4:00 “Justin?” Brian asks, sitting up. An hour earlier, Justin had awoken abruptly with a scream and a couple of kicks, nearly knocking Brian off the bed. After about twenty minutes of holding him and soothing words, Justin fell back to sleep in his arms without ever having a chance to tell him what the nightmare was about. And now, barely a full hour later, Brian had awoken from a swift change in the bed. Slowly sitting up, he watched Justin sitting there, staring out into space for about a minute before finally calling his name. Of course, there was no response. “Justin?” Blinking slowly, Justin gets out of bed and walks over to the window. “Justin? What are you doing?” After several seconds of no response, Brian gets out of bed and goes over to the window. “Hey, you okay?” Gently turning his husband to face him, he realizes that though Justin’s eyes are open, they seem somewhat glazed and more so, that Justin doesn’t appear to notice his lover standing in front of him, much less talking to him. “Justin? What are you doing?” Blinking slowly, Justin turns back to the window and touches the glass. “Justin?” Touching his lover’s shoulder, he whispers directly into his ear, “What are you doing?” Frowning at the lack of response, Brian gently steers Justin away from the window. “Shouldn’t you be sleeping?” “I am sleeping,” Justin replies softly. Brian can’t help but smile as he guides Justin back into bed, “Sleeping usually involves lying down, Sunshine. Close your eyes.” “Okay,” he murmurs, and with that, he’s back to sleep. Brian watches him for a few moments and then releases the breath he hadn’t noticed he was holding. Leaning down, he gently kisses Justin’s forehead before crawling into bed beside him. Wrapping his arms around his husband, he decides that holding him for the remainder of the night might not be such a bad idea. ****************************** Well, folks, turns out I've hit the chapter limit *LOL* So I've re-posted chapter 129 in Protège moi PART 2. Thanks for sticking with this! Hugs to all, Snow