Cigarettes and Hickies [n.h]

vingt-deux

The air was thick with fog, curling desperately around buildings screaming to be let in. The clouds hung low over the Winter sky bearing the season's harshness upon the people of London and offering them its merciless gift of coldness. The type that stung your sole and ached your bones to the core. Yet, among the sharp iciness looming in the air, there was the girl with silvery-blue hair that sat on the roof -right on edge- completely unfazed by nature's strict offerings as the thoughts in her head were far more threatening. 

A rolled-up joint hung in between her fingers, the drug hazing her world around her and making unseeable things appear in her surroundings, intensifying the feeble fear in the pit of her stomach about the words she was to mutter to the boy that was clouding her mind so forcefully that it was consuming in the very blood that was pumping in her veins. The coldness pierced her skin, but the girl didn't even wrap her cardigan tighter around herself in hope of trying to conceal the warmth and prevent it from escaping; instead, a small burst of laughter left her lips as she stared at the grey clouds and imagined the setting of a Harry Potter movie unfolding around her. It reminded her of when Voldemort was coming, and that thought alone amused her so much, as it was a hallucination that she enjoyed greatly. 

After a moment, her blue hues finally landed on the phone that was resting beside her and her hand reached out for it, her fingers unlocking the screen automatically and pressing on Niall's name -the number dialling quickly- as soft beeping sounds spilled into the atmosphere. There was a small fluttering in her chest as her heart rate increased, and her hands were trembling as her body finally noticed the severe frost in the air that was starting to sting her skin. 

The beeping then stopped as a voice suddenly reached her ear drums and Ocean blinked trying to stay focused. 

"Did I wake you?" She asked as the popstar stiffled a yawn on the other end.

"Ocean?" Her assumptions were confirmed as his voice was thick with sleep, but the tone made a tingling feeling in her stomach from hearing it vibrate so close to her ear. 

"The one and only," She laughed, tucking a hand under her leg to keep it warm, as her legs draped over the edge of the roof tapping lightly against the wall beneath her. 

There was a silence as both parties tried to adjust to the situation. Ocean, on one hand, trying hard to stay focused even though the moon, which her eyes were resting on, was morphing into a face that was now winking at her. Niall, on the other hand, trying to keep his cool even though her voice was making it hard for him to do so. He didn't want to be played, yet he couldn't understand why she was calling him if she was apparently happy with Jasper. 

"It's beautiful, isn't it? The moon." Her words finally broke the ice as she felt like sharing the wonders of the orb of night to him; unsure about why she was finding it hard to speak to him even though she was high and the situation was supposed to be easier.

"Divine." Niall smiled at her love of quotes, and replied with one of his own. "Are you high?" 

A giggle left her chapped lips as Ocean began nodding; when the action being unseen by Niall finally reached her brain, the girl muttered a casual yes. 

Niall's eyes squinted down at the light on his phone as he checked the time and saw that it was 3 in the morning. "Why do ya only call me when you're high?"

"I think I can see Superman-"

"Answer me Ocean," He said sternly and repeated his question, "why do ya only ever call me when you're high?"

There was a sigh, and Ocean rolled her eyes before deciding to actually grant him with an answer. "Because I am incapable of calling you, without being so."