Cured [ManxMan]

Chapter Twenty-Two

Mattie had to light a couple of candles as the sky continued to darken outside, as unlike the building where my hospital room was, the apartment building did not have a generator to keep it powered.

It had been an eventful day, what with finally leaving the hospital, traversing campus, and the encounter with Jasper. I was exhausted, and I could see Mattie's eyes drooping as well, but neither of us made a move to leave the couch. I wasn't sure about Mattie, but I had certainly thought of a problem; this was a one-bedroom apartment, and there were two of us.

Turned out Mattie had, in fact, thought of this, as he finally spoke up to say, "You should take the bed. You're still recovering. I'll sleep on the couch."

"No," I responded, sitting up so I could turn to face him. "You haven't been sleeping well. You should take the bed."

Mattie shook his head. "I wouldn't be able to sleep there knowing you're out here on the couch."

Unfortunately, I felt the same way, which meant we had reached an impasse.

Four years ago, we both lived in this apartment together, which meant we slept in that bed together. But also, in the four years I'd been gone, Jasper had moved in and slept in that bed with Mattie. Which made the idea I had harder to suggest, but I couldn't think of another option where we both got the sleep we needed.

"What if we both... sleep in the bed?"

Mattie turned to study me, brow furrowed, but I couldn't bring myself to meet his eyes. "Are you sure?" he asked, clearly reading my discomfort at the idea.

I shrugged. "If neither of us can sleep... with the other on the couch... we should both... sleep on the bed."

Mattie hesitated for another moment before nodding and standing. He had to help me up and walk with an arm around my waist as we made our way into the bedroom, where he led me over to the bed so I could sit. The motions of slipping under the covers and laying down were easy and familiar enough for me to do on my own, and as I was settling, I felt the other side of the bed dip as Mattie joined me.

We started out laying awkwardly apart, facing away from each other. I couldn't fall asleep with the weird atmosphere in the room, and from Mattie's restlessness he clearly wasn't sleeping either. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea, maybe we would have slept better with one of us on the couch.

Finally, Mattie sighed and rolled onto his back, then reached out and pulled me until I rolled over to face him. We fit together easily, our bodies remembering how they used to fit together, our legs tangling, my cheek resting against his shoulder and my arm falling around his waist. Though I couldn't remember ever laying with him like this, it felt familiar, and I was able to relax enough to fall asleep within minutes.

***

I woke feeling warm and content, and shifted a little to press further against the body on the bed next to me. It was still a new feeling, and a little thrilling, to share a bed with my boyfriend.

Then I opened my eyes to find a child staring at me, and quickly scrambled away, falling off the bed in my haste. Mattie started yelling from the bed above me, presumably swears, but I couldn't be sure as he was doing it in Spanish. But then, he swore almost exclusively in Spanish, so it was a fair assumption to make.

"I may not understand what you're saying but I know you're not supposed to use those words! I'm telling mom!" the kid shouted back, turning to the door to do just that.

Turned out he didn't need to as, drawn by the commotion, a woman appeared in the doorway. She took a moment to take in the scene, her eldest sitting up on his bed having quickly shut his trap, her eldest's boyfriend sprawled on the ground on the other side of the bed still half tangled in the sheets, and her youngest suddenly looking a bit sheepish.