King of My Heart

TWENTY-FIVE

The loud rumbling of thunder jolts me awake. I turn over to lift my phone and check the time. It's about six, indicating that I was asleep for almost an hour. In just a little time, I feel well rested, a desperate requirement after last night. Add to that the entire emotional conversation with Liam this afternoon, and I was drained furthermore.

I slide out of bed and decide to take a warm shower. I wait a couple of minutes and hop in as soon as the water heats up. The hot water droplets trail across my body, drowning me in waves of relaxation. When the water starts to get colder, I come to my senses and realise, I've been in the shower for way too long. I look down at my wrinkled fingertips and decide it's time to get out.

I wrap a towel around me and quickly dry my hair. After applying some moisturiser, I get dressed in black tights and a loose drop shoulder sweater. My hair hangs loose around my face and I slip on a pair of fluffy socks. The weather outside hasn't changed and it's become hard to differentiate between day and night. My stomach grumbles, the amplitude of the sound so loud, it could give the roaring clouds outside a run for their money.

It's almost seven when I grab my phone and hurriedly step down the stairs while staring at the screen, which in hindsight, was a terrible idea. With only the socks covering my feet, I almost slip down the final few steps and barely manage to keep my balance. A fearful gasp escapes my mouth as I steady myself which startles Liam, who was previously watching TV. He looks over at me, his jaw clenched, but visibly relaxes when he notices that I am fine.

"Look who's finally here! I was starting to get worried," he exclaims.

"I get that you're, like, obsessed with me," I mock, "But, I was only asleep for an hour. Calm down." I drop down on the couch next to him.

His eyes widen and his lips part slightly as he begins to say something, but then he stops himself, his shocked expression quickly replaced by an amused smirk.

"April, you've been asleep since yesterday," he informs, calmly.

"What do you mean, yesterday," I roll my eyes at him.

"I mean you were asleep for thirteen hours, not one," he says, the smirk still plastered on his face as he enjoys my confusion and shocked expression.

I glance at the clock hanging on the wall behind me and then at the window.

"You're messing with me," I mumble, almost to myself as it sinks in that I've been asleep since yesterday evening. No wonder I felt so well rested. And hungry.

"Well, thirteen hours is not a lot," I finally claim.

"Whatever you say, sleepyhead," he replies and turns back to the TV.

"I'm gonna go call my mom," I excuse myself and walk out.

I haven't talked to my mom since the night I got here and she might start to get worried if I keep missing her calls any longer. I call her and we talk about random things and everything that has been going on with her and George. While I'm on the phone, I stroll around the house, ending up in the office/study. Mom tells me that they are both planning on travelling to Europe to take a little break from work for a little while. I let her know that I haven't been doing a lot these days and will visit her very soon. Technically, neither of those is a lie. Tracing my hands on the spines of the hundreds of books placed in the shelves, I hang around the room for about half an hour until she finally lets me go, to have breakfast.

I walk back to the living room but Liam isn't here anymore. I go over to the kitchen and discover him inside.

"I made you breakfast," he says as he adds a waffle to a previously prepared stack on a plate.