You felt the tears pricking at your eyes. It was 4 in the morning and though your body was heavy with tiredness, you just couldn’t sleep. You blinked and the tears flowed down to wet your pillow. Sadness filled you as the events and emotions of the past months replayed themselves in your head. You remembered all your failures and for a moment you thought of all the people who had expectations for you. You let yourself drown in the pressure and stress, bringing more tears to your eyes.

You sobbed silently, shifting in the bed as quietly as you could- the last thing you wanted to do was to wake him up. As you turned, you caught a glimpse of it in the dim moonlight streaming through the window blinds.

      Do what you like,

              and love what you do.

Part of it was hidden by the sleeveless shirt he was wearing but you didn’t need to look; as much as the words were printed onto his skin, they were already etched into your memory. You lifted your hand and brushed the letters with your fingers, smiling ruefully; even when asleep, he really knew just how to comfort you. Slowly you propped yourself on your elbow and leaned up to kiss his shoulder.

He stirred at your gesture, “Babe? What time is it?” Came his rough voice while he turned to face you. You laid back down on your pillow, quickly wiping your face- he’d worry if he saw the tears.

“What’s wrong?” He’d seen your frantic movements.

You stopped and smiled at him, “it’s nothing, go back to sleep dear.”

“It’s not nothing if you’re crying.” He was alert now and watching you with knowing eyes.

You sighed, knowing there was no way you could keep anything from him.

“It’s just been getting really busy these past months, you know… I’m just tired,” taking a deep breath, you glance up at him, “and honestly, I’ve been doubting myself a lot…” You breathed out, and gave him a shaky smile before looking down, feeling a little ashamed.

You felt his hand apply pressure on your waist, drawing you closer to him.

“You can do it. I believe in you.”

Your smile turned a little more sincere at his words, “thanks.”

“No,” his hand came up and lifted your chin so you were looking at him, “you can do it.”

The look in his eyes made your vision blurry again. It was an odd feeling, but a warm one nonetheless- when someone else had a confidence in you that you did not have yourself.

You nodded, whispering, “thank you.”

He kissed the top of your head, then tucked it under his chin drawing you flush against his warm body, and just like that, you drifted off to sleep in his embrace.