Home for the Summer (BOYXBOY)

24 | Speaking French

Night 2. Approximately 1 o'clock AM. Nicolas Young was less than a foot away from me as we laid and, though his eyes were closed and his breathing was slow, something in me felt like he was still awake. Maybe it was the slight shift in his eyelashes. Maybe it was the frequency at which he stirred, but I knew that, like me, Nico hadn't gotten a bit of rest tonight. So, instead of laying there for hours while I faked being asleep, I sat up and let the duvet pool around my waist. And, sure enough, Nico followed suit.

"Can't sleep?" he asked, leaning against his palms as I crossed my legs.

"Nope."

"It's all the caffeine."

I glanced at him, but it was so dark that I'm sure he couldn't see me. "So, why are you up then?"

"Good question."

There was a beat of silence before I sighed and fell onto my back. "I have a lot of trouble sleeping away from home," I said, even though it wasn't true. LA wasn't the cause of my insomnia. That would be the brown-haired boy to my left.

"Yeah, I get like that sometimes, too," he nodded, laying beside me again. "Wanna know a secret?"

I turned onto my side to look at him and he did the same. "What?"

"I sleep with a stuffed bunny sometimes."

I couldn't hold my laughter, because imagining tall, muscular Nicolas Young holding a stuffed animal was absolutely hilarious. "You should not have told me that. I'm forever using this information against you."

"It's really calming!"

"Oh my god. Does it have a name?"

"...No."

"What's its name?"

"Goodnight forever," he replied, shutting his eyes.

"Come on, Nico!"

"...Captain Carrot."

I let out another laugh with him as we laid before remembering Benji was still asleep and immediately quieted down. "I think Benji definitely has a crush on Lilli."

"Really?"

"Yep. He basically told me. In a very defensive, sarcastic, Benji way."

"Does that bother you?"

"No," I replied. "It probably should, but it doesn't."

"Hm."

"What?"

"What what?"

"What do you mean by 'hm'?"

"I dunno," he said. "Did you ever like Lilli?"

"I think that... I liked the idea of dating someone. But, I just didn't really feel anything with her."

"Understandable."

"It makes me feel sort of shitty," I mumbled.

"You shouldn't feel shitty for not liking someone," Nico said. "You gave things a try and it didn't work out. There's not much else you can do, right?"

I blinked, trying desperately to make out his face in the dark. "Is it bad that I'm excited to go back home?"

"Are you not having fun here?"

"Oh, I'm having a blast. I really like our friends," I said. "But, I miss being able to sleep."

And, without a word or a second thought, Nico pulled me into him, hugging around my waist as he leaned his chin against the crown of my head. I inhaled sharply before sinking into the feeling. This was actually happening. We were awake and conscious and in one another's arms. It wasn't sleep-ridden or drunk. It was real.