Romantic Killer But I Made It Gay

Part 78

The seconds tick by, one after another.

Tick.

Tick.

Tick.

I feel like I'm going crazy. I send another glance toward my phone but it stays dark. Hasn't it been too long? One look at the clock tells me it's barely been an hour and I groan.
More importantly, what am I gonna say to her? Will she believe me if I tell her the truth? Who does she trust more: me or Mori?

A ring echoes through the house, making me jump to my feet. It takes me all of two seconds to register the ring as my doorbell and I rush downstairs, cracking open the door when I realize it might be a robber or something. My parents aren't home, so—

A sniffle makes me fling it open the whole way. Emi stands before me, panting while tears stream down her face. She smiles, but it quickly falls apart and she throws herself onto me, wrapping her arms around my back. Ever since I started getting bullied, I haven't liked close contact with people. It makes me feel unsafe, like they could wrap an arm and my neck at any second.

But as I feel Emi's tears soak into my shoulder and her sobs wreak both our bodies I shakily place a hand on her back. When she doesn't stop crying I give up and, taking a deep breath, wrap both my arms around her.

We stand like this for a few minutes until she starts breathing slowly and rhythmically. Then she lets go and I quickly do the same.

I shut the door behind her, and point upstairs to my room. "Do you want to talk up there? No one's home, but—"

"No!" she gasps out, genuine fear shining in her eyes. Then she shakes her head, running a hand through her short purple hair. "I'm r-really sorry. I shouldn't have jumped on you like that. I-I know you don't like close contact."

"I don't mind hugging a friend who's clearly going through something," I argue seriously. "And I'll do it again, if you want me to."

She shakes her head again. "N-No. I'm okay." She looks up at me and smiles sadly, tipping her head to the right. "I get it, now. He made you say that, didn't he? I'm sorry I didn't figure it out sooner. And you tried so hard! This is all my fault!" She breaks down again, trying to wipe away her free flowing tears.

I'm not really sure what happened, but I'm not about to force it from her. All I know for sure is: "It's not your fault, Emi. It's not."

She freezes, slowly looking up at me. "R-Really?"

"I should've told you about Mori. This is my fault."

"No!" she cries, sinking down on the first stair. "If anyone, it's most definitely not your fault. You were just scared..." she trails off, staring into empty space.

I walk over and sit next to her, not sure what exactly to do. I've never had someone come to me for help or advice; I'm usually the one needing help. So what do those people do when I need it?

"I think I know what happened, so can you just tell me if I'm right?" I ask gently, raising a hand to pat her on the shoulder but pulling back at the last second.

She blinks back to reality and gives me a shuddering nod. "Okay."

"Right." I take a deep breath, then start, "He tried to go too far with you, right?"

She nods.

"He said you did this to yourself, right?"

She nods, her tears thickening.

"He's completely wrong, right?"

"Eh?" She finally looks up at me in surprise.

"You're supposed to nod," I try to joke. When she doesn't seem to get it I drop my half smile. "That bastard. I—" a wave of ideas washes over me and I settle on the most logical one. "Gimme a sec. I need to make a call."

As I start up the stairs she scrambles to her feet, yelling in a panic, "Don't tell anyone! Promise you won't tell!"

"I'm not going to. I'm just going to tell the school he hurt you, that's it." I smile supportively and she sinks back down. "Okay?"

"Y-Yeah..." She doesn't seem very sure but I decide to do it anyway. I don't care if he was my ideal self. I don't care if he's my senior.

That asshole deserves to get pushed for what he did.