a/n: a second chapter for one day. it's really short and i've had this one written for awhile, but i kind of love it. fluff warning!
-insert disclaimer of your choice here-
"The Long Day Is Over"
Norah Jones
Feeling tired
By the fire
The long day is over
The wind is gone
Asleep at dawn
The embers burn on
Don't you cry
The sun will rise
The long day is over
Thursday, eight o'clock on the dot. It's officially been a week since Alex left. Addison rushes to the phone and stares at it, willing it to ring. And it does. She picks up on the first ring. "Alex?"
"Hey, babe." She can hear the smile in his voice and she grins.
"I miss you," she tells him.
"I miss you too. It sucks without you."
"I know, same to you." They sit for a minute, just listening to the other's breathing. That's it, Addison decides. I'm done with the long distance thing. "I'm coming to Seattle," she announces as Alex announces that he's coming to L.A. She grins. He wants to see her just as badly as she wants to see him. "Not when I'm in Seattle, I hope."
"When can you come? Or when should I come?"
"I don't know. I'm crazy busy for another month. But if you could get down here, I could probably work around you."
"I can come in about three weeks. Does that work for you?"
"So you're coming?"
"I'm coming."
"Okay."
"You sound tired, you should get some sleep."
"I haven't been sleeping all that well. It's surprisingly hard to sleep when you're the only one in the bed and you have all the space you want." She and Alex are both very spread out sleepers, and they would continually kick each other or end up tangled up when they tried to share a bed. She never thought that she would miss someone unconsciously trying to kill her in the middle of the night, but she does. "And it's all weird and quiet. I miss you."
"I've got a plan, don't hang up the phone. Now get ready to go to sleep and get in bed." She obeys. "Good?"
"Yep."
"Okay, now talk to me."
They talk for another three hours. Addison slowly gets more and more tired and her answers get shorter and shorter. Finally she falls asleep to the sound of Alex talking softly.
"Addie?" he whispers into the phone. The sound of steady breathing reassures him that she's fallen asleep and he hangs up the phone.
0ooo0
Addison wakes up to the sound of the dial tone. She looks at the clock and it's five in the morning. She got seven hours of sound sleep, that's four hours more than she's been getting lately. She smiles, hangs up the phone, and goes back to sleep.
0ooo0
For the next three weeks, this becomes their routine. They talk until Addison falls asleep. Then and only then does Alex hang up. It's not perfect, it would be better if they were together, sprawled out in bed, punching and kicking each other in their sleep, waking up with bruises that weren't there the night before, but this works too. They make do.