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Leo had taken two melatonin to help himself get to sleep, but that didn’t help him stay asleep, and he jerked awake with a gasp partway through the night, his shirt drenched in sweat.
After his car accident, it had become challenging to sleep all the way through the night. He had already had trouble with getting enough sleep, but now laying awake because of nightmares made it even harder. It was torture. He slowly pushed himself into a sitting position, pressing a hand to the sweat stain on the neck of his shirt. His head spun as if he’d hit it, and it made him feel sick to his stomach.
“Leo?”
Leo glanced across the room at Donnie’s desk, where the younger was sitting with his desk lamp aimed at a robotics project. It was obvious Leo jerking awake had scared him, as his hands still hovered over the machinery like he was suddenly afraid to touch it.
“What’s wrong?”
“Uh… migraine.” It wasn’t technically a lie. His head hurt and he was dizzy and nauseous. It just wasn’t because of a migraine. For a brief moment he thought he could taste metal in the back of his mouth when he focused on the collision spot on his head for too long, but it went away quickly.
Leo could hear Donnie set his tools down but he didn’t look, carefully carding a hand through his damp hair. Now that he was fully awake, he couldn’t really remember what had woken him up. Judging by the phantom pains in his head it must’ve been a brief reliving of the collision, but he had always had trouble recalling those memories.
“Here.” Leo jumped when Donnie handed him a fresh t-shirt. “You look gross.”
Leo chuckled and took it, pulling off his soaked one and pulling the fresh one on. It made him feel somewhat better, but not enough to try sleeping again. He was wide awake now. He watched out of the corner of his eye as Donnie sat back down with his chair turned to Leo’s bed.
“You should see a doctor.”
“What?” The statement felt like it came out of nowhere, and left Leo feeling lost and confused.
“About the nightmares.”
Leo grimaced and looked down at the sheets still covering his legs. He never talked about the nightmares, but he should’ve known Donnie would’ve picked up on it. They shared a room, after all. Any restlessness Leo suffered from, his insomniac brother would’ve immediately picked up on and kept a record of.
“It’s not that bad.”
“It is, Leo. You’ve just gotten really good at ignoring the problem.”
Leo slowly rubbed his face. Donnie was right. He’d gotten too used to just accepting things as part of his life. He probably did need to see a doctor.
“Even after your accident,” Donnie said exasperatedly. “You’re still running ninety to nothing. It’s exhausting to just watch.”
“Are you sympathizing, or scolding me.”
“Scolding you, since no one else will.” Donnie folded his arms. “... Your dismissal of your health is scaring me.”
That… hurt a bit. Not in a hurt feelings kind of way, but it made him feel a horrible pang of guilt. He didn’t mean to scare them, it was just… a bad habit he’d developed.
“I’m sorry Dee, that’s not what I meant to do at all.”
“I know. But I think it’s something you should know. I don’t mean to guilt-trip you, or anything, but-”
“But that’s the only way to get to me, I know.”
Leo stared at his hands and didn’t realize Donnie was sitting with him until he wrapped his arms around Leo in a tight hug.
“I love you,” Donnie murmured into Leo’s neck, holding him tightly.
Leo’s throat ached, and he wrapped his arms around Donnie in return, holding onto him.
“I love you too, Dee.”