The Sun in My Eyes

48 Every Shadow Disappearing into Dawn

In which Lili comes to the rescue 🦸 and Bobby starts to truly see himself as the sweet lil' cupcake he was born to be 💗

**

Bobby had never been so panicked and excited in his life.

Lili. Coming to his flat. In person. To help.

He repeated the series of words aloud, like a mantra, though they made less and less sense as he spoke them. Lili. Coming to his flat. In person. To help. Oh god.

"In person!" Isla shouted. "To help! Oh dod."

Ah, hell. He rushed around, picking up dirty socks and lamenting the mess of used things he and Jonno had collected from the roadside, thinking they'd be useful someday.

After a couple hours of chasing Isla and trying to organise what was inherently unorganisable, he finally did as Lili had instructed, and sat down to breathe. Isla seemed to respond to his mood and climbed on top of him, squashing all his organs with her pudgy knees and elbows as she collapsed on his chest and promptly fell asleep.

He was dozing when a soft knock jolted him awake. Isla barely moved when he lifted her up and laid her on the couch. She just curled up into a little dough ball of cuteness as he staggered across the room, rubbed the sleep from his eyes, and opened the door.

Lili stood on the other side, haloed by the light coming in from the hall windows, and glowing like his own personal angel. He blinked a few times, because his brain still believed she might be nothing but a shiny mirage in the desert of his troubles.

But mirages didn't hug one as tightly as Lili hugged him. She'd hesitated for only a moment before pulling him into her arms and holding him as though she alone could keep him safe in the sandstorm that his life had become. He nestled his face in her hair and breathed out, feeling at ease for the first time in months. "Thank you," he whispered into her garnet curls.

She nodded against his chest and wrapped her arms tighter. "You're going to get through this, la. I promise you."

After another few squeezes, she stepped back, taking her honied citrus scent with her. It was only then, he noticed her giant sunglasses, that were now rather askew from their hug, and a pretty, pink headscarf. She had a decidedly retro spy look going on. He wanted to make a joke about it, but suddenly his tongue was all twisted in his head.

Lili. In his flat. In person. To help.

He stepped back and she walked in, lugging a black travel bag on one shoulder. He took it from her. "Um, this is my place. It's a proper mess. I tried to clean, but it was..."

She shook her head and sat her sunglasses on the kitchen table. "Your job wasn't to clean up for me. It was to rest. Besides, this place has loads of character." She eyed the wilted plants and the three broken lamps on the table that Jonno swore he'd come over and fix so they could sell, but never did.

"Yeah, tons of character," he said.

She took a deep breath. "Okay, so where is the little one?"

He gestured to the couch. She brushed by him and crouched down to look at Isla. Her eyes softened to pools of chocolate, and that made his heart skip. "Oh, she's absolutely adorable."

"Don't let the cuteness fool you. She's a tiny monster."

"Oh, they all are at this age." She brushed Isla's curls back and sighed. Then she stood up. "Alright. First things first, go take a quick, cold shower."

The shock of her order loosened the knots in his tongue. "If I'm mingin' you can tell me," he said, with a laugh. "But I already showered today."

"Do it anyhow. You don't have to scrub up. Just get in there under the cold water. Rinse it over yourself and your head and face especially. It's rejuvenating and it's like a fresh start to a bad day."