When The Nights Get Long

First Dates

Yelling was not something anyone should ever be forced to wake up to. It's loud. It's violent. And it interrupts much needed sleep. Sleep Blue craved as they laid on Andrew's foamy mattress. Sleep was no longer in their vocabulary, as with the school year having begun a week ago, Blue had to stay up constantly to get their assignments done. And with band practice right after class, it was difficult to find time to rest.

In no way were they complaining about the load being too heavy or how it wasn't worth it. Their on-campus classes were easy, what with there only being dance with Alister (who would be their partner for the year) and voice lessons, it was mainly the online classes they had to take care of while they were waiting from class to class. They would arrive on campus early to add in some extra study time in a study-induced atmosphere to help them concentrate. Then once classes ended at two, they would drive down to the clubhouse to rehears until sex, sometimes seven, come home to cook dinner if Andrew was home, study and finish their three online Gen-Ed classes, then relax for an hour before heading off to bed. As for nights when they had a concert, they would stay out until late at night or early in the morning. Just as they did last night.

"You can always tell them you can't work on Fridays anymore," Andrew suggested once they came home from their gig.

"No, I only go to school two days out of the week anyway. The rest are online classes. I can easily finish them. It's just Tuesdays and Fridays that are the more difficult days. Tomorrow is my day off. I'll relax then," they promised as they laid down on the couch.

"You should still take care of yourself. I don't need to worry about you potentially collapsing or anything. You may not realize it now, but if you're not careful, work will screw you over."

"I know you're speaking from experience, so I will heed your warning," they stated as they cupped his cheeks and pecked his lips, "but I don't need to worry about any of that right now."

"That's what I told myself the first time," Andrew muttered as he shifted towards the kitchen.

Snatching his wrist, Blue pulled him down beside them on the couch. "I promise to take good care of myself. If things get too rough for me, I'll tell the band I need to take a few days off, and they'll understand. We're all in college, except Rain because she works at some ideal music shop in the inner city that her parents own."

"Good for her, but I'm still worried about you." Pulling them closer into his chest, he ran his fingers through their hair and kissed the top of their head. "Look at you now," he murmured. "You're practically falling asleep."

"Your chest is warm, and you're doing the hair thing you know I like. How can I not be falling asleep?" they slurred.

"Yeah, yeah." Scooping them up in his arms, he carried them into his bedroom. Laying them down on the bed, he walked over to his closet.

Though they missed the warmth of his arms, they didn't want to argue or move. Silence and comfort lulled them into a dreamlike state where they were unable to tell if Andrew was actually taking off their clothes or if it were a dream. When they knew it was in fact reality, they began to stir, but he gently shushed them back to sleep. Pulling one of his t-shirts over their head, he lifted the duvet over their body and crawled in next to them. Instantly, they cuddled into his side where he began to run his fingers through their hair once again as they both drifted off to sleep. 

With all the peaceful traits to coax them to sleep, waking up to Andrew violently arguing with, who they could only assume was, his editor was not something they intended to wake up to. Their alarm was supposed to wake them up every morning at eight, yet as they peered over at Andrew's alarm clock, it was already 09:47.