The sun seared it's way through the dark curtains with a slant, squeezing itself through the tiny space between both curtains where it hadn't been brought together and the light seared across Anthony J. Crowley's eyes. He flinched away from the light attempting to open his eyes only for them to water fiercely at the sudden impact of life making it impossible to see when he rolled over facing the dimness of his room blinking. He sat up on his arm after a moment with the blankets shifting along his legs while his pants felt twisted like they'd been yanked on while he slept and it felt uncomfortable as his eyes settled on the clock. Six thirty A.M. He sighed rubbing his hands over his face vigorously while his toes pressed against the floor lightly before he pressed his feet firmly to the floor and standing up arching his back thrusting his chest up while he groaned at the pleasure swimming through him with the stretch of his sore muscles. He always slept in various, horrible positions often leaving him with aching muscles and stiff joints first thing in the morning so stretching was always like a welcoming relief to the sore stiff body of his.
He shuffled across his room yawning so hard he feared his jaw would pop while he scrubbed his hands over his face yet again opening his bedroom door stepping out into the living room of his flat. He shuffled across yawning for a second time making tears sting in his eyes from the intensity of it but made his way to the kitchen walking to the coffee pot frowning lightly to himself at the distinct lack of items. He rubbed the heel of his hand against his eye when a glint got his attention out of the corner of his eye which he turned too reaching out before thinking on it and brought it in front of him. His lips pressed together in a thin line when he stared at the spare key held tight in his fingers before he slammed it down on the counter putting a cup of coffee on, focusing his hands on the task rather than thing for somebody help him if he sat and thought. It was a typical Tuesday morning or it should have been to Crowley when the coffee pot gurgled fiercely with hisses as the coffee dropped to the bottom of the pot and he twisted walking out of the kitchen, narrowly missing a chair, and walked to the bathroom flicking the light on sliding his feet along the floor to the shower stall, opening the door and turning the shower on.
Walking out of the bathroom he returned to his bedroom yawning for a third time this morning and he scratched his head fiercely while he grabbed his clothes from the closet which consisted of a black shirt, dark tight jeans, a new pair of boxers and he was shutting the closet door with his clothes folded over his arm when his phone vibrated viciously on the night stand. It sounded like a bee growing angry the longer it buzzed and Crowley walked towards his phone tossing his clothes on the bed unplugging it and lifting it up only to groan rolling his eyes. Anathema Device, a friend of his, had texted him at least ten times in the past five minutes he woke and when he scrolled through the message he realized he was a touch dramatic. Eleven texts were from Anathema now when the phone vibrated in his hand and there was a few missed calls from his mother.
He pulled up Anathema's number while picking up his clothes sliding them over his arm walking out of the room when the other end picked up. "So, why are you spam texting me before my morning coffee and shower?" He questioned raising a brow even if she couldn't see it but he figured his tone implied just enough irritation that she'd hopefully apologize. But that would be expecting too much from Anathema who did what she wanted when she needed too and was pretty stubborn, irritatingly hard headed and stuck in an old ways personality.
"Oh, so you just woke up?" She questioned while he walked towards the bathroom with a humming note of interest leaving Anathema's throat on the other end of the line before she then shifted the phone. "Sorry bout that. Also I, er, heard the news. I'm sorry, Tone, he doesn't know what he walked out on. I'm sure he'll come back soon and apologize. You know how it is with him, he's constantly trying to prove he's bi or straight. I feel kind of bad about introducing you guys."
Crowley sighed heavily wondering why he hoped people would ignore his break up but it was clearly the topic of interest now among his small friend group. "It's fine, Anathema. I don't know if he'll come back this time though, it was pretty ugly between us. He came back last night when I was sleeping for his stuff and left the spare key behind."
"He couldn't wait to talk to you face to face?" Anathema's voice was scathing, fierce and disapproving when he popped his head in the kitchen to see the progress of the coffee before nodding in satisfaction seeing it was half way filled. "I'll talk to him, Crowley. Don't you worry that red head of yours! Oh! Did I tell you yet? Newt and I bought a place together and we're going to move in together which is pretty big, huh?"
"Oh? You're stilling seeing Newt?" Crowley asked curiously sandwiching the phone between his ear and shoulder placing his clothes on the sink counter then sticking his hand in the shower to check the temperature. Little longer, he noted before grabbing the phone with his hand again. "I thought you said your super far back great grandmother predicted you'd "come together with a stranger" or something like that. And then you imagined for years it'd be a tall, dark handsome stranger as cliche as that is."
Anathema clicked her tongue at him over the phone while shifting it again and now he could hear the faint murmur of the TV in the background now. "Whatever, Crowley. Be as sarcastic as you want that's not the whole point I'm calling you. Have you seen the news yet? At all? Hear anything last night?"
He scoffed adjusting his phone as well when he cocked a hip while crossing an arm over his chest with brow raised even if he knew she couldn't see him he felt a rush of irritation. "I told you I got up like ten minutes ago and you ask if I've partaken in the news yet? The answer would be no, Anathema. I just crawled out of my hole and I'd love to bathe if that's fine with you."
"Watch it." She warned when he heard her sit down over the line. "Dude, it's nuts but on the news the PHE are going crazy with warnings for this new kind of disease that's killing a lot of people. There's nothing else on the news BUT that disease bullshit and apparently they're trying to contain it near Cambridge now but it's not working or something like that 'cause people are going absolutely crazy."
Crowley shifted the phone again when he stuck his hand under the water sighing while hanging his head for a moment trying to think of a way to end the conversation without seeming too horribly rude. "I bet it's just measles or some shit. You know how the news blows up small outbreaks of contagious diseases so it's nothing, I'm betting you. Just stock up on some shit and hunker down til it passes and I'll do the same. If I'm going to do that I need to get in the shower, have my coffee and head to the store before people start flipping here and buy out stores."
"I'm just saying, Crowley, it's bad. I'd consider leaving near London, like Scotland or Ireland, out of England all together." Anathema advised when she shifted the phone clearing her throat. "Before I hang up I should tell you though that when I talked about Newt moving in together? I mean we're leaving." Crowley blinked feeling an icy pump of his heart with whispering anxiety in his chest.
"You mean you're leaving England? I thought you loved it here despite coming from the States?" He questioned shoving his pajama pants off kicking them off of his ankles when they pooled there and he unbuttoned his shirt quickly, swiftly, and he looked at the shower stall. Anathema, probably one of the closest friends of his, was leaving. And over a little hysteria? So he tried for a joking tone. "I didn't take you to be one to freak out over germs, Anathema."
She sighed like she was disappointed he wasn't taking what she was saying seriously even if he was most definitely doing just that and she shifted the phone. "Look, take your shower, drink your coffee and run to the store get as much crap as you can then I'll meet you at your flat, okay?" The dial tone rang in his ear then giving him no time to respond when he hung up his end before putting his phone down on the sink counter. He slid into the shower tilting his head back while soaking up the hot water that pelted his skin, slithered through his hair and he shut his eyes enjoying it for a few moments.
His mind quite quickly turned to the news Anathema was talking about and opened his eyes staring at the top of his shower fiercely when he picked up the shampoo scrubbing it into his hair. People flipped easily, people panicked easily and fear spread as fast as disease but Anathema? Anathema never gave in to those things, she never believed them and here she was telling him he should flee the country? That she was leaving too? What was so bad about this outbreak? He never panicked over these things for there was always something new popping up and with everyone freaking over climate change he knew that diseases would rear their little heads but they have vaccines for them now so why was the population just freaking? He scoffed wondering if He was freaking as well but then Crowley chased the thought away with the facts he knew and that was of course He would be freaking out for the blonde had always been prone to worrying. He'd worried about little things like this all the time and while Crowley shared similar anxieties he tried to stick to facts and what he knew well rather than nitpicking but the thought of the blonde out there panicking as well made his chest constrict.
Yes, they ended on bad terms two weeks ago but Crowley still cared. How could he not? Before they broke up Crowley thought they'd be forever, even if the mentality of that was silly for a twenty five year old man, he'd still thought it. He'd felt like a teenager in love for the first time in years and was hoping this relationship would be forever for they clicked in a way Crowley had never felt and it had been so perfect yet when the one year anniversary of their relationship hit it fell apart. They stopped being solid and started becoming those couples who break up, get back together, break up, back together,break up etc etc. It was due to something his father told the blonde which made him question everything and tried time and time again to prove he was not gay, that he was bi or straight to Crowley which lead to their breaking up so frequently but it would never work for they'd get back together. Sometimes for five months, some seven but then they'd break up for months before coming back together yet the relationship had Crowley going up and down like a yo-yo.
Sighing Crowley conditioned his hair, scrubbed his body fiercely leaving red marks on his skin the harder he scrubbed and from the heat of the water but that was the only way he felt clean first thing in the morning. Rinsing off his hair, his body, he stepped out grabbing a towel wrapping it around his hips then padded out into his flat to the kitchen and grabbing his black mug pouring his coffee in watching steam waft around due to the heat. He lifted it to his lips taking a scalding sip when he stared out the window, at the sky, at the ground of London's busy streets and no one was running, no one was panicking. So maybe Anathema was exaggerating? She's been known to do it unintentionally during moments of high stress but he couldn't help but doubt her words when he walked to the living room swooping the remote into his hand and flicking the TV on. He turned to the news sitting on his couch crossing his leg over his knee despite the fact of his dripping hair and stared at the screen feeling his brows pulling together at the shitty volume of the news anchor but it cleared in.
"...PHE has alerted residents across the city of Cambridge to get out and get out now! Cities,towns, villages have all been evacuated and all who are near Cambridge will be undergoing testing to make sure it is not spread. The containment of Cambridge is hard as the hysteria down there is awful! Officials are warning people to stock up on food, water and to hunker down in your homes! Do not leave unless absolutely necessary and do not let anyone in your home. The PHE is trying to find the cause but no one knows where it started or how it came to be but the PHE is warning residents to please stay safe and keep in mind of the symptoms. The early signs of this disease are pale skin, excessive sweating and bleeding of the mouth, eyes and various other areas where lesions form; there is often a high fever accompanied with this illness and results in death. It is extremely contagious and the PHE recommends covering your nose and mouth with masks if necessary when leaving your home and to be very careful when interacting with other residents and keep your eyes peeled! Be careful, be wary and hunker down while the PHE and officials attempt to contain the areas infected. Monday morning there was a few cases but nothing horrible, the PHE commented, but it has quickly been updated to an epidemic and the death toll is going up. We will keep you all up to date and for now please use caution and be safe!"
Crowley had stood since the ending of the news anchors ending line with the coffee mug shaking in his hand threatening to slosh burning liquid on the back of his hand when he took a sip deciding if now was the time to hit the store it was now. If this disease was an epidemic he'd have to head out now and get as much as he can that the Bentley could hold which was a lot but he'd need to go right now. He rubbed his red skin fiercely while struggling into his boxers, tight jeans and shirt while toweling his hair quickly then shoving his feet into his boots, grabbed his coat and keys leaving his coffee on the coffee table and with his phone in pocket fled his flat. He wasn't scared just worried and if he was to hunker down then he needed to hall ass right now and get his shit in line before Anathema called. He ran down the halls, down the stairs quickly and rushed to his perfect beautifully glossy Bentley and threw himself inside making a mental list of things he needed to do and things he absolutely needed. This was going to blow over, he tried to believe that, but an epidemic was the least of his worries. What his main worry, right this second and moment in time, was that this would turn pandemic.
"Crowley! Thank God, where the hell have you been?" Those were the first words that left Anathema Device's lips when Crowley walked through the door of his flat with many bags dangling from his fingers and cutting into his forearms painfully. He had more loads to bring up but his body was aching from the amount of shopping he had done and he groaned in response shuffling to the kitchen placing the bags down clearing his throat before he spoke.
"I have more in the Bentley, I'm stocking up." He replied looking at the woman before him taking in the way her dark eyes burned into him but held a layer of panic in them that he took a deep breath at. "Want to help me? If you grab the rest then that'll be it and I can lock the Bentley up. We can take the lift down and up but we have to be fast for I think the rush hour is going to start with those people and they're going to to really be buying out stores. It was practically a frenzy at the stores anyhow."
"Believe me I know." Anathema followed him out of the flat to the lift which dinged quietly letting them step in and she looked at Crowley. "It's serious, huh? Do you think it's going to spread? I mean, they're still trying to contain Cambridge but I just have this horrible gut feeling it's already spread out of Cambridge." She whispered that part when she looked at her feet and Crowley felt his own stomach drop at the thought.
"Don't worry, Anathema. I'll be okay here, believe me, I ain't dying anytime soon and I'm not going to be sick either. I have years worth of shit now when you add to the stuff I already own so I'll just hunker down here until this blows over like I know it will." He jingled his car keys anxiously in his pocket staring at his and Anathema's reflections when he forced a smile. "Don't look do scared. It'll blow over, I know it will. They've had epidemics before and they're probably working on a vaccine right now as we speak so this'll end in a week or two don't you think? And then you'll feel silly for having run out of England with your tail between your legs with your boy-toy."
"I don't think it will, Crowley." The words whispered in the lift made his heart go cold and pump jets of ice through his veins when Anathema grabbed his forearm tightly. "They don't even know what it is yet so how will they make a vaccine? How do you make a cure for something when you have no clue what created the disease to begin with? I really want you to come with us, Crowley. I don't want to leave you behind, not with this epidemic that's running circles around us all and it's going to spread. Please, Crowley, please come with us. It'll be safer in Scotland or Ireland, maybe even Wales! Just come with us, please!"
He looked down at her pleading face, her slender brows brought together so tight it created wrinkles across the bridge of her nose and her forehead while her dark eyes pleaded with him. She looked close to crying even in that second when he patted her hand looking right into those dark eyes of hers before calmly speaking as the lift stopped smoothly. "I. .Okay. You have to trust me, Anathema, you do. Have faith that if for some reason this spreads more than we think and it seems bleak I want you to believe that I will find a way to meet up with you again and you'll see I'm okay. But I truly, deeply, and firmly believe it won't become as bad as they're making it. It's been a single day, Anathema. It can't spread that fast in a single night!"
She stared when tears welled in her eyes taking the red head aback with surprise snaking through him when the lift doors opened for them to step out and she squeezed his arm so tightly he nearly winced. Anathema wasn't strong but her grip wasn't pleasant either. "Please, Crowley. Please come with us." She whimpered the words out staring at the red head so fiercely he nearly gave in when he walked forward taking her with him.
"It'll be okay, Anathema, but I'm not running. I'll be perfectly fine, you'll see." He replied firmly when he walked to the Bentley where the lights blinked a few times like it was welcoming him back when he began unloading bags upon bags of canned foods, of powdered milks and rations that he'd grabbed fast as lightening and large packs of water ranging to gallons. In the back of the Bentley, just to cover his basis in case he did have to leave London he'd purchased about six portable petrol containers and filled them full of petrol and placed them in the trunk of his Bentley in case of an emergency he wouldn't have to stop at any stations. "Now look at all this, do I really look like I won't manage?"
She hesitated looking at all the bags and items then flicking her eyes up to meet Crowley's proud ones when she wrung her hands together for a moment before sucking it all up. He could physically see her back straightening, her shoulders going tight and walking forward picking up as many bags as she possibly could like him while he locked the doors and she took a deep breath. "Fine. You're prepared but I'm still leaving. You have to call me every single day, every three hours if need be, cause I want to know you're alright. Deal?"
He smiled knowing that if he could do anything to put her at ease then this would be thing to do so and he picked up his own bags, made sure the doors were locked once more before shutting the door with his hip. The lights went off when they waddled to the lift with the bags weighing them down but when they got there, stepped in, Crowley put his bags down wiggling his wrists and flexing his fingers. "It's a deal. But don't look so scared, I'm a big boy, I can handle myself when you leave." He then felt his phone vibrate in his pocket which he took out looking at the caller I.D then answered. "Hey, Mum! How are you?"
"What's she saying?" Anathema whispered looking at him when he held a hand up brows creasing together for a moment looking troubled. Then it smoothed out to a blank mask she knew all to well for it was the same look he'd had when he'd gone through the first round of breakups and hadn't wanted to seem pained by it.
"I know, Mum, I watched the news. I just locked my car and I have enough petrol containers in there that if I have too I won't have to stop at any stations but I'll still be smart with it. Yes, Mum, I'll be safe. I just went shopping so I'll be prepared to hunker down until this blows over, don't worry so much about me, I have Anathema foaming at the mouth with worry." She glared and he smirked at her while the lift continued upwards. "I'll stay safe, Mum, and I want you to be safe too. Tell Dad to please not do anything stupid, you and I both know how he is when it comes to these situations, you know? I'll be safe too, Mum, so don't you even begin babbling to me about that, not to be mean or anything. But I- yes, Mum, I will it- Yes, Mum. Yes, Mum, I'll make sure. Love you too, Mum, talk to you later."
"Ooooh, did Mummy dearest catch your ass?" Anathema questioned when Crowley rolled his eyes shoving his phone in his pocket picking up his grocery bags which dug into his arms like greedy leeches trying to dig into his skin. "If your Mum told you to leave you'd do it in a heartbeat." That was mumbled under her breath making him scowl at her when the door slid open and they waddled out where he managed to get the door open and they shuffled in placing his bags with the others already resting in the kitchen while Anathema walked back to shut the door.
"I will be fine, sweet baby fucking Jesus, why don't you listen? I'll be okay! Mum believes I'll be fine and they're hunkering down too, they're not running." He pointed out in scathing tones when Anathema's phone chirped gently in her pocket with a muffled quality. "Just believe me, Anathema, for once in our friendship and I feel if I have to say it one more time I'll go fucking nuts. I'll be okay. I'll call you every day, every three hours if need be, but don't chew my ass out if I forget to call every three hours on the dot."
A lock of her dark hair fell in her face which she blew away checking her phone then looked at Crowley like she was thinking of pleading with him again before sighing out like she also knew it wouldn't do anything. "Fine. Be sure to call me, okay?" She stepped forward pecking his cheek quickly. "My flight is in thirty minutes which means I have to get going. Don't forget to call me!"
"I won't." He replied through a suddenly dry mouth that hurt to swallow when she pulled away rushing to his flat's door making him wonder why she came by if she had a flight so goddamn soon when it speared him in the chest when the door shut behind her. She was saying goodbye. Fuck, how stupid was he?! He sighed looking at his bags upon bags he'd have to unpack and he moved his hands through his hair before rubbing his eyes fiercely knowing this day would go by sluggishly but at least he now had something to do. He wanted something to focus on, something to do with his hands, and he'd gotten his wish so why did he feel so horribly cold to his core over this? The sense of dread hung in the air so thickly it was hard to breathe but he had that horrible feeling that no matter what he told Anathema about this epidemic being fixed in the upcoming weeks he just knew it would be worse. This was only day one of the beginning.