She frowned, slightly troubled. "I don't want to sleep," she said. " I feel like I've already slept for years. But I'm worried that I might end up falling asleep anyway, despite my best intentions."
She frowned at him, but settled back into the bed, pulling the covers up to her chin. "Okay," she said reluctantly. "Are you going to sleep too?"
"I love you too," she said with a sigh, her voice trailing off as she buried her head in her pillow. (Time skip?)
(Alright!) When Francis awoke, he would see a familiar figure by the foot of Poppy's bed. He was tall, well-built, and blond, and as Poppy murmured in her sleep, Evan looked down at the two of them, his expression impossible to describe.
He looked up at Francis, but surprisingly, his expression was not one of hatred. "I've come to apologize," he said quietly. "For real, this time."
He tilted his head curiously, though there was caution in his actions. "Why?" he asked, feeling like it needed a reason.
He hesitated and then sighed. "I love her," he said quietly. "I always have. There's just something about her, you know? Even before we were together, she intrigued me." He shook his head. "Anyway. When you two first came back to the ship, I did some research. You have quite the reputation, did you know that? A player. A heartbreaker. The kind of guy who would just ruin her if she happened to fall for you. And I saw this person..." He gestured to Poppy's sleeping body. "This person who I love... I saw the possibility of her getting hurt if she continued to spend time with you." He sighed and squeezed the bridge of his nose. "It all began innocently. I thought you were a bad guy. To be honest, I still don't like you very much. But back then, I really thought you would hurt her. Break her heart and all that."
Francis appeared to be in thought for a moment, if not a bit sympathetic. "I understand. I did used to be like that before I met. Jumping around, just playing with their feelings. It wasn't okay, but I did it anyways. I wasn't smart. But her? She's not someone to just pass the chance with. She's special, and you know it, too. I wouldn't hurt her on purpose." He sighed, mulling over the words in his head. "I don't know if you showed her that you loved her in the right way. What you did was bad, and not okay. Worse than what I did. Do you understand?"
She shifted in her sleep, murmuring about something under her breath. Evam took a moment to look down at her, his expression gentle. "Of course I know that what I did was bad," he said, sounding a little annoyed. "God, while you guys were gone this past week, all I could think about was how my last action towards her would have been me hitting her, if she had died. I don't want to hurt her, and I think trying to separate you two will do that." He frowned and rubbed the back of his neck. "But it's important to me that you know that I love her. I always will."
He inclined his head slightly, looking down at Poppy as she slept, and then eventually turning on his heel and leaving the room, the door closing behind him.
Francis shut his eyes, trying to get back to sleep, yet failing. He huffed, just staring in the distance in thought.
