Watching Him Sleep
by RowanRhys
I hope he doesn't know how many times I've lain awake in the night and watched him sleep here in this place of hiding. He sleeps with a serious expression on his pale face, as if the cares of his days might attack him in the night, not even allowing himself dreams of fancifulness and escape. Too often his brow furrows and his hands clench in the folds of his blanket as his mind wrestles with the problems that beset him.
All I can do is watch and wait to see if the nightmares come or not, and pray that one day he might find true repose when he lays down to rest.
And I wish that I had the courage to lay next to him and put my arms around his long frame and hold him close and offer the comfort that he refuses to accept while awake.
How could I have known fifteen years ago when I first laid eyes on him that I could feel this way?
The ghosts of the animosity we bore for one another dance mockingly in our memories and, I, for one, fear to admit the things that I feel for him. Because he truly meant the cruel and angry things he said about me, as I did for him—because he misjudged me based on appearances and snap judgments--and I did likewise.
I roll over on my side, carefully, so as to not upset the hammock upon which I lay, and I gaze at the still form whose visage has become the lodestone of my attention. The moonlight limnes his features with an ethereal glow and I wonder if this is how he will look carved out of white and cream-streaked marble on his tomb.
I pray that I won't live to see that sight.
Ssssh! He stirs, and I don't want him to catch me looking.
I truly hope that one day I will be able to look at him openly, and share my feelings with him. But for now… I'll watch him sleep.
FINIS
Author's Note: Yep, I know I didn't say who it was. I kind of like that idea. From the description of the one being watched, it could be one of at least three different people, and the watcher could be one of quite a few! So those of you who like your fics het and fluffy, interpret it that way, and those of you into slash, go ahead and interpret it that way. Finally, a fic that both types of my friends can like, I hope! *grin* Feel free to say who you think it is in your review!