; all goes quiet

[aaron eklund]

Aaron knows they’re both insomniacs, but even he didn’t want to check the time as their conversations meandered. Confirming some of the things they knew from over the phone, now languishing in the time to add more detail or explore a tangent or connect it elsewhere. Phones left face-down on the table and pretenses abandoned, background music humming between their tastes, wine drifting out of their blood. Inching closer and closer together until the pace of her breathing and the rush of her pulse become second nature to his own, buoyed by the stolen kisses and curious touches. Steady in their research even as they lost steam, the edges of the night curling inward, trying to drag them both under. For a moment he lets his eyes rest, lulled by her voice. And to that same voice he comes to, head leaned against hers against his shoulder, pressing a subconscious kiss into her hair as he fought his own eyelids. He’s dismayed to realize the sun will probably be up soon. “Maybe for a minute,” he rasped, guilty of the same. Not quite a heap of limbs but uncomfortable bends and tingling skin, sleep unfit for a couch. His back straightened as he roused more upright, arm around Lily still. He cleared his throat and ran a hand through his hair, stifling a yawn. “You want me to go?” he asked, another choice to be made. “Or I can move us to bed, keep you warm. Scrounge up some breakfast in the morning...which hopefully isn’t as soon as I think.”

[lily mccarthy]

LILY feels stuck between twilights, eyes hazy and half mooned in their weight. She doesn't know when she drifted, couldn't discern the hour of darkness in the sky, lashes fluttering shut again for a moment as he too roused. Relief floods quickly that she wasn't the only one, that she hadn't left him alone for minutes (hours?) in the quiet of the room. Contemplating if he should leave, if he should stay, the same war now voiced under his own gravel tone. Lily shakes her head slowly, finally forcing herself to level out and come up. "Bed," is all she can manage, dragging a hand over her face and suddenly immensely grateful she'd taken her make-up off after the show. It's too much effort now to go through her turndown routine, not even sure if it was night anymore, hours a foreign concept aside from the one that would drag her back on the road. "Thank god for room service," Lily rasps again, voice more hollow than usual in its sleepiness, already craving the warmth she shifted away from to step out of her jeans. She grabs a t-shirt from a drawer at random, tossing it over her head before falling into the covers. She knew a wake-up call would come. A reality would be faced, a loss would be felt as she bid goodbyes. But for now she wanted to savor the sleeping seconds together, dragging herself near under the plush duvet and falling victim to the warmth and the weight of behind held. "Night Aaron...or morning...whatever it is."

[aaron eklund]

Aaron thinks they fought valiantly against the clock but even the night had to claim them eventually. Thoughts become hazy and delirious, words nonsensical, senses shutting down one by one. But hearing her decision is another, second major relief, prolonging their time in a different way and saving him from a dangerous half-awake drive home. He manages to offer a noise of acknowledgment but little more, helping her up, stumbling toward the bedroom with her. Barely cognizant of the rustle of fabric as she got comfortable and settled into the sheets. He had slept in a lot of strange places and in many different arrangements but always hated the feel of outside clothes in bed. Can’t fathom sleeping in jeans, so Aaron bared down to his boxers and shrugged off his shirt to slip under the covers with her. Nothing sexual about it, although he couldn’t remember the last time he slept with a girl this way, nothing else beforehand. Whether that should amuse him or forewarn him he didn’t know, thoughts bogged down with the type of tiredness that grips you whole, dragging you into the dark. His body framed hers from behind, one arm tucked under her pillow and the other around her middle, pressing a weak kiss to her shoulder with a mumbled “’night.” Even with a late bedtime he’s lucky to get five hours of rest, six if he’s really sleeping in. Often his body roused him whether he liked it or not, unable to lay there without reprieve, begrudgingly starting the day. So when he inevitably rises before Lily, the two of them steadfast in their positions, Aaron managed to get breakfast to the room in time for the blare of her alarms. Not that her crew would let her rest long, either. After coffee it’s all ablaze, Aaron remaining in the flurry for as long as he can stay out of the way, helping where he could with bags, staving off the inevitable feeling that would sink in when their time was up. Finding himself standing outside near the tour bus, hand tilted against the climbing sun. “Guess it’s that time. The road’s callin’,” he said as he took her up in embrace, no longer shy about the eyes on them. What this might’ve looked like was one thing but only he and she knew the truth. “Thanks for a helluva concert. I hope I get to see you again soon.”

[lily mccarthy]

LILY knew from the moment she asked him to stay that she was making some type of call. To expose him to the whirlwind of mornings with her team, to the lack of privacy they gave and the amount of space they took up. Another thing she'd had to learn - as much as she was the ringleader she was also the product. The one on a schedule, the one that had to be where she needed or little else mattered. When the fateful knock comes to her door she answers with the last piece of avocado toast in her hand, allowing Aaron to form his own opinion about the process as her assistant rattled off her schedule. Then it's zipping up her bags and doing one last sweep and Lily tugging her hair into a haphazard ponytail, sunglasses slid over her eyes as the sun drenched the sidewalk outside. Half her mind already settled inside the tour bus, the other half steadfastly hanging on to the embrace she'd tucked herself into. She wasn't sure exactly what this encounter had created but the anticipation of this continuing seemed palpable between them, flicking the glasses back up her nose to catch his eyes again. Still ever wary in public, shying away from another kiss but wistful they hadn't realized they'd likely had their last. For maybe a little while anyway, hope simple and sweet on the curve of her lips. "Me too," Lily agrees, giving his hand one last squeeze before hopping up the stairs. Waving goodbye one last time, knowing there'd be miles and hours ahead for the both of them to think about this all. What it meant, what came next...she wasn't entirely sure, but for once it felt like the right kind of unknown.