I had been in Wilson's room before, borrowing his socks or using his bathroom, but it is a whole other experience entirely to be lying in his bed let alone sharing it. I was surrounded by all of his things, each un-extraordinary yet special simply because they were his, and every breath I took smelled like Wilson, shower fresh with an underlying scent of something akin to freshly printed paper. His arm was draped over my side where he had placed it roughly half an hour after he fell asleep. Briefly, I had thought of moving it and pushing him over to his own god damn side of the bed but the weight of his arm was so comforting and his warm breath on the back of my neck was so soothing that I let him stay.

I had the urge to say his name suddenly, loudly, and know that for once I wasn't talking to just a friend or colleague but something more and infinitely better. Softly, I called his name in the darkness, my fingers brushing over the soft skin of his wrist. Wilson stirred slightly in his sleep and drew closer to me so that his chest was pressed against my back, only the thin materials of our undershirts touching, and his thighs lightly touching the back of mine. His hand drifted up so his fingers were splayed over my chest. I imagined momentarily that he was awake and could feel my heart hammer under his palm and know that he was the reason it kept going. He had saved me so many times from accidental overdoses and drunken nights where I was close to asphyxiating on my own vomit that I had lost count. Wilson saved me by just being there when I felt completely alone and the melancholy was suffocating. I never fully realize how close to the edge I'm living until Wilson drags me back. Of course I always end up right back no matter what he does. But this time is different. There are no drugs to threaten to bring me down, no alcohol to drown my liver in, and I've gotten help to manage my life better. Yet it still feels the same. I still feel like I'm on the edge, one step from losing my mind completely.

Insomnia. It's a bitch. After I watched the red numbers change and read one A.M. I knew I wasn't going to sleep. So I counted. One. Two. Ten. Thirty. Fifty-six times since the hour started that Wilson exhaled, his warm breath on my neck making me shiver. I could've gotten up and watched television but I didn't. I wanted this, this feeling of ease and belonging that was embodied in this person beside me. I wanted to turn and shake him awake to tell him that I wasn't as callous as I look, that I do have the capability to feel something that's not entirely negative.

Time ticked slowly past. So slowly in fact that I turned over so I wouldn't look at the clock anymore even though I was now lying on my bad leg. But the pain wasn't so bad at this instant and I shifted my hip slightly so my left leg wouldn't rest on top of it. It wasn't until after a few moments had passed did I realize the Wilson and I were practically nose-to-nose. He arm was still draped over me, hands clenching and unclenching sporadically, fisting my undershirt. Ever cautious, I reached out to touch his jaw with the calloused pads of my fingers. I let them drift down until they rested at his collarbone and let my eyes close in one last vain effort to fall asleep.

I don't know how long we lay there, Wilson with his dreams and me wondering what he dreamt of, when my leg had a sudden spasm. Rolling over quickly, I bit into the first knuckle to bite back a cry as Wilson groaned and shifted behind me.

"Fuck." I growled in a voice so low it was almost gravelly. I cast an eye out for my cane, snagging a glance at the clock. Already it was half past five. Forgoing the cane, I left the room as quietly as any cripple could, leaving Wilson half-asleep on the bed.

Before I could even open the door he was sitting up, ruffling his hair wearily and calling my name.

"Go back to sleep, Wilson." I said, grasping the doorknob so tightly I'm sure my knuckles paled. I didn't move for a minute because to move would only make it worse so I breathed through it. I was breathing so heavily, concentrating so much on making the pain lessen even just a little that I didn't hear Wilson come up behind me.

"Come back to bed." He said as he gently pried my fingers from the knob. Wilson wrapped his arm around me, his fingers resting lightly on my hip, and slung my arm over his shoulders to use him as a makeshift cane.

"Thanks." I murmured, massaging the afflicted area vigorously with the heel of my hand.

"No problem." Wilson sat down beside me on the tangled covers and scrubbed his face with a weary hand. "You look awful. Did you even sleep?"

Briefly I thought of lying but it didn't seem worth the effort. "No." I answered honestly.

Taking a deep breath, Wilson leaned against my shoulder and groaned. "How do you do it?"

"Do what?"

"Stay up all night and still function during the day."

I gave a humorless snort. "It takes years of practice and a good cup of coffee in the morning." Turning my head slightly to the left, Wilson soft hair tickled my nose and I could breathe in the fruity shampoo he liked so much.

With a yawn, Wilson turned his head so his nose was practically buried in my neck and glanced at the clock. "Well, I sure as hell wouldn't be coherent right now if I were you."

"You're hardly ever coherent." I said laughingly and gave a grateful sigh as the pain tapered off to its usual dull throb.

"You're hilarious, Greg." Wilson grumbled out the side of his mouth and yawned again. "Coffee would be nice though."

Every time he spoke his breath came warm on my neck, making the hairs rise, and a lump rose in my throat as I tried to calm the sudden swirl of emotions that had risen in my chest. Unable to stand it anymore, I brought are lips together and brought my hand up to the back of his neck to bring him closer. I traced my tongue along his lower lip and he parted his tender lips just enough so that I could slip my tongue in and explore. It was like I was trying to memorizing a map inside his mouth. I lingered over the ridges at the roof, the little valleys of his teeth, and wondered whenever he would bring his tongue in and almost seemed to battle it with mine for a few seconds before moving aside and letting me explore some more. With my free hand I reached under his shirt and ran the hand over the soft skin of his abdomen and chest until I felt his nipple and rolled it in between my thumb and forefinger. Wilson gasped, leaving my lips wanting but he quickly brought his lips to mine, this time putting his tongue in my mouth before I could. I slipped my hand from under the cotton undershirt and palmed Wilson over his pants, feeling him harden under the thin material. He removed his tongue from my mouth and went to first to kiss my neck then to nip and suck at it. I was so wrapped up in the sensational feeling of his lips and teeth on my neck that it hardly registered in my mind that he was maneuvering into a different position until I was flat on my back with Wilson's knees on either side of my hips.

Wilson let out a satisfied breathed as he dropped onto his back beside me, an almost goofy grin plastered on his face. The air cooled the air from my bare back and I gazed at the sweat glistening on Wilson's exposed chest in the early morning light. A feeling of euphoria came over me as I realized for the second time that this was it. We were without a doubt a couple. And a feeling of flawlessness ran through me so that I matched my lover's smile with one of my own.

AN- So I'm absolutely horrified that's it's taken me this long to update but here it is and you can thank insomnia for it otherwise it probably never would've been written.