1 am. He laid there on his bed, covers thrown off, staring, eyes wide open at the popcorn ceiling. Struggling to sleep was an understatement to describe his situation. He normally struggled to go to sleep. But laying in a quiet room staring at the ceiling, letting his mind run wild seemed to eventually tire it out and he'd fall asleep. Even if it was at 4 in the morning. But tonight, quiet seemed to be so far away. The sounds of his boisterous roommates filled the air and the thin walls of the apartment did absolutely nothing to help. Tonight was one of those nights.
2 am. His head was buried in his pillow in a futile attempt to drown out the sound. He knew he could head out and tell his roommates to quiet down. He knew it should be easy. And it would be for anyone else. But he couldn't.
3 am. He was trapped and it was becoming harder to breathe. The walls of the room suddenly seemed too close. The pounding of the music resonated in his head, bringing the voices that lived there to life. He needed to leave. He needed an escape.. he reached for his phone, his hands shaking as he scrolled to find her name and type out a message.
Hi
He squeezed his eyes shut. He shouldn't have done that. He didn't want to bother her. Not now. It was late, and he knew she would be asleep, knocked out doing her cute snore. He'd have to deal with this himself.
3:30 am. He sat on his bed with his head in his hands. The night was dragging on and on. The party had moved somewhere else and the music had died down. He should have been able to sleep. And he had, before images of people he cared about dying had flashed before his eyes, and he's woken up in a cold sweat.
4 am. Now he'd given up on sleep. Who needed it anyways. He scrubbed his eyes, getting ready to explore the depths of the internet in an attempt to stay awake, when he heard a quiet knocking that sounded a lot like the knock from Frozen..do you wanna build a snowman. He pushed out his chair and ran to the main entrance. He opened the door to a yawning girl, rubbing her eyes that had dark bags underneath. She was dressed in an oversized sweater and her favorite llama socks. Her long brown hair was in a messy braid with pieces sticking out in every direction. She looked beautiful. Before he could even fully register her presence at his doorstep at 4 something in the morning, a small smile appeared on her face as she reached in for a tight hug. The familiar smell of sweet jasmine filled his nose. He didn't dare let her go as he locked the door and carefully carried her over to his room. It was messier than usual, but she didn't say a word. As he laid her down and crawled in the covers beside her, he found her already passed out. He couldn't help the lopsided smile that appeared on his face as he carefully laid his arms around her and felt her move closer into his chest. As he closed his eyes, he felt the steady beat of her heart and for once, he went to bed with no nightmares.
