There was another sleepwalking incident, this time it was stubbing his toe off the bedroom door that woke Peter. He then began his sleep deprivation phase to counteract it, coming home early one day; interrupting the only time of the week when Elio knew he was guaranteed some peace and quiet. He explained he'd been kicked out of class for falling asleep.

'I don't care if you sleepwalk,' Elio told him bluntly; regardless of how uneasy he had been by Peter's sleeping form standing over him.

'I do,' Peter replied, as if Elio thinking it had anything to do with him was the height of arrogance. 'I don't know what I might do.'

'What's the worse that could happen?' Elio replied, thinking this was a tad dramatic as he turned around to face his roommate.
Peter pulled his sneakers off one by one.

'I could cover you in paint thinner and light a match,' he said.

Elio rolled his eyes. 'I somehow doubt that.'

'My mom sleepwalks, she did that once. Do you wanna risk it?' he replied, his voice carrying a vague threat in it.

Elio was stunned into silence.

'Thought so,' Peter replied, taking his phone out and sitting back against the bed.

For another two days Peter dragged himself around, surviving on coffee, eyes bloodshot, dark bags beneath them, leaving him a picture of permanent exhaustion.

'You just gonna stay awake forever? That's the plan?' Elio asked him one evening when he sat slumped at his desk, staring at the bright screen.

'What do you care?' he asked.

'I don't, I just look forward to seeing you fail.'

Peter ignored this, though sat determinedly straighter when he turned back to the computer making Elio smirk. When he returned that evening, Peter was finally asleep, he lay on top of his bed in his clothes at an awkward angle, his phone on his chest, as though he just nodded off while using it. Elio was tempted to wake him simply to gloat but then thought better of it. He let his dorm mate sleep and found he was still in the same position the next morning when he was getting ready for class.

'Sleep well?' he asked when the other boy's eyes fluttered opened and he gazed around sleepily.

'How long was I out?' he asked in a groggy voice.

'Maybe sixteen hours?'

'What? What time is it?' he replied, jumping up. His phone fell and he picked it up, then stood. 'I had class an hour ago! Why didn't you wake me?'

'I don't know your schedule,' Elio replied, frowning as his roommate raced around the dorm and out the door; whatever empathy he'd had for him evaporated.