4:37 AM

Mike had been woken at precisely 4:37 in the morning by the doorbell. Who in the world would come visit him this early? he asked himself as he blinked his eyes, trying to wake himself up properly. He groaned as he hauled himself out of bed, telling Brittney to go back to sleep as he kissed her forehead.

The one time Brixton hadn’t woken them up in the middle of the night, someone just had to go and ring the doorbell.

Mike clumsily pulled on some pyjama pants over his boxers and went to answer the door.

“Billie?” he asked when he saw his friend standing there. “What...what are you doing here?” Mike stared at him. Billie looked like he had crawled through a forest or something to get to Mike’s house.

“Can I c’min?” Billie asked without looking at him.

“Sure.” Mike moved to the right to let Billie in. Once the shorter man was inside, Mike closed the door. He sniffed. “Are you drunk?”

“No...maybe. I don’t know,” Billie said miserably.

Mike sighed. “Come on,” he said as he led Billie into the kitchen. “Let’s get you some coffee,” he suggested, coffee being Mike’s solution to everything.

As Mike boiled the kettle, Billie sat at the kitchen bench, staring at his hands lying on the shiny surface.

Mike placed a steaming mug in front of his best friend. “You gonna tell me what’s wrong, or are we just gonna sit here all night? Or morning, either way.”

Billie didn’t reply.

Mike sighed. “Bill, talk to me. You just woke me up from the first night of proper sleep I’ve had in a long time. What’s wrong?”

Again, Billie didn’t reply.

“Will you at least tell me how you got here?”

In a room somewhere else in the house, Brixton began to cry. Soon after, Brittney shuffled into the kitchen in her dressing-gown. “Oh, hi Billie,” she said, making her way to the fridge. When Billie continued his muteness, she raised an eyebrow at Mike, who shrugged in reply.

“Just getting Brixton a bottle,” she said. Once she had done so, she stood up on her toes to kiss Mike’s cheek.

“Do you need any help?” he asked.

“No, I should be fine.” She smiled tiredly and went off to feed the baby.

“Me and Adie had a fight.”

“Bill–”

“Worse than usual. She said that she didn’t want me to go on tour for so long and all this stuff that I know is true and...Just...fuck, I dunno. She’s been keeping it all in. For ages. But, but she said that...” He had to stop. He didn’t want Mike to see him crying, so he put his arms on the bench and hid his face in them. In the process of doing so, he spilt his drink all over the bench and himself.

Mike dashed to the sink to get a cloth and proceeded to clean the polished wooden surface.

“She said that I care more about the music than I do her and the kids,” Billie mumbled into his arms. “It’s not true. It’s not true. It’s not,” he repeated, sounding almost like he was trying to convince himself. “We did spend a lot more time in the studio than usual, but...this album is different. I had to get it out of me. I had to. I thought she’d understand that.”

When Mike had finished wiping the bench, he put a hand on Billie’s shoulder. “Billie, it’ll be okay.”

“But what if it won’t?” Billie pulled his tear-sodden face up from his arms. “If I lose her, I don’t know what I’ll do. She’s my whole life, Mike.” He grabbed a fistful of Mike's t-shirt.

“I know, Billie. I know.” Mike smiled gently as he prised his top out of Billie’s hand. “Why don’t we get you cleaned up? Go have a shower; you can borrow some of my clothes.”

Billie looked down at himself, seemingly only just noticing the dirt and coffee stains on his clothes. “Where did the dirt come from?” he asked himself out loud.

Mike went off to his room to get Billie some clothes to change into as Billie walked to the bathroom, leaving drops of coffee on the cream-coloured carpet.

“They might be a bit big,” Mike grinned as he handed Billie a shirt and pants. Billie took them soundlessly.

“Okay, well you can use that towel to dry yourself with once you’re done.”

Billie nodded.

Mike sighed quietly. “Okay, I’ll leave you to it, then.”As he walked out, he closed the door behind him. He paused in the silent hallway hoping that, for Billie’s sake, everything would be alright with Adie. He shook his head – of course they would be fine. This was Billie and Adie he was talking about.

Mike went to see where Brittney was – he had a sudden longing to see her. He found her in their son’s room, sitting on a chair next to Brixton’s cot, singing softly to him. It was a slow song; Mike thought it might have been by Coldplay, or at least band similar to them.

He leant on the door-jam and looked at his family, an indescribable happiness rising in his chest. Brittney finished singing and noticed Mike in the doorway. “He’s asleep,” she whispered. She got up from the chair quietly and walked over to put her arms around the waist of her partner.

Mike kissed the top of her head, then they walked out into the kitchen where they could talk without waking their son.

“Is Billie alright?” Brittney asked.

“Yeah, he’ll be alright. He and Adie had a fight.”

“Oh.”

They sat in comfortable silence for a long while. The silence was only broken by Brittney yawning.

Mike took her hand. “Go back to bed, Brit.”

“No, I’m alright. I’ll stay up with you.”

“But you’re tired.”

“So are you.” She smiled. “I’m fine, honestly.”

“If you say so.” Mike frowned as he looked at the time on the microwave. “How long have we been sitting out here?”

Brittney thought for a moment. “Quarter of an hour, twenty minutes?”

“Geez, Billie’s been in the shower for that long.” Mike stood up. “I’m going to go check on him.” He stood up abruptly and hurried to the bathroom door, telling himself he had nothing to worry about. When he arrived he knocked on the door rapidly. “Billie? Are you right?”

There was no sound from the room beyond, other than the sound of the water.

“Billie?”

Mike bit his lip.

Brittney appeared at Mike’s side. “Is he okay?”

“I dunno, he’s not replying...Billie?”

“Billie, I’m going to come in, alright?” Brittney said kindly. She glanced at Mike uncertainly before opening the door.

At first, Mike couldn’t see Billie at all, and he began to panic. Then he saw Billie was just sitting down in the shower, letting the water fall onto his head.

“Billie, come on. Stand up,” Brittney said gently as she turned off the water. He did as he was told, and she pulled him out of the shower and into the middle of the bathroom. She took a towel off the rack and put it around his shoulders. “Now, you’re going to dry yourself, alright?”

Billie nodded. “Okay.”

“Alright.” She smiled. “Me and Mike will be in the lounge when you’re ready, okay?”

“Okay,” he said again, nodding.

Not long after, Billie was lying on a couch and Mike was talking about anything and everything to try and get a response out of his friend. Billie was preoccupied with thoughts of Adie to give replies more than one word long.

* * *

At quarter past seven the same morning, the telephone rang, waking Mike up from his half-sleep. Brittney, who had been dozing next to him, got up to answer it. He couldn’t remember why he wasn’t in his bed at first, but when he saw Billie, still wide-eyed, on the couch, it all came back to him.

“Yes, he’s here,” Brittney said into the phone in the kitchen. “He’s fine.” She paused to listen. “It’s alright, don’t worry about it.”

Billie sat up on the couch as Brittney came into the room holding the phone.

“I’ll put him on for you.”

Billie practically snatched the phone from her hands in his haste to speak to his wife. “Thanks,” he said quickly before shoving the phone to his ear. “80, I’m sorry.”

His knuckles were white from gripping the phone. “I love you too, baby.” He paused to listen to Adie speak. “Okay.” Another pause. “I’ll see you in a bit...okay. G’bye. I love you.”He hung up reluctantly.

“Everything alright?”Mike asked.

“Everything’s alright,’ Billie confirmed. He smiled, and began to laugh. Mike joined in, relieved that his friend was alright.

“Sorry for uh, coming here so early.”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s what friends are for.”

Billie smiled at them. “Well, I better get home.” He clapped his hands against his legs once and stood up, completely losing the lost-puppy look that had been on his face ever since he arrived at the Pritchards’ house.

“How? Your car’s not here.”

“Oh yeah...” Billie scratched his chin, looking dwarfed in Mike’s clothes.

“How in the wo-orld did you get here any-anyway?” Brittney asked, yawning.

“Go to sleep,” Mike urged her.

“I’m fine,” she said and yawned again.

Billie thought for a few moments. “I can’t...remember...I’ll call a taxi.”

“I can drive you if you want,” Mike offered, even though he didn’t really want to drive to Billie’s house right now. It was close, but he was too tired.

“No, no, it’s alright. You guys should probably sleep.”

“Do you have enough money?”

Billie gave a short burst of laughter. “Mike, you know who I am, right?”

“Could have just said yes,” Mike laughed.

“Could’ve,” Billie grinned back at his friend. “Maybe I’ll catch the bus or something, I haven’t done that in so long...” He walked to the front door with Mike, Brittney stayed sitting on a chair in the lounge, trying to stay awake. “Thanks, Mike,” Billie said as he pulled the taller man into a quick hug.

“Don’t mention it. Although I want my clothes back,” he said as he watched Billie struggle to keep his pants from slipping off his slim frame.

“You got it.” Billie winked.

Mike laughed. “See ya,” he said as he opened the door.

“See ya.”

Billie gave a short wave as he headed down the drive way. “Get some sleep!” he shouted.

“You too!” Mike shouted back. Once Billie had disappeared in his search for a bus, Mike realised how tired he really was. He went back into the lounge where Brittney was slumped in a chair, half asleep.

“Come on,” he said as he offered her his hand.

She took it and got to her feet. “Alright.”

The couple had just reached their bedroom door, when Brixton began to cry.

Mike and Brittney groaned simultaneously.