Title: Insomnia
Theme: 81 – Heartache
Summary: He's tried everything. Warm milk, counting sheep, deep breathing, everything – but he can't get to sleep.
Rating: K
Genre: Drama
He's tried everything. Warm milk, counting backwards, bubble baths, counting sheep, deep breathing, reading his Calculus textbook, forcing himself to yawn – hell, he'd even turned on his radio to the Rest and Relaxation station before the repetitive, supposedly calming music had driven him mad and forced him to knock the stupid thing off his dresser.
But nothing's working, not now. The pharaoh's gone. The puzzle isn't swinging from his chair a few feet away. The only reason he hasn't broken down yet is because his heart is still in shock. As it is, he can still feel it sinking in, seeping through his cold stage of denial, threatening to wash away what little control he has.
Sighing, he gets out of bed, planning to make some warm cocoa downstairs in the kitchen. He needs to escape for a few hours, needs to delay facing reality and a future without him. As he steps out of the room, he noticed something on the floor: his high school jacket, the one that his other started tying around his shoulders when he decided he couldn't be bothered to wear it the normal way.
In a way, it is all he has. He picks it up and runs his hands over the soft fabric, a bit worn from use, and clutches it closer as he slowly moves back into his room.
And even though he knows it's sad and quite possibly masochistic, he climbs back into his bed and lays down, pressing his face to the jacket and breathing in whatever lingering scent the pharaoh might have left behind. The Téa in his head tells him that this self-indulgence will only make things worse in the morning, but he doesn't care.
He can't really find it in himself to care, not now, not tonight, when Atem is gone and the only reason he hasn't completely broken down yet is because his familiar scent is slowly making him drift off to sleep.
Words: 327