Unedited but y'all deserve a lil something <3
Will read through and make edits later today, scouts honor
xoxo
John
Derek insisted he should go.
I insisted he should stay.
And then we went back and forth on this for what felt like fucking hours.
When he finally caved on my demands which were that he should stay the night because it was literally almost midnight and he could barely keep his eyes open, I insisted he take my bed.
He insisted he take the couch.
Then there was more ridiculously polite back and forth until I was the one who eventually caved to his demands.
It was kinda hard arguing with his reasoning, which was that I just got off a two hour flight and desperately needed some sleep. The yawns that broke up my argument weren't helping my case much either.
"Here is a blanket, and two pillows-"
"One pillow should be fine-"
"You're getting two."
Derek's soft, sleepy eyes found mine again and he finally just nodded, accepting defeat thank fucking god. I couldn't tell if he was too tired, or if he was starting to pick up on my exhausted yet stubborn attitude. Maybe both.
Good.
"And if you need anything, my bedroom is just down the hall to your right." I continued, making my way to flip on a dim lamp that was on one of the side tables, before switching the bright overhead light off.
The small lamp gave the room a warm glow, with just enough light to get around, but to also fall sleep with it on. Derek looked exhausted, barely caring to fully unfold the blanket before he collapsed on the couch. I watched him snuggle up with the knitted material, and forced myself to remember that he chose the couch.
We could've just shared-
"Goodnight." I spoke, giving him a small smile which he comfortably returned once he settled in.
"Goodnight," He replied, his eyes finding mine briefly before his lids slowly lowered.
-
With a shit twist of fate, sleep didn't find me nearly as easily. I had only slept about two hours before I woke up needing to piss. Then of course, because my bathroom was down the hall, I used that as an excuse to check in on Derek quick. My bedside clock told me it was nearing 2:15 in the morning, which was something I was going to ignore for now because work was only four hours away.
Derek was knocked out cold once I made it to the living room. I noticed the blanket was pulled tight around him, tucked in on his sides as he brought it up to his chin, so I checked the living room thermostat and bumped it up a few degrees. I also grabbed an extra blanket from the cabinet in the bathroom, and unfolded the fabric before I draped it over him.
His skin looked so soft in this warm lighting. So soft, I found my fingers lingering on the blanket's edges after laying it over his slender frame. I noticed the few bits of stubble coming in as it cast a slight shadow on his chin, and I was having an internal battle for a second, right before I put the whole fucking debate to rest.
I was not going to be a fucking creep and touch Derek's cheek, even if it was out of pure curiosity- not lust. I was going to let go of this blanket, and go back to fucking bed...
John.
John...
My fingers brushed some of Derek's messy hair away from his face, studying his sharp cast features intently as I did. I wasn't sure what you'd call this hairstyle, maybe chaos, but it suited him so well. It looked like someone took a leaf blower and just went to crazy, with locks of hair tossed in every which direction. His body shifted again, and when he ran his hand ran through his hair recklessly while his lashes fluttered against his cheek... I immediately backed away.
We were most definitely crossing boundaries I shouldn't have needed to remind myself of.
There was off limits...
Then there was Derek.
Bed. Now, I commanded myself, not caring to give me even a fraction of the benefit of the doubt for this one.
I released a final sigh, granting myself one last look at Derek before I headed back down the hall.
-
And sleep must've been punishing me for my acts, because I couldn't bed her no matter how hard I tried.
I whispered sweet nothings in her ear. I hummed a lullaby. I counted fucking sheep.
By the time the clock struck five in the morning, I was on my hands and knees begging her for mercy.
But alas, all that was granted was about four hours of shut eye total. My alarm woke me up again, reminding me that Don was going to be calling in less than thirty minutes and I needed to get my shit together.
I was so delirious this morning, I literally forgot that Derek had spent the night at my place until Herold dragged me to his food dish in the kitchen. You might be wondering how this cat dragged me, a full grown man... but all I can say is do not underestimate Herold's set of chompers. Once he locked in on my pajama pants, he was no longer asking questions and I had no other options.
Now if I had remembered that Derek had spent the night, I probably would've done a few things differently. For starters, I would've put more clothes on.
Maybe. I at least would've thought about it...
"Oh- Hi." I froze, watching as Derek stood neatly folding both blankets before placing them at the end of the couch.
"I-fuck! Sorry, I meant to be outta here before you woke up." Derek was still rubbing sleep from his eyes much like he had last night, which told me he was just getting up himself.
I couldn't help but chuckle. "My first alarm goes off at four in the morning, love. The odds of you getting outta here unnoticed is more slim than you winning the lottery."
Derek's gaze was failing to meet mine, and at first I didn't understand why, but Derek had this thing about him where every so often, he just said what he was thinking. No filter. No second guessing. No thinking it through. Nothing. Just a statement as raw as good honey.
"Do you do targeted workouts for those abs?" He asked, mumbling more to himself than me, but I definitely still caught it. And it definitely pulled a smile from me as I glanced down at my shirtless body.
There was about ten thousand other ways I could've answered that which would've been far more acceptable, and yet the sleep deprivation only made me think of one. "I could show you some," was all I said. Now the way in which I said it was something I wouldn't be answering any further questions about.
And Derek must've heard the flirtation in my voice, but if he did, he was choosing to ignore it just as hard as politicians choose to ignore global warming.
If I though he was struggling to meet my gaze before, he suddenly took interest in every other thing in this fucking room besides me.
"I'll be outta here in just a sec." He assured me, still refusing to glance my way, so I approach the man moving about in the warm living room lighting.
"I'm about to make some breakfast, why don't you stay for that?" I collected the pile of blankets he meticulously folded, along with both pillows that he eventually used at some point in the night. Good.
"Oh-" he finally looked up at me, and I watched as his hands immediately ran through his messy hair. There was no saving the train wreck that was this bed hair, but when his hands ran through the tangled strands, I watched his toned arms tense slightly before falling to his sides.
All it took was one man sleeping in my home for the first time without actually sleeping with me, and here I was lusting for him like a goddamn school girl. It didn't help that I was always the kid who got jealous of toys he couldn't play with.
Off fucking limits, I reminded myself, tugging my lips up into a friendly smile instead as I thought of a way to convince him to eat.
"I should really get back home so I can make it to work on time," he insisted.
"How about you stay for breakfast, and head to work after? If you feel like showering and changing clothes, you're welcome to anything in my closet."
He finally looked at me again, but this time his eyes analyzed my larger bare frame... and I'd be lying if I said I didn't latch onto any bit of attention he showed me, whether it was sizing me up or not.
"Yeah... I'm pretty certain I'm not fitting into any of your clothes," he said with a tinge of embarrassment. I was trying to pay attention, but his Adam's apple dipped again as he swallowed, and that demanded the attention of all my remaining barely working brain cells.
"Don't worry," I told him simply, "we'll make it-them fit."
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