Borrowed Time

Chapter 113

The entire ride from the venue to Emma's was stoic and silent, with stress and anger rolling off of Esme in droves... Juliette watched as they smoked one cigarette quickly, and then another... and she didn't do anything to stop them, she couldn't... It wouldn't be fair. They had every right to be upset after what they'd seen, what had happened, and she didn't expect them to speak. They were still attentive, giving Juliette their jacket and the crook of their arm when they left the van and pulling the door open so that she could walk inside... and immediately feel a gripping panic at the noise, heat and people.

Esme cleared their throat, glancing around as they did... Why?

"Loud in here." Esme sighed, turning around to lead Juliette into a corner and block her off as they cupped their hands over her ears with a smile, leaning down to rest their foreheads together. Juliette instantly relaxed as she smiled, leaning in to press a kiss to Esme's lips... God, it was nice to be compressed by them, to be loved by them like this. Even if it was just for the split seconds that their lips were touching, Esme seemed to relax, but the cold tenseness was back when they separated, when they gently moved their hands away from her ears, watching her expression carefully... What were they watching for? A flinch?

God, they were so fucking attentive... Juliette honestly couldn't believe it half the time, she couldn't believe that she'd been lucky enough to end up with someone as caring and gentle as Esme... She didn't know what she'd done to deserve such a gift, such an honor.

"Thanks." She said, squeezing their bicep. They smiled and nodded, letting her off the wall as they linked their fingers together, seeming to stay ahead of Juliette, as though they were protecting her, guiding her... It was honestly kind of romantic that their first thought was to keep her safe... But why?

"So fucking packed in here, good god..." Esme mumbled, and Juliette looked at her, feeling even more worried as she reached up, stroking their cheek. Let me help, baby.

"You seem really on edge." She said, and Esme shrugged, drumming their fingers on their thigh.

"I'm okay." But Juliette didn't buy that... And she was worried about their sobriety, especially after what had happened at the last one of Emma's parties... Even though it hadn't happened, it had been the closest that Juliette had ever seen them to a relapse, and that was scary... She didn't want them to struggle.

"Are you..." She trailed off, swinging their hands between each other... Was she supposed to ask this? Was it bad to ask this? Esme's eyes were on her in a moment, deep and trusting... God, she wanted to spill anything she had left that Esme didn't know at that moment.

"Ask." Esme prompted, their voice gentle. Juliette nodded and cleared her throat... It was a good question, it was good to communicate and she knew that, she just didn't want to make assumptions on things that she did not know.

"Sobriety... Are we in a crisis point from the stress or are we okay?" Juliette asked, and Esme let out a shaky sigh and nodded, looking a bit unsure... Okay, fair. How do I help with that? It felt like a fair question, but she didn't know how to ask it.

"We should be okay, if I get the feeling that I want to relapse, we can go and sit in a room." Esme said, and Juliette nodded, squeezing their hand before bringing it to her lips to press a kiss to the back of it. I'll do whatever you need.

"Cool." She felt her phone buzz in her pocket and pulled it out, smiling down at Micheal's text... Huh, he never came to these... Oh. Right, he wasn't here for the party, he was here to help Honey and Tegan... That made sense. "Oh." She mumbled, and Esme gave her a worried look, squeezing their linked hands.