Work Text:
I'm hungry.
•••
Cassidy hated when she couldn't go to sleep for no reason at all, and she hated it more when she woke up in the middle of the night for, again, no reason at all. It was mainly because the silent darkness made her thoughts wander. Sometimes, she didn't see what the point of sleeping was, but at least it made her unaware of her surroundings for a little bit. What was she supposed to do when she woke up and all she could do was stare at the ceiling as she hoped sleep came again before her mind wandered too far?
Well, that was before she started living with Eva.
Sleep came easier to her after they started sleeping together. How could it not, when Eva was so warm? Cassidy usually needed a few blankets to stay warm, but she only needed one good blanket now. It meant she could more easily force Eva to cuddle her too. Life really did feel better after Eva entered it.
Tonight, however, she had woken up in the middle of the night even with Eva right next to her. At least this time, she knew why she woke up before her mind wandered too far. She thought about completing her task by herself, but after taking one look at Eva, she gently shook her to wake her up.
When Eva started opening her eyes, Cassidy whispered to her, "Can you come get pretzels with me?"
She sighed. "Are you serious?"
"I'm very serious," she replied as seriously as she could.
She mumbled something, then said, "Give me a minute..."
Less than a minute later, Eva got up. There were no pretzels at home, so they had to go out. Fortunately, there was a convenience store nearby that was open 24/7, and Cassidy knew that they sold pretzels.
As they left their home, Eva asked her, "Why do you even want pretzels anyway?"
"I don't know," she admitted. "I kinda just woke up and started craving them."
"And you needed me to come with you because...?"
"Because I didn't want to go alone."
Eva mumbled something that sounded like she was annoyed, but she reached out for Cassidy's hand nonetheless. She had felt too tired to put her glasses on, and other than her shoes, she only wore a hoodie over her pyjamas. It wasn't too cold outside, but just in case, Cassidy sped up their pace the fastest it could be while Eva still felt comfortable.
When they got to the convenience store, Cassidy directed them straight to the pretzels. There were different kinds of pretzels being sold, so she asked Eva, "Which one do you want?"
Eva squinted. Cassidy couldn't tell if it was because of the lack of glasses or because of the pretzels. "I hate this much salt..."
"What about some other snack?"
"I'm not hungry."
"Suit yourself." Cassidy looked for the pretzels that had the least amount of salt. Since they were here, she looked around for other snacks.
"I thought we were just here for pretzels," Eva said when Cassidy began looking through the candy that was being sold.
"This is for later," she said. "This way, I won't have to wake you up at, what, 2:00 A.M., 3:00 A.M. again to get more snacks."
Eva wasn't dumb, so she probably noticed that all the snacks she was picking out, apart from the pretzels, were all snacks that were Eva's favourites. At least she was too tired to point that out.
After Cassidy paid for all her snacks, they left the convenience store. Cassidy planned to bring them both straight home, but Eva wanted to stop and sit on a bench.
"Are you sure?" Cassidy asked her. "It's kinda cold, and you're tired."
She shrugged. "You're hungry, so you might as well eat now..."
Cassidy smiled and kissed her cheek.
Cassidy was the one to sit down first, and she opened the bag of pretzels. Eva sat next to her. She pulled her knees to her chest, and she rested her head on Cassidy's shoulder. Mid-eating, Cassidy noticed that Eva's breathing had begun to steady.
"I told you we should've gone home," she said, "but it's okay. I can carry you back to bed."
"I'm fine," she mumbled. "I'm just resting my eyes..."
"And if you rest your eyes enough that I'll need to carry you home?"
"That won't happen..."
"Sure it won't," she teased. "You know, Eva, you're very pretty when you sleep."
She sighed. "Cass, please, it's the middle of the night. I'm not doing this right now..."
She decided that she would shut up, but just to be safe, she added, "You really are pretty, though. You always are."
Her voice softened when she said, "Thank you."
She smiled. "Just stating facts."
It was also a fact that Cassidy was totally willing to at least try to carry Eva back home if Eva had fallen asleep or even if Eva just felt like being carried home. Eva wanted to walk herself, though, which was fine. When they got home, Cassidy went to put the snacks she bought into the pantry, while Eva went straight to bed. A few minutes later, after all the snacks were safely stored away for later use, Cassidy joined Eva in their bedroom. Eva was already in her bed. At first, Cassidy thought she was asleep, but she then noticed that Eva was still awake, even if it was only barely.
Cassidy got into bed with her. She moved closer to kiss Eva on her forehead. She whispered, "Thanks again for getting up to go buy pretzels with me."
Eva didn't say anything. She only embraced her and closed her eyes. Soon, she actually did fall asleep. Cassidy smiled, admiring how peaceful she looked. Eventually, she fell asleep as well. Unlike in the past when she was up in the middle of the night, there was not one dark thought anywhere in her mind.