Tell Me How It Feels

Chapter Four

Chapter Four

    When morning came, Finlay was the first to awake. His shoulder was, again, incredibly painful due to the position he had slept in, and he quietly groaned when he shrugged it. A higher-pitched moan came from the direction of his feet and he lifted his head lazily to inspect it. The sight of Joel sprawled across a peacefully sleeping Timothy greeted him and he gave a silent, sleepy laugh. Joel had his mouth wide-open with some of his hair spread in it, since it was covering almost every inch of his face. It was a massive contrast to Timothy who was upright and always slept gracefully. It must have been Joel who had moaned, since he had just finished changing his position as Finlay looked over.

    Sighing, Finlay pushed himself up from lying down and sat for a few seconds, mentally cursing his shoulder, before forcing himself in to a tall stretch. He looked down at himself and, much to his confusion, noticed he had slept in his clothes again, but he didn't think much of it afterwards. After momentarily standing around observing the sleeping opposites on the couch, he realised how much he was bursting for the toilet and started to wander away from the living area.

   There was only one bathroom in the flat, but it had two entrances: one through the kitchen area and one through Ryan's bedroom. Since Ryan had lived alone, he had never hesitated passing through his bedroom to use the bathroom, so he took the oppourtunity to place a table in front of the door in the kitchen as it was the only place it fitted. He had told Finlay when he first moved in that he would shift it, but it had only been a few days so Finlay didn't mind that it was still there. Passing through Ryan's bedroom would have to do for now.

   Still half asleep, Finlay approached the bedroom door and pushed it open slowly. Inside, Ryan was asleep on top of the covers, still in his clothes and holding his phone in his hands. Finlay was slightly confused by this, but when he was half way to the bathroom he remembered. He recalled the memory of Ryan swiftly leaving him, then of himself calling Joel and Timothy out of confusion and spending the night with them. He had never even questioned as to why they were here when he awoke, he was that used of seeing them sleep close to him.

   So, Ryan had finally come home. Finlay let out a reliefed sigh. He had felt worried about him yesterday, too worried considering he knew he was okay. He thought of Jay suddenly. Yes, he worried about him too but Jay was stronger and not as sensitive as Ryan. Ryan needed people's company.

    Where was Jay, exactly? Had he not come back here with Ryan? Surely he had wanted some company after whatever happened.

   Finlay desperately wanted to wake Ryan and ask him what was the matter, but decided against it since he was unsure how much sleep he had. Instead he continued to the bathroom, thinking of what he'd say when Ryan woke up.

    As he was washing his hands, Finlay heard groans and murmurs form behind the bedroom door. He switched off the tap and stood silent for a few seconds, trying to listen but couldn't hear properly in the bathroom, so he quietly pulled the door handle down and gently pushed the door open.

    Ryan was twitching and shifting around on his bed whilst making quiet whimpering noises. Finlay advanced over to the head of the bed where he kneeled down to get a better look at the still sleeping Ryan. His face looked worried and frightened, his eyelids were tightly pressed together and his eyebrows were pushed tightly together. His mouth was half-open as he breathed in little, un-even spouts, causing groans to escape him. Finlay debated waking him up again as he watched his friend twitch in front of him. Surely whatever he was dreaming of was bothering him, but dreams could not hurt him, Finlay thought. It's just that he had never actually seen him have a nightmare and Finlay didn't sleep often, so this was pretty unusual. Whatever happened yesterday must still be on his mind, but he decided to he let him be and delicately backe out of his room, closing the door gently behind him.