Cailen had been shuffling his way forward on the couch, getting ready to stand to go to bed, but froze with Asher's words because, this has never happened before.
"What?" Cailen asked stupidly.
"I- I'm just going to sleep here tonight." Asher repeated, shrugging his shoulder as if this wasn't a big deal.
Cailen looked at him a second longer, the man unable to meet his gaze, before scoffing at the situation.
"Okay." Cailen said angrily and disbelieving, standing up from the couch and heading to their room, trying not to stomp in anger because Ezekiel was sleeping and there were people living underneath them.
Again, Cailen suppressed the urge to slam the door shut, opting to not touch it at all in case he couldn't control himself.
Maybe he was actually hoping Asher would come to bed anyway and didn't want him to think he wasn't welcome by the door being closed, but he wasn't going to admit that to anyone.
After changing into his comfortable sleepwear consist of a green big shirt and boxers, Cailen climbed into the bed, bringing the covers up to his chin and trying to get comfortable in this now foreign way of sleeping.
The bed felt empty without Asher, it felt too big for him, but he didn't want to ask Asher to come to bed- he was a little too pissed at the man to do that.
The worst part was that he could smell Asher all over the bed, even in his own pillow because they practically always shared one with Asher always cuddling into his space.
Cailen was so used to having Asher's arms wrapped around his waist, or having Asher's chest to rest his head on that this felt totally wrong to him now. It felt utterly wrong to not have Asher here by his side and Cailen couldn't help but freak out a little.
What if this became a frequent thing? What if Asher started sleeping on the couch all the time?
Cailen doesn't think he could handle that. Hell, it's been five minutes and it was already driving him crazy.
He wanted Asher here, by his side, but at the same time, the man was really pissing him off right now.
It was almost funny how much he wanted Asher here with him but also to not want to talk to him- funny in a way that had his heart aching slightly and his body tossing and turning, trying to adjust to this empty bed.
Cailen doesn't know how long had passed but it had to have been at least a couple hours of him tossing and turning in the bed, and to be honest, he didn't really want to know.
He's tried every position he could think of but nothing worked, he's tried hugging Asher's pillow but it just wasn't the same, he's even tried sleeping upside down but of course that did absolutely nothing except make him paranoid that an axe murderer would come charging through the door and he wouldn't be able to see it coming.
So now, he laid staring at the ceiling, laying on his back with the covers pulled to his chest. He had given up on sleep a while ago, realizing it was pointless to even try without Asher here. It was kind of pathetic, really.
It was very quiet throughout the house, the television having been turned off a long time ago since Asher had probably fallen asleep.
Cailen contemplated going out to check on him, maybe curl up beside him somehow if he was sleeping and deal with the consequences in the morning but he figured he wouldn't be able to fit on the couch as well.
He could hear the fridge running in the kitchen, the clock ticking away in the living room, he could hear everything.
It was kind of eerie, so Cailen was a bit surprised when the door to the room was pushed open even further and then shut behind whoever opened it.
Cailen couldn't really see much through the darkness but he could tell the figure was way too big to be Ezekiel, so either that axe murderer had finally come or Asher had decided to come to bed after all.
Cailen watched Asher make his way around the bed.
He watched as he threw off his shirt and kicked off his pants, climbing into bed in his boxers.
He watched Asher settle in and he watched Asher turn to Cailen, a look of surprise crossing his face when he saw Cailen watching him.
He probably hadn't expected Cailen to be awake.
They stared at each other for a moment in the dark, Cailen not able to see much of anything but Asher's eyes staring back at him.
Asher's hand came to rest on Cailen's stomach, sliding up to his chest then to his neck where Asher cupped the side of Cailen's face, his thumb stroking along his cheek gently.
Cailen leaned into the touch, closing his eyes briefly until he felt Asher's lips brush against his softly where he immediately kissed him back, trying to apologize for everything and anything, trying to tell him that he was happy he came to bed.
"I couldn't sleep out there without you." Asher said, his voice low and tired.
"I couldn't sleep in here without you." Cailen admitted immediately.
"I'm sorry." Asher added.
"So am I." Cailen replied.
"But we need to talk about this." Asher said, not sounding particularly enthusiastic about the subject.
"Can we talk tomorrow? I'm knackered." Cailen said sleepily around a yawn.
"It is tomorrow." Asher teased. "But okay, go to sleep." Asher said, leaning down to kiss him again, in the forehead this time, then on his lips.
"I love you." Asher told him, circling his arms over Cailen’s waist and pulling him towards him, kissing the skin of Cailen’s exposed shoulder because of how big his sleepshirt was and engulfing Cailen in a warm embrace.
"I love you, too." Cailen mumbled, suddenly fighting to stay awake now that Asher was here.
He rested his head against Asher’s chest and together, they were finally able to fall asleep.
*****
"Yeah, that sounds good. We'll see you then." Cailen spoke into the phone as he put Ezekiel's lunch into his bag, setting it by the door.
"Yeah, I'll probably have to bring Samuel and Samantha since Charlie will be with Ava and Ivy." Arabella replied, sounding preoccupied on the other end of the phone, probably getting the girls ready for school, much like he was getting Ezekiel ready for school.
"Of course," Cailen said, not having a problem with that at all. "Maybe they can play with Zeke then." Cailen suggested seeing as how they were on the same age.
"Oh, that should be fun." Arabella agreed. "Well, I've got to go, we'll see you then."
"See you then, bye." Cailen finished, hanging up his phone and slipping it into his pocket.
Cailen glanced at the clock, seeing that they were a little behind schedule and quickly dashed off towards Ezekiel's room, praying that he was ready and not fooling around with his toys.
"Zeke, please tell me you're- " Cailen asked as he quickly knocked on the door and pushed it open to see Ezekiel still lying in bed with the covers pulled up to his chin.
"Zeke! Why are you still in bed? We're going to be late, love." Cailen exclaimed, walking over to where Ezekiel laid, ready to drag him out of bed and hopefully get out the door on time but as he drew closer, he could tell something was wrong.
Ezekiel looked a little paler than usual, his skin looked a bit clammy as well and he hardly even stirred when Cailen had raised his voice.
"Cailen, I don't feel good." Ezekiel mumbled, looking up at him as Cailen took a seat on the edge of the bed.
Cailen reached out with his hand, feeling Ezekiel's forehead and felt that he was burning up.
"You don't look too good, love." Cailen told him, his mind going into overdrive.
Was it just a common cold or something more serious? Should he take him to the doctor or just let him rest?
Obviously he'd have to call work and tell them he couldn't come in, he couldn't leave Ezekiel here alone.
"Does your tummy hurt?" Cailen asked, remembering that he was a nurse- he dealt with this sort of thing everyday, and to calm the fuck down.
Ezekiel shook his head no, stopping to let out a cough that he half concealed into the blanket.
"Okay, why don't you stay here and I'll go get you some water. Try to get some rest, love."
"Okay." Ezekiel confirmed, his voice small and barely audible.
Cailen leaned down before he got up, kissing the boy's forehead and smoothing out his hair so it was out of his eyes.
Ezekiel's eyes fell closed as Cailen pulled away, looking down at the very sick looking boy.
"I love you, Zeke." Cailen whispered before backing away, heading for the door to fetch his son some water and make a few calls.
The first call he made was to the school, letting them know Ezekiel was sick and that he wouldn't be coming to school today.
It was a fairly quick conversation, the receptionist wishing Ezekiel well but mostly seeming unsurprised, like this happened everyday. Which Cailen figured it probably did.
The next call he made was to his work, telling them that Ezekiel was sick and he couldn't come into work. He felt kind of bad for leaving them with no replacement but there wasn't much he could do.
They were understanding, of course, Madeline even asking if Cailen wanted to bring him in to get looked at but Cailen declined, telling her he thought it was just a cold and that it would be pointless.
The next call he made was to Asher, though he felt a little unsure about calling him.
It had been a couple days since they fought and they hadn't really talked it out yet.
Cailen knew it probably wasn't healthy to let this go undiscussed but he didn't know how to bring it up to Asher without starting a fight. And it's not like Asher was trying to bring it up either, even though he was the one who said they needed to talk this out.
Maybe he just knew that it would only lead to a bigger fight and he didn't want to deal with it either.
They weren't really fighting anymore though... They'd talk, they'd laugh, they slept in the same bed still, but Cailen could tell something had changed between them.
There was always this tension between them, certain conversations being avoided at all costs and when they couldn't be, they were quick and followed by an awkward silence.