Emily I'm Sorry; Yellowjackets

twenty-four.

(Emily, I'm Sorry)
ACT ONE—CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

2021

Emily slept unexpectedly peacefully, her chest rising and falling quietly. The only trace of all tears from the previous night were her puffy eyes.  Natalie was asleep beside her, the brunette's arm loosely slung around Emily's waist.

The blonde rubbed her eyes, waking up almost entirely confused. Emily's eyes flickered down to Natalie's arm, and around the room,  memories of her breakdown flooded into her mind.

She reached over to her phone, trying to check the time, but she found that the battery was dead.

"Fuck," she murmured, looking for any indication of the time. Emily gently slid Natalie's arm off of her, swinging her legs over to the edge of the bed.

Emily picked up the jeans she had been wearing the previous night and slid them back on. She had only briefly thought about trading the shirt Natalie had given her for her own...but Natalie's shirt was giving her some sort of security that she desperately needed.

"Paper, paper, paper," she whispered to herself quietly searching the area. Emily knew she couldn't leave without offering something that verified she was okay. Especially after everything that happened the previous night.

Emily scribbled down a short note on the back of a recite and stuck it under Natalie's phone. Her eyes rested on the gentle rise and fall of Natalie's breaths, a very minuscule smile tugged at her lips just before she turned on her heel to leave.

When Emily's phone finally came back to life after several minutes of being plugged in, she found several missed calls and messages from both Daisy and Aidan.

One of the first messages from Daisy read, 'Sorry, it just slipped'

Emily nervously bite her lip, scrolling to the next message that was from Aidan, she nearly rolled her eyes at a very stern, 'Call me.'

"What did that phone ever do to you?" A teasing voice taunted her. Emily looked up, and she smiled gently, "Hi, Ash."

"Seriously Em, you were that close to burning a hole into that screen with your stare," Ash claimed finally reaching the place where Emily stood, leaning against her car.

"Just Aidan, and Daisy, and life," Emily muttered opening her door back up and sitting back in the driver's seat.

"You always were one for the dramatics." Ash shook her head climbing into the passenger seat. Emily rolled her eyes, at the other woman's comment, she wasn't always dramatic. And she wasn't being dramatic about this, to Emily it felt like everything was crashing down around her.

"Can you give me a minute, I have to call Aidan?" Emily spoke, and Ash nodded but still couldn't help but comment, "You still talk to that asshole?"

"He's Daisy's Father, Ash." Emily glared, and Ash rose her hands in surrender. It almost felt normal between the two of them again...it almost felt like a car ride to the high school when they were teenagers.

Emily clicked on Aidan's contact, holding the phone up to her ear, he picked up almost immediately. In fact that might be the fastest he had answered since the early stages of their relationship.

"Emily, what the hell are you thinking?"

The blonde was almost taken back by the way he answered the phone, "Morning to you to, Aidan." she bite out.

"You're going to have your criminal of a sister sleep under the same roof as our daughter?"

Emily pressed her lips together, damn it, Daisy.

"She's my sister, Aidan. What was I supposed to do?" she bitterly questioned, shaking her head when Ash looked over at her.

"Look," Aidan sighed, "You may not want me involved in your life anymore, but she's still my daughter too."

"I never said she wasn't, asshole." Emily sighed, angrily running a hand through her hair, "Ash is my sister, it's not like she's going to hurt Daisy."

"What about you? She messes with your head, Em." Aidan noted, his voice softer than before. One thing about their relationship was that Aidan had always truly cared about her. No matter how hard it was to believe, the man had her best interest at heart.

"I'm a big girl, Aidan. I can take care of myself." Emily stated, trying her best to also convince herself.

Aidan cleared his throat, "Maybe, Daisy should spend some time with me...at least until you sort this shit out."

"Aidan." Emily sucked in a breath, "You can't just take my daughter from me."

"Isn't that what you've been trying to do to me?"

Emily shook her head, finally starting the car. She could feel Ash's eyes on her as she ended the call, "Look, I have to go. I'll call you later."

In frustration, Emily dropped her phone into the cup holder. Silence overtook the car, until Ash spoke up.

"I...I can try and figure something out." Ash started softly, "I don't want to disrupt things with your family."

Emily felt a twinge of guilt, Ash was her family too. The blonde shook her head but didn't dismiss her sister's words.

The phone buzzed from the cup holder, a message from Natalie lightning up the screen.

"Natalie?" Ash questioned, staring at her, "Don't tell me you're talking to that cheating little—"

"Ash just drop it," Emily spoke sternly, clenching her jaw.

"Oh my god," Ash breathed softly, "You still love her."

Emily didn't respond, she kept her stare on the road in front of her. The rest of the car ride passed in near silence.

Tension was incredibly high throughout the day, Emily and Ash were walking on eggshells around each other. The blonde was also avoiding any further conversation with Natalie about the previous night.

As for Daisy, she was well aware the second that Aidan got back in town she would basically be forced to leave her mother.

Emily was curled up on the couch — in Natalie's shirt — with a book when Taissa knocked on the door.

Daisy was the one to answer the door, Emily was close enough behind her to hear her greet the woman.

"Hi, Aunt Tai." She smiled softly, and Taissa returned the smile, gently hugging the teenager.

"Tai? Everything okay?" Emily's eyebrows furrowed in concern.

"I just—" Taissa's eyes darted back and forth between Emily and her daughter, she sighed quietly, "I just need my best friend."

A/N:

Fair warning this isn't edited!! Sorry it took so long for an update I'm on vacation:)

— Via <3