Chenford-The Bar

6

"Please, Tim." Lucy pleaded. "It's the least I could do after this weird night." She looked into his eyes. Tim looked down. Staring into her eyes was his kryptonite. He tried scooching backward from her, but she followed. He looked back up one last time and sighed.

"Fine." He responded. "But I'm not letting you sleep on the ground." Tim got up and gestured for her to come with him.

They went into Tim's room, and he turned the light on. He patted his bed. "You sleep there. I'll sleep in the chair." He pointed to a recliner in a corner. "It's a lot more comfortable than it looks." He brought in a few blankets for himself.

"You should sleep in your own bed." Lucy protested. Tim sighed and looked at her. "Lucy. Please stop. It's too late, and we are both too exhausted to fight over this." He set up his recliner. She sighed. She knew he was right. "Fine." She climbed into his bed.

The sheets smelled like him. Lucy wasn't actively trying to smell them, but that's where her face landed. She tried to ignore how she wanted to breathe them in longer and forced herself to roll over and sit up to see how Tim was doing. He looked comfortable enough for Lucy to feel less guilty. Tim looked up. "You good?" Lucy smiled weakly. "Yeah. Great."

Tim nodded slightly and rolled over to turn the lamp next to him off. "Goodnight, Tim." Lucy laid back down. "Goodnight, Lucy."

It was about 3:56 AM when Tim woke up to silent, shaky breaths. He immediately sat up and called out. "Lucy?" Lucy continued to hyperventilate. Tim got up and in the dark made his way over to her. "What happened?" Lucy didn't respond, and Tim turned a lamp next to her on. It didn't even look like she had registered Tim's presence, let alone the question he had asked. Tim looked down at her and put his hand on her back. "Breathe, Lucy. Breathe." Lucy slowly registered her surroundings and looked up at Tim, who had a concerned look on his face. It was the easiest to read because it was a face of his she saw more often than others.

She took a few shaky deep breaths before returning to normal. Tim had started rubbing her back like in the bathroom, hours earlier to help ground her. "You okay?" Tim asked. Lucy just nodded and looked around the room, her eyes darting from place to place. Tim knew she just nodded to not have to talk anymore. He sat down in front of her.

Lucy focused her attention on him. Tim looked her up and down. He was worried. He always was about Lucy. She had been through so much. He never wanted to see her hurt, but he knew it was an unrealistic goal.

The world didn't work that way. Especially for someone like Lucy. Kind, genuine, caring, and tried not to let things get to her, but Tim knew some things got past her walls.

"You wanna tell me what happened?" Lucy looked into his eyes and then back down on the sheets in front of her. "Nightmare."

She would always get them after Caleb. They had died down ever since but would sometimes resurface after a few months. Tim nodded. "You wanna talk about it?" Lucy shook her head no and looked back up. "I just want to sleep." Tim nodded and slowly got up, but not before Lucy grabbed his wrist.

"Please." She sighed. She couldn't believe she was doing this, but she could never fully feel safe after a nightmare without someone there. Usually, it'd be Tamara helping her.

She looked up at him and gave him a look that made his knees buckle from under him. "Could you stay with me until I fell asleep?" He slowly nodded. "Sure."

Tim sat next to Lucy in the bed. He wasn't under the covers to be sure he wouldn't accidentally fall asleep. Lucy leaned over, and her head landed on top of Tim's leg. Tim flinched and looked down at her. She had closed her eyes when Tim put his hand on her arm and the other in her hair to help soothe her.

She fell asleep quickly after that, but now Tim was in a predicament. Wake Lucy up while trying to get up or fall asleep like this and risk awkwardness in the morning. Tim looked down at Lucy and smiled as she softly snored. It was like having a cat or a dog on your lap, and you need to get up, but you can't because that dog or cat chose you to feel safe with.

Tim woke up to the shuffling of blankets beside him. He had fallen asleep and now was cuddling with Lucy, which is not where he intended to be. They were facing each other, but she was lying against his chest. Well, it was more like she was in his chest curled up and sound asleep.

Shit. Tim tried moving without waking Lucy, but it was no use. Lucy was a light sleeper.

Lucy opened her eyes to see Tim awkwardly shuffling away from her. She swiftly backed away and was quickly reminded of where she was and what happened last night. "Oh god." Lucy felt a headache starting and rubbed her forehead. "Nothing happened. I swear." Tim explained. "You had a nightmare, and then I accide-" Tim was cut off. "Please. Stop talking. I know what happened." Lucy got up to head to the bathroom.