Calyx
By SMYGO4EVA
Somewhere along the line, she got used to it after a while.
Shizuka got used to Hotaru's body next to hers; warm and breathing and so very, very alive it caught her off guard sometimes. It was such a routine now, such a constant, comforting action, that Shizuka couldn't really remember anything else.
She couldn't remember when one sleepover turned into another, turned into another, turned into the time when she began moving her stuff over to Hotaru's.
There used to be nightmares - she remembered that. She would wake up crying out, covered in sweat and scared of the monsters she couldn't see. But now Hotaru slept next to her every night, arms tucked gracefully around Shizuka's waist and she couldn't really remember anything else.
Anything but this; she and Hotaru and the life they've created for themselves out of nightmares and sleepovers.
A protective layer surrounded the both of them now, and maybe that was enough.