A dialogue short story about the things we wake up to that remind us there are still things in this life worth waking up for. ante meridiem - [adv. & adj.] "before noon;" Abbr: A.M. Or a.m. [credit to owner of image (not me)]

There's a couple of lines I told myself I would never, ever cross. Little did I know that I would cross them all, all at the same time. I was happy with my life, I had a boyfriend who I loved and who loved me back. But maybe that's what was the problem, it was too easy. I wasn't fully living, I was just being happy with what I had, never wanting more, never reaching for more. But I realized that he was everything that I wanted, I became greedy. We became greedy. (Dan Smith fanfic.)

A short story that begins with a bike ride in the rain.

We find ourselves on the pages of a road trip movie and we’re the young couple falling in love.

“The last proper conversation he had was with me. And I just kept on calling him shit. Wouldn't that be a nice last thing to hear- your asshole best friend yelling at you because of something shitty that isn’t even worth remembering right now?”

The girl he's loved more than any other has died, leaving him with a confession he never got to deliver. But, thanks to a deal struck with a Pedlar in a graveyard, Colt now has three days to spend with Aquarius Joans, the girl who stole his heart.

The summer in which Nellie Dreher tries to draw the map to Indie Rao's heart. (cover by @GlamerousDolls)

'Lily.' A soft voice said from somewhere in the dark. My head was fuzzy and my body discontented from my brain. But the main thing was I felt no pain. I felt relief. I wasn't in the rubble anymore. I could hear beeps and distant voices. I knew I was safe in hospital. 'Lily, open your eyes.' I knew that voice. A happiness crept over me. 'Dan?' I tried to say but barely a sound left my dry mouth. 'Hey sleepy head.' It took far too much effort to do as I was told, but I eventually opened my eyes to see his beautiful face near mine. He was lying beside me in a hospital bed. The window behind him was dark. I wondered what time or what day it even was. I then noticed one of his hands was stroking my face and the other holding mine. 'You know how to scare me.' He laughed sourly. 'Sorry.' I whispered. 'De ja vu.' I told him. It was just like the time is woken up in hospital all those years ago with Dan beside me. I had so many questions but no brain capacity to ask just yet. I wanted to go back to sleep. And that's what I did.

'Lily?' He said quietly. I didn't respond. I hoped he thought I was sleeping. Even though I doubted I'd be getting much sleep. I had far too much on my mind to switch off. I was finding it so hard to concentrate on what I was supposed to be doing when I was so consumed with guilt. Every time he looked at me with those kind blue eyes, all I could think about was how much I must've hurt him. I had walked away without ever looking back, no explanation, nothing but a sorry note. How he could cope without wanting to kill me I'd never know. I guessed the kindest thing I could do was at least stop ignoring him and stop treating him like he'd done something wrong. 'Yeah?' I eventually replied. 'I...' He began. But a long silence hung in the air, as though he was thinking what to say next. 'Good night.' He said with a sigh. Whatever it was he was going to say, I doubted it had been just 'goodnight'. That had been my queue to speak up. But I couldn't. I was still too ashamed of what I'd done to face it.

'No.' I said bluntly and walked away. I'd tried my best to keep calm, but was now resorting to holding my bottom lip with my teeth to stop it trembling. I couldn't believe that out of all the bands in the world, I had been assigned this one. With him. What on earth was I supposed to do? I'd never dreamed of seeing him again, and definitely not at work. But hadn't I known he was in a band? Hadn't he been the one who'd planted the idea in my head to work with musicians? I felt incredibly stupid and embarrassed. I took myself off to the ladies toilets before heading back to the office, checking I was alone before shutting the cubicle door and letting out a silent scream. No one could ever find out that Dan and I were married.