"Sleep, I'll fight the bad dreams off if they come to get you."-Veronica Roth
Lydia collapsed on to bed, the previous happenings of the night going through her head. She closed her eyes and scrunched her face in embarrassment when she thought of what her dad said. Her stomach churned as she remembered Cora's face when Louise had opened the door.
Ten minutes later when she jolted awake, her phone ringing. She noticed her missed texts before responding.
"It's nearly three."
"I know. Let me in."
Lydia sat up and looked around.
"What are you talking about?"
"Look outside."
Lydia walked across the room and looked out the window to find Cora, standing near the rose bushes.
"What are you doing here?" Lydia whispered into the phone.
"If you let me in and I'll explain."
"I'm not going to go downstairs! My mom will hear me!"
"Why do I need to keep reminding you that I'm a werewolf? Just open your window."
Lydia opened the window and took a step back. She watched as Lydia bent down into a sprint positon and ran towards the tree to the side of the window. She jumped off of
one of the limbs and smoothly sailed through Lydia's window, rolling on to the floor.
She got up and grinned but Lydia wasn't impressed.
"What are you doing here?"
Cora sighed. "Boyd's back in town."
"Did you see him?"
Cora shook her head. "No, I let Erica have him the first night."
It took Lydia a second to get it and she grimaced.
"Oh…sorry…"
Cora nodded. "You think one werewolf is bad? Try two. All night…"
Lydia put up her hands. "You can stop now."
"That's why I came here. I need some place quiet to sleep."
"What about Derek's?"
"He's in a hotel with Braeden."
Lydia tried to think about someplace else Cora could go. With a sad feeling she didn't want to name, she knew that this was the only place Cora could think of.
"Look, it's not a big deal." Cora said, sounding annoyed. "There's a motel right down the street."
She turned back towards the window.
"Wait!"
Cora turned around and Lydia sighed and rolled her eyes. Even at 3 she had the art of being annoyed down.
"You need to be quiet."
"Yes because I'm usually so loud, right?" Cora said, stepping back towards the middle of the room.
Lydia went back to her bed and turned around to find Cora curling up on the floor.
"What are you doing?"
"Trying to sleep."
"On the ground? No you're not. The bed's big enough."
Cora looked at her and smiled a little.
"It's alright Matchstick. I've slept in worse places."
The sad feeling came back, slamming right into Lydia's heart.
"You either get into this bed or you leave."
Cora groaned and got up, heading to the bed. The covers were off and she settled down, stiff as a board. Lydia got in next to her and the two girls stared up at the ceiling.
"How come you didn't answer my texts?" Cora asked.
"I didn't get them." Lydia lied.
"Yes, you did." Cora said, showing her phone. Lydia looked at Cora's phone and squinted.
"Who's that?"
Cora quickly turned her phone face down.
"Nobody."
Lydia grabbed the phone and gasped at her icon picture.
"You put Gossamer as my icon?" she replied, offended.
Cora grinned. "It fits."
"Well, I rather be Gossamer then Donald Duck."
Cora shook her head. "There's no way I'm Donald Duck."
"Why not? You're always grumpy and you're not fond of pants. It fits."
Cora shook her head again but there was a smile on her face.
"What's that?" Cora asked after a few minutes, nodding towards the ceiling.
"A ceiling."
"Thanks smartass. What's underneath it? It looks like writing."
"Draw a crazy picture, write a nutty poem, sing a mumble-gumble song," Lydia began and she could see Cora grinning up at the ceiling.
"Silverstein." Cora stated.
"When you said you liked him I thought you were being sarcastic."
"There are few things I'm sincere about Martin. Silverstein's work is one of them. You ever read 'A Piece of Sky?'"
Lydia shook her head. The last time she read anything that wasn't a textbook was a few years ago.
Cora closed her eyes. "My mom would read Silverstein to us before we went to sleep. Derek hated it but I loved it. I made her read the poems over and over again. Before
the…"
Cora paused, a pained expression on her face. She swallowed.
"Before the fire, it was just something stupid we did."
Cora laughed. "Laura and I were thinking of getting the lines tattooed."
Lydia nudged Cora, trying to take her mind off of it.
"So what's the poem about?"
"Well, it's about this kid whose eating lentil soup right? And he hates it. But then a piece of sky falls into his soup and he finds out he loves it. That bit of sky is what makes the
difference. . No matter what sort of shit you've been through, there's always something you can turn to. There's always a bit of sky. I like that."
Lydia glanced over at Cora who was staring up at the ceiling. She smiled fondly at the girl but as soon as Cora turned her head, Lydia averted her eyes, blinking rapidly.
"Why'd you paint over it?"
Lydia shrugged. "I thought it was too childish."
"Well, that was a stupid idea. Anything would be better than this nasty pink color."
"It doesn't matter now. I'm leaving in a few months." Lydia said.
Cora shifted uncomfortably among the mattress and Lydia closed her eyes slowly. The day had been long and she was tired.
"Aren't you gonna sleep?" Lydia asked groggily, turning to face Cora. One of Cora's hands was behind her head, the other rested on her stomach. Her eyes were wide open
and she shook her head.
"I'm not really good at sleeping. Especially in unfamiliar territory."
"Nothing's gonna attack you here, Cora. Except for my mother."
Cora shrugged. "I know nothing's gonna attack me. But I've been wrong before. Just go to sleep."
"What about you?"
"I haven't had a decent night's sleep in a long time. I'm used to it."
Lydia shrugged and turned over. "Suit yourself."
Lydia rolled over and faced the wall, going to sleep in an instant. She didn't seem to mind Cora's presence anymore. In fact, she found in comforting. Cora lay awake, staring
at the ceiling and trying hard to sleep. No matter how long she kept her eyes closed, she sensed Lydia everywhere around her. The smell of apple cinnamon was not doing
anything to help lull her to sleep. It reminded her of Christmas. It reminded her of home.
Lydia moved a lot in her sleep. She rolled over and seemed antsy. She murmured some nonsensical words that Cora didn't even bother to understand. Around five AM, Lydia
rolled over and curled up against Cora's side. Cora froze. She wasn't sure if she should wake her up or let her move away on her own time.
Lydia let out a small, contented sigh, and wrapped a hand around Cora's waist, arm settling on the warm skin where Cora's t-shirt had ridden up. Cora wasn't sure how no
one else could hear her heart rapidly beating. She tried not to move but her left arm was uncomfortably pinned in between her side and Lydia's front. She moved slightly and Lydia
made a noise of discontent, settling up against Cora again.
It took all of five seconds before Cora resigned herself to the fact that Lydia was extremely comfortable and not likely to move. She let out a breath she didn't realize she had
been holding and closed her eyes, the weariness of the day catching up with her.
For the first time in years, Cora Hale went to sleep soundly.