Work Text:
3:00 A.M. Mattholomule was still not asleep. The light of his scroll hadn’t been a distraction for hours, now a harsh glare that bored into his skull. He couldn’t look away though. It just wasn’t worth it, like the half-kicked-off blankets draping over his sweaty legs. He’d been lying here for hours. And for what? He was just getting more and more exhausted — more and more miserable — but no closer to sleep.
3:01 A.M. The clock in the corner of his scroll ticked along, agonizingly slow. What was even the point of lying here? It wasn’t like he was going to sleep anytime soon. Might as well get some work done on the graveyard to rub in Gus’ face.
Matt: hey loser >:p gonna go get my grind on at the graveyard. You wish you were this determined.
His arm flopped back to his side as he stared up at his floating screen. Now he just had to get out of bed. Before he could do so though, a new message popped up.
Gus: Oh no you don’t!
Gus: It’s 3 am, you are not going off in the woods on your own! >:(
Matt: It’s 3:02 actually
Matt: why the heck are you awake
The little typing symbol popped up for several seconds. Went away. Came up again for a little longer, then disappeared again. Finally a response popped up.
Gus: Well, why are you up right now?
Matt: Because I’m better than you
Matt: only weaklings need more than five hours of sleep
Gus: You know, that certainly explains the dark circles.
Matt: are they really that obvious?
Gus: Please, I’m an illusionist. It’s my job to notice small details.
Gus: But yeah, definitely.
Matt rolled his eyes. Great. Maybe he could steal some concealer from his sister or something to hide them. Although… no one else had pointed them out. Maybe he could get away with it at Hexside. While he was turning that over in his head, a small chime brought his gaze back to the scroll.
Gus: Hey
Gus: You wanna come over to my house?
Matt: Why?
Gus: Is my illustrious presence not enough for you?
Matt snorted. Oh, this old game. Nothing like some banter to pass the night.
Matt: Don’t kid yourself, dork.
There was a pause. A couple minutes trickled slowly by.
Gus: Please?
The word seemed to stand out on Matt’s screen. That… was unusual. Definitely a lot more direct and less witty than he’d expected. He swung his legs over the side of the bed and sat up.
Matt: yeah, sure
Matt: Be there soon.
He started changing back into his day clothes. There were certainly worse ways to spend a sleepless night than hanging out with Gus. Most of them were, actually.
~~~
It was cold in the house, and Gus’ eyes didn’t leave his scroll as he shivered under his covers.
Be there soon.
Be there soon.
His eyes flicked up to the clock. Five minutes had passed. Matt would be getting here soon, right? He just had to keep reading the message and not think about— Blood on the tile. His mom collapsing. Rattling coughs and calling for help and—
Be there soon.
A long, shaky breath in. A long, shaky breath out. His ribs ached as they expanded and contracted.
Be there soon.
Six minutes. Why did the nightmares always come when no-one was around? When his dad was out on a night shift and his bed was empty when Gus came?
When it was just him
all alone
with the nightmares.
Be there soon.
~~~
Matt: I’m here
Matt: Come open the door before I bang it down
Matt leaned against the side of the house. His walk here had been uneventful, but you could never be too careful, even if this was a nicer part of town. It was a nice night though. Toxic fumes from the gutters aside, the walk had done him some good and though he was still exhausted, he felt at least a little better.
The lock on the door clicked next to him, and he turned as it opened. “Matt! There you are!”
Gus… did not look good. His eyes were puffy and slightly unfocused, and his skin was slightly ashy.
“Woah, you look like shit,” Matt blurted out, and immediately regretted it when Gus’ eyes started welling up with tears. “Wait, I didn’t mean that! I, uh— why’d you want me to come over?”
Matt also regretted that as soon as it came out of his mouth. It was pretty obvious why Gus had wanted him to come over, he was obviously sick. Why that meant Matt had to come over though was still unclear. Maybe it wasn’t a stupid question after all. Wait, why wasn’t Gus responding? They were just staring at each other awkwardly!
Gus seemed to realize this at the same time and shook his head. “Oh, well, you see, my dad wasn’t home— but I don’t mean that in the kissing way!” he clarified hurriedly.
Matt blushed. “What do you mean the kissing way?”
“My dad says when the people in shows say their parents aren’t home it means they want to kiss the person they’re talking to. And I don’t want to kiss you. I mean I do. No, wait—” Gus flushed and slammed the door shut.
As Matt stood there trying to process that conversation, the door — somehow not closed even with the amount of noise it made — gently swung open, revealing Gus curled up on the floor facing away from the door, his shoulders shaking accompanied by faint sniffles.
“Gus? Are you… ok?”
Gus shook his head, almost imperceptibly. Okay, what to do now? He didn’t really have much experience with sick people. His brother though! He’d just do what his brother did whenever he got sick. First things first— check for a fever. He crouched down.
“Hey, I’m going to check your temperature, okay?” Matt said, parroting his brother. From what he’d heard from his brother, he used to have a tendency to bite at sudden touches when he was sick. He was pretty sure Gus didn’t do that, but better safe than sorry. When Gus nodded, he gently put his hand on his forehead. Gus flinched, then leaned into the touch slightly. He was burning up.
Matt stood up. “Alright, you are getting to bed, and then I’m getting you something hot to drink.”
“No!” Gus shot to his feet. “Not the bed! I don’t want to be alone!”
“Well you need to lie down somewhere!” Matt protested. He looked around. “Ok, how about the couch? I can make us some boiled bile and then sit down with you.”
Gus mumbled something.
“What’d you say?”
“—ounds… fine,” Gus got out, then collapsed to the ground.
Matt sighed. Of course he passed out. Why would his job ever be easy? Still, at least this meant he couldn’t protest the couch. With a bit of effort, he got his hands under Gus’s arms, and dragged him over to the couch, then — lifting with his knees like he’d learned in class — heaved him up onto the cushion. As he draped a nearby blanket over him, Gus sighed happily in his sleep.
Next step: boiled bile. As Matt rummaged around the kitchen trying to find all the ingredients, his mind was elsewhere. What did Gus mean with all that kissing talk? He wanted to kiss Matt? But also didn’t? Did that mean Gus... liked him? His ears flicked happily at that thought. He flushed and held them still. What was that supposed to mean? Did he like Gus too? Why was he so happy that Gus might like him?
...But wait, Gus was sick. That might’ve just been delirious rambling. And Gus did say he didn’t want to kiss Matt. Maybe—
Before Matt could think any further, he heard quiet whimpering from the other room. He started the kettle boiling, then went over to investigate. Gus was tossing and turning in his sleep. Fuck. Okay, first things first. Start the drinks.
Matt walked quickly back to the kitchen and started the kettle. Then he walked hurriedly back and shook Gus awake. “Hey dweeb, wake up!”
Gus shot bolt upright and Matt dodged back to avoid getting his head whacked. “ Dad, Mom’s—” Gus paused mid shout, looking around bewilderedly. “Wait, what? Where?”
“Hey, calm down. It was just a nightmare,” Matt reassured him. “Will you be fine for a couple minutes? I need to get the boiling bile.”
Gus just shook his head. “Don’t leave. The nightmares…” A tear trickled down his cheek.
With a sigh, Matt gave in and sat down next to him. The drinks weren’t that important anyways. They sat like that for a few minutes in silence. Matt was very conscious of Gus’ hand next to his, especially considering what Gus had said earlier. Maybe he should offer to hold hands. As a comfort thing, of course. Gus was in need of comforting right now, after all. He took a deep breath.
“So, uh, Gus,” He began, throwing together words in his head to try and make a phrase resembling an offering to hold hands without making it obvious he had a crush. Which he didn’t have. Maybe. “What are your opinions on, uh, expressions of physical affection?” Shit.
Gus blinked. “Well, since you ask, I think kisses are weird. You just shove your mouths together? What?” Warming up to the topic, he started gesticulating wildly. “ Especially if you use tongue, because apparently that’s a thing? Like, excuse me? Your tongue belongs in your own mouth, not someone else’s.” He paused. “Though I can make an exception for just tiny kisses. Like, just a touch of the lips is fine. Why do you ask?”
“I…” Mattholomule wasn’t sure what to say to that. Maybe the sickness was playing a role, because he definitely hadn’t expected a rant. Though to be fair, he had asked. Speaking of which. “I just wanted to know if you wanted to hold hands.”
“Oh.” Gus blushed. “Yeah.”
He reached out, and Matt took his hand. It was hot, but… it felt nice.
“Goodnight, Matt.” Gus leaned over onto Matt’s shoulder and closed his eyes.
“Oh. Goodnight,” Matt replied. His eyes were starting to get heavy, but maybe he’d just spend a little bit more time awake. Just in case Gus had another nightmare. Yeah.
~~~
When Perry came home from work the next morning, he found the two boys fast asleep on the couch, each leaning on the other. He shook his head and smiled fondly.
“Ah, young love.”