ALPHA STRIKE |rooster x oc|

chapter 13- hey butthead

The ringing of a phone woke Clarke. She slowly lifted the phone with her thumb ready to end the call. The number on the screen made her pause. SARAH K. It was Blair's mom.
"Hey, Sarah," Clarke whispered into the phone.
"Hey, you. How are you?"
"I imagine I'm doing better than you are. I can't even think about how hard this is for you. I'm barely keeping myself together." Clarke glanced at the clock on the wall. It was early. She then saw Bradley still asleep next to her. Not wanting to wake him, she quietly slipped into the hallway.
"The first half of yesterday was really bad and then the phone calls started. Everyone needing to know when the service was and what flowers and who was invited and who had to be in uniform- all the questions I've had to ask over the years. It was very surreal having someone ask me." There was a long silence between them. Clarke could hear movement through the phone.
"You know that me and my dad and Bradley and everyone is here for anything you need. Give the Blair and the boys a big hug for me. I'll see you guys as soon as possible." She tried to sound optimistic, but the tears streaming down her cheeks betrayed her.
"I will. Love you, Clarke."
"Love you too, Sarah." Clarke angrily shoved her phone into the couch and exhaled heavily. The tears falling off her face darkened the fabric as the hit the couch below her. She wiped her face dry as she walked into the kitchen. The countertops were empty, so much so that she could see her reflection in them. Her eyes sunken into her face, dark circles below them. Her cheeks red from all the crying, her lips chapped. Her hair was unruly as she tugged at the loose bun that was balanced on top her head, but somehow her attempt to fix it made it worse. Giving up she opened the fridge and saw her water bottle. She sighed thankfully as she grabbed it. The milk caught her eyes and soon she was filling a bowl with milk and grabbing cereal from the pantry. Her attempts to stay quiet had ultimately failed as the chair scraped across the hardwood floor and soon Bradley walked out of the bedroom.
"Hey," he said very groggily.
"Hey, sorry. I stayed as quiet as possible." Clarke apologized.
"It's fine, I probably wasn't going to be out for much longer. Did you sleep?" He asked as he pulled a chair close to her.
"Barely," she answered between bites. Her mind drifted back to last night, laying awake, watching the minutes tick by. Each one feeling longer than the last. She had wished so deeply for sleep to wash over her, for it to carry her away to the distant land of dreams where all the horrible facts of reality were the things from her worst nightmares. But to her dismay, no such sleep ever came. "My mind just wouldn't shut off."
"I know the feeling," he consoled. Their familiar silence feel over them, but didn't last long, and was interrupted by Clarke crying again. Bradley gently wrapped her into a hug and hushed her sobs.
"How are we supposed to just go on? Or replace him? How are we supposed to wake up every day knowing that he won't be there to drive the twins to school or bail us out next time I do something stupid?"
"We just have to do that ourselves now," Bradley said as his own lip began to quiver.  "God, I really thought I'd have a little more time before another one of my parents died." Clarke exhaled sharply at his attempt of a joke, but soon fell quiet again. Her mind began wandering again, only coming back to reality every so often.
They moved to the couch after eating and situated themselves in the same position as last night. Bradley turned on the TV again and the credits of  "Dirty Dancing" were playing.
"Start it again, please?" Clarke whispered. Bradley nodded and did so. He had never understood why she and Blair loved this movie so much. It seemed to be the only thing they watched growing up. He had questioned it many times before, but knew that in this moment it was the only thing he could do for her.
Clarke watched the first couple minutes, but soon her eyes sort of glazed over. Like she wasn't all there. They soon shut and she finally fell asleep. Afraid to wake her, Bradley simply stayed there with her, himself eventually falling asleep too.
Some time later a knock on the door woke them both. Bradley scooted Clarke into the couch and stood to answer the door.
"Hey Butthead."