Sleepwalking // Sam Fender

51

Sam's POV

I was sleeping profoundly, with my mouth slightly opened and snoring softly. It was mid-April, officially two months since Alice and I called it off and it was the first night I managed to go to bed sober and actually fall asleep. It wasn't only my relationship with Alice that crumbled, everything else did when she left. When I kicked her out of my life for being stupid. As soon as Liam found out about everything that was said in the hotel room, we had a really strong fight which quickly turned physical and my relationship with my brother was over. Same thing with the band. I didn't blame them, I knew it was all on me. I spent every second of my life regretting every single word that came out of my mouth that day. I tried to get in touch with Alice once again. I tried calling her, asking Alex if she was with him, asking Liam for Alice's new address, but no one said a word. All I knew was that she not in Shields anymore. Hell, I even drove all the way to her Durham shelter and they told me that she had not been there for ages.

At 3a.m, my phone started ringing. I let ring for a few seconds, hoping that whoever it was got tired and stopped calling. But when the phone didn't stop ringing, I decided to answer. "Hello?" I asked half-asleep.

"Hello, am I speaking to Sam Fender, relative of Alice Harris?" I opened my eyes wide and sat down on the bed, fully awake.

"Yes, who is calling?"

"I'm calling from the North Manchester General Hospital to see if any relative of Alice could come here any time soon" The girl at the other end of the line said.

"I'll be there, yeah? What happened?" I asked as I stood up and started looking for my clothes.

"You'll be informed once you arrive to the hospital" That was enough for me to know that something serious had happened so I quickly dressed up and walked to Elliott's room as he was staying with me since Alice went missing.

I stared at him from the door and sighed. He was peacefully sleeping on his side, with one hand placed under his head. I walked to him and kneeled down at his height.

"Hey, mate" I whispered while softly moving him so he woke up. He slowly opened his eyes.

"What is it, dad?" He said.

"Still early, but I have to go see your mother, alright? So whenever you wake up in the morning, uncle Liam or nan Shirley will be here, aye?" I whispered.

"I want to see mam" He said.

"I know, but right now I need you to stay here and behave, alright? For as long as I am gone" Elliott nodded softly.

"Good boy" I kissed his forehead, with my eyes closed. Trying to take in the peace that my child brought to me before driving all the way to Manchester.

I waited until a three months pregnant Elys came to mine so I fully explained the situation to her. My relationship with my brother had finished a couple of weeks ago but Elys and I still texted each otehr every now and then. Then, I got into my car and started driving. Manchester. It was obvious that she was going to be there as she already had three shelters: the one in Durham, the one in the outskirts of London, and the one in Manchester. I had been in the one in Durham and she wasn't there and she hated London so the other alternative she had was Manchester. Part of me thought for a few days that we had gone back to the States, but with Elliott being a minor, there was no way she would move out to another country.

The three hours drive felt like an eternity and every second that went by, the worry inside of me grew bigger. When I arrived at the hospital, I parked the car quickly and ran inside to ask for Alice, being lead to a small room. There she was, laying in a bed, peacefully sleeping but intubated.

"What happened?" I asked to the doctor as tears formed in my eyes.

"She tried to overdose with sleeping pills but apparently, a neighbor of hers called the police" I nodded softly. "I'll leave you alone, sir"

I walked to her side, and moved a chair, so I could sit down next to her, and held her hand.

"I'm here, Alice. I'm sorry" Tears streamed down my face as I rested my forehead in the back of her hand. "I am sorry, love. For everything. I didn't mean anything I said, I didn't want us to break up. I miss you like crazy" I actually had to stop talking and calm myself down before having an anxiety attack.

Days went by before she woke up. Yes, she did wake up, eventually. When I had lost all hope and I couldn't even keep my eyes opened from not sleeping the previous days.

"Alice" I said as soon as I walked to the door and I saw her with her eyes half-opened and with no more tubes around her.

"Sam" She coughed after speaking as she had been intubated for a few days.

"Don't speak, love" I rushed to be by her side. "Alice, love" I kissed her forehead softly. "I thought I had lost you" Her eyes started getting watery.

"I am sorry, Sam" She whispered.

"Don't worry about it, aye? You're here now" I sit back in the chair that I had been occupying the previous days with a smile on my face, and with a feeling of ease finally in my chest.

"The kids?" Alice asked.

"Beth is with Alex and Elliott is with Liam and Elys. I have it all under control, don't worry about it" Alice nodded as if she tried to say thank you.

Not even a few days later, we decided to try to be together for good that time. And it actually worked. We had a lot of talking to do, a lot of arguments in between and trying to find common ground in every single aspect of our lives. Alex started coming over for visits every now and then as Alice told me that he needed him by her side as a friend, and I agreed. This way, were able to build a forever-lasting relationship.

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So, this is officially the last chapter. Well, there is an extra part next set in the future because I had that idea running around my mind and I didn' t know where it would fit. But other than that, the story is over.

Thank you all so much for the support, I actually never thought that I'd manage to finish writing this but here I am. I hope you have all enjoyed the story and that it has distracted you a little from time to time. I might be back with a 'prequel' based on Alex's and Alice's life since they met until their divorce, who knows? Once, again thank you!