Lilly & Leclerc ~ [CL 16]

26. Intervention

6 days later - Friday 14th oct

"Lilly Carter open this door!" I gasp with the surprise of the knock against my door my eyes flying open with shock. My hand presses to my chest as I tip up in my spot, looking around the room in a dazed stare. There's barely a dull grey light falling in from outside and there's a faint patter of weakening rain against the window.

"If you don't open your door I'm just walking in, I don't care what's going on in there." The same voice repeats as I blink again. Amber? Here? My mouth falls open as I try to make sense of my swimming thoughts.

"Lill we know you're in there." This time it's Maddie who says my name and I frown my eyes finding the clock to my right. It's 6am! Thinking about it Maddie sounds just as annoyed as I feel by being woken up at this hour.

The handle of my bedroom door rattles and before I can even protest the door pushed open. In the doorway stand my two best friends. Maddie, half her short dark brown hair clipped up with bright pink panda pyjama bottoms and a tired look in her eyes. Amber, with a weekender bag hooked on her shoulder, hair tied up into a messy bun and her go-to flight tracksuit on her body. She's entirely more awake than Maddie and I combined and is staring at me with a look of...annoyance?

Am I dreaming?

"What the hell are you guys doing? It's six am." I point out in a low grumble, gesturing to the clock on my bedside table my voice laced with disgust. It's Friday. I was expecting to get at least get two more hours of sleep until my alarm buzzed.

"What the hell are you doing?!" Amber snaps back without giving me a moment to think. I just stare at her wide eyed as she drops her bag to the floor of my room. It feels like a punch to the gut when I realise it's the exact same spot that Charles used to leave his suitcase in.  Used to, as if we're over.

I don't know who I'm kidding, we are.

I've been ignoring his calls for six days. He's not going to want me after that.

"That poor man is losing his mind!" Amber stresses as I just blink at her blankly trying to make sense of her presence here. I thought her and Daniel were heading straight to Texas from Japan. Maybe I was wrong...

"What?" My eyes are still squinted open, adjusting to the light Amber slammed on when she swung my door open. My mind fuzzy with sleep. Only a minute ago I was dreaming about being back swimming in the sea in Monaco my hair thick with sea salt. Amber's face is flat and unsympathetic as she just stares at me with expectant eyes and arms crossed.

Maddie on the other hand is softer, her movements weaker and lacking the purpose of Amber's. I have a feeling she's been woke up when she didn't exactly want to be too.

"Lilly, it's Charles." Maddie says setting herself on the far side of my bed, as if she's scared to approach me any further. A weight settles in my chest at the mention of his name, guilt pooling inside of me.

Rightfully so.

"Shouldn't you be in Texas?" I find myself asking Amber, unable (and unwilling) to understand what's going on.

"Yeah, I should be." She says the words matter of fact, her arms not uncrossing as she looks to me flatly. She'd been looking forward to going to Texas, she'd been sending me pictures on Instagram and excited emojis through our time-zone-broken text conversations. "Instead I'm here, dealing with your commitment issues." I wince slightly with her words pressing a hand to my tired eye and rubbing softly. My temples ache, begging for more sleep, or maybe just begging to not be part of this conversation.

"Ambs, please..." I groan reaching for the water at the side of my bed and taking a few sips my mouth feeling less choked.

"No. I don't want to hear it!" She snaps in a tone which is the least like Amber I've ever heard. Even Maddie is staring wide eyed at my friend waiting to see where this goes. "Charles is..." Amber cuts herself off, lips pressing together and eyebrows furrowing as she loses her words.