When had he fallen asleep?  He couldn’t remember.  There was only the faintest memory of sensation; his fingers weaving through a cascade of sandy brown locks, gold spun silk shimmering in his hand as he lounged in bed with Hyukjae, his love half-sprawled atop his chest, sleeping soundly…

Heaving in a deep breath, Donghae raised his head, opened his eyes to a midnight gloom and perceived nothing but the subdued drone of the humidifier at the end of the bed.

…‘Probably got up to pee, he thought while throwing the duvet over his shoulder and smothering a grunt by shoving his entire face into one of the many surrounding pillows.  Yep.  No need to leave this cocoon of sweet warmth. 

When gentle lips flattened against his jaw, Donghae slowly cracked one eye open to see Hyukjae staring right back at him.

Turning onto his side, he squinted at the figure lying beside him.  “Hyuk?”  He knew it was Hyukjae, but the veil of exhaustion that clung to his mind disoriented him.  “Why are you awake?  It’s late.”

“Not tired.  ’Thought I might watch you sleep instead.”

“Mm.  That’s kind of creepy.”

“Sorry,” Hyukjae apologized with a snort.  “I couldn’t fall asleep.  Figured I could nap on the plane tomorrow, since we have nothing to do then, anyway.”

“But… that’s when we planned to have our date.  You said we could watch movies during the flight.”  After attempting a few blind s in the dark, he found Hyukjae’s hand and intertwined their fingers.  “Now you’ll be sleeping your monkey off the whole time.”

“I’ll make it up to you later.  Let me have this moment for now.”  Donghae stifled a yawn as he felt soft lips brush against their knuckles and linger there.  “We don’t spend enough time together as it is.”

“But, baby, I’m with you all the time.  Now and forever and ever.”  Another soft kiss — and Donghae’s free hand curled toward his face, touching his cheek, moving lightly across full lips as his eyes tracked the shadows dancing on the handsome profile.  “Why are you suddenly talking about this?”

Pale shoulders lifted in a shrug.  “I don’t know.  Maybe work is finally getting to me.  Been feeling pretty stressed out and lonely.”

“How can you feel lonely when I’m always with you?”