𝐏𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐏𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐬↠The Rookie

𝓒𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓽𝓮𝓻 𝓽𝓮𝓷

"We shouldn't be doing this," Colette shouts out from the bed, Tim currently showering in her bathroom.

Tim chuckles to himself whilst in the shower, knowing she's just embarrassed by the fact that they're doing this. "And why not?" he shouts back to her through the closed door.

"Because it's embarrassing I have to have someone sleep in the same room as me so I don't have a nightmare." Truth be told Colette had been struggling, ever since the stabbing she'd been struggling with nightmares and sleep paralysis, she hated that she could no longer feel safe even in her own home, that once cherished ignorance was now gone and replaced with a constant paranoia.

He heard those words very clearly through the locked bathroom door and stopped what he was doing to take a deep breath, the seriousness of those concerns settling in his thoughts. "It's okay that you're afraid," he spoke to her through the door, his voice softened and no longer sounding like he was teasing her. He wasn't used to being so soft, but this situation required a different kind of approach, one that required him to think about what he was saying before he said it.

"I mean it's not, is it? Tim I'm literally having you sleep on an air mattress at the base of my bed so I don't freak out, it's not fair on either you or Angela." She huffed, pulling the weighted blanket around her tighter, usually she'd have Angela stay over and sleep in the bed next to her, but after confiding in her best friend Angela had been coming over every night for the past week until Tim somehow found out about the arrangement and insisted Angela be able to stay in her own bed for a night.

"I'm here for you. You really think I have a problem with this?" he asked over the sound of the shower, his tone still soft and gentle. He didn't quite know what else to say to her, other than assure her he was okay with helping her through those sleepless nights.

"Both of you should be able to go out and live your lives and not be stuck with me, I just need to get over myself." Colette turned over onto her side, watching Tim walk in from the bathroom and slip a T-shirt over his head, his hair still damp.

"You're not holding us back, you're the most important thing right now, your recovery is my priority, and until you feel safe again, then you need someone with you at night. I'm not going anywhere." he looked at her and smiled as he continued to speak. "Once you feel safe, I'll leave and we'll go back to our previous arrangement, but for now, you need this."

"I just feel ridiculous, like I'm a child, but it should all go back to normal when Dante comes home." She gives him a small smile as he stands next to the bed, looking down at her.

"So you're okay with me staying until Dante gets home?" he asked, needing reassurance that she was okay with this arrangement. She was right, it was unusual for her and she was used to a level of independence that allowed her to sleep on her own. So he was fully aware of how embarrassing it might feel if she needed to have someone stay on an air mattress at the end of her bed.

"I guess so, I just hope you don't sleep talk as much as Angela." Colette grimaces thinking back to her friend's sleep habit of randomly shouting out words, frightening her half to death.

"Trust me, I don't sleep talk," he said, sitting next to her, looking down at her with a small smile. "I never dream of anything, I just hit the pillow and wake up again in the morning." he continued, his tone light and airy as he joked about his lack of sleep pattern.

"Well off you go to bed Bradford," She kicked him softly in the back so she could sprawl out.

"Right." he laughed as he gave her one last smile before sliding in next to her, he turned in his own direction as he got into bed. "Goodnight, sweetheart." he joked, he knew the pet name was gonna annoy her.