Lips White As Snow

10-Wrist Watch.

When Edmund woke again, it was half past eleven the following day. Stretching out his cramped muscles, he got up, yawned very widely, cracked the joints in his neck, shoulders and toes, and wandered blearily over to the door in search of breakfast.

He found Cammie and Hawes asleep, in similar positions to that in which he had left them. Hawes had perused a footstool sometime in the night, and was leant back in the armchair, feet up, while Cammie was scrunched like a grasshopper in a ball at the end of the sofa closest to his sister.

Edmund thought them both a curious sight.

He checked his phone. Four texts and two calls from Tiger, six texts from Bumble, getting more agitated all the time, and eighteen missed calls from Tink. Edmund cringed. He had forgotten to tell his friends that he was crashed at Cammie's place.

He sent a message to Tiger, as he reckoned that his telling off would be the least severe. With Hawes and Cammie still sleeping, Edmund thought it best to source breakfast from outside. He made sure his wallet was still in his pocket, tried desperately to flatten his hair, and had just found the key to the front door before his phone started buzzing.

Tink was calling him. Clearly Tiger had told everyone the second he got Edmund's text, and Edmund knew from experience that he was in for possibly one of the biggest tellings off of his life.

He waited until he was outside the flat before he picked up the phone.

"WHERE THE FLYING FUCK HAVE YOU BEEN?"

Edmund cringed.

"Things got complicated, Tink" he explained, as pacifyingly as he could. "I crashed at Cammie's place so I wouldn't wake you all up."

"AND YOU DIDN'T THINK TO TELL ANYONE? NOT A CALL? NOT A TEXT?"

"I was tired" Edmund groaned. "And stiff. And it was late, and I knew you'd all be busy anyway."

"THE SECOND YOU GET HOME OFF THIS CASE I SWEAR TO GOD, EDMUND..."

"Tink, please stop trying to be my mother" Edmund sighed. "I've already got one. And she's bad enough with the nagging..."

But Tink had hung up in a fit of fury. In the process, Tiger had also texted Edmund back.

Glad you're safe. Would have been nice to know last night though. Hope everything is OK... X

This hurt Edmund's heart more than Tink's livid rant. He felt guilty for worrying his friends so much.

Bumble messaged him next.

will try and keep little miss psychopath from murdering u when u get back... glad u r not dead though :*

Edmund replied to them both with a sincere apology and a promise of pizza to calm Tink down, before hurrying out into the streets of Oxford in the hope he could find somewhere which might get him some form of breakfast.

After sourcing a bacon sandwich from a little cafe, Edmund bought himself and Cammie a mega cup of takeaway coffee each, and Hawes a tea. Munching on his sandwich as he went, Edmund headed back to Cammie's flat, and let himself back in.

Neither sibling had stirred.

Though he would never have admitted it to another living soul, the next thing Edmund did after he put the hot beverages on the table was to check that both sleepers were still alive. They both were, and Edmund shook his head at his own suspiciousness and settled at the table with his own coffee.

The smell of it must have filled the room, as Cammie jolted awake within minutes.

"...Whoz gat coffee?" he slurred.