"Sawyer." Millie's voice broke me out of the exhausted daze that I had fallen into. When the fact that she whispered had occurred to me, I quickly realized what was going on.

The teacher stared expectantly at me, clearly waiting for something. I attempted a confused smile, but her face remained static. I didn't think that I fell asleep, but I was definitely not listening.

"The answer to seventeen?" She finally asked, causing me to look around wildly. Everyone else had their books open and a notebook out. How long had we been taking notes?

"Yeah, about that..." I murmured, leaning across the aisle to see what page Millie was on and then flipping to it in my own book. "Care to explain what we've been doing all hour?"

She let out a long sigh. I was definitely more sarcastic than I usually was, but it wasn't my fault that I was so irritable. Anyone would have been if they hadn't slept much at all for the last three nights. I swore that my eyes felt like they were bleeding.

"Sawyer, you're usually a good student." I perked up, wanting to hear her praise me more. "Which is the only reason I'll leave you off on a warning. However, I do want to talk to you after class."

I internally groaned, forcing my face to remain nonchalant as I slowly nodded my head. I knew that I sounded bitchy, but what the fuck? Couldn't she just let me off with a warning and nothing more? And she better not make me say her name, because I had no clue. I tended to push PreCalculus out of my mind, even though I had her for other math courses in the past. At least, I thought I did.

Millie offered me a sympathetic look, even though there was still amusement on her expression. Best friends enjoyed your suffering the most. It was currently Thursday, and it was safe to say that I hadn't been sleeping well. Every time I turned off my bedroom lights, I just couldn't shake the urge of someone watching me.

It didn't matter how many times I checked the lock, or how many times I told myself that no one was there, I still felt sick to my stomach. It was safe to say that I wouldn't be able to rest properly for a while.

If you did the quick math, I got around three or four hours of sleep on Tuesday night, no sleep on Wednesday, and one hour last night. According to Google, getting one hour of sleep was worse than none. I was having a very hard time functioning. Millie wouldn't stop asking about it, begging to know why I had bags beneath my eyes and a healing cut beneath my bangs.

Sometimes I found myself about to tell her, but then I remembered what it was I was about to say. So, I lied and told her that it was just some mild insomnia from stress about school and some other things. I knew that she didn't buy it, she wouldn't have been a true friend if she did, but she let it go. It seemed that Millie understood that it that it had to do with Sam.

It always seemed to come full circle back to Sam.

He spent all of yesterday telling me that I needed to try to sleep. I kept assuring him that I was fine and that he didn't need to worry, but I was fairly sure he didn't listen to a word of it.

When the bell rang, I felt my aching body slowly stand from the extremely uncomfortable chair, taking long enough for the room to empty out. Millie wished me luck before she joined the crowd.

I gathered my stuff and walked up to the teacher's desk. It felt strikingly similar to the walk of either shame or doom.

"Mr. Parson." She looked up at me. "Is there something going on that you need to talk about?"

Wait, what?

Hold on. I needed to get it straight. She thought that I was going through something, and that was why I was struggling to stay awake in class. Had I been that obvious? I wished that the world would open up and swallow me.

"Um, no?" I raised a brow, looking at her in why I hoped was confusion.

"Are you sure?" Her light brown eyes appeared worried, even though I was just another student. Hell, I didn't even know her name. I was a prick, but it had never mattered before. "I know I'm not a counselor, and I get that, but it's my job to make sure that my students are in good health.

"As I said before, you're a good student when you try, Sawyer, and I've never had you falling asleep in class before. I just want to make sure that you're not being bullied, or having issues at home. If it's not any of those, then what might be the matter?"

I blinked. Was I sleeping? Why did it seem like a weird dream of some sort? There was too much happening around me, and I couldn't keep up with it all. The worry, the sleepless nights, the schoolwork. She was lying about me being a good student, because I was mediocre at best. It was a sweet thing for her to do, but I simply couldn't tell her. I couldn't even tell my best friend.

"I'm fine, just been staying up late." Was all I said. As much as I wanted to get some things off of my chest, I didn't.

She gave me one more long look, as though trying to decide if she should push further. Obviously, I was lying. I wasn't fine, and it wasn't a matter of staying up late. But the last person I would open up to about something so personal was a stranger.

"Alright, just try to get more sleep then." She offered me a friendly wave. "If I catch you sleeping in class again, I will have to write you up." I nodded and we bid our goodbyes.

I made my way down the hall, spotting a particular girl leaning against my locker. My lips tilted up in a half-assed smile. "Do I look like I want to die?"

Millie snorted, stepping out of the way so that I could deposit my books. "When do you not?"

"Good point."

•O•O•

"Nope." Sam scolded me, gesturing for me to get back up.

I scowled at him from the comforts of his couch. Since when was I unwelcome? "And why not? I'm tried, I want to sit."

"I never said that you couldn't." I furrowed my brow. He held both hands out for me to grab. I reluctantly followed suit. "Just not here."

"Oh?" I mumbled, using them to put me back onto my feet. It was becoming a million times harder to not fall asleep where I stood.

There was even a small period on the ride over there in which I was pretty sure that I was unconscious. Either Sam had finally decided to drug me but he did a really shit job at it, or I just slipped into realm of dreams. Not that I actually dreamt anything though, since my mind was usually pretty desolate when I was sleeping.

"Where are we going then?" I asked him, not letting go of his hand even though I could have. I trusted him, but I wasn't in the mood for doing anything fun. I just wanted to sleep.

"Come here before you fall over." His voice was gentle as he spun himself around and crouched in front of me like he had only a few days ago.

"Is this going to become a habit?"

He shrugged, a smirk warming his lips. "Only if you make it one."

On a normal day, I would have pretended to be a lot more unsure of myself, but that day I couldn't be bothered to. There was no point in asking too many questions when I could barely think straight. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders tightly, burying my head into the crook of his neck. The mixture of his heartbeat and his scent was enough to almost knock me out. It was an amalgamation of vanilla, lavender, and mint.

Samson Warner, you did things to me that no one else ever could.

I vaguely felt his body moving around as he carried me to whatever destination he had in mind, but I was too busy trying to not fall asleep to pay attention. There was even a point where my body had an all out war with my mind.

That, or I was just absolutely insane and extremely sleep deprived.

The echo of a door creaking open was what reminded me that I shouldn't be sleeping, and I forced my eyes to open. The familiar feeling of a cozy room with a million stories hidden on the walls was what caused a sleepy smile to appear on my face.

There was something about his room that made me so fucking happy. Maybe it was because I was surrounded by Sam when I was in there.

"Are you still alive, Sawyer?" Sam asked me, walking towards the bed.

I nuzzled into his neck, making a sound to let him know that I was. I didn't have the strength to even respond. I just wanted to stay close to him.

"Okay, I'm going to set you down now." He warned, causing a frown to form on my pale face.

Why did he have to go and do a thing like that? I was sure that he probably could have held me for at least a little longer.

When I was set down, I looked up at Sam with a pout. "Why'd you let go?"

A soft smile reached those perfect lips of his, and he placed a soft hand against my cheek. "You are adorable."

I rolled my eyes, batting his hand away. Holy shit, the bugs in my stomach never seemed to miss an opportunity to make my feel all weird.

"Okay, I'll stop teasing you, you just look like a kitten when you're tired." That was definitely something that I had heard before. "But that's beside the point, make yourself comfortable."

I looked at him with a curious expression, sitting down on the edge of his bed. I followed his movements as he tossed a pair of sweatpants my way. What?

He must have picked up on my confusion, because he said, "You can't expect me to let you sleep in jeans."

Okay, I thought that the butterflies were freaking out before, but I was very wrong. My heartbeat so loud in my ears that it almost hurt. Why? It wasn't like it was that insane of a thing to suggest. I had slept in front of him before, so why is this such a big deal? Probably because we'll be laying in the same bed.

There was also that split fear of sleeping. What if I woke up and it was worse than last time? The repercussions could have been tenfold. What if Sam was gone, and it turned out that it was all a dream and someone was there all over again? What if I was not so lucky the second time?

"Hey." He sighed walking up to me and carefully grabbing me by both sides of my face. I tilted my head back to look into his eyes. He must have noticed my change in thought. "No one will ever get you. I'm not going anywhere, Sawyer, and that's a fucking promise. I will protect you with my life, so please trust me. You need sleep, and I care about you too much to let you keep doing this to yourself."

I slowly wrapped my arms around his neck until I was able to place a kiss against his lips. It wasn't just a kiss, it was a thank you. For everything he had done for me. I never felt that before, but God, I never wanted to stop feeling it. It was like an adrenaline rush every time he looked my way or said my name.

When we parted, he turned around long enough for me to change, and then we both laid down.

We were facing each other, one of Sam's hands playing with my hair as the other held me tightly around the waist. I had my own pressed against his chest. The need to close my eyes only grew stronger.

In my drowsiness, there was only one thought that was keeping me awake. I kept telling myself to just sleep, but I couldn't seem to reach that point. So, I fluttered my eyes back open. Sam was still looking at me. He looked at me as though I was the only thing on the entire planet, which only made the question burn deeper.

With a raspy voice, I whispered. "Will we ever be more than friends?"

When his gaze didn't waver in the slightest, I knew the answer. "Of course."

A small smile that was worth a thousand words crept onto my face. One quickly grew on Sam's as well. His hand in my hair only made me more aware of what was happening. This was real. Whether a secret or not. I wanted to make sure that we both knew it.

"Sawyer." He whispered, biting his lip. "Will you be my boyfriend?"

I laughed a giddy laugh, suddenly feeling so much relief. There was no more running from any of it. Neither of us were going anywhere anytime soon. "Of course."

He placed a lingering kiss on the tip of my nose.

With the weight of our new titles still in the air, my mind slipped away. Sleep was definitely worth it, but being with Sam held the most reward.

But the clock was still ticking. Tomorrow was Friday.

•O•O•