Work Text:
Horace blinked himself awake, his mind still foggy with the haze of sleep. It took him a moment to process that he was awake now, and it took him another, longer moment to process why he had woken up.
He could hear the faint sound of what sounded like muffled sobs coming from... Somewhere nearby. Before he could even think too hard about it, his knee jerk reaction was to just be mildly annoyed. It's the middle of the night, he thought to himself, I just want to go back to sleep.
After the sound didn't cease after a small amount of time, the fog of tiredness in his brain cleared, and his mind began to put the pieces together. He realized, rather quickly after that, that the sound was coming from the bunk underneath his. Simon's crying, he thought, and any irritation was immediately replaced with concern.
"Mm... Simon?" He asked, quietly, managing to find the energy to roll over and peek downwards - though, he still couldn't see the other boy in the darkness of the room.
A beat of silence. Then, a shaky voice that sounded maybe a little angry but mostly just exhausted, "What is it?"
"Are you crying?" He asked, softly, now almost fully awake. Another beat of silence.
"... No." A sniffle. His voice still sounded unsteady, like he was just barely repressing another sob. "Go back to sleep, Horace." In reply, Horace frowned, then huffed.
Horace felt his annoyance return. Stuff like this had been happening for a couple of weeks, at this point. Simon would be obviously upset, but he would deny it, and wouldn't stop denying it until Horace finally caved and dropped the issue. It was weird, and it wasn't like him. And while Horace would admit he wasn't particularly observant, he had also noticed that Simon had seemed incredibly tired as of late, and that he had been strangely anxious around Ms. Roland. (Though, when Horace had tried to ask him about that, Simon had blown up at him. So, he was rather uninterested in pushing about that specific issue.)
... Still. If Simon wasn't gonna let up, he could adapt. And this time, Horace wasn't going to let it go so easily. Being all moody was one thing, but he refused to just do nothing while his best friend was crying. What kind of guy did Simon take him for?
"Don't be dumb. I'm not going back to sleep until you tell me what's wrong." He responded, and though he waited for a good few seconds, he got no reply in return. He huffed again. Fine, he thought. Be stubborn all you want, but you're not getting rid of me just by giving me the silent treatment.
Carefully, and as quietly as possible, he swung his leg down and climbed down the bunk bed, and then sat down on Simon's bed. He had done it enough times by now to do it quickly and efficiently. The boy was rolled over, so his back was facing Horace. It was then he noticed that he also seemed to be shaking, which only caused Horace's worry to grow.
"Hey. Don't ignore me." He said, and poked Simon's back. It was a little childish, maybe, but Simon was the one who acted childish first, so he would consider it fair enough. The other boy made a small grunt of acknowledgement, or perhaps just annoyance, but still didn't turn back around to face him.
He scoffed, and poked him again. "C'mon, Si. I know you're crying. You already woke me up, so at least talk to me." He said, and he frowned again. "You're being weird. Did you have a nightmare or something?"
There were a few more moments of silence before Simon sat up - though, his head was still turned away, seemingly really not wanting to look at Horace right now.
"I... Yeah." He murmured, his tone all soft, which was how he got when he really didn't wanna answer a question. "I had a nightmare. Sure." Horace raised an eyebrow in reply. He didn't sound very sure to him, and Horace knew Simon a lot better than the other boy seemed to think he did.
"Hey, you can tell me if something is wrong." Horace replied, quietly, hoping that he sounded as earnest as he felt. "What, do you think I'll think you're being stupid or something? Because, I -" he wanted to promise Simon that that wasn't the case, but abruptly stopped when Simon just shook his head before he could even finish his sentence.
"No," the other boy said, a little sharply. "Just - it's fine, Horace. It's fine. I had a nightmare, you're right, but now I'm fine." He said, his voice cracking a bit as he continued to tell the blatantly obvious lie. Another flicker of frustration went through Horace, but it left as soon as it came. He could never get mad at Simon, no matter how much he might've wanted to. His brain just wouldn't allow it.
"... Okay," he responded, deciding he wasn't going to push him further on it, even if he could tell he wasn't telling the truth. Frustrating, but they could talk about it all another time. Right now, it seemed like Simon just wanted to be left alone, but Horace wasn't going to just leave him to stew in his misery.
There was another moment of silence, as Horace mulled over his options. He didn't wanna be weird, but he knew he had to comfort him somehow. And if Simon didn't want to discuss it, then...
He cleared his throat, making a decision that he hoped would be the right one. "Hey. Look at me." He said, his tone becoming a little firm. After no response, physical or verbal, Horace sighed. "Seriously. If you don't wanna talk, that's fine; you don't have to. But just look at me? Please?"
Simon hesitated for a moment, but then obliged him, turning his head to face him. His eyes had adjusted well enough to the darkness by now, and he winced a little when he saw Simon's face. His eyes were red and his face was flushed, which made Horace think he had been crying for a while. He opted not to think about just how long.
Horace reached out, and then pulled Simon into a tight hug. Simon made a little noise of surprise - Cute, Horace thought, but then immediately shoved the thought away, not wanting to make it weird - and briefly stiffened, but then went limp in his arms.
"I'm here. Okay?" He whispered to the other boy. "You don't have to be scared, Simon. I won't let anybody hurt you. I promise."
Simon's body tensed again, but he still leaned into the hug, wrapping his arms around Horace in return. Horace then heard a quiet sob come from the boy, and tightened his grip on him, hoping that it was helping at least a little bit.
He knew that it was way too late for them to stay up for much longer, and he knew that when he pulled away from the hug, his shirt was probably gonna be all wet. But, he didn't really mind.
It was stupid and mushy, and he would never be caught dead saying it aloud, especially not to Simon's face... But... For Simon, he'd stay up all night if he had to. Just to let him know he wasn't alone. Just to let him know it would all be okay.