After DC told me I fit the qualifications of someone he'd murder, I never wanted to speak to him again. So I probably shouldn't have blamed him for something he didn't do, against someone he couldn't stand. It sort of cheesed him off...
Okay, this i...
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His three am phone call was so expected that I'd fallen asleep with the phone against my cheek just to be ready for it.
I'd never been the kind of person who enjoyed talking about myself and I didn't speak just to hear my own voice. Actually, I much preferred DC's voice to my own. It was soothing and melodic in a special way, different than everyone else's. Like the thrum of my favorite song, played on repeat. It made me feel electric.
But he peppered me with questions, the way he usually did, the focus on the mundane things of my life. My favorite color, my favorite memory, my favorite thing to eat. And when I thought he'd finally run out of things to ask me he would come up with something new. We talked about me, we talked about the stars and how clear the sky was, we argued about music and the best songs ever written, we talked about nothing, and yet we talked about everything. Even the rhythm of our breathing patterns was its own conversation.
He stayed on the phone with me until I fell asleep. Or until he did, I wasn't sure. And I woke up with my face still pressed against the display of my cellphone.
I knew that I would sing for him one day.
I felt it building up inside of me like a living thing—this need to be the person he saw in me. This desire to prove him right for his faith in me. My nerves hadn't dissipated, no, but my excitement had risen.
It was like everything had changed.
He met me at the door when I got there for band rehearsal. It was a Saturday and I was alone because Elyse had to go through lines for a part in Drama. Otherwise, I doubted she would have passed up an opportunity to pretend to hate Perry. The two of them were so obvious.
Dorian sighed when he saw me, like he'd been holding his breath until I got there and now he could relax. I understood. I knew he felt it too—this thing that had shifted, it had everything to do with us.
"Hey," he smiled and butterflies rioted inside of my stomach.
"Hi." My cheeks reddened in a blush as he stepped back to let me in, his eyes following my body as I walked. I started to head for the basement, sure that everyone was either already down there or on their way, but his voice stopped me.
"Care," there was a smile on his lips. I knew it before I even turned around to see his expression. I took him in once I did, my eyes probably staring as intently at him as he usually did me.
"Thanks for last night," he concluded, the curve of his lips completely distracting me.
I shook my head. "The part where I went mute? The part where my mother grilled you and almost served you for dinner? Or the part where I didn't hang up on you for calling at three am?"
"All of it." He laughed, then paused for a moment to consider. "Well, maybe not the mute part. Not so much. But everything else." His grin was sincere. "I like your mom."
