No Sound Without Silence

Chapter 5

Honk!

Her eyes snapped open as she yelped out in surprise. She felt sleep clouding her senses but she was awake now. Certainly awake.

She realized she was now sitting in her car. Apparently, she fell asleep and her head just had to fall on the horn. Her heart was beating so fast she just had to close her eyes and calm herself down before looking at her surroundings. Trees. She frowned. What the hell was she doing in the forest?

Of course.

She hadn't realized the time while she was trying to look for him. She must have fallen asleep because she remembered it was close to midnight when she decided to stop for a while. She wiped her eyes and quickly looked for her phone. Completely ignoring the long list of missed calls, she searched for his name and pressed call.

She waited.

She had never been so nervous and afraid over a single phone call. It felt like her heart would jump out of her chest. It was most probably the longest two minutes of her life before the line ended wih a beep. Her hopes were crushed. Tears stung her eyes and this time she didn't try to hide it because no one was around to witness her state. Because what if he was...

Ring! Ring!

She ignored it. The ringing ended but after a few seconds, her phone rang again. She sighed and pushed herself to pick up her phone. It was her mom. She ended the call and rested her head against the steering wheel. She had to calm herself down. She couldn't possibly appear like this in front of the townspeople, her eyes swollen and her cheeks wet with tears. Plus, she couldn't jump to conclusions. Not yet.

Her phone rang once more, signaling that she should be going. She revved the engine and reversed the car into the woods.

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When she opened the door to the loft, she found everyone, as in everyone, crowding inside. It sounded like there was a ruckus inside. She heard the noises when she was just climbing the stairs. But when she opened the door, everyone fell silent. Their wide eyes staring at her in surprise and all she could really do was also stare back in surprise.

"Emma!"

And before she knew it, she was almost tackled to the ground in a flurry of arms.

"Woah!"

She almost stumbled if it wasn't for Henry who also ran to her from behind. Her parents were hugging her from her shoulders while Henry was wrapped around her waist. Her heart felt like it was about to burst because this was too much. She looked around and saw the warm eyes of everyone looking at them with smiles on their faces. Too much. Never had she felt this like she belonged, like she was cared for, like she was loved this much. A small smile fell upon her lips because she knew that she was home. Finally.

As much as she wanted to stay in her loved ones' embrace, she couldn't because someone was missing and she couldn't just leave it that way. Tears were threatening to fall from her eyes. Because he promised, she thought. Everyone was here so might as well use this chance.

She pushed her parents gently giving them a small smile. "I'm fine, Mom, Dad." Both her parents grinned at those last two words. She turned to Henry and pressed a soft kiss to his forehead. "Don't worry, kid. I'm not going anywhere."

There was a glint in his eyes and a boyish grin on his face."I know, Mom."

Her heart ached because for a long time she was trying to find herself a place she can call home. And when it was finally in front of her, she had continued to push it away. She regretted it so much but what mattered was now. And now she needed to find him first. Her eyes returned to the people crowding their loft.