Someday ⚡ Draco Malfoy [4/4]

14

The next morning, Emma awoke in her own assigned bedroom -- after having slipped out of Draco's in the dead of night, in shock, as she had thought it was all just a dream -- and threw her arm over her eyes at the brightness of the sun shining through the curtains. It worsened her headache. There was thunder in her head along with the rhythm of knocks on the door, and the sound of paper or parchment being slid under the door, and then footfalls disappearing. 

Emma sat up quickly and staggered towards the door to pick up the letter that had been slipped under the door, presumably by Porky. She huffed once she realised whose handwriting it was on the front, where 'Emma' was scribbled in poor cursive. 

She wasn't in a hurry to open the letter, but she was in a hurry to get out and have some tea or coffee -- it had been a while since she'd had a hangover. 

'Emma,

I'm so sorry for the way that I acted last night. I don't know what came over me and I blame it on the whiskey, the stress of me losing my job, the stress of Mia's situation and what to do from here. 

I know I said some incredibly unforgivable things and I know it'll take a long time for you to forgive me. I didn't mean anything and I made Cicely up. 

I don't hate my life with you. My life is nothing if you aren't in it. I love you and Mia and if you're okay for me to, I'd like to come back and make it all up to you. I won't touch any alcohol from now on and I'll treat you right. I'm sorry, and tell Draco I'm sorry, too. 

Seriously think about this, Emma. You can't protect Mia on your own and you can't raise her on your own. She needs her father. 

Give her a kiss for me.

Love, Colton.

P.S the address of the motel I'm staying at is on the back. Please write me.'

Every word written made Emma's blood boil and the edges of the letter crinkled beneath her frustrated fingers; it took everything in her not to grip too hard. 

She looked over her shoulder at Mia sleeping in her cot. She was so out of it. Emma looked up at the clock above the bed -- it was almost seven in the morning. No wonder I feel this crap, she thought, but she headed out of the bedroom and in the direction of the bathroom, where she quickly showered in hot water. Emma did this every time she had a hangover; she didn't know whether it was the cure or not, but it was her cure... sort of... sometimes -- she tricked her brain into thinking so.

After her shower, she grabbed Colton's letter and headed to the kitchen where she slowed down. Sitting there at one of the stools with his back to her was Draco, and Emma had not expected to see him awake this early. She hoped not to; she just wanted to sit there with a cup of coffee and process last night's events and Colton's letter. 

Emma took a step back.

The floor creaked.

Emma winced inwardly as Draco quickly became alert and glanced over his shoulder at her, where she forced a smile at him and walked towards him. Draco didn't say anything and neither did Emma. What was there to even say?

Emma was too nervous to sit on a stool beside Draco, so instead she walked around the kitchen island so that she was standing opposite him with a bit of distance between them, and she pursed her lips, glancing down at the letter in her hands. Draco looking at her felt like a burning sensation on her skin, and she instantly worried about how bad she possibly looked. 

"What do you have there?" Draco asked quietly, nodding towards the letter. 

Emma held it out towards him and he took it just as Porky rounded the corner and beamed at the sight of Emma. 

"Coffee, Emma?" he asked, and it felt so forced. He had grown out of the habit of addressing her as Miss all the time. 

"Please," she said, and watched as Porky began to make a coffee before her attention was drawn to a loud scoff on the opposite side of her. 

"This all sounds like rubbish," said Draco. "Made Cicely up... huh he'll treat you right... needs her father -- since when? This is all--"

"I know," Emma said, before quietly thanking Porky as he handed her a mug of coffee and waiting until he was out of the kitchen before continuing. Not feeling nervous anymore, Emma walked around the kitchen island and took a seat next to Draco, who Emma could hear swallow harshly. "I know it's rubbish. He feels empty with me and he feels empty without me. He's just not used to being without me. He'll get the hang of it."

Draco's lips lifted slightly upwards at this though he tried to hide it. "Are you going to write him back?"

"Eventually. Once I know what to say," Emma responded, taking a sip of her coffee. 

"You left during the night," Draco stated. "Kind of hoped I'd wake up to you."

Emma felt her heartbeat pick up and she smiled warmly, saying, "Last time I slept in the same bed as you we were what -- fifteen, sixteen?"

Draco huffed with a small amused smile. "Yeah, it was right after..." he trailed off, his eyes distant and all amusement gone. 

Emma, realising what she'd done, felt like an idiot and squeezed her eyes shut tight and cringed. "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to--"

"You don't need to be sorry. It's been years since we lost her and I can tell you now, she'd be pissed if we never talked about her," Draco chuckled, and Emma breathed out, relieved. 

"Yeah, she would, wouldn't she?" Emma smiled, and the sound of soft footfalls approaching caught her attention. 

Porky had returned, holding what looked like a broken photo frame and glass. Frowning, Emma looked from the broken frame to Porky, and Draco stood up in a second, demanding to know what had happened. 

"Porky found--"

"First person, Porky, what have I told you?" Draco cut in. "You aren't an object, we're--"

"Equals, yes, Master-- Draco," Porky said quickly. "As...I was saying... I found a fallen frame from the wall downstairs, and it looks like there's been a disturbance, and I wondered, if through your beverages last night, one or both of you had gone downstairs and... bumped into things?"

Draco frowned and shared a look with Emma. 

"It could have been Colton," Emma suggested, biting her lip. "He was drunk and angry last night--"

"It wasn't," said Porky, shaking his head. "Porky... I... had heard his disturbances when they occurred and I made sure nothing had happened to the home or Mr Malfoy's belongings, as I do. It was not Colton."

"Emma, are you sure you didn't--"

"I didn't," Emma said quickly, standing up from her stool. "I haven't been downstairs in a while, I haven't even been out of this house and quite frankly it's driving me mad. Only thing I did through the night was... head for the kitchen for a drink of water and then I went to bed."

She had deliberately left out that she'd left Draco's bedroom and he caught onto this, nodding. Emma placed a hand on her heart racing at all the thoughts going through her head. 

"What are you thinking, Porky?" Draco asked seriously, a stern look on his face. 

"A break in, sir. Only nothing was stolen, only broken. Why on earth would someone break in just to break things?"

Draco and Emma shared another look, and both wondered the same thing: were these the same people after Mia?