Theodore tried his best not to laugh out loud. He tucked himself in and said calmly, “Thank you."

Thank yourself! Ariana wanted to retort hotly. She grumbled to herself in annoyance. She suspected he did that on purpose.

Too embarrassed to call him out on it, however, she decided not to dwell on it and tried to fall asleep.

She forced her mind to think of something else. She tried the good old way of counting sheep to get herself to sleep. Just when she was about to drift off, she felt a slight pat on her shoulder.

She woke with a start, her eyes flying open and then narrowing in irritation.

“What do you want?"

Ariana turned over to glare at him. She was too grumpy at this point to even bother pretending to be asleep.

Theodore blinked back at her innocently, fighting back the sudden urge to pinch her puffed-up cheeks and chuckle. How could she be so cute when she was mad?

He cleared his throat as if nothing had happened and stated matter-of-factly, "I can't sleep."

"So?" Ariana sneered, her eyebrows scrunching in irritation.

“So sing me that song. The song you sang to get that child to fall asleep," Theodore replied softly. His soft tone and slightly husky voice added a hint of warmth to the narrow space between them. His dark eyes seemed sincere.

Ariana was about to retort sarcastically, but she calmed down.

After thinking about it for a moment, she couldn't help but chuckle.

"Can you leave me alone after the song?"

“Okay. I will," Theodore answered curtly. He turned to lie on his back and placed his hands on his stomach.

"If you're going to sing, you have to take it seriously."

Ariana blinked. He was about thirty years old, yet he was acting like a three-year-old.

Ariana clicked her tongue inwardly.

Under the persistent pressure from the “three-year-old", she began to sing softly into the evening quietness.

Her voice softened the tune into a hum at some point. Her arm felt itchy so she scratched it. When sleep began to creep into her body, she rubbed her tired eyes and her mouth stretched into a yawn.