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After a few days of long drives, endless fights and camping in the rain, Prompto was very happy when Noctis decided to check them into the hotel in Lestallum. Hoping to finally get a goods nights sleep and a minute to himself. "Wow this place is awesome" He said as they stepped foot into the two bed hotel room they were sharing.
"Yeah it's not bad" Noctis responded dropping his bag on the floor by the door.
"Even I was getting sick of sleeping outdoors" Gladio added entering the room with his own bag and a few others that he had been tasked with carrying. Placing them down on one of the beds.
"Thank you Gladio" Ignis said taking a seat on the bed with the bags and pulling out his phone and wallet.
Noctis flopped down on the empty bed with a sigh. "Man I can't wait to sleep"
"I feel you" Prompto agreed. "It's been a long day and my feet are killing me" He whined.
"Should we go get dinner then?" Ignis asked.
"I'm up for that" Gladio responded quickly. "I am starving"
"That's cause you use too much energy" Noctis responded. "I am doing fine cause I preserve it"
Gladio laughed. "You're doing fine cause we ate at the last rest stop and you sleep all the way here" He replied.
"Exactly" Noctis replied with a lazy grin.
"Well some of us don't have the pleasure of sleeping because we have to drive" Ignis responded. "So I am going to get dinner"
"Count me in" Gladio replied. "Prompto you wanna join?" He asked.
"No thanks, I think I'll go take a shower" Prompto answered. "Could you bring us back something to eat?"
"Of course, I'll bring you back whatever I think you'll like best" Ignis replied with a smile.
"Thanks Iggy" Prompto said smiling back.
"Bring me back something to" Noctis said as he heard the door open again.
"Yeah, yeah we got ya" Gladio responded.
"See you later" Prompto said getting a smile from Gladio before he closed the door, leaving Prompto and Noctis by themselves. "You gonna nap?"
"Yeah, even though I slept on the road trip here I'm exhausted" Noctis replied. "Wanna join me?" He asked.
"Maybe after I shower" Prompto answered sitting up to get off the bed. Before he stood up he felt a hand on his waist as Noctis gently pulled him down for a quick kiss, which he returned running a hand through Noctis' hair. Noctis smiled and moved his hands back to his sides allowing Prompto to get up.
Prompto got up and headed to the bathroom attached to their hotel room. He took a deep breath and sighed. As much as Promto loved the guys, and he really truly did, he had a hard time when he had no alone time for days on end. He had his anxiety and depression mostly under control now but It slowly got to him and after a while started to break him down. The rest of team knew of course, he didn't try to hide it, but he didn't like showing them that side of himself.
He turned on the shower setting it to a hot temperature to help relax his soar muscles. He took a quick look in the mirror seeing that the last few days had made him look about as bad as he felt. His hair was a mess, his eyes clearly showed the lack of sleep, he had dirt smudges on his face and arms, and there were a few cuts and bruises that he hadn't noticed before and would need healing later. He removed his clothes purposely ignoring the mirror after that. As much as he hated admitting it he didn't love his body the way he wanted to, he hated the stretch marks on his stomach, and the few cuts on his thighs that never healed from back when he used to cope in a way that wasn't healthy. But the thing that bothered him most was that seeing his body reminded him of his worst fear, the fear that he wasn't strong enough to protect the one's he loved, that he wasn't a necessary part of the team.
He stepped into the shower stopping his brain from going down that path again and felt the hot water rush over his skin. He washed his hair with the little complementary bottle of shampoo, that was strawberries and cream scented. And quickly washed his body with the bar of soap hoping to still have time for a quick nap with Noctis before the others got back. He got out of the shower drying off with a towel before pulling on a pair of PJ pants and a black t-shirt that used to belong to Noctis.
He flipped the toilet seat down and took a seat on it taking a deep breath and making sure he was okay before returning to the room. He felt a few tears roll down his face, tears from yesterday when Noctis had been almost stricken down by a giant monster and Prompto hadn't been close enough to help. Tears from when the fight finished and he ran to Noctis' side and seen how badly hurt he was. Tears he'd been holding in since the last time he'd been alone to cry. He sobbed quietly not wanting to wake Noctis, who he knew would be sleeping by now. He sat alone in the bathroom crying till he heard his phone ringing from his pants pocket on the bathroom floor. He took a deep breath trying to pull himself together and reached down answering it.
"Hey Prom" Came Gladio's voice through the phone.
"Hey Glads" Prompto replied. "What's up?"
"Iggy's off buying curatives and I just found a weapons dealer, I was wondering how your gun's holding up, need a new one?" He asked. "They got a really cool one I think you'll like it" He added sounding excited.
Prompto smiled to himself, he was so lucky to have these guys who cared for him as much as they did. "Sounds good, if we have the money I'd love one" He said trying to sound like his normal chipper self but hearing the bit a strain and hoping Gladio wouldn't notice. But it was Gladio he always noticed.
"Hey Prom are you okay?" He asked gently his voice switching from gruff to soft instantly.
He paused trying to think of the clearest way to answer. "I'm just dealing with a few things, I promise I'll be fine" He replied.
"Are you sure? I can rush back right now" Gladio asked sounding a bit concerned.
"Promise, I won't do anything, I just needed to let some emotions out, and when you get home I could use a hug" He answered honestly.
"Alright, we will be back soon. Go cuddle with Noctis for now yeah?" Gladio said.
"Yeah gonna go do that" Prompto replied.
"Alright see you in a bit. I love you" Gladio said.
"Love you to" Prompto responded before hanging up the phone. He quickly tidied the bathroom throwing his clothes in the corner to be dealt with later and heading out into the bedroom with his phone. He noticed Noctis had fallen asleep on top of the covers in his dirty day clothes and he laughed, that was Noctis for you. Prompto sometimes wondered if Ignis wasn't looking after Noctis if he could get by on his own. He doubted it. But he loved the prince all the same, loved him for exactly who he was. He grabbed the extra blanket -why they needed an extra one when this place was burning up was beyond him- off the end of the bed and pulled it up over Noctis sliding in beside him.
Prompto didn't really fall asleep, he never could nap like Noctis could. It was a skill they all envied really. But he laid there with his eyes closed listening to Noctis' breathing and feeling at peace. He assumed about half an hour had passed when he heard the door to the room being opened quietly as to not wake them. He rolled over careful not to jostle Noctis and gave a slight wave to Ignis and Gladio as the entered the room.
Ignis took the bags from Gladio and placed the ones Prompto assumed were food on the desk and stuffed the others in his bag. And Gladio shrugged his vest off and approached the bed leaning down and placing a quick kiss on Prompto's forehead. "You smell sweet" He said quietly, crouching down beside the bed so he could talk quietly enough that he wouldn't wake Noctis and still have Prompto hear. "How are you doing?" He asked resting his hand on Prompto's stomach.
Ignis came over to the bed as well taking a seat on the end. And placed his hand on Prompto's leg. Concern clear on his face. "I'm doing fine now guys" Prompto said sitting up in the bed, and accidentally waking Noctis who was now looking at him with one eye the other still closed.
Noctis looked around the room and sat up quickly as well. "Did something happen?" He asked.
"No.... Sort of... I don't know" Prompto replied with a small laugh. "You guys know I have my issues and I try to work through them as best as I can on my own and it's not you, any of you, you're all amazing, I just have to handle stuff on my own sometimes" He added.
"We all have our issues love, and we all handle them differently, if this is your way then that it perfectly fine. As long as you remember we love you yes?" Ignis said ending it as a question. "Because we really do love you Prompto" He added.
Prompto blushed and nodded. "I know you said it's not us, but I am sorry" Noctis said. "I've been really stressed with all this marriage stuff and becoming king stuff and I haven't been there for you as much as I would have liked to be. And to be clear I'm not saying this because I think you're mad at me. I'm saying this because I've been closing myself off from you even though I know you'd make me feel better. That's my issue I punish myself by not letting myself have what I want." Noctis said snuggling closer to Prompto.
"Just know it's okay to ask for stuff, I know sometimes you feel selfish, that's just part of how you are, and that's okay. But you can ask us for anything, if you need a hug, kiss, us to remind you how beautiful you are, you can just ask" Gladio said with a smile. Reaching over and pulling Prompto into the hug he had promised earlier now that he didn't have to worry about waking Noctis.
"Can we push the bed's together?" Prompto asked with a light blush. He had always wanted to suggest they do that when camping didn't really want to be the one to ask.
"Of course" Ignis responded with a smile, helping Gladio to his feet so he could help move the beds.
"You gotta eat first though" Gladio said getting food from where Ignis had put it down earlier.
"We got meat pie because I know you both like it" Ignis said. "If you have this Gladio, then I'm going to shower before bed" He added.
"Thanks" Noctis and Prompto said at the same time quickly going from not hungry to starving.
"Yeah I got it" Gladio responded leaning over and giving Ignis a quick kiss before he headed off to the bathroom. Gladio rearranged the room while the younger boys ate and once everything was back to functioning he climbed onto the bed beside Noctis this time. "Did you sleep well?" He asked placing a kiss on his cheek.
"Yeah these beds are amazing" He responded. "Though sleeping alone not so much" He added with a laugh.
Prompto put his arm around Noctis' shoulders. "No sleeping alone tonight" He said gesturing to the huge bed they had made.
"Unless you choose not to shower" Ignis added reappearing from the bathroom."Those who don't shower don't get to join us in the bed"
Prompto laughed. Knowing Ignis he actually meant what he said. "I already showered so I'm good" He said with a grin looking at the other two who hadn't yet gotten clean.
"Yes, you are perfect" Ignis said taking a seat beside him on the bed and leaning over to kiss him. Prompto kissed him back snuggling closer.
"Alright, alright I'm going" Gladio said getting up off the bed and stretching.
Noctis shoved the last bite of food in this mouth and mumbled something that even they weren't able to understand. He swallowed. "I said can I join you cause I don't want to wait around till you're done" He said again.
"Sure I don't care" Gladio answered heading into the bathroom and leaving the door open for Noctis to join when he was ready.
Noctis took his jacket off and threw it on the bed undressing on his way to the bathroom. Prompto watched with a laugh. There was a slight ping of jealousy at how confident Gladio was and how uncaring Noctis was. Prompto hoped to one day be one of those things. "I wonder if I worked really hard if I could ever have a body like Glads" He said aloud not really expecting an answer.
"It is possible I suppose, though unlikely as you have entirely different body types" Ignis said. Prompto was about to roll his eyes and say something along the lines of gee thanks for crushing a mans dreams Iggs. But before he could Ignis spoke up again. "You're body is exactly how it is meant to be, you will probably never have his, just as he will never have yours, but you are both equally beautiful" He added.
"Thanks Iggs" Prompto said with an obvious blush. "You're beautiful to" He added.
"I'm glad you think so" Ignis replied kissing Prompto again. "Are your feet still killing you?" Ignis asked.
"A little bit but it's not as bad. I might need new shoes soon" He anwered.
"We will see about getting you a pair next time we go out then" Ignis said with a smile. "Now lay that way and I'll give you a massage, we can't have you in pain tomorrow because we will be setting out again" He said gesturing.
Prompto couldn't say no to one of Ignis' massages they all knew he was the best at those. He laid down on his back with his head at the end of the bed. Putting his feet in Ignis' lap. "Thanks Iggy" He said with a smile.
"You're welcome" He responded placing a kiss on his ankle.
The other two emerged from the bathroom a few minutes later. Gladio in just his underpants and Noctis in a pair of sleep pants. "Hey Prompt want to play a round of King's knight before bed?" Noctis asked coming over to sit beside him. He leaned over and kissed Ignis. "Love you" He said quietly.
"I love you to" Ignis responded sweetly.
"Yeah I'd love to play. Wanna join Glads?" Prompto asked.
"Yeah sure, I'm in for a round" He responded taking a seat on the other side of Ignis and pulling out his phone.
An hour later they were still all up. Ignis was reading a cookbook he had bought and laughing at the childish antics of the other three when one lost or won. Prompto was sitting against Gladio's chest and Noctis was laying with his head on Prompto's lap and his legs across Ignis' legs. Prompto smiled he was back to being truthfully happy and knowing that the next time this happened it would be easier and the time after that would be easier again, and that eventually he wouldn't have to worry about all the thought in his head, sure they would always be there but as long as he had these three he would be fine. He was loved. So very loved.