Broken Pencils

Every Now and Then

The Earth could spontaneously combust at any given moment, and no one would even notice. Every human alive could die in an instant, and no one would care. The world would be better off without people, anyway.

Maybe Marcy had a problem with overthinking. No, not maybe, most definitely had a problem.

But now, here Marcy was, in the embrace of their girlfriend, on her bed, trying to fall asleep, but unable to, due to their flusteredness of the situation.

Marcy never thought that they'd be sleeping in the same bed as Sasha, though, to be fair, they weren't asleep, so technically they hadn't. Yet.

Marcy had only ever dreamed of being in a situation like this, and now that they were, they couldn't even fall asleep, rendering their dream as dreamless.

But if they did fall asleep and enter R.E.M., then they could dream in a dream, and the thought of that seemed pretty cool.

Was Sasha asleep?

Or was she awake thinking the same thoughts as Marcy?

They doubted that. Sasha probably had more tame thoughts, thoughts that didn't run rampant throughout their brain like a toddler left unattended at a toy store.

And Sasha probably didn't think of weird analogies like that. Or maybe she did, and Marcy just didn't know how a neurotypical's mind worked.

Marcy listened to Sasha's breathing, hearing how she inhaled and exhaled deeply. She was most likely asleep, though they couldn't help but wonder if this was some sort of weird tactic to get Marcy to lower their guard to where they'd do something so incredibly stupid that they'd never be able to show their face in public ever again.

Yeah, Marcy definitely had an overthinking problem.

"People are strange," was the last coherent thought Marcy had before drifting off into slumber.

Sunlight shined through Sasha's blinds, causing Marcy to stir within their sleep, until they finally opened their eyes, re-familiarizing themself with the bedroom in which they resided in.

Directly in front of their line of sight was Sasha, still sleeping peacefully. Well, maybe not peacefully, but sleeping, nonetheless. Marcy noticed that they were clinging to her, having the horrifying realization that they were probably clinging to Sasha all night long.

Actually, that wasn't that bad of a realization. It felt more peaceful than anything.

Sasha's steady breathing was the only noise that Marcy could hear. That, and the incredibly loud sound of their heart pounding a million times a minute. Other than that, it was completely silent, but Marcy didn't mind. In fact, they preferred it that way. Marcy felt more at ease in the silence, as thought it was where they were always meant to be.

Marcy smiled to themself, taking in the sacred sight of Sasha, making sure to memorize every detail, no matter how subtle. How a few strands of Sasha's hair fell into her face. How Sasha's chest rose and fell with every breath she took. How the muted rays of light coming from the covered window perfectly highlighted Sasha's lips.

Marcy clung to Sasha tighter, placing their head in the crook of her neck. They wanted to stay like that forever.

Marcy laid there for a while before they felt Sasha start to stir, realising that she was awake. Sasha sat up and looked at Marcy, clearly tired.

"Morning," Sasha said, her voice still embedded with the sound of sleep. A slight smile appeared across her face as she looked at Marcy.

"Morning," Marcy replied, returning the smile. "You're really pretty when you sleep. I mean, you're pretty all the time, but also while you're sleeping. It's something I really admire about you. Well, I mean, I admire other things about you to, not just your looks. It'd be kinda shallow if I did and- sorry, I'm rambling, aren't I?"