___________________________________________________________________________________________________
Tomorrow, and tomorrow, and tomorrow,
Creeps in this petty face day to day,
To the last syllable of record time,
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools.
The way to dusty death.
Out, out, Brief candle!
Life's but a walking shadow,
A poor player that struts-
"Haven't you read that book fifty times already? I'm surprised you don't have it memorized."
"Shh!" Josh snapped at his roommate as Andrew came through the door. He placed his old and battered copy of 'Macbeth' down on the bed beside him.
'Sorry' Andrew mouthed as he maneuvered his way around the room to grab things as quietly as he could.
Josh let out a deep breath as he turned his head slightly to look at the person who was currently on top of him asleep. Maya had her face buried into the side of his neck, her whole upper body on top of his. Her hands fisted his shirt as one of her legs rested in between his and the other one laid to the side.
She was dead weight against him, but Josh found to be the most comfortable position he had ever been in. She didn't feel like a weight that he was carrying on his chest. Instead she felt like the missing puzzle piece that he had been searching his entire life to find.
Josh grabbed the end of the blanket and pulled it up closer around them as he felt shivers from the fan that was softly blowing on them from the corner of his room.
"Has she been here all day?" Andrew asked quietly. Josh nodded his head lightly.
"I just got her to fall asleep an hour ago." His soft whisper fell deaf on Maya's ears as she didn't stir an inch. Josh could feel her breath on the nape of his neck.
"It's four o'clock." Andrew whispered as he turned to the alarm clock beside his bed.
"She's not been sleeping very well." Josh stated simply. His fingers ran up her back and down towards her waist from under the covers. He had forced her out of the itchy sweater she had been wearing earlier and into one of his t-shirts. Much more comfortable and helpful to fall asleep in.
Maya had been known to have severe insomnia at night. She had it all through high school, and Josh wasn't surprised to see it get worse through college. Much more responsibility and stress as the load of homework got bigger.
But when Riley had come to him saying that she had heard Maya crying out in her sleep, it was the first sign that something more had been happening behind the scenes that Maya wasn't telling him.
"You're so whipped." Andrew laughed quietly. Josh raised his eyes to glare at his roommate from through his eyelashes.
"And you're so dead if you wake her up." He threatened lowly. Andrew rolled his eyes and threw his hands up in defense as he continued to fill up an overnight bag with clothes.
"I'll find somewhere else to stay tonight. Since it's the weekend and all." Andrew winked. Josh ignored him as he continued to lightly run his fingers up and down Maya's back, not worried that it would wake her up.
It was only a few months into the school year, Josh and Maya hadn't been dating long. But the time that they had been, they had been making the most of it. They already knew so much about each other before they started going out, that everything else was just clock work. It came so natural.
It wasn't a surprise to anyone of how quickly they were becoming serious. Spending weekends in each other's dorm rooms had basically become a ritual at this point. One where it seemed that Riley and Andrew were taking turns finding other places to stay every other weekend it felt like. This weekend it was Andrew's turn.
Maya stirred slightly as Andrew knocked over the pencil sharpener in the corner. Josh's hands froze and he glared over the top of her head to where his roommate was standing. Andrew rolled his eyes and gently picked the pencil sharpener up and placed it back down.
Josh wasn't entirely sure what had been going on the last week or so with Maya's sleep schedule. She had been slightly dozing off in her classes, keeping Riley awake at night with either homework, art or watching a movie on her phone. Each time she would say the same thing, she wasn't tired.
So when Riley had heard her last night cry out in her sleep and wake herself up gasping and kind of freaking out, Josh knew it was time to get to the bottom of it. He has invited her to stay with him this weekend. But when she walked in and he saw how tired she was, he couldn't bring himself to bring it up. Instead, he made sure she was going to get some sleep. And he was going to stay up in case she had another nightmare. And when she woke up, she was going to tell him what was going on.
Andrew finally left the room and Josh forgot about his book as he seemed to be lost in thought. His head was propped up on a pillow as he found himself staring at the corner of the wall in his room.
Maya whined in her sleep. She shifted slightly and brushed her nose against his neck further. She whined and jolted and Josh pulled her further into him.
"It's okay." He whispered in her ear, kissing the side of her head. He wasn't entirely sure if she could hear him. "It's okay, Maya. I'm here."
"Josh." She mumbled slightly before relaxing again. Josh smiled.
"I'm not going anywhere."
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Thanks for reading! Sorry it's short.