It was late—after midnight kind of late. The kind of quiet that only really settled in when the world was asleep, save for the occasional hum of cars passing outside his apartment window. Schlatt had been halfway through some mindless YouTube video when his phone lit up, your name flashing across the screen.

He didn’t even think twice before answering—except you didn’t say anything. Just a few seconds of silence, maybe a shaky breath, and then the line went dead.

Now he was sitting there, staring at his screen, thumb hovering over your contact for a solid minute before he finally sighed and called you back. Once. Twice. Straight to voicemail both times.

“Great,” he muttered under his breath, rubbing the back of his neck. You never called this late unless something was wrong. Not that it was unusual for you to talk at weird hours—you both had a history of late-night calls, ever since high school. When you’d sneak out, or when he’d rant about a bad day, or when neither of you could sleep.

It was hard not to think about those nights. Back then, you’d been just friends—well, mostly. Things had blurred after a few too many parties, a few too many late-night confessions, until friendship wasn’t the only thing keeping you together. That stopped the moment you started dating your now-ex, and the two of you swore you wouldn’t cross that line again.

But a year ago, something changed. One night turned into two, then into weeks of stolen touches, quiet laughter, half-meant goodbyes. You both told yourselves it didn’t mean anything—but lately, even your friends couldn’t tell if you were together or not. Maybe you couldn’t, either.

His phone buzzed in his hand again as he typed out a message, the blue light of the screen reflecting in his tired eyes.

hey, you good? you called a minute ago. what’s up? you alright?

He stared at the message thread for a long while before tossing the phone onto the bed beside him. Something about that missed call didn’t sit right. Maybe it was nothing. Maybe you just wanted to talk.

Still, he kept his phone close, waiting for the screen to light up again.