Alexander had had a… strenuous life to say the least. There had been insurmountable odds he had come over, unthinkable events he had endured, and yet, through it all he had survived; and up to seven months ago, it had been mainly on his own. With all of his experiences in the unimaginable, there was still a few things that Alex never was able to deal with well. One of these things being his own health. Sure, he dealt with the immense loads of work he brought unto himself. He could produce essays and articles, op-eds, and even reddit forum replies at a speed that was seemingly inhuman. But one thing he most definitely could not deal with properly was maintaining his mental and physical health, instead pushing his mind and body to dangerous limits. Only stopping when (most of the times) he ended up collapsing, his body forcing himself to take a break. However, in recent times there had been sleep that followed a normal schedule, actually met caloric goals, and an immense amount of dopamine in his mind. It was all thanks, of course to John Laurens, the "Saving Grace" in Alex's life.
John and Alex had been dating for six and a half months, and had known each other for seven. Their lives quickly intertwined together seamlessly, two parts of a puzzle that were made for each other. They were as inseparable as possible, however, with Alex's double-major/one minor/part-time job work load, and John's pre-med student/research assistant schedule, during-the-week relationship time was sporadic (and spontaneous at best) during the ends of semesters. As it was a Friday night on the second week of the month, per their dating traditions that had developed, Alex was going to John's for the weekend. John had an evening lab that didn't let out until 7:00 pm, while Alex's final Friday class finished at 4:45. To avoid any awkward waits during date nights or their weekends together, John had given Alex a key to his apartment around two months into their relationship.
Around five, Alex was happily bounding up the stairs to the top floor of John's apartment building, not even minding the slight burn in his upper thighs from the combination of his general un-fitness and the five flights of stairs and the wet hair he gained from walking from the university to the apartment complex in the light rain. Well- he did mind, but the reward of having three nights with John was worth the physical exertion.
With the end of the semester drawing close at an alarming pace, the professors began piling on the work. Alexander had three papers due in the last week and consequently had no time to spend with his boyfriend. Having had very little sleep due to his three papers and his characteristic insomnia, mixed with the feelings of residual stress from his intense class load's overlapping due dates Alex was mentally spent. Adding onto that not having been able to speak with John other than short "love you" texts throughout the week, Alex's mental stamina had taken a fair beating. He was more than ready for a relaxed weekend of cuddling, junk food, and non-stop Laurens-action. Laurens-action in more ways than one, Alex thought, chuckling to himself.
Finally reaching John's apartment at the end of the hallway, he turned the key in the faded and chipping blue door that John kept meaning to ask the landlord about re-doing. As he step in the apartment, Alex was immediately hit with the smell of slow cooker quesadilla soup that John must've put on before he left this morning. Alex smiled, knowing that John must have been well aware of Alexander's need for comfort food; he had no idea what he had done to deserve John, but he thanked his lucky stars daily he had done whatever it was. He shut the door, not bothering to re-lock it, flipping on lights in the hall and kitchen as he walked into John's bedroom. He was already toeing off his shoes as he walked to the bed. Throwing his weekend bag towards the closet, and marginally more carefully placing his backpack with his laptop on the floor near his side of the mattress, he flopped onto the bed, smiling as he was overcome with John's scent.
He smiled, the first genuine smile in the past week, as he burrowed under the covers, intending to warm up for just a second under the comforter, after having to walk to the apartment in the light and chilly drizzle, before diving into more work on his laptop. He definitely did not mean to fall asleep, surrounded by the smell of his boyfriend. However, that's how John found his bedraggled Alexander when he got home two hours later. Softly snoring in a still-lit bedroom, looking perfectly content (however, extremely exhausted, John noticed with a frown).
Guess that we'll be eating a late dinner, then John thought to himself, smiling at finally seeing his boyfriend. John went into the kitchen to switch the slow cooker to "warm", rather than "low", so that their meal wasn't overcooked. As he made his way back to the room he flipped off the lights his tornado of a boyfriend had left on as he came in, and made a detour to lock the front door Alex never minded to lock. He finally climbed into bed with his boyfriend, smiling as he got under the covers, and was immediately melded against by the obviously attention-starved little spoon. Alex curled into John's front, their legs tangling, with Alex's head coming to rest under John's chin. Alexander lazily opened his eyes, obviously only half-aware of the new circumstances that were affecting his sleep.
"Hey baby", whispered John, kissing Alex's forehead.
"Missed you, can never sleep without you." was the half-formed reply. Really thought John wirily, most people would consider that a full-fledged sentence, but coming from his rather wordy Alex, the mere six words was an obvious clue that Alex was nowhere near full-consciousness.
"How long has it been since you slept, Lexi?"
"...Wednesday?" Alex burrowed deeper into John's chest, dissatisfied with the fact the conversation was continuing, in lieu of John allowing Alex to sleep more. Alexander was so tired, and the weight of the full exhaustion had hit him full force when his body had finally been allowed a few measly hours of sleep. It was as if he had been past the point of exhaustion,but didn't know what he had been missing until he finally allowed his body to have a taste of sleep.
John sighed, moreso for his own sake, to let off some frustration, than Alex's.
"Go back to sleep Lex, I'll wake you for dinner later." John was upset with his boyfriend for never taking care of himself. It was such a strange juxtaposition to the the endless care Alexander always exhibited for John.
Instead of any verbal response he received a kiss to his chest, where Alex's head was buried, and evened out breaths,indicating he was asleep again, not even two minutes later.
John took this time to look down at the whirlwind that had entered his life and heart seven months ago. He knew that with Alex's internalized view of himself, he believed that he had to work ten times as hard as anyone surrounding him to be considered even average, and exponentially harder to be considered in the respect Alexander wanted for himself. John also knew this wasn't true in the slightest. If Alex put in even a miniscule fraction of the amount of work he did now, he would still easily be floating in the top of his class. But, if he did that there wouldn't be Alex. Part of his boyfriend was the fact that the pushed and pushed so hard. If he didn't have that drive, he wouldn't be anywhere near the same person that John had fallen in love with. John knew that loving the small man in his arms came with this dilemna; caring for him so much when sometimes it seemed Alex didn't care for himself.
He had gotten a lot better, admittedly, in the time they had been together. Even this week, amidst the immense work load, with the too-short for John's liking texts, Alexander had sent him three different pictures of sandwiches he must have snagged from the university's cafeteria. While as far as John knew this was the only nourishment his boyfriend had consumed that week, it was so much better than how Alexander was when they first began dating. He's trying, John reminded himself, trying to let go off the rest of the frustration he felt towards Alex. Deciding to go with contentment instead, he hugged the man tighter into his chest, letting his own head fall against his pillow as he fell asleep.