Closer 2

149.

"Come!" Elise grinned once they got their shoes off, taking auntie's hand and trying to pull her along to see her room and the pretty drawing she had made of them together to give her.

Belle chuckled softly, going with her as she was dragged. She hadn't seen the house before at all, but she got a glimpse of it as they moved through it. She only barely had the opportunity to give Brett a little wave as she was pulled past him and the twins.

"See, auntie! Is my bed and my drawing stuff and my toys and my violin and my clothes!" Elise grinned excitedly, pointing to the different items. It wasn't mentioned that she hadn't touched her little violin in a long time.

"Wow, your room is so nice!" Belle said, looking around it. It really was a nice room, except of course, all the toys were laying around on the floor. "What's your favourite thing in your room, then?"

"Uuuhhh..." Elise said, looking around. Her eyes paused on the violin for a second, but she moved on to show auntie her pencil bucket instead. "Pencil!"

"Yeah? Not your bed?" Belle asked jokingly, and Elise giggled.

"Nooo!"

"And not your violin that uncle Ray got for you, huh?" Belle asked with a smile.

Elise hesitated for a moment before shaking her head, looking to the violin case for a moment again. Belle furrowed her brows a bit, not really knowing why she got so serious about being asked about her violin. She decided to move on, wanting Elise to be happy.

"Daddy told me on the phone you have been busy making a lot of art recently," Belle said, changing the topic. Luckily, this put a smile back on Elise's face.

"Yeahhh.." Elise said with a small smile, her attention turning from the violin to the small stack of drawings she had on the floor by her drawing stuff. That's where she spent a lot of time when baba and daddy were busy with her brothers.

"Wanna show me some?"

...

May didn't normally mind being home alone. It usually was nice to have time and space to stretch and do things at your own pace without having to take another person into account. She liked being able to sneak to the fridge and have a late night snack without worrying about waking Ray, and she liked having their double bed to herself.

What she didn't like was how emotional she got about everything, how running out of milk made her cry, how angry she was at the stupid toothpaste that just had to run out right now, how happy she was when Ray called. Everything felt off, and even her balance in her dance routines had been off since coming back to school after her illness.

She never ended up seeing the doctor for that as it ended before her appointment, but she figured it was just some weird influenza or a stomach bug or something. If it was something serious, it surely would come back, right?

Right now, though, she was wrapped up in blankets on the couch, waiting for Ray to video call and say good night to her despite being several hours behind. There were only a few more days until he would come home to her.

She jumped when her phone lit up, vibrating in her hand. It was so easy to get lost in her own thoughts when she was on her own.

"There's my sunshine! Hey beautiful," Ray said once he appeared on the screen. May couldn't help but blush. "How has your day been?"

"Better now," May said softly, wrapping the blankets tightly around herself. Ray furrowed his brows.

"Something wrong?"

May shrugged, pushing her bangs out of her face. She didn't want to cry about the same things again, but now when she started to think about it everything just seemed so overwhelming she couldn't really hold her tears back.

"Oh, love, what's going on? Hey, May mine, what's wrong?"

"It's nothing really," May sniffled, trying to wipe her tears. "I don't even know, I'm just so tired of things not being right and I miss you so much too."

"I'm sorry I'm not there with you, love," Ray said softly, getting that worried look he often got. "Anything I can do? I don't want you to be upset."

"Just don't get delayed on Thursday, please," May sniffled, wiping her tears. She didn't really know why this felt like such a big deal.

"I'll do my best, okay? I promise you, love."

"It's really just everything being wrong at the same time with the illness which messed up my dancing, and sometimes it feels like I've got some insane stomach gas but I just can't fart or burp or anything and my appetite is all weird, I keep wanting stuff at night but in the day all food just seems gross and... "

"It really sounds like a lot," Ray interrupted her gently. She nodded a bit, pulling the blanket over her head like a hood.

"I know there's nothing you can do about it, I just..."

"I know, May mine. I don't mind listening to you, if it helps to talk about it," Ray said with a small smile. "Unfortunately, I don't have much time. We have dress rehearsal soon."

"I'm sorry, we can call again tomorrow if that's better," May said softly, slowly getting herself out of tye couch with the blankets still wrapped around her. "I should get to bed anyway."

"I'll call again tomorrow, okay? I love you."

"I love you too. Good luck with the concert. Don't break a string," May said softly, getting a small smile on her lips from their little inside joke. The first video she had seen of Ray playing was the one where he broke a string, and she thought it was so funny. It had now become their little thing when they called before a concert.

"No worries, I've got extra in my pocket," Ray chuckled softly with a smile. "Sleep tight, love. Take care of yourself for me until I'm back, okay?"

"Okay, babe. Goodnight, then."

"Good night beautiful. Sweet dreams."