Prompt 27- Bathrobe
More Sponge and Squid brotherly fluff! Hope the characters are not too OOC- if they are, I'm sorry!
...
Puffy amber eyes stared intently back at him as the cephalopod stared in his bathroom mirror.
"You are not a loser, Squiddy," he told himself, his voice cracking. He hated himself for feeling so...weak. He had dealt with Squilliam's teasing and bullying before- for years, as a matter of fact. How come he was still so vulnerable to his rival's venomous commentary on his life?
A warm, almost burning, prick came to his eyes, and he furiously wiped it away with the sleeve of his bathrobe.
...
Squidward slammed the door to his bedroom and slid down the back of it until he hit the floor, when he buried his face into his robe covered knees and began to sob again. He hadn't felt this humiliated in a long time- not since a very disturbing incident at high school.
This time, everyone at the Krusty Krabs witnessed his humiliation- Mr Krabs, the patrons, SpongeBob...he didn't want to relive that. Everyone had been laughing at him- disregarding any feelings he had beneath his grouchy, arrogant shell.
The fact that he didn't have friends didn't help him. He never normally cared about friendships, and was rude to a lot of people- but even he couldn't deny that some comfort wouldn't go unappreciated at a moment like this...
His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on his bedroom door. Okay, scratch that earlier thought. He really didn't want anyone here.
"GO AWAY!" He shouted at the top of his voice.
"Squidward?" A gentle voice asked, causing the cephalopod's blood to boil once again.
"SPONGEBOB! WILL YOU GET OUT OF MY HOUSE?!" He shouted, not at all willing to deal with his neighbour- especially in his current state.
"Squid...I just want to help you," SpongeBob replied, keeping his voice as gentle as before. "You're my friend, Squidward- I hate seeing you upset."
"Well, if you want to help me, SpongeBob, I suggest you get out." Squidward replied, standing up to open the door and kick his neighbour out of the house.
However, as soon as the door was open, SpongeBob threw his arms round his superior's waist and gave him a huge, loving, tender hug.
Squidward struggled briefly against the nuisance's embrace, before giving up and collapsing onto the floor, crying again.
"Aww, Squid..." SpongeBob cooed, before reaching out a hand towards Squidward's face and wiping away his friend's tears with his thumb- an action which Squidward would normally attempt to prevent.
But he just couldn't fight anymore.
...
After a while, Squidward felt exhausted, and started to rise to go to bed- but SpongeBob took his tentacles and helped his neighbour back to bed, before tucking him in for the night.
"There, there, Squidward..." SpongeBob said soothingly, petting Squidward's bald head. Squidward glared, but the poriferan didn't take any notice.
"Would you like me to do anything for you, Squidward?" He offered generously, hands behind his back.
"No, no, SpongeBob- I'm perfectly fine." He replied grumpily, able to slip his grouchy façade on. "I just want to sleep, so would you mind leaving my house?"
"Okay," Replied SpongeBob politely, taking Squidward's tentacle in his hand and squeezing it gently. "Goodnight, Squid- see ya tomorrow." He said, with a tender, kind and innocent smile on his face.
"Night, Sponge," Squidward replied drowsily, snuggling under his sheets as he heard SpongeBob close the door as quietly as possible before tip toing downstairs to the front door.
He knew SpongeBob was usually a nuisance when he came over uninvited- but he did feel a little better knowing that at least someone cared about him as a friend.
Well, maybe Squidward did have at least one friend, after all. He just didn't want to admit that it had to be one of his next door neighbours.
With that thought in mind, he fell asleep, still in his bathrobe.