Oliver Scott

Sleep Tight

Ollie's pov age 12

Night terrors.

Have you ever woken up in the middle of the night, not sure where you are? Like you've been ripped out of your own body, just to crash back to Earth way too quickly?

Not sure what exactly got you so scared to begin with? Me too, for the past 3 nights.

I've been handling them myself. By handling, I mean staying up all night. You can't have a bad dream if you're not asleep. It was foolproof.

Ryley makes me go to bed, I fell asleep for a few hours, and I wake up and stay awake. Then I pretend to be asleep when he gets me up. It was going great! Until it wasn't.

Due to me being constantly tired, I started to get grumpy. And then I started to get an attitude.

Which alerted Ryley to something being wrong.

"You're going to bed early tonight. You're a grump." He sighed, cleaning the table off after dinner. "I'm not tired." I whined, not liking the early bedtime. "Yes, you are." He said plainly.

I didn't argue too much, not willing to risk it.

I was sent to bed a whole two hours early! A whopping 8pm.

"Do I really have to go to bed so early?" I whined, crawling under my blankets. "Yes. I'm giving you the opportunity to sleep off whatever attitude you have. You're tired, squirt." Ryley sighed, pulling the covers up to my chin.

"Love you, get some sleep." He mumbled, leaning down to kiss my head. "Love you." I mumbled back.

••••

I'm falling.

I jump awake. My heart is beating so fast that I can hear it in my ears. I'm gasping for breath, and I can't stop shaking.

Once I catch my breath, I look at the time. 2 am.

Could be worse.

So I roll over and grab my phone, readying myself for my nightly YouTube binge.

I was only three videos in when-

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Ryley asked sternly.

"Oh my God! Ryley!" I gasped, throwing a hand over my chest.

"Why are you awake?" He asked.

"I couldn't sleep." I shrugged. No longer scared shitless. "Well, it's two in the morning. Go to bed." Ryley scolded. "Can- can I sleep with you?" I asked sheepishly.

"Why? What's going on?" He sighed, coming over to sit on my bed. "Dunno. Just been having bad dreams." I mumbled, picking at my blankets. "No, you can't sleep with me." He shook his head.

No? He's never said no before.

"Why not? Ryley, I'm scared." I pouted. "Because then you'll want to be in my bed every night for a week. It's not happening." He explained.

"But I need you." I whined. "I'll sleep in here then, but you're not sleeping in my bed." Ryley said seriously. I looked at him confused. How are we both going to fit in my bed?

He didn't let me think about for too long, instead disappearing down the hall. He came back a few seconds later with a pillow and a bottle of water. "Scoot." He said, coming around the side of the bed. "There's no room to scoot." I mumbled, shifting as far as I could. He ignored me and laid down, pulling me into his side a minute later. I let out a gasp, not expecting it, before I snuggled into him. "There. We fit. Sleep." He said simply, closing his eyes.