My Knights in Shining Armor

How One Burns Noodles

A/N this chapter is my birthday present to one of my very best friends, @gonewiththepages . Happy 18/19th birthday girl, may there be many more <3

Sorry this is up an hour later than I said it would be, and double sorry that I didn't write the whole hide and seek scene. Next chapter, I promise :)

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"Cherry." I feel a poke on my shoulder.

"Cherry." Someone shakes me.

"Cherry." They shake me harder.

I shoot up off my pillow.

The pillow on the bed.

In the bedroom.

Where I didn't fall asleep last night.

"Cherry, it's okay. You were just crying in your sleep, so I woke you up." My eyesight focuses, and I see who I think is Blair.

"Blair?" My voice comes out croaky, and only then do I feel dried tears on my face.

"Yeah, that's me. Can I sit?" His voice is soft, a contrast to mine, and he slides next to me on the bed, sitting on top of the covers.

"Was I really crying that loudly?" I question, wiping the back of my hand across my face to catch any remaining tears.

"Not really," he says, raising an arm to rub the back of his neck. "But my room is right next to yours, and I'm typically a light sleeper. I hope you don't mind that I came in."

I shake my head, only to stop because it worsens the headache I feel coming on. "I'm glad you did, actually."

"Can I ask what you were dreaming about, to make you cry?" Blair asks tentatively. I nod my head, only to frown.

"I can't remember," I admit, looking down at my hands. They shake slightly, so I fold them together in hopes that Blair won't notice.

Unfortunately for me, he does.

"Your hands are shaking," he says quietly, reaching his hand out to cover both of mine.

"So they are," I whisper, staring down at the contact between our hands and secretly enjoying the warmth Blair's hands bring me.

It's then that I notice he's shirtless.

"Do you usually sleep without a shirt on?" I question.

Blair laughs, taking his hand away from mine. "In summer, yeah. The garage is below my room and yours, I think, so we get hot rooms in the summer and cold rooms in the winter. It's a terrible system."

"Why did you pick that room, then? Why not one of the other side of the hallway?" That's what I would have done.

"It was the last one left, besides yours, but since yours has its own bathroom, Mom declared it a guest room." Blair leans back against the headboard, and I sit up so my head is almost level with his.

"Why didn't you get to pick second? Aren't you the second oldest?"

He winces. "I lost a bet. Evan bet me my room choice that he could meet a girl here before I did, and what do you know, his therapist is female. Now, I know what you're thinking," he says, holding up a hand to cut off my protest. "Yes, Felix is still younger. But Felix made another bet with me. Long story short, he got to pick before me."

I smile. "Do I get to know what this bet was?"

"Definitely not," Blair says, turning away from me. "It's too embarrassing."