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Jimin sighs - yet once again - and tries to not scowl. He tries his best - once again - to not turn to the other side of the bed. And he tries - very hard, once again - to not reach out and pull, or to scoot closer.
What's the use, really?
He brought this upon himself and even though it is bloody unfair, he must pay the price.
The digital wall clock hung opposite to their bed is now blinking 02:07 AM just like it blinked 01:53 AM and 01:39 AM.
Something close to a void is beginning to creep up inside of him and he curses himself for falling this weak. He hasn't felt this kind of ache in a long long time. And it reminds him of the times that will always be the bitter-sweet periods of his life - their lives.
It still leaves him baffled as to how he survived through those periods of separation. He can never understand how they stayed as strong as they did to make it work. Sure, they put in a lot of effort - genuine effort - but despite their unwavering commitment to one another, it always took a toll upon them. And though he had been the stronger one most of the times, it'd be ridiculous to not point out the many many times when he had been on the crumbling edge and sought comfort, reassurance, strength, hope and courage from his sweet, strong Bambi eyed blessing.
'C'mere' , he hears the phantom sleepy call slithering into his longing thoughts, and despite knowing better, he turns - only to promptly curse himself. Because now, it has become real, and now, it hurts more. Bloody hurts to see the cold empty side of the bed.
Ridiculous, he chides himself.
He knows. Oh, Jimin absolutely knows that this is not another long-distance relationship period of his life. He knows that he's no more in University and his Kook in High School. He knows it's no more their military assignment. He knows it's no more him undergoing Police training and Jungkook finishing his graduation. He knows that this time it's just Jungkook attending his cousin's wedding. He knows that it's all but a week. He knows it's already been three days now - insanely painful three days, mind you - and it's just a matter of another three once this night passes. He knows it all, all to well.
But damned be his heart.
Damn his heart that has begun to spiral into it's 'Kookie deficiency' mode, or so Jungkook has named it - shoulders shaking with laughter as he gathered a very pouty, moody, sulky Jimin who decided to go all Koala and cat-like, curling and snuggling and hiding himself in Jungkook's warm chest, refusing to let the man even pee in peace - when Jimin came back home after five very long months (of his eighteen month training period).
Kookie deficiency, indeed - Jimin pouts.
He lets his fingers brush along the cold sheets, body aching with a need that somehow goes beyond physical. Is it possible to miss someone so bad, so hard that your entire being aches? Skin, muscles, tendons, fibres and bones?
If one were to ask Jimin, he'd say 'Yes - most certainly, yes.'
He fists the sheet and rolls over to the other side - the cold and empty side -, and pushes his face against the pillow - the cold and empty pillow - and inhales. A scowl makes it to his face when all he can smell is the faint lingering scent of his man.
He knows he should sleep. That his battered body and abused mind - thanks to the case he's been working on and has finally closed late this evening (credits to his phenomenal team) - need their much deserved sleep, especially after a week's marathon on coffee and advils and energy drinks. That it's way too late in the night for someone who has an insanely early start the coming morning (to wrap up the case in official norms and terminology - the very case that stopped him from accompanying his man on the trip). He knows it.
He also knows that he is being ridiculous and maybe a little petty too. Clingy, needy and childish.
He knows.
But despite all that, he simply can't help but crave.
Crave for the grounding warmth, the soothing touch, the welcoming smile, the familiar weight, the beckoning eyes, the calming breath, the lulling voice, the mop of unruly hair, and just...just his reassuring presence.
Crave for the arms that wind around him, pulling him just a bit more closer, squeezing him.
Crave for the fond love and sparkling stars shining bright at him, telling him 'Told you, you would solve this, Hyung, didn't I?'
Crave for those fingers and lips that congratulate him and tell him how much he's prided in and just how much he is loved.
Jimin simply can not help but crave for his Man. It is as simple as that. Jungkook's love is what keeps Jimin going the way he does. It's like, a part of him just shuts down when he goes through 'Kookie deficiency', and he doesn't like it - not one bit.
With a groan, Jimin grabs his phone and opens the chat - the one he has read and reread more number of times than it can be deemed sane.
He scrolls up to the start of the day and slowly begins to scroll down all the selfies and pictures and messages Jungkook has sent over the day.
By the time he reaches the last message, the smile on his lips gets morphed into a subtle pout. The longing he hasn't felt in years is now quickly clawing it's way into him, nestling into his heart with that age old familiarity. And even though it might seem like an exaggeration (even to him, come morning), right now, in the confines of their empty flat and cold sheets, he feels suffocated. Sure, Jimin has been through this for days at a stretch - months even - but still, it's not something one would get - or like to get - familiar with. It brings back the dread more than the hate.
He zooms in at Jungkook's selfie - the one with his cousins and the groom to be - and runs his thumb along the peach dusted cheeks.
He's happy, Jimin smiles fondly.
Jungkook has always liked winters over summers. He has always liked his cousins - the groom-to-be is his favourite amongst the bunch - and they are one remarkable bunch, Jimin can attest. So he is glad - truly glad - that his man is having a good time around. But that doesn't mean it makes him miss him any lesser.
And for someone who doesn't like too much crowd or too much noise or too much light for long periods of time, Jungkook is soft - so so soft - for weddings.
'The Happily Ever After, Hyung', he'd smile wide, all toothy and happy - that classic bunny-like smile. And Jimin simply never has the heart to correct him that it's just the beginning. Not when his overgrown man-child looks up at him with all those galaxies hung in his wide doe eyes.
He might sound self-centric and downright apathetic but he doesn't really give a damn about anyone's 'Happily Ever After'. He is well aware that he can't control or change anyone's life - especially the ones that Jungkook oh-so-confidently and gleefully stated will have their 'Happily Ever After' because 'Hyung, they've taken such a big step. They'll definitely fight for it. They'll be happy.'
Jimin wishes that was the case, but he knows better. He is sure Jungkook knows better too, but he is way too optimistic for his good. Way too sweet and gentle and soft. So Jimin promised himself - a long long time ago - that he would give his Kook anything and everything he wants. And that includes his own 'Happily Ever After'. He'd fight for them, for what they have and what they will have.
His Jungkook might not realize it yet, but they've taken 'Such A Big Step' as well - and many at that. They have fought for one another, fought for their relationship and everything that stood between them and what they wanted for them. They've been happy, they are happy, and they will be happy.
Jimin promises - once again - to the bunny smiled, doe eyed, messy hair, happy man looking right at him through the photograph, that he will make sure of that.
~*•*~
Jimin carefully and quietly pulls over at his parents' house and sighs. He rests his head against the steering and takes a deep breath, trying to calm himself down - the adrenaline that pumped through him all this time has finally begun to subside, making space for exhaustion to slam right back in, leaving him with a throbbing head and an aching body.
He tilts his head over the steering, dimly noting both his and Jungkook's parents' houses bathed in gold and silver lights - credits to their shared space being used as the wedding reception area. There was a time - years ago - when the two houses were separated by a sorry excuse of a broken picket fence. Jimin doesn't quite remember the exact year or reason when their parents decided they didn't need any boundary wall or fence between the two houses. It eventually no longer was the Park's or Jeon's houses, but simply, their home.
Home.
'Missing home.'
Was one of the texts he got today from Jungkook. It was a simple selfie. Jungkook slightly slumped and pouting, sitting on the half decorated porch, flowers and fairy lights scattered around him. It was a rather cute picture, to be honest. And a rather warm message too.
But something about it, something even Jimin doesn't really have a complete idea of, pricked his heart. Jungkook is blessed with one pair of absolutely mesmerising eyes - the eyes that can hold galaxies in them, sparkling and twinkling bright, the eyes that hold oceans of love and an unadulterated innocent curiosity. His eyes are always clear and deep and bright - one can simply read what's going on in his mind. The man is a pure, rare breed - a kind Jimin doesn't know if there exists let alone gotten extinct.
So when those eyes shone bright under the afternoon light - the thin layer of water coating the rim of his eyes could've been the reflection of the Sun, or a reaction to the pollen of the flowers, or because he was tired and yawning, or just because of the light and camera angle - something inside him twisted the wrong way. Everything seemed warm and happy in that picture.
But.
But, what if?
Then came the call. Around 10 in the night. It took all but a sigh - just one breathy, heavy, pained, drunken sigh. And Jimin was walking around their flat, trying to sound calm as he carefully listened to Jungkook telling him about his day - about how there always seemed to be work pending, how everyone is always in a rush, how everything always gets decorated and redecorated : 'It was fun the first two times, Hyung. But it's - I don't know exhausting and too much now.' How the events and parties kept coming and so did the people, how it kept getting too loud too quick, how he ended up slipping out and sitting underneath the tree in the far off corner of their backyard to call him. Jimin listened to it all, all the while packing the bare necessities he'd need to crash land at Busan.
'Hyung.' , was all Jungkook said ,- quiet and soft - after a moment of silence. In that exhausted, longing whisper - a tone Jimin has heard hundreds, or maybe thousands of times over their different periods of long distance relationship.
That was all it took for Jimin to abuse the accelerator and gear rod, driving his way to his man in the thick of the night.
It might seem as a haste reaction - an exaggeration or even an over reaction. But Jimin knows. He knows that pain all too well. Those demons and their aftermath. No matter how much they know that aren't ever going to go through those painful separations, Jimin knows that there will always be moments where they'd slip back to those hard, empty, longing nights.
He promised.
Jimin had.
To never ever put his Kook through that pain. Never again.
Jungkook had been strong. Oh, he really had been. Sometimes, he had been strong for the both of them. But it took a great toll upon that sweet, sensitive, kind and wonderful man. A toll that still has its tendrils alive inside of him, the ones that sometimes wake him up in cold sweat - aching and longing for Jimin, even though the said man is right by his side, arms curled around Jungkook's waist. And Jimin always, always pulls that angel of a man into his arms and kisses sweet nothings with words of love and reassuring touches, trying his best to rock him back to sleep.
So, when Jimin says that that 'Missing home' selfie and that sighed 'Hyung' are the preludes of trigger flags, then he's right. Because, Jimin knows. He knows, he's seen, he's been through it, he goes through it, he's watched Jungkook go through it, and he's been with Jungkook as he goes through it. So, Jimin knows.
He takes a deep breath, trying to push down that age old familiar ache and guilt weighing him down. The guilt of putting his sweet darling man through as much pain as he did will never leave him. But every time he's blessed with those galaxy filled doe eyes and bunny smiles and shaking shoulders and happy sighs, he lets himself breathe a little easier.
02:26 AM.
Jimin finally gets out of his car and walks up to the Jeon house. He'd visit his parents come morning. He needs to see his Kook first, and as heartless as he may sound at the moment, the rest of the world could simply wait.
"Jiminie?", Jungkook's Mom's voice breaks through Jimin's purposeful strides almost having him tripped over thin air. It's freaking half past two in the dead of the night, godammit! His surprised 'Eomma' gets engulfed in the warm squeezing embrace of the evidently pleased mother and Jimin finally relaxes, breaking into soft chuckles. "Good God, I missed you." , he hears her mumble into his chest, tugging him down and close.
"Let me look at you.", she pulls back a little and cups Jimin's face, pressing a kiss to his forehead , and Jimin feels like he's back to being the child with a scraped and bloodied knee - almost all the time. "Ah, thank Lord, you're here, Min-ah."
"Why are you still up? It's way past your bedtime, Eomma.", Jimin smiles all fond and warm - the striking resemblance in the way Jungkook hugs and his mother hugs, brings a strange calmness upon his distressed heart.
Jimin is met with a mock huff and a fond swat to his shoulder before he is pulled into the living room. He almost protests but then realizes he has missed Jungkook's mom - way too much. Both he and Jungkook have been blessed to have two sets of parents right from their very young age, and that fact never changed even when their relationship progressed from best friends to lovers.
Jungkook really brought in loads of joy, love and happiness into his life - even on a literal context - Jimin muses overwhelmed, and falls into a quick and easy talk with the doe eyed warm woman - circling around Seoul, his work, Jungkook's work, their health, lives, food, the wedding, his parents, Jungkook's parents, Busan, and finally the love of his life .
"He's been missing you.", she smiles, running her fingers through Jimin's hair.
Jimin sighs and leans into her touch, trying to not let his guilt get the better of him. "I know."
"It's not your fault, Min-ah.", she frowns as if she's aware of exactly what he's thinking and going through. "It's never been.", she repeats softly, tugging at him to look at her .
"Feels like it is, though.", Jimin shakes his head mumbling, smiling sadly. "I could've- There must've been some other way. Something else I could've done. Stopped him or let go-" , Jimin frowns - the thought of not having Jungkook with him leaving a bitter taste in his mouth, no matter how hypothetical it is.
"Do you regret it?", Mrs. Jeon asks, her voice holding the warmth and comfort Jimin really needs at the moment.
Jimin shakes his head. "No. Never." He takes a shaky breath, trying to articulate his troubling thoughts. "I- It's not- I just wish it was less painful. It hurts to see him hurting. And what I see is just the aftermath. How did he go through all of that alone, Eomma? I should've known better. He was just a baby."
Mrs. Jeon stares and then bursts into a hearty laughter. It doesn't help that one of the most promising Homicide Detectives of Seoul is sitting infront for her like a wounded puppy whining and scowling. Instead, she bursts into another fit of chuckles and at how unbelievably love sick the man looks and once she finds herself relax, she pulls his cheeks - adoring. "You're just two years elder to him, Min. Stop addressing him like he's your grand child."
"Oh, he's definitely not my grand child-"
"It was my concealer you borrowed the first time, so yes. I'm aware."
"Eomma. I'm talking about your son. Have some sha-"
"I was the one that bought you your first condoms, so shush?"
Jimin tries his best to keep up with the banter but eventually falls quiet, his cheeks and neck flushed red. Goodness. No matter how close he is with Jungkook's mother, there's a line beyond which he can not indulge about his sex life with the said partner's mother of all people.
Mrs. Jeon waits a moment and begins gently. "He's never been alone, Min. You made sure of that.", she smiles fond and warm, watching quietly as the gears slowly creak, turn and realign in Jimin's head, and waits till she gets a nod from him.
With a satisfied nod to herself once she sees something akin to calmness settle upon his tensed face, "Now, go.", she chuckles, ruffling Jimin's hair. "You're surprising him, if I'm not wrong?"
The smile on Jimin's lips gets wiped away and a frown settles between his brows. "Just...something felt odd."
"And you think you could've done something different.", she points out amused and fond, taking Jimin's hand into her's.
"Min-ah, you two have always been inseparable. So connected and aligned, it scared us for a couple of years. It was like there's no two people. It's always been Jimin and Jungkook. Always together. A single entity.", her smile grows adoring and reminiscing as she continues recalling in a soft voice.
"Even as you grew older and began to develop your own personalities, you both have always been attuned to one another. As if you had some telepathic link. Like the red thread binding? It was completely new and scary for us to face that as parents."
Jimin listens stunned and curious. He never knew this part of their story - the other side of it. Sure, there have been times - way too many times - where he wondered how their parents were such open and healthy minded people. He always thought they've just gotten lucky and been blessed. He didn't know that their parents put in a lot of conscious and consistent effort.
"How- How did you-", he couldn't bring it in him to finish his question. He couldn't bring it in him to think about having lived a life with his Jungkook in any other way than he did. A wave of gratitude settles inside him - heavy but warm. And suddenly, all the guilt and worries he had come here burdened and suffocated with, begin to slowly vaporise.
"Because we knew.", she smiles wide, squeezing his palm as if it were that simple - as if that was all that mattered. "We knew that come what may, you guys will make sure that you look after the another. That you will always be Jungkook and Jimin. We didn't know if you guys would get into a relationship - that wasn't even our first thought - but we knew that you'll always be together. And happy. And we were right."
Jimin lets those words wrap around him - his space, skin and air. And then sink in slowly, penetrating through the cracks of the thick wall of fear, guilt and pain - embedding in like gold between the cracked pottery. "You were right.", he softly mumbles back.
"Mhm."
Jungkook and Jimin. A single entity.
Words that couldn't describe them more better, Jimin grins, all too pleased and finally calmed.
Come what may, you guys will make sure that you look after the another.
Jimin couldn't help but succumb to the overwhelming love, warmth filling him up, expanding inside him - pushing against his lungs, stomach and heart, pulsing through his veins, nerves and cells.
"He keeps me happy.", Jimin states softly, watery eyed, looking down at his enclosed palm. "He really makes me happy, Eomma."
"You make him happy too, Min. And it shows."
Jimin knows he does. He is not going to brush off any credit. But... Jungkook is different. The way he does it, it's different. It's wholesome, pure and consuming.
A heady mix of divinity and sin.
Addicting.
That's what Jungkook's love feels like. Addicting, in a good healthy way. And Jimin didn't know how to tell that, especially with all his emotions running raw and wild with their skins peeled back.
So he shakes his head and looks up at her, trying to string simpler words. "He's- it's different, Eomma. He loves different. He loves like no other. Just- I can't tell you how much he-", emotions unfiltered and intense rack through him, leaving him trembling, and Jimin doesn't really know why.
Maybe it is because he's exhausted and close to collapsing, or maybe because he's too vulnerable thanks to having lived without his man for five days straight now. Or maybe because it's the dead of the night and that's when all the real conversations happen. Or maybe simply because it's Jungkook's mom and he's held in a lot of stuff for a very long time and the dam just burst open.
Mrs. Jeon gives it a minute, letting Jimin gather himself. And then adds dead-panned, "I'm glad. He knows I'd kick his butt to Pluto if he'd ever hurt my Minnie."
Jimin blinks and bursts into a fit of laughter, snorting through his running nose and wet eyes. There's a reason he loves sharing everything under the Sun with Mrs.Jeon. It just comes naturally.
"Your son wouldn't even hurt a fly, Eomma.", he presses the heels of his palms to his eyes, chuckling, thankful for the way she lit up the atmosphere with such expertise.
"And careful. He's quite possessive when it comes to me.", he adds in cheekily, wiping away his nose.
"And just where do you think he's got that trait from?"
~*•*~
Jimin hadn't really ever tiptoed in his - his parents' - house. He never had any reason or need to. But at twenty five - going close on twenty six - he feels uncharacteristically close to a teenager who is trying to get back home in the ungodly hours of the dawn, after a really long night filled with booze and bass - a night he had been strictly prohibited from attending.
He knows it's absurd. Ridiculous, even. And that he can walk like any other normal twenty five year old human would in the confines of their home. But for some reason, he feels like his mother would appear right around the corner and whoop his arse for even thinking about disturbing her darling Jungkookie's sleep.
Yes, Park Jimin's mother adores the Jeon offspring way more than she loves her own child.
But then again, Jungkook has always been her child just like Jimin is Jungkook's mom's.
When Jungkook's Mom told him that he had been sleeping in Jimin's room for the last two days, Jimin felt a strange pain clench around his heart - a pain entangled and embraced by warm love and adoration. He could understand both sides of that action. The pain of missing and longing, as well as the affection and love behind wanting to be close to your significant other in your own little ways. And Jimin knows for a fact that no one can tug at his heart strings the way Jungkook does with actions that are so simple and naive and yet so deep and meaningful.
Can you fall in love with a person you are already in love with heads over heels, one more time all over again?
Jimin would say 'yes, definitely yes.'
The moment he opens his old room's door, he is met with a sight so beautiful, so familiar, it knocks him off his breath.
Over the entirety of the life he's lived, there have been thousands of nights that saw Jungkook in Jimin's room and Jimin in Jungkook's - falling asleep, together, in one another's bed, even long before they began to have a romantic relationship.
But watching Jungkook in his bed - curled up in his sheets like an infant, duvet pulled and tucked under his chin, face flushed and glowing in the soft light of his room, his palms fisted and peeking through, his eyes shut peaceful, hair ruffled and tousled, and those sinful lips pulled into a soft pout - brings back memories of another lifetime. Of times when they were besties, two innocent, sweet kids free of any and every burden of real life, two unadulterated souls just loving and living their best lives.
Years have passed, Jimin muses in awe, leaning onto the door frame, taking a moment to watch the cherub of his man - his best friend, his fort, his pillow, his lover, his...home - and yet it never fails to warm his heart to see Jungkook in his room, in his bed, fast asleep with not a single worry as if the room were his own (which isn't far from the truth). Those tingles along his spine that spread to his nerve ends and the tips of his fingers and the roots of his scalp, that stutter and pace of his heart, that fuzzy ball somersaulting in the pit of his stomach - nothing really has changed. Not even now, after all these years, even after they've been together for years now. It's still the same.
Jungkook ignites and sets Jimin alive.
And so Jimin watches. Quiet. Warm. And overwhelmed. He simply watches the core of his existence sleeping like a baby - a precious pure blessing that he is. He lets that picture imprint into his memory - onto his very soul, and every crack and valley of his dark thoughts. He lets it sit there and light up bright and warm, dismantling all his demons.
The moment looks extremely simple but Jimin knows how deep and important it is. That when he'd miss his Kookie the next time around, this would be the first picture his mind would conjure up, to calm his distressing anxiety.
So, he watches. Takes a moment and two. And more than just two. Lets it become a moment for him to cherish. And then pushes himself off the doorframe and walks in, closing the door behind him quietly.
He needs to be with his angel.
Pronto.
The soft light of the floating moon (a bed-lamp that Jungkook and he had bought not too long ago for their rooms both at Seoul and Busan - because, 'Hyung, look how pretty it is. Aesthetic too. And it reminds me of you. Of us. I really like it, Hyung.') from the bedside table makes it easy for Jimin to navigate through his room without bumping into anything and end up alerting and waking up his boyfriend. He simply wants to sleep tonight. Pull his man closer, cuddle him, breathe his scent and simply sleep. That's the plan for the night. The rest can wait till morning.
He shrugs out of his hoodie and jeans, and quietly slips under the covers in just his boxers. Something about that action is so familiar and ingrained into their subconsciousness, that Jungkook shuffles in his sleep, making space for Jimin and turns around to face him - all the while sleeping.
Jimin stills momentarily, the simple act bringing his already exhausted and overwhelmed self to his knees. He quickly settles in and wraps his arms around his man; but when Jungkook sighs and scoots closer, wrapping himself around Jimin, his head nestled in Jimin's nape, his pouty lips and eyelashes brushing against Jimin's hot skin, his fingers digging into Jimin's waist , legs wrapped and locked around Jimin's, Jimin simply can't help but tear up.
It quickly dawns upon him that this isn't the first time their minds and bodies have reacted this way to one another - aligned and attuned, like Mrs. Jeon said. And that realization makes him gasp for breath, fresh set of tears lining up his eyes and Jimin tries his best to look up and blink them back.
How in the wretched hell did he never take a moment to recognize and appreciate all this? These simple but important moments? Little acts and habits that cemented themselves in their lives - the domestic, soft, small ones - that define just how beautiful his life is with Jungkook?
Has he, unintentionally begun to take them for granted?
The very thought punches Jimin in his gut and he almost winces as if he's been kicked physically.
Muscular hands around him tighten their hold and curl, pulling him closer, breaking Jimin off his thoughts. He looks down wide eyed at the unruly mop of raven hair sticking up at odd angles, breaking his lips into a shaky smile. Trust Jungkook to make him smile in the midst of a crisis moment he's been having.
"Shh, Hyung.", he hears Jungkook mumble sleepy and rasped, his voice all hoarse from the deep slumber, causing Jimin to jump slightly. He wasn't expecting that.
"It's okay. I'm here.", he continues and Jimin almost breaks into a sob. How in the world did he get as lucky and blessed as he did to have Jungkook in his life the way he does?
Hell yes, it's okay now. He will be okay. His Jungkookie will make sure of it.
The palm resting against his waist comes up to his chest, and nimble, drowsy fingers pat against his heart - uncoordinated and faint. "I got you, Hyung. Sleep."
He's done this before. Probably hundreds of times. Sure, Jimin has done it too whenever Jungkook stirred in sleep - muscles all taut and coiling. But to watch and hear Jungkook do it to him, when he's wide awake and the sweet man is neck deep in his sleep and yet react to him tensing underneath him - it just pushes Jimin off his precipice of falling in love with his lover, all over, once again, irrevocable and unrelenting.
"I love you, Jeon Jungkook.", he states - quiet and firm -, bending and pressing a lingering kiss to Jungkook's lips
He then takes a heavy breath, smiles all watery and giddy in joy and moves back up to pull Jungkook closer, pressing his lips to the latter's forehead, staying there as he lets himself have his moment.
Jungkook snuggles closer and mumbles something low and incoherent but somehow, Jimin knows it is 'I love you right back, Park Jimin.' He can infact hear that heavenly voice say those words with love, adoration, joy and a hint of mischief - he can hear it all too clear, even the tilt at the end of his name.
He smiles fond and warm, softly patting Jungkook's back as he begins to shuffle and snuggle till he finds his comfy spot and settles over Jimin all hands and legs and chest and stomach. Jimin simply waits and watches, chuckling quietly and once the man above him goes back into his steady rhythmic breath, he pulls the covers around them tighter, inhales the citrus and mint scent of the mop of the hair, and lets himself relax and sigh.
He's finally home. And tonight, he will having his much needed peace and sleep.