Bubble

Chapter 31

Emma could faintly hear someone calling her name. She attempted to open her eyes, but her lashes were seemed like they were glued together, and an aching head caused confusion to cloud her thoughts. A warm hand slid over her shoulder and lightly rocked Emma’s stiff body, the sound of soft whispers echoing in her ears. She pried her eyes open to take in her surroundings; she was curled up on a couch in a foreign house, and it was still dark outside. Delicious smells of cooking food filled her nose, along with the rhythmic sound of a popping frying pan.

Emma turned her head to find a blurry face hovering above her own, and as her eyes focused in, she recognized it as Will. “Hey E, wake up,” he was uttering softly, careful not to startle her.

“Will?” She sat up slowly, rubbing her head. He came up from his kneeling position and took a seat on the couch next to her, rubbing a hand in circles over her back.

“Hey. Ready to go?” Emma squinted at him, still trying to decipher why she was here- or where exactly here was- and what he was saying. Will must have noticed the look of bewilderment she was giving him, and he smiled sadly. “We have to be at the command center at five…”

       The events of the previous night came rushing back to her in a giant wave, and she wished she could have remained in her previous state of naiveness. Emma had come racing over to Will’s house like an emotional idiot, and fallen asleep. Her parents were probably worried sick, and when they found her they would kill both of them. But they couldn’t do that if she wasn’t there to save the world, because then they would all die. And it was also a Monday. What a great morning.

       “Shit!” Emma yelled and leapt off the couch, searching around the floor for her sandals. An eruption of chuckles made her stop and turn around to find Will trying- and failing- to hide his smile.

“What?” Emma asked, partially annoyed at his behavior in such a dire situation.

“It’s just, I’ve never heard you swear before.” He shook his head in amusement, and she scoffed.

       “Well, the circumstances kind of called for it! I have to get home!” Will’s laughter faded as he attempted to calm her down, placing his hands on her shoulders to try and get her to stop squirming about.

“Emma, relax. I already talked to your parents and let them know where you are. I told them I’d walk you to the command center, and we would meet them there.” Now she was truly baffled, and stared at him in shock.

“You talked to my parents?!”

       Will nodded slowly, and Emma clamped her hands over her mouth. They were really going to kill them. “Calm down, they were fine with it. Actually, you’re dad thanked me for keeping you safe,” he told her, but she was still frozen, her sandals hanging by their straps from her stiff arm. That definitely did not sound like her dad. But if they said it was fine...

As what Will was saying sunk in, she finally began to relax a tad, her rigid frame slumping slightly. “Come on, let’s eat before we go.” He wrapped his arm around Emma’s shoulders and guided her towards the kitchen, acting like he was dealing with glass and she could break if he made a wrong move.

       Emma let out a deep breath as she took a seat on a stool by the counter, flopping her head into her hands and inwardly scolding herself for not holding it together. Will pushed a plate of some sort of eggs towards her, and took a seat next to her with his own helping. They chewed in silence for a few moments, before Emma felt the seemingly ever present nagging of a lump in her throat.

       “I’m sorry. For everything. Coming over last night. I just- ”

“Don’t be sorry, Emma. There’s nothing to be sorry about, and you have every right to feel like that. No one should be put under this much pressure,” he tried to reassured her, turning on his seat to face her and looking deep into her eyes with his own electric blue ones. “No matter what comes through there today, we’ll be okay. If anyone can do this, it’s you.” She gave him a small smile, and he brought her into a tight embrace.

       He pulled back for a moment to look at her again. Emma could see the genuine expression on his face, and she swallowed the lump in her throat. “No one has ever said anything like that to me,” she admitted, thinking back to all of the hateful words people had spewed at her back in school. It was so surreal to have someone like Will suddenly walk into her life, and wipe away all the tears. He made everything okay.

Emma could see the hurt in his eyes, knowing he was angry about what had happened in her past. His square jaw was clenched, and he searched her face with glassy pupils. She had never seen him remotely close to tears before. In one swift motion, he closed the gap between them and brought his lips to hers, like he had done so many times before. But this time it was different, so full of emotion.

He gently pulled away after a few moments, caressing her hair and leaning his forehead against her own. “Never let anyone tell you otherwise,” he stated, referring back to their earlier conversation that had been nearly lost in her mind. Emma nodded her head, which was still cupped in his hands.

Will gave a small smile before standing up and extending his hand to her. “Let’s go save the world.” Even through the remaining tears in her vision, Emma gave a watery giggle, accepting his arm and allowing him to lead her out the front door into the still dark early morning. She rested her head on his shoulder as they walked, savoring the moment, and praying with every inch of her soul that it wouldn’t be their last together.