Four people living in the same place meant privacy was nothing more than a myth people with doors liked to brag about.

Bosco. Charlie. June. And you.

All crammed into a single, massive square of an apartment with no walls. No corners to hide in. No barriers to muffle sound. Just open space, scattered mattresses, and the quiet understanding that everyone would eventually see everything.

Which meant there was no such thing as privacy.

Not even in sleep.

You had been wrestling nightmares since you were a kid.

And waking from one of those nightmares in a room shared with three other people was not subtle.

In most cases, you would have had an audience.

But Bosco slept like a fallen statue, completely unmoving, as if even an earthquake would apologize before disturbing him.

And June refused to sleep without her headphones on, cocooned in music loud enough to keep the world out.

It was nearly impossible to wake either of them.

Charlie, however, was different.

Charlie slept lightly, like someone who expected the world to need him at any moment. And his heart was far too soft for his own good.

So whenever you mumbled in your sleep, or your breathing turned uneven, or a broken sob slipped past your lips, he was there.

Kneeling beside your mattress. Holding your hand like it was something fragile and important. Whispering gentle things into the dark. Telling stories from his childhood, about stupid pranks and harmless disasters, about him and Bosco getting into trouble for reasons that made no sense now but apparently had at the time.

A true gentleman at heart.

Just like now.

Another night where your mind had turned against you. Another sharp, gasping wake up. Another cold rush of panic fading slowly into the quiet of the apartment.

Charlie was already there, fingers wrapped carefully around yours, voice low and steady as he told you about some ridiculous stunt he and Bosco had once pulled.

After a while, when your breathing finally evened out and your grip on his hand loosened, he gave your hand a small squeeze.

"Feeling better?"