Spotify Drabbles

I Had a Dream

For anitabum

"Hello?"

"Hi. I'm sorry, I know it's late. Did I wake you?"

It took a minute to register who it was on the other end of the line and another one to realize the urgency.

"Stefani? Are you okay? What's going on?

Suddenly, he was wide awake and he sat up in bed, swinging his legs over the other side. Beside him, Irina stirred and he rested a hand on her arm, steadying her.

"Um," she sniffed, "not really."

"Talk to me," Bradley stepped out of the room to head downstairs and into the kitchen to grab a bowl of Cocoa Pebbles. A quick glance at the wall clock informed him that it was closing in on 1 and right away, he knew she'd never call in the dead of night if it wasn't serious.

"I had a nightmare."

He set down his spoon, gaze set upon the river of chocolate milk the cereal had transformed in to.

"Same one?"

"Kind of. Except this time, I jumped."

His belly dropped.

The dream was a recurring one, had been for years and she'd shared with him that it began when she was at the very height of her fame when everything was crazy and overwhelming and she didn't quite have a grip on handling it.

Things had gotten progressively better and they'd eased and it wasn't until recently that they had come barreling back, full force.

The two of them were in the thick of film promotion, two days away from the Los Angeles premiere and he knew that will all the flying back and forth of the past week or so, sleep was a scarce commodity as it was. She was exhausted and in pain more often than not and though she didn't like to make a fuss, he could always tell when she wasn't doing so great. On those days, it wasn't uncommon for him to try to cheer her up, however he could, whether it was with a spontaneous bouquet of flowers or Starbucks or stupid, lame dad jokes to get her to laugh. He always wished he could do more, but she'd grab his hand, her eyes grateful.

"Is Christian around?"

He did not bother to keep the hardened edge out of his voice. Civility had gone out the window when he'd come to the realization that Christian's concerns of where she was and with whom came from a place of ownership, not love. She deserved better and he was certain she knew it, too.

"We had an argument. He's at his house."

The thought of her upset and alone made him grip the edges of the countertop, hard. The cereal turned his stomach and he pushed it away.

"I'll be there in 20 minutes."

There were no pretenses between them and perhaps, there never had been.  She did not have to ask him to come and likewise, he did not ask her for permission.

"Thank you. Are you sure?"

Without her saying so, he could theorize Stefani was referring to Irina and her reaction to him disappearing.

"It'll be fine. See you soon."

"Okay," she exhaled and he heard the relief in it. "See you soon."

The freeway was mostly barren at that time of the morning and it took no time at all to get to Malibu. When the familiar palm trees came up into his line of vision, Bradley felt the knot begin to unfurl.

Stefani met him at the door, standing outside barefoot and clad in pajama boy shorts and a worn t-shirt he recognizes as his own.

Right away, even before he reached her, Bradley saw her face and the terror in it.