Calamitous (Kaylor)

35

"Taylor?" Karlie called, knocking on the bedroom door. "Can I come in?" She waited a few seconds for an answer, but, hearing nothing, decided to slowly push the door open. There was no one inside. The detective looked to the window to see if it was open enough for the smaller girl to slip out of, but it was nearly closed. She circled the room, checking the closet and bathroom, before sitting on the bed, stumped. Where could she have gone?

Suddenly she remembered that there was another bedroom down the hall. Of course. She stood and headed back into the hall, walking quickly down to the other room. This time, when she knocked on the door, she got an answer.

"Go away!" Taylor's voice called through the door. Karlie flinched at the tone of it; her girlfriend was obviously very angry, but she also sounded as if she was about to cry.

"Taylor, please let me in?" Karlie asked, trying to keep her voice as soothing as possible. "We need to talk, and besides that, I really want you to come back to bed. I can't sleep without you."

"That sounds like a you problem," the voice snarled.

"Don't be like that, Taylor. Where's the sweet girl that I've come to know over the past few months?" Karlie said, inconspicuously trying to turn the knob. Unfortunately it was locked.

"I am not obligated to be sweet," Taylor said. "You can't pick and choose which parts of me you want, Karlie. I'm angry with you, and if you can't accept that and leave me alone like I told you to, I might as well leave."

"Don't!" Karlie said frantically, knocking on the door again. "I'm sorry, I swear I was just trying to help. I didn't want to get your hopes up if I couldn't find her, or if she refused to meet you."

"That's nice. Now go away."

"What more do you want from me?!" Karlie protested. "I'm sorry! There's nothing else I can say. I'll tell you the next time I learn something important about you, but there's not likely to be anything else since we found your mom! And by the way, the way you treated her? That was awful! She never gave up on you, never! You should have heard her talking about you -"

"Stop it, Karlie."

"No, listen! She loves you, Taylor. You were the light of her life. Sure, you've changed, and you'll have to explain what happened to you, but she'll still love you, no matter what. I'm sure of it." She expected to hear another angry order from her girlfriend, but what she heard instead made her heart break. Taylor had broken into sobs - loud, sorrowful wails that cut Karlie to the core. Shit.

"Please don't cry," she called. "Taylor, just open the door. Please?" But the blonde's cries didn't weaken, and Karlie realized that her girlfriend probably couldn't even hear her. Sighing, Karlie turned and slid down to the floor, resting her back against the door. "I'm here if you want me!" she shouted. The volume of the sobs did not change.

Karlie tried to make herself comfortable there for the next half hour, but eventually came to understand that it was futile. They had their attack planned for the next afternoon, and she desperately needed sleep. Taylor was showing no signs of slowing, and it was unlikely that they'd be able to make amends that night. So, unhappily, the detective got up and headed back to her room, stumbling slightly from exhaustion.

She collapsed on the bed and groaned when she automatically reached out to pull another body against hers, only to grasp at empty air. It was lonely for her to lie in the bed without her girlfriend. Karlie found herself missing the warmth of Taylor when they cuddled, the sound of her breathing, her delicate scent, the tickle of blonde hair against her nose...all of it.

Eventually, however, her exhaustion caught up to her and Karlie drifted into a restless sleep. At one point in the night, she thought she heard voices and the creak of a door opening, but figured it was part of her dreams, which were dark and full of cries of loss and abandonment. By the time morning came, Karlie felt like she hadn't slept at all.