Matters of Courtship by C.M. Jackson

Author:C.M. Jackson [Jackson, C.M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2014-09-07T04:00:00+00:00

AS THE stress of the wedding and the threats wore on, William found himself losing more and more sleep. Most nights he wasn’t in bed before one in the morning, which was a problem when his internal clock insisted that five o’clock was wake-up time. He just couldn’t seem to help it. Lying down to try to sleep was like asking his worries to start digging their way into his brain, and if he put on the TV, something inevitably woke him up in the middle of the night. Add an occasional dream that ended in an explosion, and William had started to find the hours of sleep he did get very precious.

When a knock on the door dragged him out of his dreams a little after three, William was not happy. At first he just closed his eyes, hoping whoever it was had accidentally hit his door and that he could go back to sleep, but then it happened again. Groaning, William dragged himself out of bed and stumbled to the door, grumbling darkly at the difference between the warm covers and cool air.

Pulling it open, William prepared to scowl at whoever it was, half expecting Walter to ask him to join one of his stupid fucking raids or whatever the shit he did at these hours. Instead it was Lucas, clad in the kind of matching pajamas that came in a set and shaking hard enough that William could watch his hair shift. If he’d been more awake, he might have been concerned, but all William could do was blink at him and try not to fall over and just sleep on the floor. “Wha’?”

“C-can I…?” Lucas glanced up at William, and his expression was so openly bothered that William’s brain started to come back online out of panic. “I just wanted to…. Never mind. I’ll go.”

Groaning, William rubbed at his eyes. “Fuck. You did not just fucking wake me up so you could walk off. What do you want?”

Lucas swallowed hard, his hands twisting together nervously. “Can I stay with you? I had a nightmare and in it….” He glanced up at William in a way that made him suddenly certain that he’d met a miserable end. “I would feel better if I could see you.”

Yawning so wide it physically hurt, William shrugged. “’Kay. If you want.” Lucas was good to sleep with, anyway, and he’d warm the covers back up. Priorities. William had them. Ushering him back to his bed, William flopped onto it and practically pulled Lucas with him. Kicking until he could get the covers and pull them over, he mumbled incoherently and moved closer until he could feel Lucas’s heat. “Sorry if you didn’t mean this. M’sleepy. You’re warm. This works for me.”

“It’s fine,” Lucas replied, voice softer already. “Really good.”

Nodding, William rested his cheek against the top of Lucas’s head, snuggling until he found a comfortable spot. “So what happened? Wanna talk?”

The chuckle Lucas gave was thready and strained. “Are you coherent enough to talk?”

“Probably not, but it’s not as if I need a brain to talk most of the time.

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