✳ 𝒮𝑒𝓇𝑒𝓃𝒹𝒾𝓅𝒾𝓉𝓎 ✳ 𝒲𝒾𝓁𝒷𝓊𝓇 𝒮𝑜𝑜𝓉 𝓍 𝑅𝑒𝒶𝒹𝑒𝓇 ✳

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You screwed your eyes shut, letting out a long, tired groan as you reached your arm out from under your warm blanket and into the cold air of your bedroom to turn off the alarm on your phone,  loud enough to almost give you a headache. The loud ringing suddenly stopped as you hit the snooze button, about to go back to sleep when you remember your work hours had changed as of last night. 

You immediately sat up straight, almost fully awake at the thought. You looked over to the bedside table where your phone laid, checking the time. It was 4:30 am. Just delightful, you thought, yawning and slipping out of your bed. 

You stood for a moment, gaining balance and trying to adjust to the cold embracing you due to the loss of your blanket. After waking up a little more, you trudged to your door, opening it and leaning on the doorframe as another yawn washed over you. You almost fell on your way down the hall into the bathroom, to begin your morning routine. 

You flipped on the light, flinching as it turned on. Blinking your eyes open, you got used to it. You were trying to be as quiet as you could, with Mason still asleep. You looked at yourself in the mirror before reaching for your hairbrush and making yourself look presentable. You then grabbed your toothbrush, squirting some toothpaste onto it and brushing your teeth, using mouthwash after you were done. This had woken you up. You decided to apply some light amounts of makeup, and did so without trouble. You had experience with this, whilst putting on makeup in your years of college and university, mostly to hide the bags under your eyes from staying up too late to study. 

You made your way back to your room, slipping out of your pajamas and putting on some day clothes. You finished getting dressed, and looked at yourself in the bathroom mirror as you passed it going down the hall and into the kitchen where you started a pot of coffee. You really didn't like the bitter taste of the liquid, but it kept you awake. You had to be at your office by 6 o' clock so you could begin your shift. 

You began regretting your decision to take on extra hours, when the coffee pot beeping made you lose your train of thought. You poured some into a lidded cup, adding cream and sugar to take away some of the bitter qualities of the piping hot liquid. 

Cup in hand, you made your way over to the front door, struggling to get on your coat. It was always colder in the mornings, and since you didn't really trust yourself to drive at the moment you would have to walk. After zipping up your coat, you grabbed your keys and you left the house. 

You shoved your keys in your coat pocket, taking out your phone to check how long that had taken you. A quick glance at the lock screen told you it was 5:17 am. You quickly did some math in your head, concluding that you had 43 minutes to get to work. If you were able to speed walk, you could make it. 

--

You arrived at the near empty building at 5:54, six minutes to spare. You began walking a little slower as the building came into view, the sigh you just let out misting in front of you. As you walked into the car park, you recognized your manager stepping into the building. He turned, flashing you a small smile before he went inside of the building. 

You decided to speed up to catch up to him. You made it into the building not a minute after he did. "Ah, Y/N. Good morning. Earlier than usual, eh?" He joked, a lighthearted humor in his tone. "Indeed it is. Good morning, Mr. Brookes." You replied, liking the small talk you got to have with him in the mornings. "It sure is a cold one today." He noted. You nodded your head in agreement. "Yeah. It should get better soon, though." You responded to him. "Mhm." He hummed, the conversation closing. 

"Well, you'd better get to work." He said. "Nice talking with you, Y/N." He gave you the same, small smile as he did earlier. "You too, Mr. Brookes." You smiled back at him, walking away and finding yourself where you would usually spend your shifts.

--

Today had been slow, and you were extremely tired by the time you got off of work. Mason had texted you asking why you were gone so late, and you decided you would wait until you got home to explain that you were taking longer shifts now. You were sure he would understand. 

You now walked along the dark, empty streets of London, near the water. You found the sound of the waves crashing along the shore very soothing after a long day of work. You were watching your feet as you walked, occasionally glancing up. It was times like this you wished you had driven somewhere, when you had to walk back home alone in the dark. 

Same as the night before, you glanced up into the sky. Per usual, dark clouds covered the moon and the stars from your view. The gray mass was less than thrilling to look at, so you returned your gaze to your feet with a small, disappointed frown.

Surely, you thought, something would happen to you one of these nights. You decided to block out those thoughts, saving yourself from falling into a rabbit hole of worry. You lifted your head, looking around. You noticed a pier not too far away, and knew exactly where you were. You were about 15 minutes away from your house. Good, you thought.

Suddenly, something else caught your attention. Aside from your own steady breathing and the noise of the waves colliding with the shore, you heard the sound of a guitar. Whoever was playing sounded talented, just judging by the strumming pattern they were able to play. 

With practiced perfection, you assumed, the mystery musician strummed a few chords to check their tuning before getting into he actual song. You were intrigued by the music, wanting to know more about who was playing it.