This is just a random little hurt/comfort drabbley thing I wrote to waste time in class today and sort of inspired by the lyrics below. Can be slash if you want it to be, or it could also just be seen as Mark and Roger as close friends. Either way works, I guess.

I know there are a million things I could be updating... But I'm not. So. XP

I don't own any of this stuff, y'know y'know~

we hold each other so tight

'cause there's no room here at all

...

cathedral bells rang out to mark the hour

reminding us that this was just another night

that hours pass

that morning breaks

that somehow there's still sunlight

- not a love story

kerrigan-lowdermilk

tales from the bad years

"Can I sleep in here with you?"

For the past few weeks, Roger had been having vivid nightmares, more often than not waking up screaming and soaked with a cold sweat. He was struggling through the end of his withdrawal, and sometimes the screams were the only noise Mark would hear him make all day. So the request wasn't really much of a surprise. Or it least it wouldn't have been if it weren't for the fact that Mark had been up only for about a minute.

"What?"

"I... don't want to be alone."

His voice sounded so small and broken and afraid that Mark wouldn't have been able to say no even if he wanted to. It was the first time Roger had come out of his own room (minus bathroom or kitchen trips) in a long while now. The groggy redhead sighed softly and relentingly, scooting closer to the wall and pulling back the covers.

"C'm'ere, then."

Roger quietly crossed the room and laid down on the edge of the bed. It was small enough to make things cramped and crowded, and more than a little awkward, but somehow they managed to fit there, lying on their sides, facing the same direction with their backs to the wall. A few quiet moments passed and Mark wasn't sure what to do.

"So what are the dreams... about?"

Roger stayed silent for a long time, as if hoping to avoid that question.

"April."

There wasn't any more he could bring himself to say about it, and he didn't really need to say anything anyway. There was no wondering about what kind of nightmares he might be having about that, now that he was really thinking about it, and the fact that he was going through withdrawal couldn't be doing much to help him.

Silence enveloped the pair again and they lay there together in the darkness, just breathing. Mark drifted near the edge of falling back asleep for some period of time that he didn't really measure, assuming that Roger had done the same. But soon he heard little hiccups that he recognized as the sound of quiet, muffled sobs. He opened his eyes and in the dim light, he saw Roger's broad shoulders shaking, his entire body trembling on Mark's plain mattress. Mark was a little bit surprised - as far as he knew, Roger hadn't really openly cried since April.

"Hey..."

Mark didn't know what he could say. His hand rested on Roger's shoulder for a second before he wrapped his arm fully around Roger's chest, pressing his face into his back. The blond's hands held onto Mark's bony wrist as he sniffed, trying to compose himself.

"...I miss her."

"I know."

Mark stretched and gently pressed a kiss to his roommate's temple, running the fingers of his free hand over Roger's hair.

"I've got you."

He buried his face back into the space between Roger's shoulder blades and closed his eyes. For the rest of the night, they stayed just like that, holding onto each other tightly in Mark's tiny bed.

Morning came, and there was a sort of silent agreement between the two roommates to not talk about anything that had happened the previous night. Only that night, and the night after that and the night after that, Roger came back and again they curled up to each other, holding on until the sunrise.

And Roger's nightmares went away as long as Mark was holding onto him.