Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Really, I don't. Enjoy.

-

She couldn't sleep, her eyes wouldn't let her and her mind, and full of all the worst possibilities plagued her. The only one in the house, with everything off and quiet she was alone and not feeling the way she thought she'd feel. She thought with her parents away on business in Nevada and her brother at a sleepover she'd be at peace to have a nice nights rest what with everything being quiet on the monster front.

But no, here she was in the dark and not able to sleep a wink, even though she was beyond tired and in need to have sleep.

The central air system kicked in, churning a soft noise that startled her at first but then was welcomed because it was something in the quiet house, but not enough. She sat up in bed and put on a yellow sweatshirt and yellow-black plaid pajama pants. The air system made the house cold; it felt like an autumn's night.

Downstairs she grabbed an apple from the fridge and walked into the living room where she looked through the blinds out into the night. Everything was calm, nothing stirred. The wind was calm and nothing was out of place, but being alone made everything come to life, made it seemed like at any moment anything could happen.

She knew that if something should happen that she was able to handle herself, but that didn't make her feel any better. She walked over to the door and peered out the small glass window at the top and saw that, like at the window everything was fine. The mailbox was closed and the mail bucket below it for magazines and bigger articles of mail that couldn't be fit into the mailbox was in its rightful place with Thursday's drop-off of advertisements for the week still in it.

Everything was fine, but she didn't feel fine. She turned on the television and put on the channel with late night sitcoms and turned it down until it was at a reasonable volume from the loud volume her brother seemed to always have the television. Sometimes instead of thinking her brother wasn't listening when she was talking she thought of him as of losing his hearing because of the volume of the television.

She bit into her apple chewing quietly she went into the kitchen and looked out the window above the sink where there were quite a few plants growing in small plastic containers of pinks and yellows. They were from an egg dying kit but from dying eggs she thought that they were pretty so she washed them out and planted small flowers in them and since the month of April there were small plants growing and they were growing in very well.

Outside the window she was the side of the house next door. The lights were off in there and nothing seemed out of the ordinary. A mirage of chalk drawings from the four kids who lived there decorated the siding with words of a few hangman games left unfinished and rainbows and much more with so many colors of chalks.

She took another bite and looked at the small digital clock on the control panel for the stove. The numbers read 12:23. She knew she should be sleeping, what with a softball game going on tomorrow with her friend TJ on the team representing Angel Grove. She didn't want to be tired for that, but she just didn't feel safe in the house all alone.

She took a seat at the kitchen table and spun the cordless phone she forgot to put on the charger. She pressed the button to caller i.d and saw that the last call received was from Carlos's house phone.

Carlos.

She wondered what he was doing as she took another bite of her apple and chewed. He was probably asleep by now. He never has a problem sleeping. She even caught him doing it a few times in class. Since he sat in the back with her and being tired sometimes he moved his desk close to hers pretending he forgot his book to rest right on top of it pretending to look down at the text. He never got caught, which amazed her, then again he never snored in class.

In any other place, that was a different story. He snored especially when he was exhausted. That was the way to see that he was very tired when everything was going on, especially fighting monster. It took a lot out of all of them. They hid it very well but she knew that when they went home at night and when their head hit the pillow they were knocked out for the count. They needed the rest and when they tried to sustain from a long period it really caught up with them and then they didn't have any other option but to sleep.

Carlos. She had talked to him earlier and he said that his brother was out of town and wasn't going to be home until Sunday afternoon. He was alone as well. Maybe he was feeling the same. She really doubted it but maybe he wanted to sleep here.

The idea hit her. If he was here then she would finally be able to sleep. She picked up the receiver and pressed the green button. She knew that he could possibly say no, or tell her that she was nuts but she knew she wasn't going to be able to sleep unless she had someone else with her.

She dialed the number and put the phone to her ear and listened to it ring. The line clicked on and a very tired Carlos said, "Hello?"

"Carlos, it's me Ashley."

She heard the rustling of sheets and guessed that he probably sat up in his dark room. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"Yeah," she said poking the rest of the apple with her acrylic pointer nail, she said, "I, okay, this may sound stupid but my parents aren't home and my brother is gone for the night and I have the house to myself. It's great and all but I can't sleep."

"Man, my brother is gone and I am sleeping like a baby. But then again, my aunt made us tamales and rice and beans and I am stuffed to the brim."

She chuckled. "But seriously, I don't know." She sighed. She felt at a loss for words. She wanted to come out and say that she wanted him there with her but it wasn't making its way to the surface.

"Do you think something's wrong?" he questioned around a yawn. She heard more rustling, then the opening of a door. She didn't want to think that he was using the bathroom during their conversation.

"No, well, don't take this the wrong or anything, but maybe." She took a breath and said quickly, "I think I will be able to sleep if I had somebody here with me."

She listened and rolled her eyes as she heard the toilet flush and the taps turned on.

Gross.

"You want me to sleep over at your house?" he questioned.

"I mean," she was quick to recover, she said, "There are many options, my brothers bed, parents, the couch which is quite comfortable if-"

"It's cool," he said, "no problem. I'll be there soon. Just unlock the backdoor. I don't want any nosy neighbors to see me and or get you into any trouble."

"Okay," she said trying to contain her excitement. "Just give me it's a sign that it's you and not anybody else. When you get into the hallway just start singing or something quietly so I know it's you. None of my neighbors should even know you are in there. Oh, by the way, dodge the security light, you know where it is."

"Yeah, yeah I got it." He said. "See you in a few minutes."

She hung up the phone and finished her apple. Now she knew that she would be able she retrieved all the blankets off her bed and put some on the couch and the rest on the little couch. She would take the little couch. She wasn't just going to leave him in the living room alone.

She went into the kitchen to wait for him and when she heard, 'Ashley should've called at an earlier hour and why to people walk their dogs at this hour,' in a sing-song voice she opened the door to Carlos dressed in a ribbed black tank-top and his soccer stretch pants.

When he was in she closed the door and guided him into the living room where he took a seat on the couch and she took one on the little one.

"Thank you Carlos, I really appreciate it." She said sincerely. In the dark she could see that his hair was a mess.

"No problem," he answered back. He yawned and ran a hand through his hair. "Do you have a rubber band?"

"Yeah," she said.

He got up and went over to her couch and sat down on the floor. "Pin my hair back."

She gave a small smile and pulled it back and doing her best she put it into a tiny braid. "Goodnight Carlos."

"Goodnight Ashley." He got up and went onto his couch and laid down covering himself up. "Don't snore now, you hear." He said.

"Me? I'm not the one who sounds like a tank." She threw her pillow at him but all that made him do was chuckle.

-

I hope you've enjoyed.