Five More Minutes

epilogue

HE extended his hand to the nightstand, finding his phone. With a groan, he finally lifted his phone to make it stop from ringing but that was until he saw the name of the person calling him. His finger swiped across from the screen and Aahana smiled through the other line. An instant grin brewed on his face.

"Good morning, sleepy head!" She chirped. She was holding her phone close to her face with her airpods plopped in her ears. She smiled through the screen and even though Everett wanted to bury in his warm covers and complete his beauty sleep, he forced his eyes to stay open. He needed his daily dose of sunshine or he'd be dull for the rest of the day.

"Good evening." His voice was throaty. He rubbed his eyes and straightened up to hold his phone properly so she could see his pale face. He looked at the corner of the screen at himself. He had faint eyebags below his eyes. He hoped she wouldn't notice. "Why are you calling me this early? You're the morning person, remember? Not me."

Ever since Everett moved to India, they've been facetiming each other almost everyday. He would call her every night when Aahana was on her way to her early morning lectures. They would catch up on each other and Everett would go to bed while she would carry on with her day. Every weekend, they would have an online date. They would make their surroundings look romantic and talk about Peakview, how close he is to finding his brother, how annoying Aahana's roommate can be and what not.

So far, everything was going at a steady pace. Sometimes, they would fight. Those days were the hardest. She was always on his mind. He would get mad at her too, just as much as she did at him. But there were good days too–when they would be good as a peach. No matter what, Everett couldn't help but miss her. He missed her touch, he missed seeing the glow in her eyes everytime she looked at him–or the stars, he missed her so much more than he imagined. He knew that committing to a long distance relationship would be hard but he didn't know how much. He loves travelling. He always did but he wished his girlfriend was with him too. They would hold hands and see the sights. She would comfort him when he's feeling drained. He would hold her in his arms when she is afraid of the dark.

They hoped for a better future.

One day.

Someday.

Soon.

"I know. But I'm missing you more today." She frowned. His eyes softened at her words. The I miss yous, I wish you were here and I can't stop thinking about you were constant. He was waiting patiently for the day he could go back and feel her presence. He wanted to finish his sponsorship as soon as possible and visit her. But he still had a few months to complete and his brother to find–if Ajay, at all, wanted to be found.

"I miss you as well, babe." Aahana sighed.Out of nowhere, he heard the shattering of glass from across wherever she was standing. Aahana lifted her chin away from her phone and widened her eyes and glared at someone. He caught a glimpse of her background that wasn't familiar. "Where are you?" He asked. He didn't want to sound suspicious but he definitely was.

"Oh, um...home." She flashed an unconvincing smile. "It's just that I'm grounded and Rae sneaked into my room and shattered a vase." The lighting was too bright for her room. She wasn't in her room. She was somewhere else. And Everett knew that but he refrained from asking her that. The last thing he wanted was to spend his day worrying about Aahana and why she was lying.

"Oh, okay. Did she get hurt?" He asked convincingly.

"Um, yeah. She's fine." She smiled again. "Anyway, I should, um, go. Rae is nagging me to play monopoly with her."

Monopoly?

"Oh, cool. Where is she? Let me say hi to her."

She widened her eyes again. "Uh yeah...um, no. She's feeling shy and ahh...looking like a zombie. She doesn't want to talk to you looking like that. Anyway, seeya. Love you, bye!" Before he could say anything, she hung up on him. Confusion layered on his face as he thought of what had just happened.