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Birds are chirping, the sun spilling in through the cracks in the curtains. It’s cold, but delightfully so. Today will be a good day.
Merritt gets up to make coffee, only to find his fellow horseman already guzzling down a cup.
Daniel hasn't slept a wink since Henley left.
Merritt shakes his head at him and grabs himself a clean mug, filling it with the liquid joy he so required in the morning. He plops into a seat at the table, staring at his friend in front of him who hasn't bothered to look up from his laptop. Daniel's eyes are red rimmed, his face is pale as a ghost. If he didn’t have half a pot of coffee in him, Merritt would expect him to fall right asleep at any second. He can definitely make that happen if the need presents itself.
Merritt takes a sip from his mug while eyeing Daniel critically. "Please tell me you haven't been up all night."
Daniel ignores him at first, eyes locked on the screen in front of him. A few more seconds go by and he finally looks up with a sigh. He looks exhausted. That coffee doesn’t seem to do anything anymore.
"Couldn’t sleep."
Merritt's eyes go down to Daniel's shaking hands on the keyboard. He doesn’t like it, not at all. Daniel is usually the least self-destructive of the three of them, though that isn’t saying much. They're three grown men, so of course they're going to abuse their own bodies for the sake of fun. Daniel is the one who takes vitamins every day, who doesn’t like to drink in excess and who insists on eating healthy foods. Merritt knew it was just because Daniel was afraid of what would happen if his body wasn’t in peak condition.
When he gets in moods like these, though, all bets were off.
"Lemme guess, you haven't eaten, either." It isn't a question. Merritt knows. Daniel doesn’t say anything and Merritt sighs. He wonders how much weight the poor guy is gonna lose if he keeps this up.
A moment of silence goes by and he can practically see Daniel’s mind wander to Henley. He has subtle facial expressions and mannerisms when he thinks about her. It brings Merritt back to when he was younger, getting his heart broken all over the place. A guy like Daniel could find any girl he wants, but he’s always wanted Henley.
“Daniel, look at me.” Merritt’s taken by surprise when he actually does look up. Daniel’s eyes are weary. “Go. To. Bed. I ain’t saying it again.”
“I’m busy.” Daniel’s attention drifts back to his computer screen and Merritt catches it.
“Daniel.”
Daniel sighs, burying his head in his hands and grabbing at his hair before finally sitting back up. “Just- just fuck off, Merritt. Please.”
Merritt does. He makes some breakfast (and slides a plate Daniel’s way), watches some TV, and greets Jack as the youngest of them drags himself into the living room/kitchen area. “Look who decided to grace us with his presence,” Merritt smirks. Jack yawns.
“Morning.” He sees Daniel at the table. “Morning, Atlas.” And as usual, Daniel doesn’t say a thing to acknowledge him. Jack’s gaze goes to the empty coffee pot and Daniel’s empty cup, along with his uneaten breakfast. “Whoa, didn’t you sleep?”
“Don’t bother,” Merritt chimes from the sofa.
“Aren’t you the one always talking about how too much caffeine can mess you up and stuff? How much did you have?”
Merritt shakes his head. “Danny and I have already been there today.”
“You’re both wildly irritating, you know that?” Daniel finally says.
“We’ve been told, yeah,” Merritt says. Jack chuckles.
The rest of the day is uneventful. They’ve been waiting for Dylan to tell them what to do since Henley left, but Merritt’s been saying they shouldn’t get their hopes up. Dylan’s probably as out-of-the-loop as they are.
It’s that night before they go to bed that Jack and Merritt are carefully watching their friend. Daniel goes to his room, yeah, but he takes the computer with him and there’s no way he’s planning on sleeping. Merritt shrugs. Daniel’s a grown man. It’s his funeral.
Unfortunately, he can’t turn off his ability to be concerned. Merritt tries to sleep, but it’s useless. He hears similar sleepless shuffling from the room next to his - Jack’s. Jack’s door opens and closes and Merritt assumes that he’s just getting up to take a piss until his own bedroom door opens. Really, don’t bother knocking.
Jack stands in his room looking tired, hair going every which way. He looks at Merritt, who swings his legs to the side of his bed. He knows what Jack’s thinking, but the kid says it anyway.
“I’m worried about him,” Jack says, confirming Merritt’s assumption.
“I know. Me too,” He admits. Jack’s eyes seem to widen.
“Really?’
“Yeah, alright?”
“Well,” Jack stops to yawn, and then rubs at his eyes. “I can hear him typing, man. He doesn’t sound like he’s ever going to sleep.”
That was all it took for Merritt to get up. “C’mon, let’s go check on him.”
He lightly taps on Daniel’s door. When there’s no answer, he knocks a little louder.
“Go away.”
“Can’t do that. You’re keeping us awake with your loud non-sleep.” They hear a sigh.
The shuffling of blankets tells them that he’s getting up. Before they know it, the door opens and there’s Daniel, in pajama bottoms and a hoodie, looking awful. His eyes are redder than earlier, there are tear stains on his cheeks. Shit. Merritt didn’t sign up for this.
“Oh,” Jack says from behind Merritt. Yeah, oh .
Daniel quickly runs a hand across his cheek to get rid of the wetness. He sniffles. “Sorry, I just-”
He does something Neither Merritt or Jack would ever expect from the great J. Daniel Atlas.
He breaks down crying.
Jack pushes passed Merritt and awkwardly tries to comfort Daniel, who ends up sobbing into Jack’s shoulder. Merritt’s heart breaks. He gives in and wraps an arm around him, shushing him gently.
It’s never easy losing someone you love. It’s even worse when they choose to walk out on you. For the first time, Merritt has nothing but sympathy for Daniel.
He doesn’t know how much time passes before the crying subsides. Daniel uses the sleeve of his sweatshirt to tend to his eyes and nose, quietly apologizing to both of them.
"Look man," Jack starts carefully. "I know it hurts but right now it's you just need sleep."
Daniel looks at the ground. He doesn’t seem to want to make eye contact with either of them after what just happened. “I can’t.”
“ ‘S not a choice, Atlas. We can’t sleep when you’re working yourself to death.”
“Merritt,” Daniel’s voice cracks. “I can’t. ”
“How ‘bout we sleep in here?” Merritt can’t believe he’s offering to sleep on hardwood floor as opposed to his own comfy bed. He’s too old for this. “Would that help?”
Daniel doesn’t answer, but he doesn’t say ‘no’ either. So Jack starts grabbing pillows and blankets and throwing them on the floor. Daniel gets in bed, still sitting up as he watches Merritt and Jack make nests on his floor.
At least it’s Daniel’s floor, Merritt thinks. His and Jack’s rooms are never fit for company.
“Lie down, go to sleep, Daniel.”
“I-”
“Sleep.”
“Don’t try to hypnotize me, Merritt. It won’t work.”
“Hey, don’t test me,” Merritt says with a smirk.
Daniel sinks into his blankets. He’s the first to fall asleep. Jack’s next.
Merritt’s back is going to kill him in the morning.
But it’s worth it.