the little stories

sleepy habit - jhs

you sit up in bed, reading your book. you weren't tired. he was exhausted. he fell asleep hours before you got into bed. he was cute.

you feel his arm hit you. you look down. he moves his hands slowly across his chest. you raise and eyebrow. he raises an arm in the air and runs his hand down it. you stare at him. you hold in your laugh. he continues for a few minutes before his arms fall back at his sides.

you smile and laugh to yourself. quiet enough so that he wouldn't wake up. you set your book on the bedside table and lay your head down.

he moves his hands across his chest again. you watch him for a second. you smile. you put your hand on his chest. he jolts awake. you yank your hand back.

"did i scare you?" you laugh softly and nod. he opens his arms and you scoot over, holding him close to you. you ask what he was doing.

"mm?" he mumbles, closing his eyes. you explain to him what he was doing. he laughs, eyes still closed.

"i've been told i do that," he rubs your back.

"my mom used to pet me like that to get me to sleep," you look up at him. he continues.

"she did it for a long time. i got so used to it that it's hard to go to sleep and stay asleep without that."

you reach your hand up and rub your thumb on his cheek. he looks down at you and smiles.

you run your hand through his hair, softly rubbing his head. his eyelids start to fall. you smile. within minutes, he was passed out.

you kept petting him like that. on his chest, on his arms, on his head.

anything to help him feel comforted.