Goodnight Wishes

John entered the room, still only wearing his pants. His hair was still messy, but for a different reason than before. He had just gotten back from being with Ariel.
The room was dark lit. It was probably late, but he had lost track of time. He looked towards the clock on the wall. Great. 1:02 am.
He looked over at the bed to see that Odette was still awake, looking at the ceiling. She seemed to have a lot on her mind, but he didn't care at the moment. He was just tired.
Her body was stretched out over the whole bed so there was no more room for John.
"Ehmm... can you move a bit?" he said as he carefully tried to sit down at the edge of the bed without hurting her. He took off his shoes and waited for Odette to move so he could get under the warm covers.

Odette jumped out of her thoughts when she heard John's voice. She moved across to the edge of the bed as he sat down.
She continued to stare up at the ceiling, trying to subtly move her hair so it covered her neck as she wondered if she was actually happy that he was back or if she was just glad that she wasn't alone with her thoughts anymore.

He got himself up in bed and under the covers. He was a wreck. His emotions were fighting with his thoughts even though they both said the same thing.
He wanted to cry. But not now. Not in front of her.
Instead he lied himself on the side with his back towards Odette, staring out into the room without really looking at anything.
He sighed almost inaudiable.
He wouldn't get any sleep tonight, would he?

She turned her head and watched him for a while, was he asleep?

'Are you ok?' she whispered, not sure if she'd get a response even if he was awake but figuring it was at least worth a try.

"Yeah..." he said, but his voice gave him away.
"I'm fine.."

'Liar,' she whispered to herself when she noticed his voice waver slightly.

'Did something happen while you were gone?' she asked quietly as she continued to watch him.

"No," he said honestly.
What was bothering him he had been carrying inside for such a long time. Though what happened with Ariel had only ripped it open again.
He really didn't want to talk about it, so he didn't say more than that. Hoping that she would leave him alone.

'Then is there something else on your mind?' she asked as she rolled onto her side so she could face him properly, even if she was only looking at the back of him, 'I can't exactly sleep right now, so if you want someone to listen to you ..' she trailed off, remembering what happened the last time she had tried to help him.

He rolled her eyes, though he knew she couldn't see it, before turning around facing her.
"What good did talking ever do? Talking can't change a thing. And if I ever even did bother to talk about my feelings, I think I would pick someone who actually gave a crap about what I had to say."

'It might not be able to change anything, but sometimes it helps to let these things out instead of bottling them up .. or so I've been told,' she stared at him for a moment, 'what makes you think I don't care about what you have to say?'

"Why would you?" he asked her back honestly, believing his own words.
"I'm your kidnapper, the reason you were tortured, the reason you were raped, the reason you almost died. The only reason you are even remotly nice to me right now is because you know how dangerous I can be," he said and narrowed his eyes at the word "dangerous."
"Who could ever care about me?" he asked, dead honest.

'And if it wasn't for you I would never have found my old friends again, people I thought I'd lost years ago,' she said and looked away for a moment, 'I know it sounds strange, but when I was back at the hospital, I realised that even if I somehow escaped from you .. from this .. I'd never be able to see them again and I'd have to go back to doing .. well, you know ..'

'If I just wanted to be nice to you because of how dangerous you can be, I would never have shouted at you the way I did before. I knew what the consequences could be ..' she paused and smiled a little, 'like you said before, you're only human. If you let people understand you a bit more then maybe it would be easier for them to care. At least those that want to try ..'

He looked at her as if she were a babbling fool. What the hell was she on about?
He didn't say anything for a while, simply because he didn't know what to say.
"Goodnight Odette," he finally said softly before turning his back to her again and clutching the pillow. He just wanted to be alone. And most of all, to cry.

She sighed lightly, she wondered why she even bothered saying anything to him in the first place.

She remembered the way he talked earlier and knew there was something wrong, even though she knew he'd never say anything to her about it. She reached out and hesitantly hovered over his back for a moment before placing a reassuring hand against it.

'Goodnight John,' she whispered as she closed her eyes and absent-mindedly moved a little closer to him.

Even if words couldn't comfort him, feeling her touch against his bare back made him feel better, at least for now. He shut his eyes closed and grabbed her hand with his from behind, holding it firmly, but light. He didn't say a word. He just wanted to know she was there.

She quickly opened her eyes again, surprised when she felt him hold onto her hand. She stayed silent, knowing that whenever she opened her mouth around him she seemed to say the wrong thing. Instead she moved even closer to him, resting her forehead between his shoulder blades as she placed her other hand against his back.
She kept her eyes open and her breathing slow and steady as she pretended to be asleep, though she wasn't sure how believable her act was.

He didn't want to be alone. He just wanted some comfort.
He turned around and pulled her in close, hugging her tight and burrying his face in her hair.
"Thank you," he whispered.

He surprised her once again and she blushed lightly when he hugged her. She softly kissed his chest, resting her hands against it as she listened to him speak. She looked up at him and smiled, not wanting to ruin the moment by saying the wrong thing again.

He bent his head and gently kissed her, grateful that for once she just shut up. For once she was there for him without him having to talk.
This was what he had loved about Megara, and this was what he was starting to like about Odette.

She kissed him back, closing her eyes for a moment as she moved her hand up and placed it gently on his cheek.

He broke the kiss, and laid her head on his chest before closing his eyes.
He just wanted to fall asleep like this. With Odette in his arms. Everything felt so much better with her in his arms.

She smiled to herself, moving her hand back again as she buried her head in his chest.

He closed his eyes and relaxed, feeling her body against his.
Finally, he could fall asleep.

She leant into his body and closed her eyes, staying that way in silence until she eventually fell asleep.