This town

Chapter 15

When Val opened the door to the living space he saw the person he expected to be there, lying on the couch, Sharna. She was lying under a blanket and her head was on a pillow, her red hair spread out.

Val walked up the couch and put his hand on her shoulder, hoping he didn't scare her. "Shar, I told you to wake me if anything is wrong."

Sharna looked up, a little startled. "Hey, I know, but still... I hope I didn't wake you."

"No, you didn't I was still awake and I heard someone above me go out of bed. So I knew it had to be you or Laurie. And when I didn't hear anyone return I wanted to check. But what is wrong?" Val sat down next to her, putting his hand back on her shoulder.

"I couldn't sleep, it was either too hot, too cold, too small. So I decided I would lay down here for some time, hoping I would fall asleep. But up till now it didn't work. The thing is, I just don't know what to do. I feel like if I don't sleep tonight I won't be making it through tomorrow."

Val rubbed her up and down her shoulder, knowing how hard it must be for her. Suddenly he had an idea.

Val got Sharna by both her arms and lifted her up to a sitting position. "Hey, what are you doing?"

"I have an idea."

Val moved around and lay down on the couch, when he was down, he pulled Sharna on top of him.

"Remember when you couldn't sleep while we were together. And then you would sleep with your head on my chest.  I just thought about and thought maybe it would work as well."

Val could feel Sharna was a little uncomfortable. "Just try for like 30 minutes and if it doesn't work, then we'll figure out something else," he said.

"Okay, but I have to shift a little to lay more comfortable."

Sharna moved around, until Val could feel she was in the same position she used to sleep in when they were still together. Val put his hands around her and pulled her close.

Within a couple of minutes he could feel her relax in his arms. Her breath steadied and not much later Val felt she was asleep. He was glad he was able to help her, but for himself it felt amazing to have her back in his arms. 

Val took a deep breath and smelled her hair. It wasn't long before he also fell asleep, his arms still around her. 

Val woke up a couple of hours later, Sharna was still in his arms and she hadn't moved yet. He stayed still, enjoying the moment for as long as he could. But not much later Val could feel her starting to stir. Sharna was waking up. 

She slowly opened her eyes and looked Val in his eyes. 

"Good morning beautiful," he said. 

Sharna murmured a little, but eventually she also said: "Morning."

"You sleep well baby?"

"Yes, I did sleep very good. Thank you Val, for helping me."

"No problem, I love helping you."

"I'm going to roll of you right now, if you don't mind?"

"I don't mind at all." 

Sharna rolled off Val's chest and next to each other they lay on the couch. Meanwhile Val checked his phone and saw that it was almost time to wake up. But when he looked back at Sharna, he saw she was almost back to sleep again. 

"Shar, it is time to wake up. You have to stay awake." 

"I don't want to stay awake, I want to sleep." Sharna said, still having her eyes closed. Val decided to take a more drastic measure. He put his hands on her waist and started to tickle.