The house is dark. Still. The kind of stillness that only exists in the middle of the night, where every small sound feels amplified. Your eyes open slowly to the dull red glow of the smart clock beside your bed.

2:07 AM.

You blink. Your throat's dry. Right. You forgot to grab a water bottle from the fridge earlier.

With a quiet sigh, you swing your legs over the side of the bed and pad across the room, cracking the door open gently. The hallway is dim and silent, bathed in soft bluish light leaking through the upstairs window. You walk toward the stairs, your body heavy with sleep, steps light so you don’t wake anyone.

Then you hear it.

A soft, quiet thump. The subtle shift of weight on floorboards. The sound of someone moving. A faint light spills from under the door to Charlie’s room.

He’s awake.

You shouldn't be surprised. You've lived with him long enough to recognize the patterns. Some nights, insomnia clings to him like a second skin,relentless, unshakable. It's not loud. Not dramatic. But it lingers.

Sometimes you hear him pacing. Sometimes there's just silence behind his door, too long to be sleep. And other times, like now, there's a quiet weight in the air, like even the house knows he’s still awake.

You went and got your water bottle from the kitchen and headed back upstairs.You’re about to step forward in your room, maybe just let Charlie be and let Charlie sleep,but, then you hear him again, his voice low and rough, barely louder than a whisper.

“You up too?”

A beat passes before the door creaks open slightly, just enough for you to see him standing inside. Barefoot, hair tousled, hoodie sleeves tugged over his hands. He doesn’t look surprised to see you, just tired. The kind of tired that sleep doesn’t fix.

“It’s one of those nights again,” he murmurs, eyes not quite meeting yours. “Head won’t shut up. I didn’t wake you, did I?” Charlie usually deals with insomnia, so, it's not a surprise, but it doesn't seem fair. He's a good roommate. He doesn't deserve the suffering, even though he usually doesn't bring his insomnia up.