Pairings: Emma/Graham

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I own nothing related to Once Upon a Time.

A/N: Written for a prompt from tumblr. Not sure if this is what they were looking for, but I had fun writing it!


Graham woke with a start, realizing his face was nearly pressed into the side of the nightstand. He pulled his arm back onto the bed and wiggled his hips to regain some real estate but found himself impeded by Emma's warm body.

"Emma, can you scoot over?" He grumbled, shaking her shoulder a bit to try and rouse her. "Emma."

She began to stir, mumbling something Graham couldn't quite make out, and draped an arm across his shoulders, snuggling harder against him and effectively locking him in place. So waking her up wouldn't be an option. Great. Not that he really wanted to disturb her; she looked so peaceful while she slept, the hard lines of her usually serious face were softened. And when she clung to him in her unconscious state, he couldn't bear the thought of forcing her away.

With a sigh, he kissed her forehead and rotated in place to face her, nuzzling against the top of her hair. As soon as he'd begun to doze off again, he felt her shift and then turn away suddenly, leaving him a few more inches of space. After readjusting, he decided he could sleep comfortably and closed his eyes.

Shivering a moment later, he realized the covers were gone and looked around, finding Emma having wrapped herself up like a burrito. And he couldn't really blame her, even with the heat on high, cold air seemed to seep into the walls, pierce his skin and permeate his body right down to the bone. He reached out, tugging gently at the blankets, hoping she'd be relaxed enough to release one. After no response, he tugged harder, causing her to increase her grip on them.

Realizing she was completely out and would not be giving up the blankets anytime soon, Graham sighed and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He stumbled in the dark toward the linen closet and plucked a spare blanket from the top shelf. Maybe now he could get some sleep.

Upon staggering back to the room, he was vexed to find Emma had spread out across the width of the bed, leaving only a small triangle of space. Graham rolled his eyes and dropped the blanket and took up her feet to move them back across the mattress. Emma kicked out, and for a moment Graham was convinced she had to be messing with him. He squinted at her face, but found her features serene and her breathing steady. He attempted to move her feet again and this time succeeding in gaining some space, then collapsed on the bed, pulling the blanket over him.

For a moment everything seemed to be going well.

For a moment Graham thought he'd actually be able to get some rest.

But then Emma turned, threw a leg across his body, and dug her heel into his thigh.

Prodding her in the ribs with more force, Graham didn't care if he woke her now. The first night it was cute and the second night it was endearing, but the third, fourth, fifth, sixth nights? It was 3 a.m., he was exhausted, and he needed to be alert in the morning for his shift at the station. How was he expected to sleep properly with Emma monopolizing the bed and rubbing all over him?

She continued to writhe and mutter incoherently, as if reacting to something in a dream. He took her shoulder and shook her once more, still finding himself unable to bring her back to consciousness.

Eventually she settled down, and while Graham was relieved, the position Emma had pulled him into rendered him uncomfortable and unable to sleep. He craned his neck to see that the entire other half of the bed was all but vacant, giving him an idea: if Emma wanted to be on his side so badly, maybe he could just move over to hers.

Slowly, he slid out from under Emma's grasp, pulling his blanket with him and rounded the opposite side of them bed. Emma rolled onto her stomach, her face toward the wall, and Graham sighed in relief that she seemed to be staying there. He settled down, closed his eyes once again, and breathed deeply until he began to drift off…

And suddenly, as if on cue, Emma's hand was in his face.

"That's it!" He not-so-gingerly removed her extremity and sat up, gathering his blanket. He trekked to the couch where he cozied himself up, determined to have a serious discussion with Emma about their sleeping arrangements in the morning.


"Graham?"

Emma's voice wafted into the living room. He opened his eyes to find her standing at the end of the couch wrapped in a blanket, her eyes full of sorrow.

"I woke up and you were gone."

"Emma…" he lamented and sat up, leaning forward to slip his fingers around the fabric of the blanket and gently draw her down to the couch. "Every night we sleep in the same bed, I end up fighting you for space and I can't get any rest. You just… you're a bed hog."

Wincing as Emma frowned so sadly, Graham wished he'd chosen a better turn of phrase.

"I can try to be better," she offered hopefully.

Graham smiled and took her chin in his hand. "I know you will," he replied and kissed her softly.

"You know," Emma started as she pulled away, "I could make it up to you."

"How? It's not like I can get the hours of sleep back," he remarked, cocking his head to the side.

Emma grinned coyly and stood, taking his hand and coaxing him back to the bedroom. "That's not what I meant."

"Emma I don't have time for sleep, I have to get to the station…"

"Are you sure about that?" She turned and dropped the blanket, revealing nothing but her nakedness.

"Oh," he responded, completely thunderstruck. "I suppose we can hit the snooze, then."

Together they tumbled to the bed in a fit of laughter, and Graham was content knowing that if he couldn't get a decent night's rest, he could at least count on Emma to make sharing a bed with her worth his while.