#noahrayen

All Sonny wanted to do was sleep. That was it. It was something that should be simple enough, right? Just go to bed, close your eyes, and drift off into dreamland. But it wasn’t that simple, not for Sonny. He was afraid of the dark, dreading the nights when he didn’t have a party to DJ - those nights kept him awake through the darkness, leaving him to sleep in the morning light for a few brief hours before he had to go down to the shop for work. Not only was he scared of the dark, but there were occasionally nightmares that invaded his sleep, leaving him to wake up in a cold sweat, sitting straight up in bed and looking around his room with squinted eyes, trying to see if there was anything in the dark that was going to get him the way it happened in his dreams. Sometimes, the dreamlike assailant was his father, leaving him to relive the nightmarish parts of his childhood. 

Tonight was one of those nights. He’d been able to drift off to sleep after an hour or two of laying there, staring at the ceiling, trying to count sheep and make himself sleepy. But then it happened, after he finally fell asleep. 

Sonny had woken up breathing heavily, bolting upright in his bed as he searched the room for any sign of monsters, or the man who had been known to beat him senseless in years prior, but settled down a bit when he realized that nothing, no one, was there. He forced himself out of bed, slipping on his sweatpants and a shirt quickly before heading out of the room. He looked a mess, beads of sweat settled on his forehead and his hair sticking up from where he’d slept on it briefly, but he didn’t care - he just needed to be out of that room. As he padded through the apartment toward Noah’s room, he focused on slowing his breathing and settling himself down, though it didn’t do much good. “Noah?” He whispered, leaning in close to the door and knocking softly. “Are you awake?” Sonny hated doing this, waking his friend up, but he didn’t know what else to do - and he knew that Noah would understand, wouldn’t turn him away. “Noah?” His voice came a bit louder this time as he knocked again with a bit more force. “Can I come in? Please?”

[text] so much???? like i don’t even know how to begin????

For the first time since moving back in with his parents, Sonny was allowed to have a guest over. He wasn’t supposed to have visitors, James had made that abundantly clear, but he’d begged his mother to let him invite Noah over and, much to his surprise, she’d given in pretty easily. His father wasn’t home, wouldn’t be until later in the evening, which gave him ample time to enjoy hanging out with his best friend. Donna had gripped his jaw like a vice, forcing him to look at her, and told him that this was to be kept between the two of them, and that Noah would have to leave early enough to avoid meeting James on the road once he was expected to be home. He’d agreed, of course, because he missed his friend and getting to spend any time with him at all was better than nothing. 

He sat on the couch in the living room, waiting anxiously for Noah to arrive, and jumped up quickly when he heard a car door slam shut outside. Sonny went to the door and looked out the peephole, a grin spreading across his lips as he watched the man walk up the driveway. Stepping back, he opened the door and ran outside to meet Noah halfway, immediately throwing his arms around his friend’s neck and embracing him tightly. “Hi,” He said softly, dropping his head and immediately hiding his face against the other’s neck. “I missed you so much.” Sonny had considered hiding his bruised arms and wrists under a long sleeved shirt, not wanting Noah to see - and not wanting to see them anymore himself - but it was too hot for that, even with the air conditioning in the house, so he didn’t bother covering the discolored splotches that decorated his skin. “You can stay, right? You don’t have to rush off?” He didn’t know when his eyes had filled to the brim with tears, but they started rolling when he spoke, dampening the neckline of Noah’s shirt where he kept his face hidden. “Please stay.”