Quiet Support

A/N: We still owed one last drabble arc for FGB Eclipse. Silvertwi bought one to dedicate to the lovely BMango, as a thank you and to put a smile on her lips. Long overdue, we hope this does the trick.

Thank you again to everyone who made that FGB such a success. We're still chipping away at both AXO and the one-shot-gone-multi-chapter.

ooOoo

Sighing, I stare at him, all curled up next to his laptop, fast asleep.


Edward, you goofball. One of these days you're going to knock that thing off the bed. Would serve you right for trying to pull so many all-nighters studying.


Quietly as I can, I lie down beside him. I know he's exhausted, so I try not to wake him even though I can't resist touching him. There's a slight breeze coming through the open window, but it's my fingers trailing along his side that make him shiver.


He stirs, blearily looking up at me. "Hey," he croaks.

ooOOoo

I smile and lean in to gently kiss his lips. "'Mornin'."


Carefully brushing my thumb over the bags under his eyes, I resist the urge to argue with him about the hours he's been keeping. I know why he's doing it – it'd only lead to another fight, and that's stress we can do without.


Especially Edward, who's struggling to keep his grades to the level his father expects in order to get through college.


So instead, I simply kiss him again and ask, "Can I help?"


Edward groans, curling closer to me as I run my fingers through his hair.

ooOOoo

With a heavy sigh, he looks up at me through his lashes. "Maybe? I'm stuck."


Settling myself more comfortably on the bed, I pull him so that his head's lying in my lap. Threading my fingers through his hair, I ask, "Okay. Tell me what you've got so far."


We talk for what feels like hours as he tells me about the story he's writing for class. He's got most of the details figured out, but explains something isn't right – he just can't put his finger on it. We bounce ideas back and forth for a while until he suddenly exclaims, "Oh!"

ooOOoo

I grin at the sign that something's clicked for him.


Edward, tired as he is, seems to regain some of his energy as he starts talking rapid-fire, connecting dots that previously eluded him. Where before I could see exhaustion and near-desperation in his eyes, as the paper's due tomorrow, now they're bright and happy.


"Thanks, Jazzy," he murmurs, smiling.


I chuckle. "You're welcome, sweetheart. Any time."


He sighs, closing his eyes. "Don't know what I'd do without you," he whispers.


Grinning, I tease, "You'd be lost, drowning yourself in work and coffee, and you'd never see the light of day."

ooOOoo

He laughs. "Probably," he admits as he shifts to his hands and knees to kiss me.


Minutes pass with languid kisses and fingers tangled in hair before his stomach rumbles, ruining the moment. Chuckling, I smack his ass lightly to get him to move. "C'mon, I'll make breakfast, ply you with coffee, and then you can get back to your paper."


He hums with a smile. "I knew there was a reason I loved you."


"Oh, I see how it is," I mock-grouse.


Brushing his lips to mine, he murmurs placatingly, "Not the only reason."


"Good. I love you, too."