The Summoning (Sleep Token FanFiction)

III pt. 2 - The Love You Want

I took two large steps toward her and she craned her head as I towered over her. Her eyes were hard, jaw locked, and she didn't back down an inch. 

Isla panted out a breath just as tears bubbled over and streamed down her cheeks before she was surging forward. She yanked down the collar of my jacket and I took a breath just before she stole it back by crushing her lips to mine. 

My hands slid up and tangled into her hair and our breaths were a mix of fog between each other when she took a sobbing breath and pulled back an inch. Her hands gripping my jacket were quivering. 

Unable to stop myself, I closed my fingers around the sides of her head and backed her to the brick wall, mouth searching hers hungrily. Forcing my hands to soften their grip as I loomed over her, afraid I was taking things too far, I felt her nails clawing into my neck as they searched under my shirt. 

I moaned into her mouth and saw stars even when she curled her hands into fists and shoved me away. 

Her eyes were wild. Angry.

I took an extra step back, panting, hair and clothes a mess, and gave her space. The bar lights and streetlights illuminated us as we got ourselves together. I realized she had watched me lick my lower lip of the remnants of her taste, even though I was still half shrouded in darkness. 

"How dare you." Isla's face was flushed - a beautiful cherry shade over pale skin. 

"You kissed me first!" I panted, gesturing to myself, restraining from getting closer to warm her up as she shivered. 

"You know that's not what I'm talking about!" Her plush bottom lip swollen with the hunger of our kiss wobbled before she clenched her jaw again. Christ, she had to know what she did to me. 

Registering her words, I realized I was slowly beginning to lean closer to her and straightened. 

Before I could answer, she surged on. "This is either some sick joke or it was some shitty elaborate way to break up with me!" Isla hiccupped as she dragged in a sobbing breath. 

"Darling, please, just let me -" I hunched down to plead with her, unable to stop myself from letting the old nickname slip, but she slid to the side and took three wobbly steps away from me.

"No!" Her voice cracked as she began to back away down the sidewalk. "You lied to me..."

This was it. My whole world crashing around me. Losing everything I may have never had all these years.

The door to the bar swung open between us, light spilling out over the dark sidewalk.

II's voice was distant as I stared down the door held between me and Isla, wondering if she was already gone. If I would ever see her again. 

"Three?" 

The others followed through the door and turned to me, IV slipping a hand up my jaw to try and get my attention. 

I blinked the blur of tears away to see Hayley marching up to me. 

"Give me your jacket, Three?" Her voice was soft and demanding at the same time. 

Mechanically, like I was no longer in charge of me, I slipped my coat off and handed it over. 

"Three, take a breath." IV demanded and I did as he said, realizing I had been holding it. Vessel finally stood in my line of sight and I glanced to him, letting him wipe my tears before my eyes darted back up.

The door closed.

She was gone.

~~~~~~~~~~

I avoided everyone as I moved like a zombie around the hotel, showering and seeing her face in my minds eye, drying my hair, putting my t-shirt and pajama pants on, seeing her crying as she looked up at me.

Sitting on the edge of the hotel bed, I bounced my leg as I stared at the wall, going over what had happened over and over as if I could change it just by doing so. 

There was a knock on the door before it opened a crack.

"Are you decent?" Hayley's voice drifted through the crack and I couldn't help the twitch of a smile before shaking my head.

"Physically or emotionally?" My throat felt raw. I felt like I had just been through hell. 

With a small, sympathetic sigh, Hayley opened the door the rest of the way and slipped inside. She took a second to take in my state and I avoided her scrutinizing eyes, she then took a few steps closer and sat next to me on the edge of the bed. 

Hayley sat in the silence with me as she stared ahead at the same wall. After a moment, she cleared her throat awkwardly and I just wished I could be alone again.

"I gave your jacket away for a dollar." She blurted.

My thoughts came to a grinding halt at not only the unsolicited confession, but at the sheer confusion it elicited in me.

Turning my head slowly to Hayley's wide, expectant eyes, I made myself blink a couple times.

"You what?" I croaked. If this was some way to try and distract me, I had to admit, it was sort of working. I was simply too curious as to why she thought saying something like this was necessary at a moment like this.

"Yeah, uh..." I watched her shove a hand into her jean pocket, my bafflement keeping me silent. "They gave me a dollar for it, but it's for you."

She held out a crumpled up dollar before me and I glanced down at it before letting my eyes drag back up to hers. I was too tired to even let any expressions touch my face. 

Sighing, figuring it was her way of trying to apologize, I lifted my arm that felt so heavy and plucked the dollar from her waiting hand. 

"She wrote her number on the dollar so she could give it back to you." Hayley cooed before standing and heading for the door.

My eyes darted from the dollar to Hayley, questions flowing through my mind, but none coming to my lips.

Smoothing out the dollar like my life depended on it, I found a phone number scribbled in sharpie over the face of the dollar. Just as I opened my mouth to speak, she opened the door and took a step out before meeting my eyes again.

"Whenever you're ready, she's willing to listen." Her voice was still soft, placating.

I jumped up to frantically search for my phone. 

"Hey." There was an authority in her voice just like earlier tonight, so I turned once more to find her lips set in a thin line. "You pick the time and place, text her and she will meet you there. A simple phone call isn't going to fix this."

Hayley narrowed her eyes to me as if she believed I would just text Isla some halfwit apology. 

Before I could even think to make my voice work, she murmured a goodnight and left.