Disturbance of the Peace
7 Snogs Challenge, theme #6 - Argument
Ryou'd had trouble sleeping the past few nights.
It was understandable, really; when somebody fought with their loved one, it was very hard to forget about, even long after the fight ended. It kept running through his mind - he tossed and turned, tried to sleep in every position he could think of, counted cream puffs, and even tried to think of new figurines to make for Monster World in an attempt to clear it from his head. This went on for at least an hour before he finally dragged himself out of bed.
He padded down the hallway into the kitchen, toes twitching a little at the feel of the cold tile on his feet. Whenever he had trouble sleeping, a glass of warm milk usually helped, sometimes with a drop of honey or sugar in it. It was very relaxing, especially when he was sick, but he wasn't sick this time... not literally, anyway.
As he let the pot of milk slowly heat up, Ryou gave up on trying to think about something other than the fight. There had been so much yelling and screaming that he was surprised nobody else in his apartment complex had called the police to break it up. There might have even been a couple of things broken, but his mind was too numb to really remember anything other than what was said.
He could remember that very clearly.
"Why don't you trust me?"
Ryou sighed, shaking his head as he turned the burner off, his milk ready. After stirring in a bit of honey, he went to sit at the kitchen table, watching the amber swirl melt into the milk. Unfortunately, he couldn't quite bring himself to drink it yet, as his mind was still on the fight. Trust was a very big issue between couples - for most people, once it was broken, it was extremely hard to put back together. This wasn't really the case with Ryou, though. Despite the slight case of paranoia he'd developed about his relationship with Malik, he was so desperate for companionship that if something was done to betray his trust, he'd shrug it off the best he could.
After all, as long as Malik was happy, he'd just stand by and accept anything his boyfriend did.
He finally took a sip of his milk, letting the warm, sweet mixture run down his throat. It was wonderfully comforting; he could almost start to feel sleep coming on after only the first drink. However, before he could finish off the glass, the telephone on his wall caught his eye.
Ryou stared at the phone thoughtfully for a few minutes, wondering if he should call Malik. It was very late - nearly two in the morning - and he was probably asleep. Ryou didn't want to wake him, but he often felt that it was much easier to fall asleep if he was in the Egyptian's arms. In the past, he'd discovered that Malik really hated being disturbed while he was asleep. Though he tended to react more calmly if it was Ryou who woke him up, so...
If he was lucky, maybe Malik wouldn't mind so much this time. After all, he'd be going right back to sleep anyway. Ryou finally stood and went to the phone, dialing Malik's number.
The voice on the other end sounded anything but awake. "...hello?"
"Um... Malik?" Ryou bit his lip, absently twirling the phone cord between his fingers.
"What is it?" Malik answered gruffly.
Ryou winced. It had been a bad idea to call Malik; he had been asleep, and by waking him up, he'd only angered him. "I'm sorry if I woke you, but... c-can I come over?" he asked, then quickly added, "if you don't want me to, I understand, but uhm... I just can't sleep, and I feel better when I'm with you, and..." Ryou trailed off nervously, leaving some space for Malik to answer.
A few moments went by before he finally did. "... Yeah, you can come over. Need me to come and get you?"
"...please?"
"Alright. I'll be there in a few minutes."
"Thank you... um, bye." Ryou hung up the phone, then let out another sigh, anxiety bubbling up in his stomach - or maybe it was just the milk; he couldn't tell. But he returned to the table and sat down to wait for his boyfriend. He wasn't even going to bother changing out of his pajamas or pack anything. He was just going to sit there, drink his milk, and hope that Malik wouldn't be too angry when he got here.
It could've just been the lack of sleep talking, but he swore he could almost hear the argument again as he waited.
It wasn't long before there was a knock on his door. Ryou's empty glass was abandoned on the table as he opened the door, immediately curling himself around the boy standing on his doorstep.
"I'm so sorry, Malik, I didn't mean to bother you... I mean, I know how much you hate being woke up, and I don't blame you if you're mad at me for it--"
"Relax, it's okay," Malik said, cutting him off. He wrapped an arm around the smaller boy's shoulders, tugging him close. "I'm not mad about it. Really."
Ryou looked up at him, then nodded, hesitantly leaning up to take a small kiss from him. "Okay..." He buried his face in Malik's shoulder again, almost tempted to just go to sleep right there, but the sound of yelling prevented him from doing so. That and it wouldn't be too comfortable to sleep standing up. "The neighbors have been fighting with each other all night," he said with a groan, trying to drown the noise out.
Malik blinked, running his fingers through the other's white hair in a soothing manner. "Is that what's been keeping you awake?" he asked, receiving a nod in response. As if to further answer his question, the screaming coming from the apartment next door grew even louder. He rolled his eyes, tugging Ryou out onto the doorstep. "Well, come on, then. If they're depriving you of your beauty sleep, then it's better that you come stay with me."
Ryou smiled, lifting his head again. "Alright," he said, reaching down to take Malik's hand. "It's either that or call the police on them for disturbing the peace, but I think that would just end up causing more trouble..."