Fanon:Insomnia (A Pleasant Story)

Richie Hutchworth woke up in his comfy bed after a hard night. He'd had been in a scrape with Pleasantview's king of domestic burglary's- Gordon King. Richie had pulled some muscles in his shoulders and was in an immense amount of pain. He had been shoved into a wall. It didn't hurt at the time. Now all he could feel was a horrible achey sensation whenever he moved.

Angela Pleasant opened the door to the bedroom. She had brought Richie some breakfast. When Richie didn't sit up, she knew something was up. "Morning Richie" she said as she approached his side of the bed.

"Hey." he replied. "Angela, could you help me up? I've really pulled some muscles in my shoulders."

"Sure thing." she said, then proceeded to help him up. "So how was last night?" she asked.

Richie groaned at the thought of it. "It was horrible, but I managed to catch Gordon King" Angela's face lit up. "You won't believe this either: he had broken into Mona and Dustin's place."

"Really?" Angela asked, not believing what she'd just heard.

Richie tried to shrug, but winced in pain instead. "It's a small town though." He pointed out.

Lee Hutchworth sat in class, feeling like she was going to doze off any moment. She hadn't been able to sleep since the beginning of her Junior year. Since Freshman year, Lee had been sharing a small house on campus with Angela and Lilith. They finished college last year and left Lee on her own.

Lee didn't have any friends either. Ever since she moved to Pleasantview, she kept to herself and never opened up. She sat on her own in class, but she didn't mind- she could concerntrate without hassle. She rubbed her eyes and looked up again, only to see a new boy entering the room. He had long brown hair and was slightly nervous-looking. Professor Cho directed the boy to the seat next Lee. He quickly sat down. "Hi." he said.

"Hi." Lee replied. "What's your name?"

"Robert Grunt. Everyone calls me Ripp though. What's yours?"

"Leona Hutchworth. Some people call me Lee. Where are you from?"

"Strangetown." Ripp replied. "You?"

Leona paused to think. She was really tired. "Birmingham. Did you like Strangetown?"

Ripp looked slightly confused. "You took a while to answer. Did you forget where you live?"

Lee was finding this conversation really awkward. She never spoke to anyone for this long. "It's nothing. I'm just really tired." She thought for a moment. "I think I may have insomnia."

"Really? That's too bad. Believe it or not, I'm still looking for a dorm. Do you have any friends I could stay with? Everywhere seems to be full."

"About that... I don't actually have any proper friends of my own. The only "friends" have are actually my brother's best friends." she said sadly/

"Well, it looks like we may be in the same boat. I left my best friends behind in Strangetown."

"Hey, if you want to crash at my place, then be my guest." Lee replied with a small smile.

"Awesome! Thanks Lee."

Mona was finishing packing her bags before leaving for her music career. Dustin was helping out, trying to keep his mind off of his heartbreak. The two were standing outside the taxi. Dustin had finished putting the bags in the back. "Dustin," Mona said "thanks for taking this so well."

"No problem." he replied. "Just be careful, OK?" Mona smiled at him before giving Dustin a hug. This final goodbye was settled with a kiss. The two separated and Mona got into the taxi. She rolled down the window, and the final words Dustin caught from her were: "I love you."

When the taxi vanished from sight, Dustin quietly closed the front door behind him, before kicking the kitchen chair as hard as he could. He then flopped down on the sofa and stared at the ceiling for hours.