The one with no electricity

Josh stood in the kitchen making himself a sandwich. He hadn't been living in this apartment for very long. A friend of his, Mark, had knew that Josh was looking for a new place to live and told him about a friend of his who was looking for a roommate to split the rent with. From there he saw the apartment and met his new roommate, Tyler.

Tyler had spent most of his time in his bedroom when he wasn't at work since Josh had moved in, he wouldn't even know Tyler was there if it wasn't from the pacing he could here coming from the room next to his own.

Josh wanted to get to know Tyler but every time he tried to start a discussion Tyler got a skittish look on his face and ended the talk by retreating into his room like a spooked animal. When he mentioned it to Mark all he said on the topic was that Tyler had some issues and he had trouble getting close to new people. After finding out what he could about Tyler it made him even more determined to try and get close to Tyler.

Josh finished making sandwich and was making his way towards the living room when the lights throughout the apartment went out and the television switched off.

"Damn it." Josh whispered to himself, leaning down to place his sandwich on the table in front of the couch. He decided to eat the sandwich before doing anything since it wasn't anything too urgent and he hadn't eaten at all that day.

He walked back into the kitchen after he was finished eating, sure that he had seen a torch in one of the draws. After hunting through a few draws Josh finally found the torch but when he tried to turn it on nothing happened. He sighed and decided to get the spare batteries from his room instead of trying to hunt for some in the kitchen.

Just as he was making his way past Tyler's bedroom he heard a noise come from inside. He paused for a moment and there it was again, it sounded like a whimper.

Josh walked closer to the door and waited a moment, listening to the whimpers, before raising his hand and knocking on the door.

"Tyler?"

After waiting for a few moments and not getting a reply he knocked again

"Tyler?"

The only reply he got was another whimper, so he opened the door. Squinting into the darkness he made out the shape on Tyler's bed where there was a lump hiding underneath the blanket.

"Tyler?" Josh whispered into the darkness of the room and the only reply he got was the sound of Tyler shifting on his sheets and the sound of him whispering to himself and  whimpering that was obviously slipping out without Tyler's knowledge.

He made his way closer to the bed and that's when he could make out the Tyler's face poking out of the blankets, staring blankly at the wall next to his bed.

Josh crept even closer to the bed and when he was standing next to the bed he reached down and put a hand on what he believed to be Tyler's shoulder. Tyler jumped so much that he nearly leapt out of his bed.

"Are you okay?" Josh asked wearily, watching as Tyler curled back up in the corner of his bed with his eyes squeezed tightly shut.

"I... I errm... I don't like the dark..." Came Tyler's whispered answer.

"Oh." Josh whispered faintly to himself before continuing. "Would you... Would you want me to stay in here with you?"

Tyler peered up at Josh from his cocoon of blankets, and all that Josh could think about was how adorable Tyler looked at that moment in time.

"You don't mind staying with me?" Tyler asked.

Josh shook his head and sat down on the edge of the bed, too nervous to move closer.

As soon as he was settled on the bed, he noticed that Tyler was shuffling close to him slowly. When he was close enough Josh decided to wrap an arm around him, hoping that it would comfort Tyler knowing that someone else was there with him.

Josh felt Tyler tense up and was about to remove his arm when he felt him relax into his side.

"Do you mind if I ask why you're scared of the dark?" Josh whispered, scared that if he spoke any louder Tyler would raise his guard again and tell him to leave.

When there was no reply after a few minutes Josh didn't think he was going to get an answer but Tyler proved him wrong.

"I just... I always feel like there's something out there, watching me from the darkness and I just can't see it. And I'll always trick myself into believing I could see movement." Tyler explained in a hushed whisper, opening his eyes and staring up at Josh.

Josh brought his hand up to run his fingers through Tyler's hair in hopes that it would take his mind off the dark, and it was as soft as it looked.

He couldn't believe he was here. Josh could never have imagined this happening in a million years. Just this morning he had barely even seen Tyler and now here they were practically cuddling in his bed.

Josh didn't know how long he had been doing it for but he realised when he heard Tyler's deep breathing that he had fallen asleep. It put Josh in a predicament, should he leave and potentially disturb Tyler from his sleep or stay there and hope that Tyler understood when he woke up.

The decision was made for him when he looked down at Tyler's peaceful face and noticed the dark smudges under his eyes. It didn't look like he had been sleeping much at all and he didn't want to disturb him if he was finally getting some much needed sleep.

'Well this is probably going to be awkward in the morning.' Josh thought to himself as he felt his eyelids grow heavier before finally succumbing to sleep.