Morning Light - Short Story - Katya Zamo/Brian McCookXReader

morning light pt. 1

“I try to cool my head, reverse the things I said...” - ARORA

You had gotten in a fight the night before. You both knew you should never go to bed angry, but sometimes it was impossible to hash out the argument before time zones forced you to hang up first. You told him you would talk in the morning, that you needed to be in bed hours ago.

He called you at 7 AM, 5 AM his time.

“It’s morning. You said we could talk in the morning.”  His voice was scarily monotone; You suspected that he hadn't slept at all.

“I mean, technically yes, but I was thinking later when I said it.  You didn't sleep?”

He sighed. “Of course I didn't sleep,” he snapped. “I barely sleep when you are away, I especially can't when you are mad at me!”

“I am not mad at you, I just don't understand.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You should be.”

You let the silence simmer. You knew he felt horrible, but you didn’t feel bad for him. He did what he did (or in this case, didn’t do), and he got himself into this mess. But, you knew what he was capable of, how quickly he could slip into old habits like a knit sweater on an autumn day. And you were too far away to insure that he didn’t hurt himself, so you did what any person who cared about him would do.

“I called Trixie. She called someone to come stay with you.”
“I’m fine.”
“Stop scratching your arm.”
“What?”
“Stop scratching. Don’t tell me you aren’t, because I know you are. You always start there when you are stressed or you think I am angry.” You planned to keep him on the phone until you got on the flight or you knew someone was there with him. L.A. was less than a 3 hour direct flight, but you’d land during rush hour, so it would take that much longer to get to his apartment downtown.

You heard the door bell in the background. “Go answer and put whoever it is on the phone.”
“Who are you my mother?” He spit out the words like the were made of acid. He was slipping faster than you had ever seen before.

“Listen, Brenda, I’m gonna need Brian right now. My sweet, beautiful, wonderful Brian whom I love very much.”

You heard him unlocking the door and someone greet him, “She wants to talk to you.”

“Uh, hello?”
“Willam? Oh thank god.”
“I was threatened within an inch of my life to get here, what the fuck? It’s 5 in the morning!”
“He’s not good. We got into a disagreement and he has been up at least 24 hours, maybe more. Willam, he gets ugly. Have you ever met Brenda?”
“What bitch?”
“Brenda. She’s the voice that tells him all the negative shit. Listen, I am getting on my flight in like ten minutes. He doesn’t know I am on my way, and I need you to get him back in bed until I get there. I swear to God Willam if I-“
“I got it, honestly, don’t worry. He’s just staring at me with no expression...what do I do?”
“Just give him back the phone.”

You waited a few seconds before speaking, “Brian? I know you can hear me. I am not mad at you, so don’t listen to her. Everything is going to be okay. Go take a nap and we will figure it out when you wake up. I love you.”

Instead of a reply, all you heard was dial tone.