Frank can usually keep his nightmares at bay. He mostly sleeps during the day, on the couch in Matt's apartment while Red is at work, or on a cot in one of his safe houses. He never closes the blinds and lets as much light in as possible. He is not afraid of the dark, just of the things that inhabit it. The things that crawl behind his back and whisper in his ears in the voices of his loved ones. The questions, the guilt.

At nightfall he gets dressed and heads out. He only knows one way to silence the voices. Gunshots are louder than whispers. The ring in his ears after each shot does a good job of muffling them. The dying sounds he pulls out of his targets when he guts them with his knife are barely enough, but they will do.

He returns to Matt's house in the dead of night, when dawn is still far away. The apartment is dark. When Matt is not out for his own crusade, he is asleep. On his way from the door to the bedroom, Frank turns all the lights on. It's not like he's afraid of waking Red up. Matt sleeps on his side. He climbs into bed and curls up to him, pressing his chest on Matt's back, holding up to him.

He doesn't sleep. He holds Matt close and listens to his quiet, even breaths. He focuses on his heart, beating steadily under his hands. Matt's warmth is soothing. He closes his eyes at the crack of dawn, when the sky turns from black to grey, and he knows that another night has passed without the voices coming to talk to him.

Matt wakes up a few hours later, Frank's arms still wrapped around him, Frank snoring lightly against the back of his neck. He smiles and gets quietly out of bed, trying not to wake Frank up. He places a kiss on the top of Frank's head. Frank mumbles something in his sleep but doesn't move, and Matt leaves to shower and get dressed for the day.

He hears Frank's shuffling footsteps behind him just as he is pouring his second coffee cup. Frank enters the kitchen and hugs him from behind, burying his face in his neck and kissing the soft skin lightly. Matt turns around to wrap his arms around Frank's waist.

"Good morning," he says softly, before kissing his lips.

"Good morning," Frank replies when their lips part, then smiles and draws a deep sigh.

"What's up?"

"Nothing. It's just nice that your voice was the first thing I heard today."