I'm Gonna Miss You

Chapter 39: Slurred Words

"Hello?" My groggy voice ran through the receiver.

"Hey!" Dylan slurred on the other end. "Ly!" He dragged out the word, the alcohol clearly controlling him.

I rubbed my eyes, fixing them on the display of my phone, reading 2am on it. "Dylan?" It was technically a Sunday already.

"Yeah!" He hiccuped. "How'd you know?"

"Your name is on my phone." A slight smirk played on my lips as I prepared to make fun of him for this the following day.

"What?" It was difficult to understand anything he was saying.

"Caller ID." I stated.

"Oh! Cool!" His tipsy voice was strong even over the phone.

There was a silence that hung in my room as I waited for him to say something, but he didn't. His surroundings were the complete opposite of mine, loud and wild. The music sounded muffled behind him, he was most likely outside or in a separate room from everyone else. I sat up, my blanket pooling at my waist, exposing my oversized hazel sweater. My room was almost completely dark, the faint light of the moon creeping in through the slits of my curtain. I stifled a yawn, letting out a long breath instead.

"Dylan?" I called, the phone still pressed tight to my ear.

"Yes? Hello?" It was easy to imagine him stumbling over his feet as he spoke. "Who's this?"

"It's Lilah." I chuckled.

The situation Dylan had put himself in was nothing less than amusing to me. "Lilah!" He exclaimed. "I was just about to c-call you."

"Really?" I feigned shock. "I guess I beat you to it." All I heard on the other line was unintelligible mumbling followed by a happy huff of air. "Are you having fun?" I inquired, shaking my head and laughing to myself.

"Yeah." He blurted. "Actually, no." I could practically hear him furrow his brows.

"Why? What happened?"

"I-I, uhm, I have a problem." The longer we held this conversation, the more influential the alcohol got.

"What's your problem?" I asked, running a hand through my hair, pushing it back.

"I miss you." He drunkenly admitted.

"You saw me this afternoon." I bit my lip, giggling at how affectionate he was even after being filled with liquor.

"That's not enough."

I rolled my eyes. "Then come back." I joked.

"Back where?"

"To your house."

I could hear the gears grinding against each other in his head. "What? No. N-No. You don't get what I'm saying." He paused, swallowing before he spoke once more. "I want to see you."

My palm fell limp against my forehead, laughing at how he assumed I was the one having trouble understanding anything tonight. "I live next to you, Dylan."

"Oh." He mused.

"Yeah." I giggled.

"You're really smart, you know that?"

An evident smile crossed my lips. "I get that a lot. Thanks."

"Wow." He muttered.

"'Wow' what?"

"A woman who can accept a compliment." He stated, clearly intrigued. "I like you, Lilah Clemens." I'm guessing he said my name because in reality it sounded like 'Loluh Lems'.