, and holds you close to her.

"Goodnight", she whispers.