Disclaimer- I don't own Mulder and Scully so I make no profit from my writing.

Dedication- This is to Faye and anyone else who hugs their pillow at night, praying for their Mulder.

Pillow-Hugging

Her auburn hair, the same golden red as the autumn leaves spread out on the pillow she lay on.

Silk pillow-cases. Silk sheets. Of course.

Mild insomnia... 3.15 am and she still couldn't get to sleep.

She rolled over, burying her face in the pillow.

It smelt of silk, naturally. And mildly of her perfume.

It was comforting. Not comforting enough though.

It didn't smell of him. Him. Tall, handsome, his hazel eyes, that dark hair she loved to run her fingers through when "Checking for head injuries."

The playful banter between the two of them, the intense arguments, the tension that had always been there, and the care that would always remain.

His smell... the smell that sent her into ecstasy and his touch that stopped her breathing.

She stepped out of bed and slowly walked out of her bedroom.

Her blue silk pyjamas matched her eye-colour perfectly.

Those bright blue eyes scouted the room for something he was bound to have left behind.

Her heart leapt when she saw it. A dark shirt, left carelessly on the couch.

She brought it up to her face and breathed in deeply.

The scent was heavenly, overpowering.

She curled it up and took it back with her, laying it over her own pillow before she put her head down on it, making his cologne the only thing she could sense around her.

Now that was a comfort.

She sat up with a sudden thought.

Yes. she decided, but what will my excuse be this time?

She just planned to make it up as she went along, as she dialled the familiar number.

"Mulder." he answered on the first ring.

"Mulder, it's me. Did I wake you?"

"No. No." he said sleepily, obviously trying to suppress a yawn.

Liar. She thought inwardly.

"I'm sorry Mulder, this can wait until tomorrow." she confessed.

"Don't apologise. Don't go." he told her.

"Why?"

"If you can't sleep then we can talk."

"About what?"

She could almost see the smile on his face as he said "Oh you know, the usual, alien abductions, government conspiracies..."

"Yeah, that'll put me to sleep." she told him dryly, but he could almost see the smile on her face that time.

"Actually Scully, I have came across this new theory that suggests that the first mars rocks may have been discovered years before we originally anticipated..."

"Mmm." was all Scully said.

"You want me to shut up?" he asked.

"No, I'm listening." she muttered and he carried on speaking.

It was only a half-lie on her part. She was listening only to the sound of his voice, not the seemingly meaningless words it formed.

Still smelling the shirt, she hugged her spare pillow tightly to her chest, wishing he was there beside her.

"Which, when given the new information, might lead some of the more sceptical scientists question there methods in dealing with such occurrences...Scully? Are you there?" It was unlike her not to contradict him before that point.

Scully had fallen asleep, clutching the pillow, content.

The phone dropped from her hand, cutting him off, but not awakening her.

"Scully? Scully!" he yelled down his own handset.

He pulled his shoes on and headed straight to his car, the death of Regis Purdue had taught him not to just treat it as a hang-up.

He used his key to enter her apartment, when he saw how still everything was he didn't shout.

He silently opened the door to her bedroom, praying he wouldn't alarm her and he was relieved to see her lying on the bed, the phone on the floor beside it.

He was still worried for a moment until he saw her chest rise and fall. She was safe.

He noticed the silk sheets.

And I'm still sleeping on the couch... he couldn't help thinking.

He noticed his shirt. He noticed the way she held the pillow. He remembered the call for no reason.

He didn't need his Oxford Psychology degree to work that one out.

He kissed her cheek gently.

"Mulder?" she asked, her eyes still closed. She wasn't sure if she was dreaming or not. Neither was he.

"I'm here." he whispered.

"...Why?"

"You must have fallen asleep Scully, we got cut off. I was worried, I came to see if you were all right."

"That's sweet." she murmured.

He moved the pillow and slipped into the bed beside her.

She moved her head from the shirt to his shoulders, so she could smell the real thing.

He could smell her perfume on the silk and her natural scent of peaches and vanilla that had the same effect on him as his did on her.

They held each other. Pillow-hugging was helpful.

But this was the real deal.

The End.