Lilly & Leclerc ~ [CL 16]

12. 4am

There's a buzz.

I'm vaguely aware of the sound, my body feels too heavy and filled with sleep to know more than that. I don't pay the sound more attention than the faint sound of cars cruising around outside but it's there. I can't entirely ignore it.

The buzz buzz against the wood of my side table.

If I opened my eyes I know the room it will be lit up, screen bathing the room in a bright light which would make my eyes ache. It's something I refuse to do. I don't want to be blinded. Especially when it's still dark outside. The dim light coming from the window is the clear sign to me that there's no way it's an acceptable hour for me to be awake. It can't be.

The buzzing stops. I let out a breath of relief as my heart rate lowers, my hands curling further into the quilt. The idea of sleep is taunting me, dancing behind my tired eyes as I swivel onto my side adjusting to try and slip back into slumber when...it begins again.

A frustrated groan leaves my lips, a tired exhausted one as I crack open my right eye. The buzzing persists through the quiet of the room. Sure enough, the screen of my phone is lit up in a phone call (just as I expected) and I just grumble. They must really be desperate to call twice. My hand slams down on the screen clumsily, grasping the device and tugging the charging cable from it. A glance at the time in the corner of the screen shows that it's four am. Four in the morning!

A Monday morning!

The sky is still dark, the sun just dipping up to make the sky turn it a deep shade of violet. It's too early. Whoever the hell this is better be important, or better yet dying! Of course, deep down I hope not, but the irritation of the call has a tightness of headache forming behind my eyes. It's not how I want, nor need, to begin my working week. I hate getting an interrupted sleep, much less being woken up three and a half hours before I have to be up for work (as if Mondays aren't hard enough). The thought makes me a little nauseous as the million tasks I have to do today dart through my mind - I have a feeling coffee is going to be needed today multiple times, regardless of how this call goes. My fingers slide carelessly along the screen to stop the device buzzing in my hold. I blindly press the phone to my ear, eyes pressed closed in exhaustion.

"Hello?" I answer, the bewilderment in my voice clear. I'm still flopped against my pillow, voice croaky and thick with sleep as I answer the call. I'm barely sure I've said anything, maybe I dreamed the words leaving my lips, or even the phone call itself - it wouldn't be the first time I've had dreams as vivid as this. Apart from In not dreaming. I know I'm not framing because just as the thought crosses my mind I hear a small breath (almost a gasp) on the other side of the line.

It's a breath that makes my eyes crack open. Time slows as my heart rate rises with the seconds passing. I'd recognise that breath anywhere, even at 4am, even in my sleep.

"Lilly!" The exclaimed familiar pronunciation of my name spills through the speaker of my phone. The sound swirls in my head for a moment before landing somewhere in my chest sitting there and suffocating me. I've missed how he says my name, it's so perfect the way it rolls from his tongue. It's heavy, thick and hot - just like him. Without another second of thought my eyes have suddenly shot wide open and I'm frozen in my spot, every muscle in my body taught as I raise from the pillow just an inch. I knew I recognised that breath. I have to force a tired half-asleep breath into my lungs as every single thought I had in my head scatters around the room. I can feel them physically leave me.

This is the last voice I was expecting to hear.

"C-charles?!" I ask breathless, the shock apparent despite the exhaustion in my voice. As if I even need the confirmation. I blink three times staring at the wall infront of me in disbelief. Charles is on the phone, to me, at four am in the morning.