The Hours We Have

chapter thirty-five

Somehow, we all ended up in my room. 

Maybe it was because I wouldn't let Julian leave my side, or perhaps it was when the rest of them realized I had battery-powered fairy lights that illuminated my room in a comforting hue of soft blue instead of the violent blue of lightning. I had left them tucked in my desk drawer from my younger teen years but when I remembered I had them, Julian helped me string them around my room. 

Roman had shown up first. He popped his head inside my room and when he realized we had some kind of light, he plopped himself on the bed and refused to leave. Julian and I were lounging in the middle of my bed with a mountain of pillows behind our heads. 

Mikeal had come to tell he had called the telephone company and they wouldn't have the problem fixed until the morning hours. Lightning had definitely fried some things. When he realized the three of us were just chilling, he settled in my chair at the desk. 

None of us really spoke. In a way, we were waiting for Ezra to show his face. 

Eventually, he did. 

"Are you guys having some girly sleepover or something?" Ezra muttered as he opened my door and paused in the threshold with folded arms. 

"You weren't invited," Roman shot back. 

"I invited myself," Ezra drawled and then he waltzed into my room, kicking my door closed with the heel of his foot. I watched as he took in my fairy lights and I waited for his snarky comment, but it never came. Instead, when he was close enough to the bed, he shoved Roman off, "Get out of my spot." 

Roman landed on the floor in a heap before his head shot up, eyes narrowing, "Hey, you big fat ass, I was occupying that spot!" 

"Not anymore." Ezra leaned back and folded his hands behind his head. My bed wasn't all that big, Julian and I were basically cuddling to stay on, and Ezra's head was almost resting on my right leg. I was tempted to kick him, for Roman's sake, but then decided not to. 

Roman stood up with an angry huff and then he left my room. 

"Now, look, you've finally pissed him off," Julian grumbled quietly. 

"He'll be back," Ezra had closed his eyes, relaxing completely in the gentle light that surrounded us, "He's too chicken to stay in the dark by himself." 

We had searched for flashlights but it came to our attention that we weren't really prepared for emergencies. Like, at all. One flashlight was beneath the sink but it was so old that Roman cracked it trying to turn it on. Another small flashlight was found in the coffee table holder but it had dead batteries and we didn't have a single battery in the house. Besides the television remote batteries that weren't the same size, and then my fairy lights--but that was after we had given up. 

Sure enough, Roman came back to my room. This time, his arms were loaded with blankets he had grabbed from his room. He dumped everything in heap beside my bed and then he began arranging it. He paused and looked up at me, "Can I have a pillow?" 

I grabbed the one behind my head and tossed it at him. 

"Thanks," Roman settled down with a content sigh. 

For a while, we just listened to each other breathe. The storm was finally relenting its wrath upon humanity and the thunder grew distant with every minute. I mean, it was about time because after we had eaten our ice cream in the kitchen, the hour had grown late. 

I glanced at my phone, it was almost two in the morning, and my battery was down to eight percent. I didn't really care. 

"Can I ask you guys something?" Mikeal broke the comfortable silence. Ezra grunted.