Work Text:
An alarm pings at the edge of Eleanor’s awareness, but she blearily slams it off and grumbles, “Five more minutes.”
Beside her, Chidi rolls over and smiles at her. She moves towards him, wanting to curl up in his arms, but he gives a small shake of his head and says, “You have to wake up.”
That doesn’t sound right. “You mean get up? I’m already awake.” She grins at him. “Although I would love five more minutes to not be awake.”
Chidi shakes his head and gently says, “No. You have to wake up. Accept reality. The neighborhood needs you. I need you.”
Confusion swarms her brain, but all she can manage in her sleepy state is, “You’ll still be here, right? I won’t be…alone.” She briefly wonders why that’s her main concern, but the thought flits away like a butterfly before she can fully grasp it.
Chuckling, he presses a soft kiss to her forehead. It feels like a promise (or a lie, a little voice from some unknown corner of her consciousness whispers). “Of course not. I’ll always be here.”
“Fine. I’ll get up. Wake up,” she corrects herself, disorientation still clouding her sense of reality. “Whatever.”
Sadness blooms on Chidi’s face, but before she can ask him what’s wrong, he tells her, “I know this is hard. But I’m still here.”
Her brow crinkles. “I know.” She can sense there’s weight to his words, but she’s still not awake enough to process them.
Nodding, he kisses her forehead again. “Good. I’ll see you soon.” This time his touch feels like nothing but air.
She blinks, wanting to ask him one last question as her confusion begins to clear, but in the moment her eyes flutter closed, he’s gone.
•••
She always wakes up cold. And there’s a slight ache in her back from having slept curled in a ball all night, but it’s nothing compared to the ache in her heart. She always wakes up with tear tracks staining her cheeks, knowing that the dreams she invents for herself night after night are just that - dreams. Lies.
And she always wakes up alone.