#r: devcho

Hypnophobia – fear of sleep

"No-" He let out a sleepy chuckle, feigning playfulness even though his mouth had gone dry at the thought of sleeping, "Just one more coffee- Make yourself comfortable, babe." Devin smiled lazily at his girlfriend. Said blonde was already curled up in his blankets, basically almost asleep. Another chuckle. Devin rubbed his eyes, "Stay awake," he muttered, pressing the heels of his palms hard against his eyes and rubbing to try and rid some of the tiredness. With sock clad feet he walked down the stairs, going straight to the kitchen and flicking on the kettle. He rinsed a cup that was sitting in the sink and spooned some (a lot) of the instant coffee into his mug, then added some sugar and waited the remainder of time for the water to boil. Once it had, he poured some in, added milk, and shook the cup gently to mix it.

Devin took a sip of the sweet, hot drink and climbed the stairs, letting out a yawn. In the three or four minutes he had been downstairs, Echo had already fallen asleep, sprawled on his bed and pretty much taking up the entire thing. It was three in the morning, and Echo taking up the bed only meant that Devin would be able to stay awake easier. Because sleeping meant nightmares, and nightmares were bad.

Definitely bad.

The blonde settled into his desk chair, sipping his coffee as he watched Echo sleep. A soft chuckle escaped his lips when he realised that what he was doing was very similar to what Edward Cullen did. The thought annoyed him slightly, and he downed the rest of his coffee, pleasant warmth soothing him from the inside out, and stood. Devin crossed to the bed, gingerly sitting on the edge before deciding that yes, it would be nice and warm and comfy under the covers with his girlfriend. He pulled back duvet, pushing her arms and legs over so he could lay next to her, the movement waking the girl up momentarily."Hey," he whispered, smiling as she snuggled up to him, arm wrapped around his chest and head resting on his shoulder, "Hi," Echo mumbled back, hugging him tighter, "Go to sleep, Dev." Nodded, carding his fingers through her hair, gently working out tangles. He kissed the top of her head, murmuring a ‘goodnight' then rubbed his hands over his eyes harshly, attempting to rub away the sleepiness he felt already.

No. Don’t fall asleep. His eyes fluttered shut, then a second later they snapped open, as wide as they could go. Devin managed another thirty minutes staying awake, but every time he blinked it got harder to open his eyes. They shut once more, and he almost decided to give in, but he remembered the nightmares, and his eyes scrunched shut tightly before opening wide as he untangled Echo from himself and got up, beginning to pace the room in an attempt to stay awake.

On the twenty third lap of his room, Echo stirred, blinking lazily as she woke.

"Devin?" Her voice was laced with sleep, but Devin didn’t reply, merely glanced up at her then continued his pacing. Echo pushed the covers back, scooting so she was sitting on the edge with her legs pulled up under her, still watching the boy pace, "Devin." The boy in question stopped this time, looking at her, "Echo.""What are you doing?"Devin shrugged guiltily, “Just- You know, couldn’t sleep?” he offered, blinking, but then didn’t open his eyes. He almost fell asleep right there and then."Don’t lie to me, Dev, you’re almost falling asleep right there."Devin hummed tiredly, eyes opening slowly, one before the other, and looked at Echo through blurred eyes before mumbling, “Sleep is bad.” 

Echo’s eyebrow arched as Devin walked over, flopping onto the bed next to her, face down, “What do you mean?” she asked softly, laying over Devin’s back with her face near his. He mumbled incoherently into the blankets, to which Echo tapped the back of his head gently. That made Devin turn his head toward her, “Nightmares,” he sighed, one hand coming up to rub at his eyes. Don’t close your eyes, you’ll fall asleep. Sleep is bad. Devin yawned, so deeply that his jaw popped, prompting him to rub lazily at the slight pain. The sound made Echo laugh softly, but her eyebrows furrowed, “What did you mean about nightmares?” She murmured, rolling over Devin and scooting into bed properly, reaching out to tug him up so she could hug him, spoon him against her front. Being little spoon was nice, it made her feel protected, but right now Devin was the one who needed to feel safe.

She carded her fingers through his hair, cuddling up close to his back, “It’s fine, close your eyes,” Echo whispered, already feeling the effects of sleep pulling her back under. The bed jostled slightly as Devin moved around so he was laying on his side facing Echo, “Buti’mscared,” he mumbled pathetically, snuggling his head under her chin, the movement prompting Echo to hug him closer, running her fingers along his back in meaningless patterns.

12:41

The screen went black a few seconds later. He clicked the home button again.

12:41

Devin let out a whine of frustration. It’d been three hours since his last smoke because he’d fucking left his smokes on the counter at the supermarket. What the hell good where they there? Bloody none. Granted it was hardly his fault, he’d been preoccupied with stacking the canned dog food into the freezer bag.

Damn dog.

A chuckle escaped his lips when said dog jumped onto the couch, and consequently onto his stomach. The little orange red, bumbling puppy walked up his chest, dipping his head to lick at Devin’s chin, cheek, nose, his whole face. The blonde pulled a face, raising his arms to lift the chest of the little menace off of him and away from his face. He repositioned he-who-didnt-yet-have-a-name and hugged him to his chest, pulling his phone out and unlocking it with one hand as he tried to keep the writhing pup still with the other.

eeeeecho.

echo! quick i need your help!

Devin chuckled, waiting a couple of seconds, then texted the girl again.

(hehehe)

Dear girlfriend,

You’re cute.Yeah that’s it.

I’m kidding, I’m kidding. You’re bloody beautiful, in both the way you look (no shock there) and the way you do things. Like how you crinkle your nose and how you always carry around your little book to write stuff in and how your voice clearly doesn’t get higher when you’re lying. You make me feel a little (a lot) more than useless.

You’re easy to talk to (look at) and be around and you just put up with my issues annoyingness and smoking and you’re just all round my favourite person ever.

- Devin x

 Dear future me,

I hope you’re still alive and kicking.

if you are: Fantastic. I wonder if you’re better, though. Perhaps not.if you aren’t: I’m sorry