Blurry

- 6 -

The only sound in the hotel room was Norman's shaking breaths, the man trying to recover from the nightmare on his own. But the deep breaths weren't working, nor was focusing on anything else in the room. It felt like the room was closing in on him, squeezing every drop of air out of his lungs. He could already feel his tears now soak the pillows in this bed, closing his eyes tightly. He already forgotten the other man was laying next to him until he felt arms around him, breaking the feeling of drowning. Norman pressed his face into Ethan's chest, focusing on the rise and fall as the other breathed. He felt arms tighten around him, a thumb making a circle on his back.

"Hey, you're okay now. You're safe here, Norm," Ethan's voice was a whisper, his tone softer than Norman had ever heard it in his time knowing the other. "Take deep breaths, okay? I've got you..."
Norman slightly nodded, closing his eyes and only focusing on Ethan. His breathing became slightly even, opening one eye to keep awake. He shifted closer, wiping away the tears that stuck on his cheeks. Physical comfort wasn't something he used to, or contact in general. It felt more comforting than the disingenuous advice people would give.

He didn't trust his voice to speak, curling closer into the taller man. He was ready to fall asleep but forced himself to stay awake. He didn't want to fall back into the nightmare, this time afraid that he couldn't wake up. However, he didn't want to keep Ethan up longer. Instead of risking his voice sounding broken and just telling the other man that he'd be fine, and he could sleep, the agent tried to think of a way to act asleep without risking the thought of falling asleep. Fingers running through his hair snapped him away from the plan to sleep. Norman tried to keep his eyes open, feeling them start to flutter shut.

"Do you think you're gonna get to sleep again?" Ethan asked softly, sounding surprisingly awake. Norman hesitated, eventually nodding. He wasn't sure when exactly he'd actually fall asleep, but didn't want to be up all night. A small hum rumbled from the other man in response, still playing with the shorter man's hair. "I'll stay up till you fall asleep, okay?"
The kindness that was being shown make tears fill Norman's eyes again. He wasn't used to such kindness being shown so genuinely. Especially not from the man who he had arrested a year ago.

The agent loosely wrapped an arm around the other, getting comfortable. Gentle fingers still running through his hair continued, the thumb on his back now still. For a moment, he could truly believe that everything would be okay. No problems could arise for the rest of the night in his mind, nor did the problems of tomorrow be considered. Sleep slowly fell over Norman, one without a dream. Just the blissful feeling of safe rest.