School was a blur. He went to class, he did homework, he ate lunch with what friends he had left. And he missed Karyn. She was always waiting for him when he got home. But it wasn't the same. He wanted to talk to her. To laugh. To play video games, and bitch about their stupid problems at school. In a way, school was a welcome reprieve from his home life now. The distraction of class and homework kept him from dwelling on Karyn. But he felt awful for thinking that. She deserved better than to be ignored, abandoned.
Wednesday, Jon awoke in the middle of the night. He couldn't say why. He'd grown used Karyn's sobs and snorts. And...
That was it. Karyn wasn't crying. The silence had woken him up. Suddenly terrified at what that might mean, he jerked around in his bed to get a look at where she slept.
He wasn't alone.
Laying with her back to him, in the bed beside him, was Karyn. She wasn't sobbing anymore, though she whimpered in her sleep. Her breath was deep and slow. She was asleep.
Jon froze, staring, his breath catching in his throat. He lay there for some minutes, just watching her back. She was above the blanket, and the rise and fall of her breasts visible even from behind. She whimpered again.
Jon found himself inching closer. His hand reached out of its own accord.
Slowly, he wrapped his arm around Karyn.
His breath was coming hard now. His heart beat violently in his chest. He held her like that for a long time. She was no longer whimpering, but by her breathing she was still asleep.
His hand was sitting on something soft he realized. Something warm and pillowy. Something large and oblong protruded from it that was suddenly stiffening as it rubbed against his palm...
He jerked his hand back. He didn't dare breathe, terrified that Karyn had noticed his touch, or the sudden movement of the mattress. But she showed no sign that she had noticed anything, her breath still slow and steady.
Jon gently covered her with his part of the blanket, turned on his side, and with his back to her, tried to sleep.
