( ˘ω˘ ) ！

When you called him over, it was already late. Yet, he still came; 10:36 P.M. on a Tuesday, not even hesitating to get in his car once he heard the agitation in your voice.

The sheets crumpled under his hand as he leaned forward to hear you better, although you were being quite loud already. You were speaking a bit too fast for Kaiwen's sleep-deprived brain, he could only process about half the words you were saying.

He hadn't spoken much as you ranted to him. His gaze was focused on you, head tilted and a small smile on his face. Usually, he'd be invested in whatever you were telling him, but it seemed like he was just too tired this specific night.

You had only picked up on his fatigued behavior after you finally finished your rambling. You glanced up only to be met with a Kaiwen who looked like he was meditating. His eyes were closed shut and his head was slowly drooping.

"Are you sleeping?" Your tone was soft as you reached out to lightly tap his shoulder.

"Ahh!" He blinked repeatedly as he jolted awake, causing you to retract your hand immediately. His abrupt yell briskly broke the short-lived tranquility of the room.

"What—uh," he rubbed his eyes a bit, "what were you saying?" He quickly cleared his throat, sitting up straighter as he tried to focus on your face again.

"Were you not listening to me?" You joked, eyeing him skeptically.

He shook his head, waving his hands in defense. "No! I was..." he trailed off, his expression sheepish and his gaze fixated to the floor.

"Well, I was trying to," he spoke with honestly, a small frown on his face, "you talk really fast... I'm tired."

You opened your mouth to protest, but closed it as you realized he was probably right.

He had been fighting to stay awake for the past hour, but he did an admittedly bad job at it. You couldn't help but laugh at the pout that adorned his face.

Kaiwen looked at you with a dumbfounded expression as you laughed at him.

"Huh, heyyy..." He dragged out the last syllable, burying his face into his hands. That only made you laugh louder.

He shifted to lay down on the bed with a dramatic fall, face planting into the sheets. "You do talk too fast... and too much." He grumbled out.

"That's mean..." you muttered, squinting at the exhausted boy. He replied with an loud huff that was muffled by the blanket.

Slightly irked by his attitude, you leaned back against the pillows that bordered your headboard. "Well, maybe you should just go home then."

You spoke with your face turned away from his direction, making you miss out on the way his head lifted so quickly he almost got whiplash.

Of course, you were just joking, but Kaiwen was still too tired to process any tone of sarcasm.

He shook his head feverishly, practically jumping up from his previous resting position. You were taken aback when he actually knelt in front of you.

"No, no, no," he said quickly, grabbing your arm. "I was just kidding, I'm awake, I'm listening now!"

You couldn't even look at him for one second before bursting out in laughter. "You're so—you're so stupid!" You blurted, smacking at the poor boy's chest.

This time, Kaiwen couldn't even pretend to be irritated. He just scoffed with a wide smile, falling back to lay beside you.

"I can't help it," he scooted closer to you, resting his head on the sheets, just inches away from your side. "I'm tired."

You looked down at him. It was hard not to admire his pretty face; the faint smile on his lips, the trace of light peach lingering on his cheeks and nose, the soft brown locks that fell over his eyes...

You blinked, clearing your thoughts. He certainly was not anything more than a good friend to you. Well, to you.

You gave his head a gentle pat. "Then," your voice was quieter now as you mussed his hair up, ignoring his noise of protest and the way he tried swatting your hand away. Your hand moved down to lightly pinch his cheek, "go to bed."

"But," he whined in mock annoyance again and stretched his arms out, careful to not hit your head. He moved up until his head actually rested on the pillow.

"But?" You questioned with an expectant tone, turning your head to face him. He was already looking at you, but his gaze quickly averted to the ceiling when your eyes met his.

"But... I don't wanna sleep," he mumbled with a childish whine, even as he was struggling to keep his eyes open.

Your brows furrowed at his words. "You said you were tired like, what... ten times now?"

Kaiwen groaned, although it was less in annoyance and more in reluctant acceptance.

"I know, I know," he said, running a hand through his messy hair. "But I can't help it. I want to stay awake and... I don't know, talk?"

He knew he was just spewing nonsense. After all, he was the one who nearly fell asleep just a few moments ago.

"You barely even spoke earlier." You deadpanned.

Kaiwen sighed at your words. He knew you were right again, and he ran out of excuses to defend himself.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled, still looking up at the ceiling. "I was just... really tired, I'm still really tired... woah—hey!"

His body stiffened on instinct as you suddenly shook him, both hands clasped onto his shoulders.

"Just. Go. To. Bed!" You paused between each word to sway him back and forth. Kaiwen couldn't help but giggle softly at your playful shaking, the motion causing his messy hair to fall into his face.

"Ahh... okay, okay!" His hands reached up to grab onto your arms, holding them still in an attempt to stop your relentless onslaught.

With a joking huff, you let go of him and rolled to face the opposite direction. Your sudden action had confused him.

"Uh," He sat up just enough to peer over your shoulder, "hello?"

Arms crossed over your chest, you refused to even glance back at him. "I'll turn around when you fall asleep."

That confused him further. "But... then I won't be able to talk to you?" He held onto your arm to stabilize himself as he leaned against your back.

"Exactly." You replied curtly. His smile faltered.

He just sat there for a moment, gazing at the side of your face. You could feel it, but you stayed silent.

Eventually, he returned to his side of the bed. The comfort of the blanket was almost enough to knock him out immediately. Almost.

A few minutes passed by, yet you remained awake, eyes locked onto the wall. The stillness was nearly suffocating. You figured that he was already asleep by now.

Minimizing your movements as much as you could, you rolled back over to face Kaiwen. He looked as if he fell asleep as soon as he laid down; his lips were parted, his arms spread out on either side of him, and his eyes were fluttered shut.

You had to seize the opportunity—and quick. Quietly and carefully, you curled up to his side, laying your head over his outstretched arm. You could feel his hushed breaths blow against the top of your head from this angle.

You felt almost... content. Maybe even a bit happy, laying there with him. That thought lingered for about two minutes before the drowsiness took over, slowly pulling you into a heavy sleep.

Unbeknownst to you, Kaiwen was still awake. Just conscious enough to be painfully aware of your close proximity.

He knew you were going to turn around to see if he was sleeping. In fact, he was waiting on it so he could scare you or something.

Unfortunately for him, you fell asleep before he did.

He couldn't move, he didn't want to risk waking you up. Instead, he gently pushed the stray hairs out of your face with his free hand, twirling the strands around his fingers.

All he could do was doze off, looking at you rest in his arms. He leaned forward, closer, draping his leg over yours to get more comfortable.

This amount of closeness with you felt foreign to him, but it sure was welcomed.

It seemed that now he was the one using you as a warm body to hold.