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It’s three in the morning when Alex wakes up and realizes that Greg is not in the bed. Alex slides out from under the duvet and shuffles over to the bathroom where he grabs a fuzzy white bathrobe and puts it on. He squints his eyes as he looks around the big hotel room for Greg, but doesn’t find him anywhere. He looks toward the large window-like sliding glass doors that lead to the balcony and sees a hulking silhouette darkening the glittering skyline.
As he steps out onto the balcony, a blast of freezing cold air hits Alex square in the face. He shivers and wraps the bathrobe around himself tightly. When he sidles up to Greg, he has to keep alternating which foot to lean his weight on because it’s fucking cold out here.
“You okay?” Alex asks softly.
Greg turns to look at him, blowing a white puff of smoke out of his mouth. He’s holding his vape pen in his right hand as he leans on the railing of the balcony.
“Can’t sleep,” he shrugs, and takes another long pull from his pen.
“I’m surprised,” Alex says, leaning his shoulder against Greg. “I thought you’d be exhausted.”
“I am exhausted,” Greg sighs, more smoke billowing from between his lips. “It’s just this fucking insomnia.”
“Even in New York?”
“Even here.”
“Hmm.”
Side by side, they look out on the city. Far below them, cars honk and drive through the streets, people yell at each other, and life continues on as if it wasn’t the middle of the night. The soles of Alex’s feet are freezing, and he feels like a little kid that needs to use the loo, with the way he steps in place.
“Oh, for fuck’s –” Greg grabs Alex by the wrist and tugs him over to plant Alex’s bare feet on top of Greg’s, which are clad in huge black slippers. He wraps his arms around Alex’s midsection and hugs him close, swaying softly.
“Is there anything I can do?” Alex asks, craning his neck to look up at Greg.
More white smoke blows out of Greg’s mouth as he sighs. “This is nice,” he says, giving Alex a squeeze.
The cold night air slices across Alex’s exposed cheeks and ankles, and he begins to shiver in earnest, his whole body shaking. He yawns, his own white breath caught and carried away by the wind.
“We have a long day tomorrow,” he says, knowing that insomnia couldn’t care less about a busy schedule.
“Yeah…” Greg takes one last, long pull of his vape and expels it slowly. He leans back and Alex steps forward, off of Greg’s slippered feet and back onto the freezing cold balcony. Alex hops back into the blessedly warm hotel room and waits for Greg to come in and shut the balcony door. When he does, Alex takes his hand and guides him to the bed. Greg sets his vape pen down on the bedside table and gets under the duvet. When Alex slides in next to him, Greg wraps him up in his arms.
Alex falls asleep almost immediately. He doesn’t know whether Greg does.