GAME OVER

I think, finally, we have reached the End.

It's been a long night. For hour after deathly dragging hour, you have thrown your accusations and I have hurled mine back in retaliation: each of us vying to grab the upper hand and neither of us succeeding. Now, silence hangs cumbersomely in the air between you and me.

"It's late," you say, rubbing your eyes slowly and staring hollowly at me.

You're tired. I can see it, etched in the deepening lines on your face and weighing heavy on your aching shoulders. I'm tired too; so tired I can hardly hold my eyelids open any longer. An hour ago I wouldn't have admitted it, but now I can: the fight has left me at last.

"I know," I reply, surprised at how small my voice sounds. It wasn't small earlier tonight, when I roared so loudly by the window that a man walking his dog on the street below stopped and looked up in shock.

"Look, Em" you begin, suddenly vulnerable. I catch my breath at this unexpected tone in your voice. Something in my expression brings a tiny smile tugging at the uttermost corners of your mouth. I can't help it; I know I'm staring now and I hate that you can see it, but I wasn't expecting this. "You look so serious," you say, gently, but the amusement in your voice stings my soul.

"Don't laugh at me," I retort, a flicker of the former flame returning for a moment.

A heavy sigh escapes from your lips and the smile. "I'm not laughing at you." You take a step across the invisible No Man's Land between us, towards me. "I promise."

It's my turn to retreat. "I'm sorry, I know you're not. It's just that I'm tired and it's late."

"I know."

You smile at me. I hesitate, but submit. There's no point in fighting now. We've reached the end: Game Over.

Silence returns, but rather than oppressing the atmosphere, it warms the room somehow; making our surroundings feel more expansive yet lessening the distance that still remains between us.

So here we are: you and me, stood like ridiculous demobbed soldiers with nothing to do except remember the battle and figure out what on earth we're meant to do next.

"So what do we do?" I ask.
"I'm not entirely sure," you admit and I see us both visibly relax at the admission. "Any ideas?"

My mind's as blank as a whitewashed wall. I shrug and you laugh out loud. It surprises us both, I think.

"Well, whatever we do, we need to solve this before daylight, which is" you check your watch, "approximately an hour away."
"Really?"

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