THROUGH THE NIGHT (MEWGULF)

07: For the first time

MEW'S POV

"Do you guys really have to watch?".

Everyone's hovering around the bed where Gulf and I are sitting. When I said I wanted to try to sleep with Gulf, I didn't think it would be today and right now; at four in the afternoon with all of our friends present in the room.

I'm surprised Gulf agreed easily. He looks calm but I get the feeling he's slightly weirded out by this. I noticed he's been holding his thumb in his hand since we went inside my room.

"How else can we know if you guys completed the dare?" Off crossed his arms.

"Papii, let's give them some privacy. We can check on them later", his boyfriend pulled him to the door.

Off agreed and they all headed out. After a few minutes, Off came back inside.

"Don't forget, Mew! You have to fall asleep. And no funny business, Gulf! My friend might be sexy but he's not easy!", he teased and shut the door.

Silence filled the room as we sat there, waiting for each other to do something. I heard Gulf clear his throat.

"Off is very...unique", he let out a small laugh.

"Yeah...sorry about that".

I glanced at his hand and it was still in a fist with his thumb hiding inside. Is that a habit of his?

"Gulf, you don't have to do this if you're feeling uneasy. Off's just messing with us. It's a silly game, we can back out". I looked at him and his face had a blank expression.

He turned to me and smiled a little. "It's fine, Mew. I do actually feel sleepy so we might as well just go ahead and lie down".

He rested his head against the pillow and closed his eyes. I followed him, making sure I kept a certain distance from him. My bed wasn't exactly built for two people but I tried to leave as much space between us as possible.

I can't believe Off got Gulf to do this with me without threatening him. I'm not going to lie, this is slightly making me nervous too. What if this doesn't work and I end up having to pretend to sleep beside him? Then what if Gulf ends up sleeping until tomorrow morning? I have to lie with him all night. Maybe this was a stupid idea.

"Mew?" Gulf began to say, "Can I ask you something?".

I hummed in response, keeping my eyes closed. He paused for a while before saying anything else.

"I heard about your sleeping habits . Don't you feel tired all the time?".

"I'm used to it", I confessed. Restlessness was a constant feeling I've grown to accept. My body has already learned to adapt to it.

"You sure you can fall asleep right now?", he asked.

"I don't know". My eyes were getting heavy. "What about you?"

"I think so, but it might take a while. Do you want to talk about something? Maybe it could get you sleepy and––".

I didn't get to hear the rest of what he said. My mind was blank and I didn't realize I already dozed off.

––––––

I woke up to a loud sound outside. I stretched my body and opened my eyes. My room was dark. I reached out to my bedside table and checked the time on my phone.

9:25 PM

I slept for that long? I feel funny. Relaxed, maybe? I don't know. How did I manage to fall asleep so quickly? I turned to my side and realized I had the bed all to myself. I didn't even feel him leaving the room.

The door slightly opened and I saw his head peak from the outside. "Mew? Oh, you're awake".

"Uh, yeah. I just woke up".

He entered the room and stood at the end of the bed. I sat up and rubbed my eyes.

"We were wondering if you were hungry. I got up like two hours ago...it was getting noisy but I didn't want to wake you.", he said.

"Noisy? What do you mean?"

"You were snoring", he chuckled.

I was? I thought I stopped snoring years ago.

"Anyway, there's food for you in the fridge. It's pretty late but you're probably wide awake by now. Oh...you might have a hard time sleeping again later. If you want I could give you sleeping pills and––".

"Gulf..."

"Yeah?"

"I slept for five hours...for the first time in a very long time".

I'm trying to process everything. This makes zero sense. How can anyone explain this? This is beyond unusual. Well, maybe I already know why. He's going to think I'm a lunatic, though. He'll probably punch me in the face. I bet he's going to plan to move out as soon as possible. But...I believe this is the only way. The only way for me to actually feel normal again...to feel slightly okay.

"Gulf...I think I have to keep sleeping with you".

Author's note:
I got a 100 views on this story omg? Thank you if you've been reading this!!