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Sombra’s eyes flew open as she was shocked awake by a violent, pulsing pain in her head. Her entire body tensed, and she sucked in a breath through clenched teeth. It was going to be one of those days, apparently. One of the days where her enhancements glitched and gave her a migraine so painful that she struggled to even breathe. Sombra hadn’t had one of those days in a while. She thought she had solved the problem with her latest upgrade.
But she hadn’t, if the violent pulsing in her head was anything to go by.
A small groan fell from her lips and she curled up as tightly as she could until she was in the fetal position. She massaged her temples with her fingers, desperately attempting to soothe the pounding in her head, but to no avail.
Her migraines were one of Sombra’s least favorite things in the world. They lasted for days or even weeks if they were bad, and there was nothing she could do about them other than push through. She couldn’t even distract herself by hacking, because every time she used her enhancements the pain would amplify, sometimes becoming bad enough that she would pass out.
Sombra forced herself to take deep breaths, squinting at the clock on her bedside table, which read ‘2:51 A.M.’ in bold lettering. She frowned. She’d only gotten a few hours of rest.
For a few minutes, she tried to get back to sleep, but it soon became clear that resting was a lost cause. She couldn’t stop shifting, trying to get comfortable despite the pain of her headache.
Her movement must have disturbed Cole, because he stirred. Sombra froze, hoping she hadn’t woken him up. She didn’t want to disturb his rest.
But he just mumbled something unintelligible in his sleep, and threw an arm around her so he could pull her closer, letting out a satisfied hum when she was pressed against him. Sombra tried to relax back into his body, to let his warmth soothe her, but found that she couldn’t unclench her muscles.
A sudden snore from Cole made Sombra whimper. It wasn’t particularly loud, but she was always sensitive to noise when she got like this, and his mouth was right next to her ear.
“S’mbra?” Cole asked at her whimper, shifting as he woke.
“Go back to bed, Cole,” Sombra whispered, trying to hide the shake in her voice. As always, Cole was undeterred. He sat up and rubbed some sleep from his eye.
“Wha’s wrong?” he said, words slurring with his tiredness. If she could think through the pain, she would have found it adorable.
“Nothing. Go back to sleep.”
Cole, not fooled by her reassurances, reached over for the light switch, flicking it on. Immediately, Sombra whined, squeezing her eyes shut. Bright lights always aggravated her migraines.
“Whoa, whoa, it’s okay,” Cole tried to soothe, sounding much more awake. “What’s wrong?”
“The light,” Sombra mumbled, cringing at how her voice was trembling. Her embarrassment faded away when Cole switched the light off, replaced with a wave of relief at the darkness.
Opening her eyes slowly, Sombra was greeted by the sight of Cole’s worried face, which she could just make out through the darkness. There was a furrow in his brow and his lips were pouting slightly. “Are you okay?” he asked, gently cupping her face in his hand. He scanned her over, no doubt checking for injuries.
“Yeah. I-- I’m fine,” Sombra lied, refusing to look into his honey brown eyes. If she looked into his eyes, she knew she would break down and tell him the truth. Tell him that her head was aching, burning, pulsing. That it hurt so much she couldn’t think, could barely breathe.
Cole was clearly unsatisfied by her lie. “C’mon, Darlin’. I know somethin’ is wrong,” he said, softly stroking her cheek with his thumb. “I just wanna help.”
“I don’t need your help,” Sombra mumbled, curling further into herself. She didn’t need anyone’s help. She had dealt with this alone many times before, and had always got through it. There was no reason to get Cole involved.
“Of course you don’t need it. That doesn’t mean I ain’t gonna give it to you,” Cole replied, his voice gentle and concerned.
Sombra sighed. “It’s nothing, Vaquero. I can deal with it.” Her words might have been more convincing if she wasn’t speaking through gritted teeth.
A series of emotions flickered across Cole’s face. “You don’t have to ’deal with it’. Not by yourself, at least. You… You’re not alone anymore, Sombra. You’ve got me.” He looked deliberately into her eyes as he spoke, trying to communicate the sincerity of his words.
Sombra felt her heart thump against her ribs, something soft and fluttery settling in her stomach at his words.. “I…” she trailed off, mind and heart arguing about if she should tell Cole the truth. She didn’t want to burden him with her problems, but, well, the thought of his comfort was too tempting to refuse. “It’s a migraine. I get them sometimes,” she admitted, biting her lip. “It, uh… it hurts. A lot.” There was a shakiness in her tone that she despised, but couldn’t hide.
Cole took it in stride, only taking a few moments to process before he spoke again. “Alright. I’m gonna go get you some painkillers, okay? I’ll be right back,” he told her, planting a kiss on her forehead. “I love you, Darlin’.”
He was so caring and kind that it made Sombra’s stomach flutter wildly. “I love you, too,” she mumbled, giving him as much of a smile as she could muster. Cole began getting out of bed, being careful not to disturb Sombra too much.
In just a few short seconds, he was back with a bottle of pills and a glass of orange juice. “Here. Do you think you can sit up?” he asked, crouching by her side of the bed.
“Yeah,” Sombra mumbled, getting into a sitting position, trying to ignore how each and every movement upset her head. Cole handed her two pills and the orange juice, which Sombra eagerly swallowed down.
“What else do you need, Darlin’?” Cole asked, brushing some hair out of her face.
Sombra hesitated for a moment. “Just… Can you lie with me? I don’t want to be alone,” she mumbled, on the edge of being shy.
Cole smiled softly, the corners of his eyes crinkling. “Of course, Honey,” he said, sliding under the covers next to her. “Do you want a massage?”
“That sounds nice,” she hummed, eyes fluttering shut as he settled in beside her. Cole gave the best massages, a service he was always happy to offer. Sure enough, he scooched over so he was sitting behind her, and his hands found her shoulders, rubbing the knots out of her tense muscles.
Bit by bit, Sombra found herself relaxing, until she was practically melting into Cole’s welcoming hands. Her head rolled back so it rested on his shoulder, causing him to chuckle and press a light kiss to her temple. “Feelin’ better, Honey Bee?”
“Yeah,” Sombra mumbled, a small smile lighting up her face. Cole must have gotten her the extra-strength pain killers, because the pulsing in her head had already dulled into something much more manageable.
The tiredness caused by waking up too early was starting to set in, so it was no big surprise when her eyelids began to flutter shut and she started to drift off. Migraines always took a lot of energy from her. Within just a few minutes, she was sound asleep.
The second time Sombra woke up was slower, and far more peaceful. Her head still ached, but it was much less intense. A blanket had been snugly wrapped around her, and she could feel Cole’s arm thrown over her stomach, keeping her secured to him. Sombra couldn’t help herself, taking a moment to just rest in Cole’s warm, comforting embrace.
A part of her wanted to stay there forever, but another, larger part of her knew she had work to do.
So, fighting the urge to relax back into the bed, Sombra forced her eyes open. The room was dark, with only a little sunlight beginning to stream through the window. The clock read 8:53 A.M.
Sombra jolted slightly, sucking in a sharp breath. It was way too late for her to still be sleeping. She had work to do, migraine or not. When she moved to stand, however, Cole pulled her back into his chest. “Shh, it’s okay,” he mumbled, pressing a lazy kiss to her cheek.
“Vaquero, I have to work,” Sombra replied, turning to face him. He seemed to have been awake for a while. “Were you watching me sleep?”
Cole chuckled. “Nah. I was playing Candy Crush,” he admitted, gesturing to the cell phone he had set down on his nightstand. Sombra couldn’t fight her small smile. Cole’s love of stupid phone games was adorable. “And don’t change the subject. You should be restin’, not workin’.” The pout of his face as he spoke made Sombra groan.
“I’m fine, Vaquero. Resting is for wimps, anyway.” The noise Cole let out was something between a scoff and a laugh.
“It’s okay to be a wimp sometimes, y’know,” he said, cupping her face. Although his tone was light, Sombra knew that there was a deep meaning behind it. Cole was always trying to convince her to let herself be vulnerable, to be weak. To not always hide behind her unbreakable, unemotional facade. Not around him, at least.
She was working on it, but it took effort. Pretending to be unaffected by everything was so natural that she did it without thinking. Changing that didn’t come easily. Neither did deciding how often to drop the facade. Sometimes, she had to be calm and collected, even around Cole. But how was she supposed to know when those times were?
Cole pulled Sombra out of her thoughts by placing a gentle kiss on her forehead. “Look, Darlin’,” he mumbled against her skin, “if you want to work that bad, I won’t stop you. Just… please don’t push yourself too hard.” The concern and pleading in his tone made Sombra’s heart jump.
“What… what would you recommend I do? Instead of work?” she asked, smiling when Cole lit up at her question.
“I’ll show you,” he said, standing up from the bed. Sombra went to follow him, but was stopped from moving when Cole scooped her into his arms and lifted her from the bed.
She let out a shriek of surprise, digging her nails into his biceps to steady herself. “You better not drop me,” she threatened as he carried her out of their bedroom.
Cole chuckled, looking down at her adoringly. “Don’t you worry, Darlin’. I’ve got you,” he reassured, carrying her out to the living room before laying her down on the couch. “See? You’re fine,” he said, looking far too smug.
Sombra rolled her eyes. “Whatever,” she grumbled, trying to fight the smile threatening to appear on her face. “So, what now?”
“Now, I wrap you in blankets and smother you with affection,” Cole said, already grabbing one of the blankets they kept near the couch and throwing it over her. Sombra let out a snort of laughter. “I’m serious, Darlin’!”
“I know,” Sombra replied, gaze soft as she observed him search for another blanket. “I love you, Cole.”
Cole paused his search, taking a moment to smile widely at Sombra. “I love you, too, Sombra.”
A moment of soft sweetness passed between them, before Sombra looked away. “Well? I’m still waiting on the rest of those blankets!”
Giggling, Cole resumed his search. “Anythin’ else you need while I’m at it, Dearest?”
“The Holovid remote. And takeout from that new place down the street. And your company. In that order,” Sombra demanded, making Cole laugh harder.
“You got it, Ma’am,” he said, giving her a two-fingered salute before wandering to their room in his search for more blankets. Sombra sighed, sinking into the couch.
Despite her migraine, it turned out to be a very good day.