𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫, 𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘀

𝟏𝟏𝟑

"𝙼𝚒𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝙸𝚖𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚜"
ᴀᴜᴛʜᴏʀ
𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘴' 𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵

EMILY WAKES UP and is confused as she does not hear an alarm. She peers over at the silent clock and sees that it is three in the morning. She goes to get her glass of water but finds it empty. She groggily gets out of bed and walks into the hallway, hearing music playing quietly.

Emily notices that a light is still on in Noah's room, assuming that she must have fallen asleep with it on. The mother slightly opens the cracked door and peers inside, seeing Noah fully awake at her desk with her headphones blaring the Vampire Weekend album.

She leans on the doorframe and watches her daughter write notes while reading something off of Emily's laptop. She always takes it to work with her, so Noah can only use it at night. The teen bobs her head to the music, but Emily can only think of how much she is ruining her ears.

"Noah?" Emily calls out, but the teen does not hear her, just as she expects. The mother walks up to the desk and puts her hand on Noah's shoulder, making the teen flinch and pull her headphones off.

"Oh my God, you scared the—" The teen pauses, showing that she was about to curse, which makes Emily softly giggle.

"What're you doing?" Emily asks as she crouches down beside the desk.

"Homework," Noah answers.

"It's three in the morning, bub."

"Really?" Noah asks as she looks over at the clock on her nightstand with slightly wide eyes.

"Go to bed, okay?" Emily pleads as she stands and kisses Noah's head. "You're lucky tomorrow's not a school day. You shouldn't be doing homework on a Friday night anyway."

"I just wanted to stay on top of it," Noah replies.

"I know," Emily coos. "I love you," She adds before hugging Noah's neck from behind, placing a last kiss on her temple.

"Love you too," Noah chimes and turns back to her work, knowing that she cannot stop. If she wants to impress Mr. Holden, she has to work harder than she ever has before.

—
𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕟𝕖𝕩𝕥 𝕞𝕠𝕣𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘

"Noah—" Emily stops in her tracks as she sees her daughter still in bed. "Hey, you're supposed to be up."

The mother stands with her hands on her hips, waiting for Noah to get up, but she does not move. Emily walks over to the bed and pulls the duvet back, revealing her sleeping daughter. She gently shakes Noah, getting her to shuffle around a bit.

"Baby, there's a case," Emily mutters. "I gotta go and I need you to come with me."

"Why do I have to come? Can Pen just come get me later?" Noah mumbles with closed eyes.

"I don't wanna make her do that," Emily says as she goes to Noah's closet and gets an outfit ready for her. "Plus, it's the afternoon, you need to be up anyways. I don't want you sleeping without anyone here."

"Ugh," Noah groans as her arms hang over the bed.

"Come on, sleepy," Emily warns her.

"Coming," Noah says as she stands, her pajamas hanging off of her figure. She walks to the bathroom, taking the clothes that Emily picked out with her.

The mother goes downstairs and quickly makes herself a coffee. She knows Noah must have gotten no sleep last night, but she has been cautious about leaving the teen home alone ever since Foyet. It does not seem like many places are safe anymore and Emily does not want their home to become one of them.