Jake sat quietly with his feet up on the coffee table, flipping through TV channels despite his knowledge that he would not find anything interesting to watch. With a sigh, he turned to look at the stairs, but nothing happened. Deciding he was wasting his time, he stood up, and started wandering towards the kitchen, until he heard noise, causing him to pause. Something stirred in the room above his head, and found its way down the stairs. And suddenly, there was Eli, his hair a complete mess as he seemed to just appear. He was wearing one of Jake's shirts.

Jake laughed at the sight of him. In all his tired confusion, he was nothing less than adorable. "Nice job dressing yourself, sleeping beauty."

Slightly perplexed, Eli looked down at his attire. It took him a few moments to realize the shirt wasn't his. "Oh, I..."

"It's cute." Jake smiled, shifting his gaze to the floor.

Eli trudged over, still barely awake, and leaned his head against Jake's arm. "What time is it?"

"Noon."

Lifting his head, Eli looked surprised. "It feels like six or something..." he mumbled. "I want to go back to bed."

Jake laughed. "You've been asleep since, like, three AM!"

Shaking his head, Eli pressed his face against Jake's shoulder, muffling his voice. "I'm still tired, though," he whined.

"Well then," Jake said, and he wrapped his arms around Eli's abdomen, lifting him off the ground. Eli proceeded to panic, kicking his feet and gripping the back of Jake's shirt.

"Put me down!"

Resting Eli's stomach on his shoulder and thanking god he was so light, Jake approached the stairs. Eli yanked on his shirt and kicked again. "Don't even think about trying to carry me up the stairs, Jake! Put me down!"

Jake disregarded Eli's commands and began his ascent, which wasn't all that difficult. "You said you were tired."

"Put me down!"

"But we're almost there!" As he reached the top of the flight, he adjusted Eli on his shoulder, causing the other boy to let out a yelp. Laughing to himself, he gently kicked the door open, ignoring Eli's constant shouts. He stopped at the bedside and smirked to himself as Eli continued to yell, then finally released him, almost throwing him down into the mess of sheets and pillows. Picking up a pillow, Jake smiled. "Good night, Eli."

As he turned away, Eli grabbed a pillow and threw it at Jake. "No, come back here. Right now."

"Awful demanding, aren't you?" Jake said as he looked back over his shoulder.

With a short nod, Eli began to pout. "I'm cold, too."

"That's what blankets are for."

"I'm tired."

"That's what the bed is for."

"I'm lonely." Eli wrapped his arms tightly around a pillow.

"So is that what the pillow is for?"

"No!" Eli began to sit up, reaching out to grab Jake's wrist. "That's what Jakes are for!"

Rolling his eyes, Jake sat down beside Eli. "You're being really pathetic."

Pressing his face into the pillow, Eli sighed dramatically, his hand blindly searching for Jake. He found Jake's shoulder, and trailed his hand down his arm until he found Jake's hand. "I'm tired," he moaned into the fabric.

Sighing and feeling completely defeated, Jake gave up and simply fell down beside the whining, complaining, obnoxious boy with his face pressed into the blue pillow. He laid his hand softly on Eli's shoulder. "You're ridiculous."

Eli lifted his head, a smug grin spread across his face, even through his weariness. "But you love me anyway."

Jake simply pressed his lips against Eli's, allowing his fingers to take hold of a few pieces of his hair. "Sadly," he began, but changed his mind as he focused on Eli's eyes, "or not so sadly, it's true."