Goodnight

Mark couldn't sleep. He had tried everything but nothing he had tried seemed to work. He was restless and also feeling a bit unwell. This was the third night in a row that Mark had struggled to settle and he was starting to get somewhat pissed off about the whole thing.

Looking at the digital clock by the bed, Mark noticed that it was still the early hours of the morning. He groaned, banging his head against the pillow a couple of times in frustration. It did nothing. All it did do was make Mark's head rush and he groaned again as he started to feel worse than he already did.

All he wanted was to get some sleep. He and Robbie were supposed to be spending the day together again since Mark had come to visit his friend in LA for a couple of weeks; so the last thing he wanted was to feel tired and ill.

Rolling over, Mark tried to close his eyes in the hope that he might be able to fall asleep, but his stomach started to feel weird from the effort. He curled up, tears pricking in his eyes. He just wanted to sleep, but with every passing moment, it felt like that wasn't going to be a possibilty.

Realising that the position he was currently in was doing him no good, Mark sat up. His stomach flipped at that and for a brief moment Mark wondered if he was going to be sick. He wasn't though, thankfully. However, he was so tired that his head felt heavy as did every one of his limbs. He looked at the time again and let out a frustrated sob when he realised that only three minutes had passed since he last looked.

Mark pulled the duvet cover up over his sholders as he continued to sit in the middle of the mattress; on top of everything else, he was now cold, sudden shivers escaping from him.

Mark suddenly thought about Robbie and the fact that, on the other side of the wall, his best friend was fast asleep with no knowledge of the fact that his friend couldn't sleep.

Suddenly feeling quite lonely, Mark wondered if he should go into Robbie's room to see if his friend was in fact asleep. He wasn't going to lie, all he wanted right now was a hug from his friend which might be able to relax him enough so he could drift off to sleep. But, the thing was, Mark felt bad for disturbing Robbie. It didn't seem fair to wake him just for his own sake, but Mark was desperate and knew that his friend would understad. Well...he hoped.

Eventually deciding that he would go and see Robbie, Mark climbed out of bed and wrapped the blanket around himself before making his way next door. His limbs were still heavy and he felt slightly unstable, but he made it there in one piece.

Standing there at the door, Mark toyed with the idea of opening it straight away. He didn't want to seem pushy and so knocked gently on the door first, out of pure polietness.

There was no answer, of course, and Mark hadn't been expecting one. So he slowly started to open the door to Robbie's room and peered inside. It was dark, but Mark could faintly see the shape of his friend asleep on his bed. He looked peaceful and Mark was suddenly having second thoughts about waking him. It didn't seem fair. There must be other things that could help Mark sleep.
He was about to turn around head back when he heard his name being called from the bed.

"Mark?"

Mark turned to look at Robbie and tried to smile in the darkness. He couldn't though, he was so tired and his stomach had started to feel weird again.

"What you doing in here?" Robbie asked as he sat up and turned on the light. Both men squinted as their eyes adjusted to the sudden lightening up of the room.

"Can't sleep and I don't feel that great." Mark said once his eyes had adjusted to the light.

As Robbie's did the same, he noticed how tired Mark looked, wrapped up in his blanket. He also saw how pale his friend looked and couldn't help but feel sorry for him.

"I can go if you want, I don't want to disturb you." Mark said, not wanting to be a burden on his friend tonight.

"Mark, don't be daft, come here. You alright?" Robbie said, gesturing for Mark to come closer.

Mark nodded as he made his way over to Robbie, who had moved across slightly, and sat in the space at the edge of the bed.

"Hey, don't be silly, lie down." Robbie instructed. "I know you want a hug."

"You sure?" Mark asked.

"'Course I'm sure, get in."

Mark smiled a thanks to Robbie and lay down next to his friend under the duvet. His blanket was still wrapped around him but he liked it. Once he was settled, Robbie put an arm round him and pulled him closer, allowing Mark to rest his head on his friend's chest.

"So what's the matter, 'ey?" Robbie asked once he knew Mark was comfortable.

"Just couldn't sleep and my stomach feels weird." Mark told him.

"Do you feel like you're going to be sick?" Robbie asked, concerned that Mark may land up getting no sleep whatsoever if he was.

Mark shook his head against Robbie's chest and Robbie felt slightly relieved at that.

"Good, 'cos that's the last thing we need." Robbie rubbed at Mark's arm, partly covered by the blanket. "You cold?" Robbie asked.

"No, but I was." Mark said, his voice was now quiet and Robbie knew he was starting to drift off at last.

"Okay, I'll let you try and sleep now. Wake me if you want anything, alright?" He felt Mark nod and so Robbie gently rubbed at his arm again.

"Thanks Rob," Mark whispered.

"What for, Marky?"

"For being a good friend."

Robbie smiled at that and gently kissed Mark's hair before brushing some of the strands out of his face.

"You too, Marky. You too. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Rob."

Mark let out one final sigh before finally managing to drift off into a deep sleep, happy that he had his best friend right next to him.