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They aren’t exactly sure why Sam has been having a hard time sleeping ever since they had locked Chuck up for good.
Sam’s tried everything, sleeping pills, booze, meditation (which Dean gave him shit for), but the most he was able to get was an hour or two a night. He was exhausted and it was getting worse the longer it dragged on.
Eileen is convinced that Sam is too busy being worried about the next big bad that could be lurking behind the corner. Sam has rolled his eyes at the theory, but the more Eileen talked about it, the more convinced Dean and Cas seemed to be.
“She has a point, Sammy,” Dean had commented a few nights ago. “When was the last time we got to relax? Every time one problem is solved, another one takes its place. Maybe your brain just doesn’t know how to handle it,”
Sam had glared at him in response and insisted that it was something else.
But they all see the way Sam is constantly glancing at doors and turning around to make sure they aren’t being followed. He is on edge and he hasn’t shown any sign of coming away from said edge.
So, Eileen did what any good friend-could-be-more-if-they-actually-talked-about-it would do. She dragged him to his room and forced him to sit on his bed as she messed with his TV. She could feel his confused gazed following her, but she didn’t stop until the TV was turned on and the Netflix logo was present on the screen.
Eileen makes her way over to his bed and plops down, leaning up against the wall. She pulls at his arm so she moves so his legs are finally on the bed.
“What are we doing?”
“Well, I am going to watch something on Netflix while you take a nap,”
Sam sighs. “I won’t be able to sleep-”
“You don’t know that,”
“Eileen, I haven’t slept properly in weeks,”
“Yes, but that’s because you haven’t been sleeping with someone else in the room. Maybe you’ll be less tense if someone is making sure nothing is going to happen while you’re asleep,”
“Is this about your weird theory-”
“My weird, correct theory, yes,” Sam stares at her for a moment and she simply raises an eyebrow, waiting for him to argue. This is an argument she’s going to win though. She can see how tired he is and she knows that he is desperate to get any amount of sleep his body allows.
“Fine,” He relents and she beams at him.
“Great! Now lay down, Winchester, it’s nap time,” He cracks a smile and lays down with his head on the pillow. She begins to flip through the choices on Netflix, trying to see what all she should catch up on when she feels a hand on her leg. When she glances down at Sam, she notices he’s frowning.
“This isn’t helping,”
“Have you even tried?”
“Yes!” He defends.
“Sam, it hasn’t even been five minutes,”
“But it doesn’t feel any different to when I try to sleep by myself,” Sam explains. “I know you’re here, but it’s not helping,” Eileen sighs and moves closer to him, letting her leg touch the side of his arm.
“There, now you can feel that I’m here,” Eileen presses her leg against his. “Try now,”
“Okay,” He replies and his eyes flicker shut. She stares at him for a moment or two before turning her attention back to Netflix. After a couple of minutes, she finally settles on Stranger Things, figuring now is the best time to miss the episodes that had come out while she had been in Hell.
She’s only three minutes into the first episode when Sam shifts beside her.
“It’s still not working,” Sam says, clearly frustrated.
Eileen stares at him thoughtfully. She thinks briefly about going to grab one of her guns and sit at the ready, but she doesn’t think that her theory is as sound as she once thought. This thought strikes her as Sam looks up at her, eyes tired and sad. He looks years younger than he is like this and it makes her want to hug him.
That’s the thought that makes the lightbulb click on in her mind.
Sam doesn’t only want protection, he wants comfort. He wants someone to reassure him that this is all real, that nothing is waiting in the shadows for them.
Eileen shifts to get more comfortable and then smiles somewhat shyly at Sam. “I have one more idea, but you may think it’s a little weird,”
“I’m willing to try anything,” He says desperately. “My brain just won’t turn off,”
She remembers when she had told Lillian the same thing back when she was about thirteen. Lillian had described her feelings as being like those associated with anxiety. Lillian had forced her to lie down in her lap and had brushed her fingers through Eileen’s hair until her brain had finally shut up.
Hopefully, the same strategy would work here.
“Put your head on my lap,” His eyebrows shoot up and she smiles. “Come on, you said you’d try anything,” He considers her for a moment before gently placing his head on her lap. Her hand tentatively reaches out and runs her hands through his hair. He freezes for a moment and she stops her movement. “Is this okay?”
Sam doesn’t answer for a moment, but finally, he relaxes and nods his head. She takes a deep breath and brings her hand back down to his hair. Her hand cards through his hair easily and she tries to ignore how many times she has thought of doing this.
To distract herself, she turns Stranger Things back on. Minutes pass and she’s waiting with bated breath for Sam to tell her that this isn’t working at all, but he doesn’t sit up and try to speak to her.
However, as she continues to card her fingers through his hair, he shifts closer to her. He’s now on his side, his front pushed up against the side of her leg. He nuzzles his cheek against her thigh and she finally believes that he’s actually fallen asleep.
She smiles to herself and for a split second, she thinks about stopping her ministrations, but she decides against that quickly when Sam swings his arm to rest across her legs. He’s clearly relaxed and she wants to make sure he gets the most sleep he can.
Eileen is halfway through the second episode when she notices a shadow in the doorway of Sam’s room. She glances up just in time to see Dean take in the sight in front of him. A part of her wants to feel embarrassed that she’s sitting here caressing Sam’s hair, but another part, a much larger part, takes a lot of pride in the fact that she was the one that got Sam to fall asleep.
Dean brings his gaze up to land on her, smirk etched on his mouth. He lifts his hand and gives her a thumbs-up, causing her to grin at him in response. He stares at them for a second longer and then leaves with a smile. She’s sure he would have made some comment about Sam cuddling against Eileen, but she knew he probably didn’t want to wake Sam up by speaking.
Eileen relaxes easily against Sam’s pillow as she continues to watch the episode she was on. However, she quickly loses interest when she realizes she missed something while having a silent conversation with Dean. She wants to reach for the remote to rewind it, but the remote lies just out of reach and she doesn’t want to jostle Sam too much.
So, with nothing else to do, she decides to close her eyes and take a small nap too.
Despite the awkward angles, it’s the best sleep both of them have had in a long time.