Annie slept up from nine at night until twelve in the afternoon- 20 hours straight. 

  When she woke up, she took a shower, tried (and failed) to scrub the nightmares away from that night's sleep, and eventually put her hair up in a ponytail, and got dressed in jeans and one of her own shirts. Even though she was in Calum's room, technically, he was nowhere in sight. The house was perfectly still. 

  But when she left the quiet of her room, she found Calum lounging on the couch, on his phone. He sat up, looking relieved to see her. "Glad you decided to wake up. I was wondering how long it'd be."

  Annie dragged herself into the kitchen, her feet feeling impossibly heavy while the rest of her body felt impossibly light at the same time. In the sink sat a greasy pan. "You made breakfast?"

  Calum smiled slightly uncomfortably. "Karen likes bacon. But I bet you already knew that."

  "BS," Annie grumbled annoyedly, looking through the fridge. "I don't even know what her middle name."

  It was quiet as she poured herself a bowl of cereal, both of them trying to figure out what out of dance the other was doing. Finally, Annie cleared her throat. "Where is the little spark plug anyways?"

  "Out," Calum said with a shrug. "Said she wanted to look around, or something. Guessed she'd be back at two."   

  Annie nodded, but really she wasn't paying as much attention as she should. Instead she set the bowl of cereal down, walking over and straddling Calum's lap so her knees dug into the couch cushions and her hands had his entire torso to roam about, and further if she wanted. "I'm sorry," Annie whispered, going for seductive, "I haven't been a very good girlfriend. Think I could... make it up to you?"

  Oh, and there her hands go, already wandering down his chest and looking for an opening to unbuckle his jeans. But sometimes it takes more than an innocent act and an offer to do things you're not ready for to make someone forget how they had to physically drag you to your bed the night before because you were too busy screaming and making a general fool out of yourself. 

  Annie's hands were stopping in their tracks, gently engulfed by Calum's as he gave her a look that she wasn't quite sure how to interpert. "I thought you said you were going  stop doing this?"

  "Doing what?" Annie asked, trying to keep up the act despite the bike she fekt rise to her throat. "Touching you? I don't think I could stop-" 

  "Putting yourself in a situation you're not ready for," he corrected, pulling her up gently so indeed of straddling his lap, Annie set on the couch beside him, her smaller hands still wrapped tightly around in his. "You said you thought you needed a little break from sex, so that's what I'm giving you. When you're ready, we can continue, but you're not."

  Annie pouted. "I am ready though."

  "Please. You just woke up from sleeping- what, twenty one hours?"

  "Only twenty," she corrected. "I was... tired."

  He looked at her lost in disbelief. "I looked up the different things that can happen at the different stages of sleep deprevation. The first one is just forgetting or maybe not thinking straight, but by three days without sleep, some people expirence hallucinations.  Hallucinations, Annie. I couldn't handle that."

  "That's why you should sleep at night!" She agreed, yanking her hands back, "Then you won't have to deal with them! I'll be fine, I just don't-" she froze, cutting her sentence short. 

  But Calum caught it. "You just don't what?"

  "It's stupid."

  "Tell me."

  "I don't want to!" 

  They were quiet for a moment, both caught in between their own personal interests and caring for each other. Calum didn't want to pressure her, but he needed to know how to help her, and Annie- she wanted to tell him, she wanted him to understand. But she wasn't sure if she could handle sharing the truth with someone else. 

  "I don't want to have nightmares," she finally said, giving in. At the words, it seemed as though time stopped for a few seconds, and it was just Annie, and it was just Calum, and it was just the couch and the living room and that was it. The rest of the dirks had dropped off, and now it was just them, trying to figure out eggs felt like a hopeless situation. 

  Calum no longer pressed her for an answer. "Annie, you've been doing so well. Why would you start having nightmares again?"

  This was the hard part. Coming to terms with it. With her eyes trained on the ground, Annie started talking, not quite sure where the words would go. "Mikey slept with that girl, .Emma."

  She waited for his reaction. "And?" Calum prodded. 

  "And I don't want to think about it," she confessed, slowly caving in in herself. "I don't wing ti imagine him like that again, and what about her-" 

  "Annie," he interupted quickly. "You're making a huge thing out of nothing. You said they woke up and kissed, right? Then she likes him. She wouldn't kiss him if she didn't agree with it, I'm sure whatever the heck they had was just a one night stand, a random thing, ya know?" She was nodding, but like she was only half paying attention. "Annie..."

  That caused her to snap out of it. "I just- the idea of it makes me sick. And I'm so tired of giving nightmares, I don't want to do that anymore. I don't.... I don't want to think about it."

  A pause. "Go get your cereal."

  "What?" 

  "Go grab your cereal, and bring it over here. You don't want to think about it, lets not think about it."

  A bit bewildered, Annie did as he'd suggested, and came back over. Calum got in a more comfortable position on the couch, making room for her, and attend the spot beside him. 

  Calum couldn't fix all her problems. He wasn't a therapist, he wasn't a doctor, he was just the bassist in a popular band. But he could support her, so that's what he did. They sat together in silence for a long time, just sitting so their sides and legs touched, Annie leaning more and more against him, trysting him more without even thinking about it. Bad then, despite already sleeping for so long, she fell asleep.

  Calum set the cereal bowl down on the floor, laid down a little bit more on the couch, and head Annie protectively in his arms.

  And that's where Karen found them. Sleeping together on the couch at 2pm, with more problems than could be addressed, and instead of fighting more, they just chose to sleep. 

#goals.