Hanging on, Till Death do us part...

Chapter 5

It is now 2am and Kate still hasn't called. I haven't been able to fall asleep at all – too worried that I might miss her call. I sit up in the pitch blackness of my room, carful not wake Bianca up, who is lying face down with only her T-shirt on.

I pick up my phone and check the screen again. Nothing; no message, no missed call. Standing up quietly, I throw on my shirt and leave the room.

The girls are both sound asleep. Maddy sleeping completely stretched out and Zoe has turned around, with her feet on her pillow and her head on the opposite side of where it is supposed to be. I smile at the memory of how these two used to both sleep in-between Kate and myself, usually irritating the shit out of us, as they would roll around in their sleep, kicking me in the back or head-butting Kate in the middle of the night.

I end up in the lounge and dial Kate's number. On the fifth ring she picks up.

"Hello?"

"Kate, are you ok?"

"Bryce? What's wrong? Are the girls ok?" She sounds confused.

"Yeah everything's fine, you were meant to call me when you got home?" I say a bit more harshly than what I intended. Wait a minute, "You are home, aren't you?" She better be at home.

"Yes of course." Her voice is soft, almost a whisper. "I'm sorry. I was going to but I must have dozed off."

"That's ok. I'm sorry I woke you. I was worried." I want her to know that I still worry about her.

"It's ok. Uh Bryce, just hold a minute..." I hear the creek of the bed as she stands up and then her soft footsteps on the wooden floor. I can just imagine her walking down our passage. Hair pulled in a tight bun on the top of her head, her t-shirt hanging low enough to just just cover her bum, and her one hand twirling the strand of hair that always manages to escape.

"Where are you going?" I ask.

"Kitchen, I need to drink something." Her voice is clearer now.

"Oh so it was a good night I presume?"

Kate's answer comes with a delay, probably because she was taking a sip of something. "Yeah, it was. Surprisingly so. I got reacquainted with an old friend."

This is not what I want to hear. "And who would that be." I don't really want to know.

"Tequila." She giggles over the phone.

Oh, I let out a sigh of relief. "Tequila you say. I've never liked that friend of yours. She always seemed to abuse you a bit." I smile, recalling a time that Kate and I drank a whole bottle of tequila while watching the city's skyline disappear during sunset. Kate and I were so hammered. We ended up sleeping in the car and making love multiple times on the backseat. It was one of my favourite memories. My pants twitch as I remember how intense everything was in the confinement of the car. She was trapped, she had no choice but to stay as close to me as possible. She fell asleep on my chest that night, and as hot as it was in the car, I refused to move. I loved that fact that she felt every beat that my heart was throwing her way. It was hers to hear.

"Yeah, she's a bitch." Kate response is blunt.

"So did you enjoy yourself at least?"

"I did. Maybe a bit more than what I was supposed to." She seems deep in thought. What does a comment like that mean?

"No Kate. Its good if you had fun. You're safe, so that's all that matters." I wish I could see her now. I could always tell what she was thinking just by looking at her face.

"I suppose so. The girls ok?"

"Fast asleep, don't worry about them."

Slience over the phone.

"It was strange being out without you." She is whispering again, as if the words cut her as they left her mouth.

"I know Katey. It was weird knowing you were out without me. I suppose it is just something we will have to deal with now."

It's weird for me to do anything without her. We used to do everything together. Grocery shopping, cooking, gardening, cleaning, everything. She was my shadow and I was hers. Her second name was "and Bryce" and my second name was "and Kate".

"I know, but I..." But you what, but you what? "Never mind. It doesn't matter."

"Everything you say matters." I'm almost begging.

"I don't want to get used to it." Her voice sounds like a little girls that is sulking. It hits me in the centre of my being. My heart starts to race.

Before I can respond, I hear something that completely caught me off guard. Over the phone I clearly hear a mans voice.

"Kate, who are you talking to baby?"

WHAT THE FUCK!

"Kate? Who. The. Fuck. Is. that?" I come across more cautious than angry.

"It's nothing Bryce. I have to go."

The engaged tone echoes in my ear.

There is another man in my house.