Pairing: Ex!Sylus x Non-MC Reader
Trope: Slight angst, no comfort
Playing: Promise - Laufey
Synopsis: Two months after your break-up with Sylus, you find yourself unable to sleep. Unfortunately, only one person is awake at that time of night.
Author's note: Did I think of this while listening to Laufey in the shower? Yes. Am I writing this at 10pm despite having work in the morning? Also yes. I'm writing it anyways.
You groaned as you rolled over to check the clock on your nightstand for the umpteenth time that night. 1:43 AM. Lovely. You had to be up for work in less than five hours, but it wasn't like you were trying to stay awake. You had tried every trick in the book. Melatonin, chamomile tea, Nyquil, even doomscrolling on your phone until you reached depths of the internet that you didn't even know existed. You didn't get so much as a yawn out of any of it.
You rolled onto your back, letting out a short huff. As if trying to fall asleep wasn't frustrating enough, there was very little you could do about it. If Nyquil couldn't knock you out, nothing could. You were halfway to accepting your sleepless fate when you glanced at your phone.
Chances were, none of your friends were awake. Everyone had jobs, or significant others - and you had learned your lesson about calling any of those friends in the middle of the night. There was, however, one person that was undoubtedly awake. You hadn't spoken in nearly two months, though. The chances of him picking up were slim to none.
Regardless of the tiny voice in your head screaming at you to stop, you picked up your phone and dialed his number before you could backtrack. It rang, and rang, and rang. Just as you thought. He had no reason to answer, really.
"Hello?" An all-too-familiar voice pulled you from your thoughts.
"Hi," you replied, suddenly regretting ever picking up your phone. Not only was this a horrible idea, but it was downright strange. Calling your ex-boyfriend in the middle of the night? Talk about seeming desperate.
"Hi," Sylus said. He said it slowly, like he was even contemplating ending the call before it had truly begun.
A beat of silence. Two. Three.
"Why did you call me?" He asked, his confusion evident in his tone.
You tried to think of an answer better than the one you had, but nothing came to mind. Maybe the Nyquil had kicked in. "I, um...I couldn't sleep."
"Ah."
"You're the only person I know who's awake at this time of night, so," you continued, as if it would make your reason for calling any more plausible.
Sylus chuckled quietly on the other side of the phone. "Suddenly my schedule is convenient for you."
You fell silent. He wasn't wrong. The main reason you had broken up was because of the difference in your schedules. When you were getting up for work, Sylus was going to bed. And when he was starting his day, you were ending yours. Between the way your work had piled up and the increase in his business trips, you were lucky to get half an hour together.
You had been able to deal with it, for a time. Eventually, though, reality had caught up. You couldn't maintain a relationship through scarcely answered texts and occasional phone calls. It had become more and more painful over the months, and eventually, you had reached a breaking point.
What made it worse was the fact that neither of you had truly wanted to end things. You had loved him - and still did, if you were being honest with yourself. Lying was more comfortable nowadays. The what-ifs haunted you like the ghost of a person you had wronged in a past life. But, there was no going back. And there was no future where your schedules would allow for what you wanted.
"Sylus," you said lowly, somewhere between a scold and a plea for him to not continue with that train of thought.
"I apologize. That was...uncalled for," he replied. Another beat of silence followed. Neither of you knew exactly what to say. "Why can't you sleep? Something on your mind?"
"No. I don't think so, at least. I've just been tossing and turning all night."
"Ah, so this is a last resort," he chuckled again. "Well, since I'm here, how can I help?"
"I don't know," you sighed, shifting in your bed to get more comfortable. "Just...tell me about work or something."
Sylus began talking about his most recent escapades. Auctions, meetings, trips - nothing out of the ordinary for him. It reminded you of the mornings he would bring breakfast to your apartment and vent about the incompetent men he had met with just hours before. The thought almost brought a smile to your face. Almost.
He had never missed a chance to go out of his way for you. He would bring you breakfast after a long night, have his chef make dinner for you while he drew you a bath, schedule a lunch delivery so that you wouldn't "forget" to eat again. And, in the end, it hadn't been enough.
As much as you had appreciated those things, they didn't compare to spending time with him. Your date nights had gradually disappeared, instead being replaced by your overtime or his urgent meetings. Seeing him became a rarity. You had both tried to make time, but there were only so many hours in a day. In the end, it had worn you down enough to make you do the unthinkable. Not only did you never see him, but you had lost him completely.
After several minutes of listening to him ramble on about his business dealings, a yawn escaped your lips. You had been so lost in your own thoughts and the familiar sound of his voice that you hadn't noticed your eyes growing heavy.
"Tired already?" Sylus asked, a note of a tease in his tone. "I didn't realize my work was so sleep-inducing."
"It's not, I just-" A yawn interrupted your words. "I think all the melatonin I took earlier is kicking in."
"Of course," he replied. He sounded like he knew exactly what you did - it wasn't the melatonin at all. "Well, I'll let you get some sleep then."
"Right."
You were both silent for a long moment. You unconsciously pressed the phone closer to your ear, as if it would keep the call going longer. It felt like the only string left connecting the two of you, and you found yourself reluctant to let it go. But holding onto a rope too tightly would only result in burning your hands.
"Thank you," you said quietly. "I know this was...unexpected. I appreciate you picking up."
He didn't respond for a few seconds. "Of course, sweetheart. It was good to hear your voice again."
There was a barely perceptible break in his voice. One you had learned how to notice a long time ago. You swallowed roughly, a lump forming in the back of your throat as you chewed on the inside of your cheek.
"Yours too."
Something deep in your chest clenched. A longing that you had desperately tried to bury under the lies that you told yourself. You had dated before, but those breakups had felt more like a relief than anything else. This was suffocating. All-consuming. Like a world without him simply didn't exist. But it did, and you had to live it. You didn't have a choice in that.
"Hey." His voice broke the silence that you had fallen into.
"Yeah?"
"Please don't call me again."
You had listened, it seemed. Your unique ringtone never played from his phone after that night, and the ring box in his nightstand remained untouched.
