godspeed | marcus rashford

fifteen.

swift resolving

Dawn hours never seemed to be on Kyrie's side. The cold air slipped into the house with ease, the young woman pulling her hood over her hair for a sense of warmth. Awake, she was tired but her body moved otherwise. Work had the young assistant's sleeping schedule shifting and changing so neither sleeping nor waking up was a problem Kyrie had to struggle with.

She didn't want to be up by dawn but she had to, and not for work purposes; she brought it upon herself. No work to be done and Junior dismissed from school, for now, meant she could take him on the road to London, specifically to visit Chanelle and Timo. They weren't scheduled to leave for another while though she still chose to wake up earlier than necessary. She spent so much time prepping Junior's things for the visit the day prior that she forgot to cater to herself.

Sat on the floor by her closet, Kyrie continued to fold clothes before placing them into her suitcase in silence. There was no expectation of noise at six in the morning. Junior slept in his room while Amari went about his business for the morning. He and Kyrie had yet to witness one another this morning though it was expected to come about before when she and Junior were supposed to leave the house.

Or maybe a bit earlier than expected.

Hearing timid footsteps by her door, Kyrie sighed as she zipped up her suitcase. She stood up and set it to the side before rubbing her palms together. "Junior, go back to sleep—oh." She paused. She expected Junior only for the reality to be Amari by her door. He stood in shorts and a tank top, the smell of cologne slowly moving around the room. He probably came from the shower. "Mornin', Amari."

"Hi, Kyrie." Amari leaned against the door and tapped it once. "I arranged Junior's car seat in your car for you, and all of his things," he said.

"Okay. Thank you." Kyrie nodded with her lips pressed together.

Things were still strained, awkward and timid between the two. Everything they did alone together seemed forced for the sake of not arguing. Conversations failed to flow naturally; answering questions about the other was rehearsed beforehand. Nothing seemed genuine anymore. The once relationship—even friendship—that Kyrie and Amari shared was lost in between the lines and neither bothered to retrieve it. It appeared lost but everything was still present, simply unclear and murky to see. Around Junior they presented themselves as the parents they wanted him to see—happy, civil, intact—when really, they struggled.

Amari went to turn away but he stopped in his place. "Kyrie. Is now a good time to talk?" he asked. "'Cause I don't see why not." Reaching out to Kyrie came as a tough task to handle. Constantly, she was busy and when she wasn't, she set herself something to do to avoid any discussion of anything that wasn't mandatory for them to talk about. But Amari was over everything (of course he was). His ask came through exhausted and impatience, something he and Kyrie could relate on recently.

She thought for a moment. It was obvious as to what he wanted to touch on and she didn't mind anymore. It wasn't to say that Kyrie was over what had been said previously, but she was definitely ready to leave it to rest. Not to mention she was in a state of fatigue during early hours; more positive would come out of the discussion compared to if they discussed while she were sober. She waved him into the room, granting lazy permission. "Come along then." The pair sat on the edge of the bed before they turned to one another. She folded her legs up as she sat. "What's on your mind?"

"I want to explain myself and everything I said from before," he said. I mean of course, he did—that's all he has been trying to do a while now. However, Kyrie was not about to cater to his apologies from the jump if no satisfaction came from any of them.