Chapter Ninety-Four

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"I saw the heavens stir from above, a choir of angels weeping at the misfortune of this miracle being brought to me and me only."
—me, 'The Hollows Of Hiraeth'

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H o l l o w s I n
T I M E
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We talked for hours, right up until it was midnight. That's when we realised it was Christmas Eve.

"It doesn't matter if we work through Christmas Eve," Alexi yawned. "It's Christmas Day that you need the most sleep for." She said, wiping the tiredness from her eyes.

I hummed in response. Usually, I was quite good at staying up late, but as I fell back onto Jameson's bed and curled up, I realised I was a goner. The three continued to talk, whilst I rested my head on my left arm, my hair falling over my face as I fell asleep.

I was awoken by a weird sensation on my face, and when I opened my eyes, I saw Jameson in my line of vision. He was knelt down at the end of the bed, gazing at me. His palm rested on the side of my face, his thumb brushing against my cheekbone. I was warm, and I soon realised that was because I had a spare duvet draped over my body.

"Sorry." He murmured, removing his hand and running it through my hair, which was now brushed away from my face. I was going to tell him that I didn't care, but I was too tired for it.

"Would you like to get into bed?" Jameson asked. I nodded, scrambling over to the top of Jameson's bed, stripping the duvet back and getting into it.

"I meant your–" Jameson broke himself off as I got comfortable, pulling his duvet up higher so that I was warm. I heard Jameson sigh, and then a door close.

"He's gone." It was Lexi. Jameson muttered something in response as my mind began to spin into sleep.

"Did you put her there?"

"No, she got in herself."

"That's kind of cute; join her, I'll take her bed." There was a long pause before I felt the mattress dip in front of me—I was lain on my left side.

"Goodnight." And then the lights went out. But I was already buried deep in sleep by that point.

"Pst, I just saw Santa."

Was what woke me up later, followed by someone nudging my shoulder repeatedly. I swatted the person away, complaining using incoherent words.

"It's Christmas Eve, and I'm not stupid." I responded next, wiping the sleep from my eyes before opening them to see Alexi grinning at me.

"She's up!" She yelled, making me cringe as I buried myself into the covers. She got up off the ground and walked off somewhere, leaving me alone in Jameson's bed.

"I did a head count—I think we're missing someone." It was Jameson. But I didn't unbury myself to see the commotion.

"Relax, I definitely contacted everyone on that list. I made sure of it. They'll be here." With that, their conversation ended and I heard the door shut and footfalls approaching me.

The duvet was peeled off my body, but only slightly. "Good morning, would you like some breakfast?" Jameson asked, brushing my hair back from my face.

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