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Fiddleford checked the clock on her nightstand, and it broadcasted 1:37 am. Great, her odds of getting a decent amount of sleep had greatly decreased. She had been trying to knock out for hours, but something was keeping her awake. Or or more accurately, someone was.
She looks over to the desk on the opposite side of the room, and can’t help but groan when she sees her roommate still scribbling and muttering to herself. It had been hours since the library closed, forcing the brunette back into their cramped dorm room. Fiddleford wasn’t exactly sure why Ford felt the need to study so much, it may have been finals week, but that didn’t warrant an almost twelve hour study session with the walk back across campus as the only semblance of a break.
She loved living with Ford, don’t get her wrong, but something about the way she was so laser focused was starting to get… unnerving. She herself had studied for a solid six hours today, leaving the library before her friend, exhausted, ready for an actual meal and a proper night's rest.
A couple hours later when Ford did eventually come back, she wasn’t exactly in the mood to talk, or do much of anything other than study for that matter. She had mumbled a brief hello before dropping her backpack, switching on her lamp and getting straight to work. She didn’t even change into her house clothes, something she always did as soon as she got home, so Fiddleford knew she was serious about all of this.
That was an hour and a half ago, but she hadn’t moved from her spot since. Her friend was worried about her, so she decided to speak up.
“Ford.”
No response.
“Stanford…”
Again, there was nothing.
“Stanford Filbrick Pines you answer me right this instant.” That did it, as the aforementioned woman reluctantly raised her head and faced her roommate, letting out an exasperated sigh.
“Yes, Fiddleford? What could possibly be so important that you felt the need to interrupt me when I’m very obviously focused?”
“Oh, I don’t know, maybe the fact that it’s almost two in the morning and I can’t sleep with your darn light shining in my face. Come to bed, you’ve done plenty readin for tonight.”
“But F, it's finals season! I can’t just miss out on precious study time by sleeping! Besides, I’m already in the groove, and it's nice and quiet so I can actually cover the material in depth.” She stated it as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, which maybe it would have been had it not been so late.
But Fiddleford knew better than to let this continue, and reluctantly got up from her spot in bed. She crossed the short distance to where her closest friend was seated, and made an obvious signal that she was going to rest her hand on the other's shoulder.
“Ford, you know I appreciate you and your crazy ideas, but right now you need sleep. You're not even gonna remember half of this in the morning, so please, for the love of all things holy, come with me to bed.”
But Stanford was nothing if not incredibly stubborn. This was not something she was going to give up on easily, so with a pout the shorter woman turned back to her work, beginning her furious scribbling all over again.
Yet Fiddleford wasn’t a pushover either. She had expected a good amount of resistance from the other woman, and had already come up with a plan to coax her roommate back before she had even said a word.
Ford hadn’t been paying attention to what her friend was doing, assuming she had won and that Fiddleford, in defeat, was returning to try to get a modicum of sleep. But just as she finished up that line of thought, she felt a hand return to her shoulder and let out a little squeak, jumping slightly in her chair. The other woman gently shushed her, before lightly lifting both hands and placing them in the nest of curls. Ford wasn’t sure what the plan was, but she had spent far too long without making progress already, so she returned back to her task.
This was proving to be difficult, however, as Fiddleford had begun combing her fingers through the curls and massaging her scalp. It wasn’t exactly unwelcome, but it was definitely distracting. But when the hands disappeared, Ford couldn’t resist letting out a noise in disdain. She hadn’t even realized she had done so until her friend let out a small giggle at her reaction, and she couldn’t stop the blush that slowly began invading her cheeks.
“F, please. You know I can’t focus when you do that.”
The only response she got was a soft hum, and she felt Fiddleford lightly tap on her shoulder. Looking up, she saw her roommate holding the hairbrush she had gifted her for the holidays only a couple months prior. She had seen her friend struggle with her old one, an old brush that had belonged to her mother. It was not intended for curly hair whatsoever, so Fiddleford had scrounged up some extra cash to help her friend out.
As soon as Ford saw what was in her friend's hand, she knew she was done for. This wouldn’t be the first time that Fidds had combed her hair, as Ford had asked her a couple of times in the past to help her out when the task became overwhelming. She knew what to expect, and knew that there was no way around it, but that didn’t mean she was particularly happy about it.
Ford tried her best to focus on her work again. She had tried solving equations, taking more detailed notes, anything to keep her mind off of the soothing action. But it was inevitable that she would be slowly lulled to a dreamlike state from her friends’ gentle movements and soft humming. She wasn’t exactly sure what the southerner was singing, but she was sure of its effects on her.
Slowly, she eased her head back, allowing her friend to finish the job she started before staring up at her. The blonde had a cocky yet loving smile on her face, and bent down to place a gentle kiss on her friend's forehead.
They stayed like that for a couple of moments, drinking in the sight of one another and allowing the peace to envelop the two of them. Finally, Fiddleford pulled back, and Ford slowly rose from her seat and wandered over to her closet.
She switched into her pajamas, which consisted of a BMU shirt and her favorite green shorts, and turned to see her best friend waiting for her. Ever since their first night knowing each other and having to share a bed, they had both realized they preferred this arrangement.
Ford had originally chalked it up to it getting colder and the dorm rooms being poorly insulated, so she slept better when she was next to a source of heat. But now it was early June and the two were still connected at the hip. Sure, they didn’t always sleep side by side, occasionally feeling the need for space or a night alone, but those nights were getting few and far between. Something about having that security of not waking up alone had soothed their minds, and it had become second nature to crawl up next to each other and hold one another as they fell asleep.
Ford walked over to the bed and consumed her friend in a bear hug, wrapping as tight as she could and nestling into the other's chest. Fidds lightly draped her arms around her, and the two of them drifted off to sleep, not even bothering to turn off the desk lamp.
