She hears a sharp intake of breath from next to her, then several deep slow breaths. He's woken up abruptly, possibly from a nightmare. She pretends to be asleep; he might not want to talk. He pulls her closer, burying his face in her hair. He starts crying.
She quits pretending. "What's wrong?"
"I just needed to make sure you were real." Okay, even for this hour, that's strange.
"Real? As opposed to imaginary?" He laughs. She likes that she can always make him laugh, no matter how tired they both are.
"Funny. No, I…" He trails off. She tries to read his mind, knows he can feel her wondering what's wrong.
"Sometimes I think I'll wake up and find out this is all a dream." This: their engagement, their life together? And what exactly does he mean by sometimes? How often is that?
She wants to ask him a bunch of questions, but she has a pretty good idea of what will snap him out of it.
She wraps her arms around his waist and lies against him for a minute. Then she pinches him.
"Ow! What was that for?"
"Well, you needed to know this wasn't a dream." She's impressed with her logic, considering how tired she is.
"Did you really have to pinch me so hard?" He's being such a baby.
"Yes I did. Now you know this isn't a dream. You're stuck with me forever, Halpert." It's interesting that she's being the silly, joking one when that's usually his job.
"You have no idea how happy I am about that." Aww.
"I think I do. Now stop talking, you need your beauty sleep."
He laughs. When they fall asleep, she's holding on to him as tightly as she can. Her arms will feel strange in the morning, but right now she just feels happy and safe.