Work Text:
“You need to come to bed.”
“Do I?” Ethan mumbled running a hand through his hair. “How long have I been at it?”
“Six hours,” Allison replied, moving closer to lean on the desk. She looked at him, red curls falling over her face. He could still see her freckles, even in this light. Could count every single one. Her eyes were equally recognizable. Her smile, too. That might’ve been his favorite-
Hold on, had she said six hours?
“Jesus,” Ethan moaned, raising his elbows to the desk and cupping his face in his hands. “Might be right.”
“I usually am.” She tittered, quiet as a mouse.
She reached for his hand, and he took hers in his. Moved it to his mouth and kissed it.
It’d taken about ten or so years to figure out what they were. They’d made a vow to no labels, and kept that. But the heart always gets what it wants.
It had been ten or so years since they both escaped the Nowhere. Ten or so years since Low had sobbed himself to sleep holding what he’d thought was his best friend. Ten or so years since he’d been proven wrong by the sight of her in front of him. Ten or so years since Allison had learned what it was like to be flesh and blood. To be warm.
That was then, he thought. This is now.
“Ethan,” she said softly. “Don’t doze off in the chair.”
He blinked.
“Right.”
Now, he was sitting at his desk, restless, writing a report for some bullshit newspaper. He hadn’t even wanted the job. He’d just happened to be exactly what they’d been looking for. And he didn’t have the heart to say no.
He shut the computer and stood up, still kind of wobbly. Allison held her hands out in slight concern. She cracked a grin.
“You okay?”
“Fuckin’…coffee,” Ethan muttered.
She giggled.
“Sure it ain’t age?”
“What-” he glanced at her, using the desk to move himself forward. “S-Shut up…”
She just shook her head and helped him stand up fully. He liked the way the fabric of her pajamas felt against his skin. Warm. Comfortable.
“Alright,” he sighed, rubbing his eye with one finger as he followed her.
He clicked off the lamp on their nightstand as Allison settled into the sheets. He felt her hands pull him in beside her. His back screamed as he settled into the mattress and he groaned, still not used to the comfort.
“Sorry,” Allison said softly.
“No, s’okay,” he wheezed out. His back finally settled and he let out a long sigh. “It’s my fault for…sitting in that chair so long.”
Ethan paused.
“I know I’m stubborn.”
She turned slightly, her shoulder brushing his.
“Doesn’t change anything. And I wouldn’t change it for anything, either.”
His face scrunched up in a sort of pain. From everything inside.
“I made you up.”
She stopped.
“Low-” Her breath hitched. “Ethan-”
“I mean, isn’t that fucked up, I-”
“Ethan, you’re doing it again.”
He stopped, breathing quickly.
“You’re just stressed. It’s okay.”
It had been three weeks since Ethan had had a moment like this. Everything that happened in the Nowhere, he could’ve dealt with just that. But losing her, losing her and not having a way back, left wondering her fate, that had been what scarred him. And it scarred him deeply.
So now he blamed himself for everything she’d gone through. Because of his regret.
And now Allison was left to pick up his broken pieces and put him back together.
It was the least she could do. After all he did for her.
She turned fully, resting a hand on his rapidly moving chest. He reached up and grasped it. She laced their fingers.
She was a mechanic now. Finally putting a wrench and goggles to good use. Her hands were rough in some places, but Ethan still knew them like they were his own.
“It’s no one’s fault,” Allison whispered.
He felt the sting of tears at the corners of his eyes.
“Go to sleep,” she continued. “I’ll be here when you wake up.”
Her voice, her hair against his face, her being near him, it all helped in doing so. Probably the best rest he would get for the next month. She didn’t often have to comfort him like this, but sometimes, even when he wasn’t drifting, she would. Both knew why.
And despite his mind’s attempts to convince him otherwise, Allison was there when he woke up the next morning. Sunlight dancing through her hair.
Her face was peaceful in that restful way.
His breathing finally slowed when he realized she wasn’t going anywhere.