Rosie – Series 7.
She lay there, still. Frozen in time and space, with the exception of her stomach rising and falling allowing her to breathe. Her eyes wandered the darkness that existed around her. Pitch black. Not even the moonlight shimmered through the window. She listened tentatively to the ticking of the clock on the wall opposite her. She hadn't noticed how loud it was before. Clearly she'd got used to not having it there in the background. And in the distance she could hear the odd tree rustle in the cold breeze, delicately moving the leaves as if they were precious stones that should be kept from human touch.
That was all.
No cars, no aeroplanes over head, no voices on the streets.
Rosie hugged her hot water bottle tight, it was a surprisingly cold night for this time of year. But that wasn't really why she needed it. It reminded her of him. It was all she had of him at this moment in time. The closest thing to feeling his warm presence wrapped around her.
The clock continued to tick, regular beats like a heart. Pumping the blood around her body. That's what he did. He was the one who kept her going, made her get up in the morning, kept her alive.
I guess that's what love is, she thought to herself. A long burning fire. You just have to keep adding the wood to it to keep it going. And it won't fizzle out, even if it does it won't go completely. It's not like it's hard to add things back into it. Or was it? She couldn't do it now. Not at this moment in time. She longed to do so but she couldn't. He wasn't there.
She closed her eyes tight shut and continued to listen. Where was home? She thought it was here. With her dad, her family, in a place that taught her to love. But it still didn't quite feel like home anymore. Whether it was the fact that everything was different to before, people were only just getting back on their feet or that he wasn't there with her, she didn't know.
Was it the UK? Where she grew up, spent most of her life. Her history her blood. Where her other family was, were they family? All but her step-mother who was currently staying there didn't feel like family to her. To be honest she didn't care much for them. But maybe there was a reason Alice was there, obviously for her brother but did it mean that it was still home?
Rosie winced. It was clear. She would not feel as if she was home unless she was with him. The city she'd grown to love over the past few years, the people she was able to mix with, the culture, the vibe. Max. He made it home. When he'd return from work late at night, often in the early hours of the morning. That's when she was content. When he slipped under the covers beside her and wriggled over holding her close. That's when it felt like home. That's when she felt safe. When he was there.
She complained enough times about his overprotective nature. His caution, his questions. But right now that's what she missed most about him. How much he loved her. And how much she loved him.
Biting her lip she slowly opened her eyes. The moisture that had accumulated in her eyes had to be monetarily blinked away. Not that it did much good. Feelings were too strong to be wiped away that quickly. She allowed her hand to brush the bottoms of her eyelids before reaching out to her phone that lay on the cabinet beside the bed.
She snuggled back under the duvet and held the phone in her hand. She let out a small laugh thinking about how her life had changed since she left here. How once a simple phone merely capable of texting and calling others had no longer become suitable. IPhones were the way forward in the busy life she now led. Rosie gently pressed the unlock button and touched in the four digit number that meant so much to her. She swallowed the lump in her throat knowing how close that date was to the current time, and how likely it was that they would spend the day apart.
She gazed at the picture before her. The two people. Them. Him and her. She observed how happy they looked, in each other's company. His arms wrapped around her waist as she leant back into him. Their heads close, nothing could prise them apart. They were so in love.
She quickly turned the screen off again. It hurt too much to be reminded of what she missed. Of him.
Rosie pulled the hot water bottle back into her and curled up into a tighter ball.
"Soon Max", she whispered "soon."