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The first thing Rudy felt when he woke up was eyes on him - which couldn't have been right, the team was currently in one of those gaps where they were admitted breaks to 'ensure healthy mindsets' or some bull like that. 

He was bunked up in a small, two-bedroom flat with Alejandro. 

So there's only two options to the burning gaze he could feel on his back, steadying his breathing. 

Either, one, someone broke in and he's going to have to fight for his life during his break, or, two, Alejandro is watching him sleep. 

Just because it's early in the morning, not even past 4 a.m., he hopes for the latter, not wanting to even entertain the idea of straining his muscles as he's bone-tired right now. 

"I know you're watching me, Ale. What are you doing up?" He whispers, tensing to brace for impact in case it actually is an intruder. 

He turns around so he can actually see who is in his room and is relieved to find Alejandro sitting on his desk chair, watching him. 

He's pale, and has dark circles under his eyes. He's also in his pajamas, something Rudy hadn't seen since their high school days, when they woke up together after spending the night at the other's home. 

He sighs, rubbing his eyes and patting the bed next to him. "C'mere. Lie down and go to sleep," he says in a gentle tone.

Rudy doesn't even wait for Alejandro to answer, he inches towards the side of the bed to make room and threw the blankets down to try inviting him in furthur. 

He hears Alejandro sigh and rise, tentatively stepping closer to his bed, the mattress dipping under his weight. 

Alejandro turns his back to Rodolfo, keeping distance and not even bothering to pull the blankets over him. 

Rudy sighs, scooting closer and pulling Alejandro toward him to meet him in the middle, hugging an arm around his waist, a grounding movement. 

"¿Qué paso, Ale?" 

He feels Alejandro shake his head, shaking beneath his gentle grip. 

He hugs him closer until Alejandro decides to turn, facing Rudy.

Alejandro wraps his arms around Rudy, pulling him even closer and tangles their legs together. 

After nuzzling his nose into Rudy's neck, he sighs. 

"Lo siento, Rudy. I just had to make sure you were ok. I... I know it's stupid, but-" 

Rudy tries soothing him by running his fingers through his hair. "Ale, it's not stupid. I'm not mad. Nights can be hard like this, especially during these breaks." 

Alejandro only nodded. They sat in silence, cuddled close to each other, before Rudy broke it, "do you want to tell me why you were afraid?" he whispers, the question hanging in the air.

Their voices were both heavy with sleep. He was cautious about asking him about something that scared him enough to act like this.

"Remember the fire you almost died in after searching for Hassan?" Alejandro starts, to which Rudy nods.

"It was about that, only I didn't get there in time and you were already burning. I tried to save you but.. you just kept screaming and I couldn't-" 

His voice breaks on a sob, his body trembling as he cried into Rudy's neck, nose touching his pulse point. 

Rudy rubbed circles on his back, pressing gentle kisses to the side of his head. 

Rudy didn't know how to comfort him, all he could offer was the knowledge that he was alive, and his touch. 

"You saved me Alejandro, I'm right here because you were there for me. You didn't let me die, and I could never thank you enough. I'm okay, Ale. Stop crying, mi am-" 

He stops. 

Alejandro stops.

He hadn't meant to say that, it just slipped out.

Truthfully, Rudy hadn't comforted anyone since his younger sister told him about being bullied in school, and that was what he'd normally said to her when she was crying to him. He loved her, it wasn't weird. They were closer than the rest of their family, they wouldn't let anything happen to eachother. Which.. sounded almost exactly like his and Alejandro's relationship.

Which made him feel weird about kissing his head earlier.

Rudy shrunk in on himself, "ah, lo siento, Alejandro. I haven't held anyone while they cried since my-" 

He was cut off by a heavy breath on a sensitive part of his neck. 

It was hot, damp. From Alejandro's mouth. A breathy sigh was what it could be called. A stuttering inhale followed. 

"¿Estás bien, Alejandro? I'm sorry if I made it weird, I just-" 

Alejandro shook his head. "Estás bien..." a beat of silence, then-  "mi amor," - was breathed into his neck. 

He could feel the grin on his neck. He shook his head, rolling his eyes. "Tú eres stupido. Go to sleep." 

Alejandro sighed again, still grinning. "Bien." 

--

Neither had talked about it the following morning, even when they woke up in eachother's arms, fingers intertwined as their legs were tangled together. 

Rodolfo is naturally an early bird, waking up hours before anyone and Alejandro was the exact same way. 

They woke up at the, almost, exact time, mumbling "buenos dias" before releasing eachother to stretch. 

Rodolfo was the first one to exit the room, sleepily making his way to the small kitchen to start breakfast. 

He decided on the easiest recipe, pancakes. Mostly because they had a bag of instant pancake batter in one of the cabinets, and Rodolfo wasn't feeling up to doing much more than that this morning. 

--

Alejandro stood in the bathroom, hands gripping the edge of the counter as he stared into the mirror. 

He looked, and felt, like a mess. 

His eye bags were growing, and what made it worse was that they were such a deep purple color that nobody couldn't not notice it. 

He sighed, dragging a hand down his face and turning on the cold water. After splashing himself on the face, he ventured down to the kitchen. 

"Smells good, Rudy. What'd you make this time?" He asked, grinning as he started coffee. 

Rudy looked up from flipping a pancake, smiling at Alejandro. "Just pancakes from the instant batter bag." 

Alejandro grinned, turning on the coffee machine. He watched Rodolfo cook for a few minutes before deciding to say something about the elephant in the room. "Gracias, Rudy. For last night. I wasn't thinking straight and you put up with me." 

Rodolfo's eyebrows furrowed, glancing over at Alejandro for a beat before flipping another pancake. "You had a nightmare about me dying. If I were you, I would've done the same thing. You don't need to thank me for putting up with you, Alejandro. It's my job." 

Alejandro rolled his eyes and grinned at his last sentence. He stepped forward, leaning over Rodolfo's shoulder to see the food. 

Rodolfo smacked his shoulder, "give me space, I can smell your breath from here, and let me tell you, it's not pleasant." 

Alejandro slapped Rodolfo's shoulder as he laughed, settling on a chair at the table instead.