Her bedroom was very much the same. The walls were painted a very pale yellow, giving the impression of a sunny room without the yellow being overwhelming, and her bedspread was a light blue with yellow flowers which almost matched the walls perfectly. The curtains on her windows were the same light blue as her bedspread. Above her dresser there was a shelf lined with stuffed animals, but not the normal kind of stuffed animals. They were all octopuses. There was one with a top hat, monocle, and mustache, another red one with an angry little face, another which had a cat head and a bunch of tentacles... Michael didn’t really know what to think about the octopussy, but somehow it all just seemed very Ellie. Silly, original, and adorable.

“Come to bed,” Ellie said, pulling him along with her.

It probably wasn’t a good idea. She was completely wasted. But she was also very insistent. When he hesitated, she yanked at his hand, nearly sending him off balance. For such a tiny thing, she was pretty strong when she wanted to be.

“No sex,” Michael said sternly, carefully placing Watson on the bed before laying down next to Ellie. She pouted. Her bed was smaller than his, a double to his queen, and so there was barely any space between them.

Ellie eradicated the little bit of space as she wriggled forward and wrapped herself around him.

Should he try to get her to change into more comfortable sleeping clothes? Not that her jeans and jersey looked uncomfortable... and he was pretty comfortable...

From the way she was nuzzling him, her hands sliding over his chest, it was probably better if they both remained fully clothed, otherwise his declaration of no sex was going to become a lot harder to fulfill.

Wrapping her up in his arms, Michael promised himself he was just going to rest for a bit until she fell asleep. He didn’t want to leave her alone when she was this drunk. Before he left, he’d leave her a glass of water on her nightstand and see if he could find some aspirin without snooping too much.

He closed his eyes - just for a minute - to savor how good it felt to have her in his arms like this, so warmly welcoming and content to be there.

18

Reality came crashing in with the pressing need to pee, a throbbing head, and a warm arm around her body.

The sensation of heaviness on her body wasn’t just from the arm though. A familiar vibrating purr through her chest said Watson was lying on her chest.