Page 59 of You Only Live Once
‘How are you going to sleep, sitting up like that?’
Jack gave a wiggle to get comfy, gently held on to my feet when I tried to pull them up out of the way so that I wouldn’t be curled up like an ammonite and, from the movement, I guessed pulled a little of the quilt over his chest.
‘I’ve slept in all sorts of places and positions.’
‘Why don’t I doubt that?’
He gave a low laugh and squeezed my leg so briefly I wondered if I’d imagined it. ‘Go to sleep.’
I lay there for a moment, trying to decide whether this was nice or weird or if it was something else entirely.
‘Stop frowning and go to sleep.’
My brain was hurting by this point, so I gave up and did as he suggested.
* * *
Twenty minutes later, I was awoken by a somewhat muffled ‘Oww’, and Jack shifting on the sofa.
‘You’re not comfortable, are you?’
‘I’m fine,’ he said, smothering another groan.
‘You’re clearly not. Come on, up you get,’ I said, pulling the quilt away and standing. Clive woke, stretched and then watched us, waiting to see what happened, the odd whine sent out in question.
‘You’ve woken the dog up now.’
‘He was bound to wake up sooner or later with all your moaning and groaning. Come on, shift.’
Feeling my way cautiously to the dresser, I pulled out a couple of candles kept there for emergencies, along with the matches, and lit them.
‘You go back up to bed. I’ll stay here with Clive until the storm passes completely,’ Jack suggested, stretching his neck and back.
‘It’s fine, we can both stay. I mean, if you think that’s best.’
We both looked down to where Clive was now practically glued to my leg.
‘I’m pretty sure he wants you to stay.’
‘OK.’ I walked back to the sofa, gently moved Jack to the side and reached into the back, grabbing the frame of the sofa bed and pulling it out into the diner. Tucked inside was a sheet and two pillows. I flicked one side of the sheet over towards Jack as I moved around to the other side of the bed and we quickly made the bed up.
In the flickering candlelight, I saw Jack look across at me. ‘Just so that I don’t make some awful faux pas here, can you just confirm something to me?’
‘Yes, it is for both of us. It’s no big deal. You stay on your side, I stay on my side and Clive stays happy. Or you can go back up to bed. Whichever you prefer,’ I said, grabbing one of the candles and wandering over to where the light for the hob was still on, despite there being no power. If I did manage to get to sleep, the last thing I wanted was a light beaming out once the power came back on.
‘You sure?’
‘For goodness’ sake, it’s just somewhere to sleep. You might take up a certain amount of space, but luckily I’m quite petite. Other than that, I’m pretty sure I can resist you.’
In the candlelight, I could see Jack give me a look I couldn’t decipher. ‘I’m pretty sure you can too. You always did, apart from that one moment at the fête.’
‘Yes, well, that was more to do with the amount of alcohol I’d ingested, rather than a sudden realisation I couldn’t live without you. Sorry about that.’
‘I’m sure I’ll get over it eventually.’
‘I’m sure you will. Right, Clive. Come on, lie down. You’ve got what you wanted. Everyone’s here and we need some sleep. We don’t get to lie about all day like you do.’ He did as I asked and settled himself tidily into the bed, dragging Hot Dog closer with a paw.
‘Good boy,’ I said, ruffling his head. ‘Now you go back to sleep, OK? You’re safe now and we’re here, so there’s nothing to worry about.’ Clive nuzzled my hand in response and then plopped his head down.
