Don't Stop The Music

[BONUS CHAPTER]: EZRA

Woah, bonus chapter? These are supposed to basically be little snapshots that tie in with the main plot but don't affect it directly, or just a way to write about some of the minor characters! 

Hope you enjoy reading~ 

- Missing You -

Exactly one day, nine hours and twenty-two minutes into half term, he cracked and called Caitlin.

"Hey," she murmured, when she picked up the phone. Her house always sounded quiet when he called, unlike his: his cousins were round, playing cards downstairs with Drake on loudly in the background. Normally he'd have joined in with their raucous chatter and laughter, but he felt weird and distant, so after greeting them as was customary he'd made a weak excuse about having homework to do and, with difficulty, made his way back to his room. "What's up?"

"Nothing much," he said. "I think all my cousins came round at the same time, completely unannounced, like always."

"Wow, all of them? Did they sign your cast?"

"No space," Ezra told her. "They signed a piece of paper and stuck it on the fridge, though, so they didn't miss out."

Caitlin laughed softly.

"What're you doing?" he asked her, like he always did. He liked envisioning her as he talked; it made her seem closer, somehow.

"Nothing much," she said. "I was reading for Classics, but I must have dozed off. You woke me up when you called."

He could see it now, her small frame curled up slightly on her double bed in the dim lamp-light, her elegant features lit up, soft and warm from the light. The book was open beside her, unread as she slept lightly, shallow, even breaths making her chest lift and fall gently, the movement detaching a lock of hair so it swung down, resting against her cheek.

His hand twitched slightly with the impulse to brush the hair away from her face, and then he remembered he was in his room and she was in hers, on her own, not with him. For a second it hurt. He missed her already. It was terrible; whenever he was away from her she was all he could think about. And when he was with her...well, it was pretty much the same.

"I miss you," he blurted out, his mouth mindlessly repeating his thoughts.

He could hear the smile in her voice. "It hasn't even been two days," she said.

"48 hours," he said, "that's a lot of hours. What have you been doing lately? Anything crazy?"

"I was gonna dig out the microphone and do some recording tomorrow," Caitlin said. "Esther sent me some sheet music the other day. Looks pretty good."

"Tomorrow? Can I come round?"

"You want to come round?" she repeated.

"I want to see you."

"If you want, sure. I mean, it'll just be you listening to me singing all day..."

Ezra grinned. "That's actually alright."

"You need a life, Ezra."

"I don't need a life. I've got you."

Caitlin laughed again, her voice low and breathless. "Alright, come over. Bring some lemonade with you, though. We're all out of lemonade."

Caitlin's mother knew Ezra well by now and waved at him cheerfully as he pushed open the gate to their house and manoeuvred himself and his crutches awkwardly through the small gap.