Prompts: "Everything is okay now, I'm here, I'm here." and "Can I sleep with you? I need someone by my side."

Word count: 382

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Your breath became erratic and you let out some quiet whimpers, as you felt the anxiety, the agony, the grief - all at once. And that was enough to wake Eddie up from your couch and realize what was up, so he sat beside your bed and you soon felt him holding you against him, muttering "everything is okay now, I'm here, I'm here", until you calmed down again.

Eddie was your friend, who was always there when you needed him. He had sat there listening when you cried or felt sad, he had always listened to your feelings and let you cry against his shoulder if you needed it. He never once had told you he doesn't feel like listening or brush it off with "you'll get used to it". But he didn't have such powers, he just had Venom - he didn't know how many moods you experienced, how it felt to be forced in dozens of unfamiliar minds at once. How it felt to have thoughts that weren't your own.

After your sniffles quieted down and Eddie had whispered some comforting words to your ear, he turned to leave - but you grabbed his hand, eyes still wet from tears.

"Can I sleep with you? I need someone by my side. Please?" you asked, and Eddie frowned, not sure how to answer at first. Your question had taken him by surprise, but when you just continued staring up to him with pleading eyes, he gave you a gentle smile and sat beside your bed, making you lie down again.

"I'm going to be right here until you fall to sleep." he swallowed, and you sighed.

"Could you stay? I'm... I'm scared I'll wake up alone." you asked as Eddie brought his hand to stroke your head, and he smiled at you comfortingly.

"That's fine too." he whispered, making your mind calm down as you finally slowly fell asleep.