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She wasn't sure what time it was. She didn't have her phone, hadn't gone back to her room to grab it. Had, in fact, avoided her room after leaving Taym's sympathetic company. At some point exhaustion had rolled over her in a nearly crushing wave. At one point in time it would have been perfectly fine for her to just curl up on the Death hunter's bed and sleep, but that was before America, and before Noah. It didn't matter that it wouldn't have meant anything. It didn't matter that Taym would have either slept on his chair, or simply not slept. It didn't matter that for the first time in a long time their friendship was not under some sort of strain do to one person's feelings or another.

What mattered was common courtesy. What mattered was how Noah would feel if he heard that his girlfriend had fallen asleep in another guy's bed, regardless of the circumstances.

Noah mattered. And quite frankly, as comforting as Taym's presence was, it was the Lifer she wanted to fall asleep with. Because she knew, at least for now, that sleeping alone was not an option. Not after falling asleep again with Astrid, even if it had been false, nothing but a dream, it had felt real to Peyton.

So she bypassed her door and headed down the hall. It was dark, at least after 9, but beyond that she couldn't have said what time of night it was, though the quiet quality of the dorms suggested it was late. Noah was probably sleeping, but she headed for his room anyways, and when she got there she knocked on his door, softly at first, but harder if need be.

The door opened, and Peyton looked up into the groggy features of a boyishly handsome young man. "I should have called, to see if you were awake, I'm sorry." Tugging at her sleeves, she twisted the end of one around small fingers. "I don't have my phone, it's in my room." At this she looked down, glancing at the toes of her shoes before her gaze slid down the hall in the direction she'd come.

When she looked up again her eyes were shining, moisture gathering at the corners, but she rubbed it away with the back of her hand before any tears could spill. "It was a all dream. She's not," she frowned, flashing back on the imagine of her sister in a pod. "She's down in the pod room, but she's not awake."

Swallowing, she lowered her hands, fingers twisting together again. "None of it was real, not really, but it felt real." Real enough that it felt like something had come along and ripped Astrid away from her.

And it was one thing to simply find out that her sister hadn't been there at all. That everything had just been in her head, and elaborate dream. It was quite enough to realize that it was a prequel. Astrid was there, she would wake up, and Peyton knew it now. She knew her sister was there, and her father was dead, and she couldn't do a damn thing but wait.

Lips pressing together, she tucked a curl behind one ear as she looked up at him. "Can I stay with you?"

Her head bobbed at his reassurances, a little too fast. She had felt numb earlier, when she'd left the pod room, but it hadn't lasted. The numbness had warn off, and now she was back to feeling small and powerless and vaguely empty.

When he reached for her she came willingly, not quite flinging herself into his arms and wrapping her own around his waist as she buried her face against his chest. She hated it, that feeling of inadequacy, being powerless to control the things in her life. It didn't usually weigh this heavily on her, but it did now, like it had after the tear, but worst.

<It'll be alright, screechheart.>

It would. It had to be. But until then what was she supposed to do?

Drawing in a deep breath, the dainty teen tipped her head up finally to look up at the young man with her chin resting on his chest. She was tired, all used up, and it showed in delicate features.

The gentle touch against her hair had her eyes closing, and she took a handful of seconds, a minute, maybe longer, and just stood there with him wrapped around her, breathing him in. Grateful that he was there, that he was her's, in some way. Grateful for all her friends, for having people around that cared about her, and wanted to make her feel better.

Maybe they went up against awful things. Maybe their lives weren't perfect. Danger around every corner, the chance of disaster all but guaranteed, rather than merely a possibility. It wasn't ideal, but strangely, she was happy here.

His question had her opening her eyes again to look back up at him, and the shadow of a smile flitted across her lips. She wasn't sure she any video would really catch and hold her attention, but the idea of curling up with the Lifer was a nice one. Drawing back a little, the girl reached up to touch the curve of his cheek, fingers sliding down along his jaw, and finally his chin as she slid out of his arms and into his room.

Boots were toed off and pushed against the wall beside the door, and she pulled the loose shell of her sweater over her head as she crossed the room and took a seat on the edge of his bed. "Come here." Distractions were good when unhappy thoughts weighed on your mind.

He could have closed the door complete, she wouldn't have minded. Privacy was hard enough to come by at Deus that Peyton appreciated what time alone she could find, by herself, or with someone important. She didn't tell him to close the door, because she didn't realize it had been left barely open until he was already seated beside her. It was closed enough that people walking down the hall wouldn't be able to see in the room, and that was just fine for right now.

She watched him as he grabbed his phone off the bedside table and brought the screen to life, but she'd reach over to gently draw it out of his hand before he had a chance to bring up any of the videos. She didn't say anything, just set it on the bed beside her before turning and rising up on her knees.

It was forward, straddling his lap, but she did it anyways, cheeks lighting up with a soft flush as she slid her tongue over suddenly dry lips. She didn't look up until her weight had settled on his thighs, small hands at his waist with delicate fingers hooking the belt loops of his jeans. "Noah." Lavender sought out soft green. "Thank you. For being here for me, for being with me."

She frowned, but it was thoughtful, vulnerable. As if there were things she wanted to say, but wasn't quite sure how to say them, or if she should.

She couldn't help but glance down at his hand where it touched her hip, feather light and hesitant. Her experience with boys was limited, but this was new. Being with someone as nervous, as inexperienced with things, as she was. "I won't break," she assured him, voice gentle. A soft smile touched her lips as his brow came to rest against her own, and that tentative kiss was returned. Eyes closing, she spoke against the soft press of his mouth. "You won't scare me off." Another kiss, a little firmer. "I'm not going anywhere."

The tip of her tongue flicked over his lower lip, and her hands moved from his waist to slid fingers over the edges of his cheeks, back into the soft warmth of his hair. Smoothing it back from his face as she sat up straighter in his lap, head tipping to one side.

She kissed him with a knowledge and know how borrowed from another tiny Sun hunter in another reality. One that was not a virgin, one that was not shy or nervous. The teasing edge of teeth, the soft press of her tongue.

When she was sure shock would have him drawing away in surprise she let her hold on him loosen, fingers dripping down the long line of his neck to rest on his shoulders. The boy didn't have to worry about moving too quickly, she would tell him if what she was alright with, and trusted him to do the same.

Soft lips curled up into a smile as Noah drew back from the kiss. She brushed his cheek with her nose, humming softly under her breath. A mindless memory before she leaned back enough to meet those searching green eyes. "What's on your mind?" Her voice was soft, and her thumbs slid over the warm line of tanned skin at the neck of his t-shirt.

His hands were a more solid weight on her hips, and sometime during the kiss she'd leaned into him, there bodies touching from chest waist. He was warm, and there was an illusion of safety that came with long arms wrapped around her.

The smile lingered as she looked into that soft green gaze, and she tried to put into her own eyes how much better she felt, just being with him. How much she cared about him, and appreciated him. And with the thought came action. The Sun leaned forward again, laying the softness of her lips against the corner of his mouth. A chaste brush, before looking up up into that handsome face again.

Expression softening, Peyton brought her hands up again to cup his cheeks, even as he moved in to kiss the side of her mouth. "I promise to be very open, and clear, so that if for whatever reason something isn't okay, it won't turn into a big issue." She kissed his nose, sinking into the feel of his much larger arms wrapping more securely around her. "I don't want you to have to worry, or be nervous around me."

Her thumb stroked over his cheek, and she brought their brows together again, the corners of her lips twitching up as he extended an offer for her to stay with him, stumbling a little over his wording. "Yes, I would like that very much."

For the moment, on his lap, held in his arms, she felt content. The worries that had been so overwhelming barely half an hour ago seemed further away. Still there, but no longer suffocating her.

Eyes falling closed, she let her hands trail down along his jaw line as those lovely legs came up just a little. Her much smaller frame very nearly curling against him as her chest rose in fall in a deep, cleansing breath. She drew in his scent, and it found a home with the other's she'd begun to associate with goodness, and safety. Lowering her head, she tucked it up under his chin so she could press her face against the warmth of his neck, lips brushing his skin as she spoke. "I really like you, Noah."