Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, sadly.

Written as a response to the challenge topic 'creepypasta'.

Fingernails dug themselves desperately into the sheets, the petite body thrashing on the bed. Soft whimpers fell from the boy's lips. He was panting lightly and already drenched in a thin layer of sweat, strands of silver hair sticking to the sides of his face. It wasn't long before green eyes flew wide open and a strangled scream was ripped from his throat. Just like that, it was over.

The nightmare might have ended, but for Hope, the terror was still as real as ever. Alone in the dark, he stared panic-stricken around the room, trying to make sense of the outlines of shapes he could barely make out. His heart beat wildly in his chest. He was being stupid, he knew, but it was hard to shake the feeling that maybe he wasn't as alone as he thought he was. Had that really been just a dream? There was no way. It had seemed so real. The fear, the stench, the pain-everything. And that creature he had seen, the one who had called out to him in his mother's voice. There was no way he could have imagined something as horrifying as that on his own.

And he hadn't, of course. Some stupid anon on the internet forums had, on that stupid site Vanille had insisted he check out.

Rubbing tiredly at his eyes, Hope let out a sigh. His pulse was slowly returning to normal, but it still felt like something was going to pop out at him at any given moment. There was no way he would be getting back to sleep at this rate. The thought of closing his eyes again terrified him, sure that the moment he fell back asleep, the nightmare would be waiting for him. That wasn't something he was willing to experience again. How pathetic was it, he mused, that after everything that he had been through, he could be so deeply affected by something that went by a lame name like 'creepypasta'? He had laughed in Vanille's face when the girl first eagerly mentioned it to him, especially when she had said how scary it was.

"Dammit, Vanille," he muttered, quickly clamping his mouth shut once again. Another wary glance around his surroundings told him that he was still safe. If there was anything there, it hadn't heard him. He was being stupid now, and he knew it. It bothered him more than it would have two years ago, back before the whole l'Cie thing. By this point, however, he was supposed to have learned how to face his fears and deal with them head on. Hadn't he been one of the ones who had battled countless monsters and demons and helped to give control of Cocoon back to the people? If he could fearlessly face down countless fal'Cie, how was it that some made-up creature from the internet could scare him so much?

Again, he cursed his female friend, though he was careful this time to do it mentally instead of out loud. Just in case. It was his own fault for listening to her and looking that site up. Still, she was the one who had dared him to do it. They were addictive, too, those little horror stories people came up with; once he had started, he hadn't been able to tear himself away from the computer screen. Most of them hadn't even been that scary-and then, of course, he had stumbled across that one. There was always 'that one', for everyone, and he had been careless enough to find it right before powering off the machine and going to bed.

After what felt like hours, he hesitantly reached across the stand next to the bed for his cellphone. Shielding the light from the screen with his hand, he checked the time. Two in the morning. There was still an ungodly amount of hours to go before the sun would start coming up. It took a conscious effort not to groan. It was going to be a long night. He could already imagine how exhausted he was going to by the time everyone else woke up.

That thought gave him an idea. It wasn't kind, by any means, but at the moment he didn't care. Why should he be the only one to miss out on his sleep? With another look around the room, he slowly pushed himself into a sitting position. The door was right there, not five feet away. Her room wasn't terribly far from his. Why shouldn't he drop by and voice his complaints? It had been her idea! Besides, maybe she would have some suggestion for him on how to get back to sleep. Either that or she could keep him company. At this point, he just didn't feel like being alone. It was making things worse. He could almost feel the panic threatening to build up again as he climbed out of bed and began inching his way toward the door.

He wasn't prepared for the intensity of the darkness that met his eyes when he peeked out into the corridor. In his room, moonlight had dimly lit the room through the window. Here, there was nothing but an almost suffocating black. Feeling his heart starting to race again, Hope swallowed thickly before quietly shutting the door behind him. Keeping a hand on the wall, he began creeping his way along. At any moment now, his fingertips should be brushing against a brass door knob…

A sudden bang from behind him made him jump. Eyes widening, he began to run, his mind filled with horrible images of what could have made that noise. He could only imagine that it was coming after him, that any minute now he would feel the icy touch of its gnarled, rotting hand. Instead, he felt the smooth wooden surface of a door. Hand shooting forward to grab the knob, he was immensely relieved to find that it wasn't locked. He darted quickly into the room, slamming the door shut behind him and turning the lock. Panting, he leaned heavily against the wood. He had to assume that had been a close one. He just hoped the lock would hold, if it should come to that.

This room, much like his own, was lit with just enough light that he was able to make out movement of some kind on the bed. The small reminder that he wasn't on his own anymore was enough to make him let out a shaky laugh. Moving further into the room a bit awkwardly, he tentatively called, "Hey…Vanille? Are you awake?"

The figure shifted again and let out a small groan. Instantly, Hope tensed up. He must have made a mistake, because there was no way Vanille had made that noise. Before he had time to go into full-on panic mode, a groggy voice called out to him.

"…Hope? Is that you?"

At once, warm relief washed over him. That was a voice he would recognize anywhere. Not Vanille, obviously-there was no way the two of them could ever be confused with one another. Sure enough, a light flickered on next to the bed, allowing him to get a look at the occupant of the room. As if the voice hadn't been enough, the dishelved blond hair was a dead giveaway. Somehow, he had ended up in Snow's room instead.

"Yeah, it's me," he answered softly, flushing lightly as he tried to think of an explanation for exactly what he was doing. It was one thing to whine to Vanille about being too afraid to sleep, and another thing completely to tell that to Snow. The guy might be a bit of an idiot, but he was someone Hope had come to truly respect and look up to, despite the rocky start their relationship had gotten. It still made him cringe to think about how much he had hated the older man, how far he had been willing to go to prove that hate. He was so thankful that he hadn't been able to go through with his plans. He highly doubted he would have been able to live without Snow.

That wasn't just him being cute, either. He literally, physically would have ended up dead if not for the other. Whether it was out of obligation or something else, he had saved Hope's life so many times, usually at the risk of getting himself hurt or killed. That was just what he did. Always playing the hero…

The hero in question was looking at him with his head cocked slightly to the side, squinting as his eyes adjusted to the light. "Okay…do I want to know what you're doing sneaking into Vanille's room at this time of night?" he asked with a suggestive hint to his voice. Hope felt the flush darken on his cheeks.

"It's not what you're thinking," he said sternly, as if scolding Snow for even thinking such a thing. Before he could say much else, there came another banging noise from the corridor outside the door. Eyes flying wide open, he moved on instinct, rushing from the door and making a dive for the bed.

"Woah, kid, calm down!" There was a strong pair of arms wrapped around him. At some point Snow must have sat up, and Hope had managed to land practically on top of him. The awkwardness of the situation didn't even register with the teenager, who clung tightly to his friend with a small subconscious whimper against his chest. With a small laugh, trying to lighten things a little, Snow added, "It's okay. It's just the elevator."

As reluctant as the silver-haired boy was, he hesitantly pulled back to look up into the other's face. "The elevator…?" he repeated warily.

"Yeah. The thing's noisy as hell when it runs, remember? Light was so pissed about it earlier…"

That did seem to stir up some memories from the day before when they had all first arrived at the hotel. The elevator had made some terrible noises, to the point they had been surprised the thing hadn't broken down on them. It had been a relief to finally reach their floor, and they had each decided to take the stairs from then on, no matter how big an inconvenience. Lightning had gotten pretty mad about it, now that he thought about it. She and Fang had decided they would go have a little chat with the front desk later that evening.

"You're right. Sorry about that, it just-" Hope stopped abruptly, letting out a gasp of surprise. Physically recoiling back from him, he quickly muttered, "Oh, god! I'm sorry, Snow! I-I didn't realize you were…"

For a moment the blonde was extremely confused. With a glance down at his own bare chest, he began to chuckle. "Well, you know, you aren't the most dressed yourself," he pointed out teasingly. With another blush, the boy quickly looked down at the clothes he had been sleeping in: a black tank top and a pair of dark green boxers. He didn't think that was all that bad, comparatively.

"Even still. I'm not naked, at least!"

"Hey, neither am I! I got pants on. Wanna see?"

"What? No!"

It was too late, though. Snow had already flipped back the covers to prove to him that he was, as a matter of fact, wearing a pair of sweat pants, and was therefore decent. Of course, it was impossible not to notice the fact that they sat dangerously low on his hips. Not that this was the type of thing Hope would usually notice, of course. With a small grumble of how he supposed he was right, the younger tentatively relaxed once again, though he stayed perched on the very edge of the mattress.

"Now that's over with, are you going to tell me what's up?"

"It's…nothing, really," the younger muttered, keeping his eyes turned down. A stretch of silence passed between them before Snow sighed.

"It was the Rake, wasn't it? It was for me. That thing is seriously fucked up. Even I was scared, and you know I'm practically fearless."

"Right," Hope scoffed, but slowly shook his head. "I don't think that was it. This thing didn't have a name…" As if realizing what Snow had said, his head jerked up suddenly, staring at the older man with wide eyes. "Wait, you mean-?"

"She's pretty damn convincing, when she wants to be," Snow huffed in irritation. "Got me into it a few weeks ago. Some of it's pretty hard to unsee, y'know?"

Hope gave a small, nervous smile. "Y-yeah," he agreed, nodding his head. It did make him feel immensely better hearing that Snow had been in the same boat as him. Suddenly, he felt a lot more comfortable with the situation, now that he knew Snow wasn't going to think him stupid or childish for being scared. Unconsciously, he shifted himself closer to his friend, giving no indication whatsoever that he noticed when Snow's arms casually slipped around him once more.

"…Of course, I never felt the need to go slip into bed with Vanille to calm myself down."

Even with the teasing tone in his voice, Hope couldn't help rolling his eyes. "I'm not in bed with Vanille, I'm in bed with you." As soon as the words were out, a horrified expression came onto his face. "That isn't…w-what I meant was-" he faltered completely at the look Snow was giving him, a look had his stomach doing a strange flip that was not necessarily entirely uncomfortable. His whole expression had darkened, his gaze becoming something almost predatory. For the briefest of moments, Hope had the vague impression that maybe he should be scared.

He wasn't.

"So it would seem," the older murmured, and the silverette wasn't entirely sure what it was about the way he said it that caused his body to react the way it did. Maybe it was the tone he used, one that Hope had never heard from him before. Maybe it was the way he continued to watch him, a subtle smirk now gracing his lips, as if he knew exactly what was going through the other's head. Maybe it was just Hope's haywire teenage hormones getting the best of him. Whatever it was, the whole atmosphere had changed between them. In the blink of an eye, a huge, goofy grin had spread across the blonde's face, the tension effectively broken. "Good! Been a while since I did the whole slumber party thing, but hey, it's all good!"

"Wh-! Snow!" Hope yelped, a mix of surprise and annoyance as he found himself suddenly on his back. He struggled in vain to sit up, only to find a hand pressed firmly against his chest to keep him in place. Snow paid his whining and squirming no mind, still looking much too pleased with himself for Hope's liking as he reached over to shut off the light. As soon as the darkness closed in on him once more, the younger stilled completely. Lips pressed tightly together to prevent any noise from escaping, he looked up into his friend's face with wide, panicked eyes. The hand holding him down was removed, moving to gently stroke his hair instead.

"Just relax, Hope. You know you're safe with me. I'd kick some freaky monster ass if anything tried getting in here," Snow said reassuringly, voice oozing his usual cockiness. It was one of those things that used to drive Hope nuts, but it had grown on him over time. At the moment, it was exactly what he needed, because of course Snow was right. Of course he was safe as long as he was with his sentinel, his own personal bodyguard. Hesitantly, he did as he was told, letting his body relax and a small smile to come onto his face. Snow chuckled in response, pulling the blankets up around the both of them.

The teen immediately rolled onto his side, facing away from the other. His face was once again flushed, burning hotter than it had at any other point during their talk at the realization that the situation called for him sleeping in the same bed as Snow. It shouldn't have bothered him, maybe, because they were so close, but for some reason he felt himself on the verge of panicking once again, this time for reasons that had absolutely nothing to do with whatever imagined creature was potentially stalking the halls. This wasn't a good idea. His mind was racing, trying to come up with some kind of an excuse, some way to get out of this. He should just suck it up and go, or maybe he could volunteer to sleep on the floor or something. Obviously he couldn't actually stay here, like this, because that would be wr-

An arm snaking around his waist broke his chain of thought, making him suddenly very aware of the warm body that had snuggled up against him. He was also conscious of the feeling of stubble against the back of his neck as Snow nuzzled him affectionately. It should have been awkward. Instead, he found himself biting back a smile at the thought that the big, badass hero in a trenchcoat was a cuddler. It was cute. It suited him.

He felt his willpower to worm his way out of the situation starting to fade. What was so wrong about it, really? He was warm. He was safe. He was with someone whom he trusted unconditionally, someone who had always shown him nothing but affection, even at a time when he deserved it the least. The urge was no longer to pull away, but to do the complete opposite, and it wasn't long before Hope found himself giving in to that temptation. Curling further into the other man's warmth, he brushed his fingers tentatively over the back of the hand that was splayed across his stomach. Still unsure of himself, he slowly laced their fingers together.

"Hey…Snow?" he muttered, not entirely sure the other was even awake. He received a soft hum in response. "Uh…thanks, for this. For letting me stay, and…" he trailed off with the faintest of shrugs, heavy eyelids already starting to close. There was no reply at first. Hope had just about dozed off when he heard the quiet murmur of, "Goodnight, Hope."

The light kiss that was placed on his neck following those words was enough to make his heart melt.