lost in the light {n.h ou}

los angeles, i'm burning up for you

Nothing more than casual friends with a habit of sharing a bed.

Sure, Niall's hand still rested on her thigh, water rolling down her skin from him. But they had always done this. Touching without saying anything about it. Neither ever bothered to figure out what this closeness was between them.

Whatever the moment had been, was gone. Leaving two people covered in the dying light of day.

//

Hours passed slower in the summer. Dripping like honey from a spoon. There was a certain content laziness allowed. Time passed doing nothing at all. Three weeks was all they had before their next deadline. Twenty one days. Eventually the world would barge in. Niall would pack a suitcase and close his guitar case. Charlie would drop him off at the departures gate and make a joke to hide how much she would actually miss him.

Soon, he would leave. Charlie would stay. The world would continue on.

Sun broke through the branches of the orange tree in his backyard. Off in the distance wind came down from the mountains, rustling the bamboo. A perfect hideaway. And the afternoon found Charlie stretched out across the living room rug. Tongue sweet with red wine.

"No." Charlie wrinkled her nose at the option Niall held up to her. Mild annoyance as they had already gone through one row of records. "It's sad." She justified her decision.

Niall shrugged, "sometimes it's nice to listen to music and be sad."

"Is that your crying album?" Charlie asked. "Be honest."

"Since I was fifteen." He admitted, continuing to thumb his way through the record spines. Occasionally pulling his hand back, considering. Charlie thought she could watch him like this for at least a solid hour. Sunburnt nose. No shirt. Hair a mess. Spending far too much time trying to find the perfect record. "What's yours?" He asked several minutes later.

Niall slid out an older record. From the colors on the cover it looked like something from the sixties. Little bit beaten up. She wondered what shop he had gotten it from. Charlie sat up, stretching her neck to catch the album title as Niall placed it on the table.

"What's my what?" She asked, cracks of empty studio air filling the room.

"C'mon," Niall rolled his eyes, dramatically flopping on the floor beside her. He was close enough the tips of his fingers skated across the hem of Charlie's top. "The song you go to when you're sad -everyone has one, mine is the Parting Glass, I listen when I'm homesick and want to make it even worse."

Charlie thought for a moment. The world was filled with plenty of sad songs. One stood out in her mind. Like something from a movie. Charlie couldn't have been more than five. She had found her mother in the shower, quietly sobbing. Women always seemed to find places to cry where no one could see them. Their pain too raw for others. Maybe they just never wanted to burden anyone with their grief. But there had been a song playing on that old battery cd player.

"Both Sides Now."

"Shit." Niall blew out. "That's downright depressing."

"You did ask."

They fell back into a comfortable silence. Wasting time together. Seconds changing to minutes to hours. Every time the record stopped, Niall would haul himself to his feet and walkover to the shelves. Again, starting the process of holding up records. Dinner time had rolled around. Another bottle of wine had appeared after Niall called in takeout. Instantly, Charlie and Niall had gone back to their places on the floor. Hands tapping out beats on the other's thigh. Nothing existed outside of that moment. No classes. No work deadlines. No concerts. No meetings. No calls. Sweet nothing.