wc . 850 in which . reader stays up through nights overthinking, and mikey helps her.
warnings : mentions of anxiety and overthinking xx
authors note . lmk if you guys like it in like ‘she’ or ‘you’
taglist : @roratv @lostdeerinthemist @ivysturnss @quinnburtwhistle
it started with little things.
the first night, mikey woke up because something felt off.
reader was still beside him.
she hadn’t gone anywhere.
his eyes barely opened as he looked over at her.
she was staring at the ceiling.
one hand lazily tangled in his curls.
just enough to keep herself occupied.
her fingers stopped moving.
“go back to sleep, mikey.”
too tired to argue, he buried his face back into the pillow and drifted off
the second night, he woke up again.
this time the bed beside him was empty.
moonlight spilled through the room.
reader was curled up on the window seat.
not looking at anything in particular.
he watched her for a moment.
but eventually he just sighed and laid back down.
that got a tiny laugh out of her.
the third night was worse.
because this time, when mikey woke up, he could hear her crying.
just quiet little sniffles.
the sort people make when they’re trying not to cry.
which told him everything.
she was sitting by the window again.
her face turned away from him.
mikey got out of bed and crossed the room.
when he crouched in front of her, she refused to look at him.
that hurt more than the tears.
because reader always looked at him.
he gently took her hands.
“there’s nothing to talk about.”
“you’ve not slept properly in nearly a week.”
“you keep staring at ceilings.”
“you keep sitting by windows.”
“i don’t know why i’m crying.”
because she sounded genuinely frustrated.
like she hated it as much as he did.
reader finally looked at him.
“i don’t know what’s wrong with me.”
a tear rolled down her cheek.
“so why can’t i stop thinking?”
because he had a feeling she’d been holding this in for days.
“i go to sleep and my brain just won’t shut up.”
“i keep thinking about everything.”
“stuff that happened years ago.”
“stuff that might happen.”
“stuff that probably won’t happen.”
“whether everyone’s secretly mad at me.”
“whether i’ve done something wrong.”
“and i know it’s stupid.”
“because none of it’s real.”
that made her finally look at him.
and mikey knew he’d figured it out.
she wasn’t hiding something.
so anxious she’d exhausted herself.
and she didn’t even realise it.
before she could argue, he gently pulled her into his lap.
reader immediately buried her face in his neck.
like she’d been waiting all week for someone to do that.
his arms wrapped around her tightly.
“you don’t have to figure everything out tonight.”
she let out a weak laugh.
reader rolled her eyes despite herself.
he pressed a kiss into her hair.
“you’re allowed to have bad weeks.”
“even if nothing happened.”
“you’re allowed to be overwhelmed.”
“you’re allowed to be anxious.”
“and you’re definitely allowed to wake me up.”
that earned a proper laugh.
“because if you’re awake crying by yourself while i’ve been snoring away like a dead man, i’m gonna be offended.”
he felt her smile against his shoulder.
and when he carried her back to bed that night, he didn’t let go.
reader ended up tucked against his chest with his arms wrapped around her.
every time she shifted, every time her breathing changed, every time she started disappearing back into her thoughts—
his hand would find her hair.
his thumb would stroke her shoulder.
and half asleep he’d mumble,
and somehow, hearing it from him made it feel true.
for the first time all week, she fell asleep before the sun came up.
with mikey holding her so close she could hear his heartbeat.