𝐻𝐸𝑅 // 𝐵𝐼𝐿𝐿𝐼𝐸 𝐸𝐼𝐿𝐼𝑆𝐻 𝐹𝐴𝑁𝐹𝐼𝐶𝑇𝐼𝑂𝑁

HER : 20

billie

i have plans with emery, only because i had the stupid idea of taking a trip to the zoo, but drew refused to go with me. the weather has started to get cold outside, and i love the cold which is why it's perfect.

i haven't been getting enough sleep for the past week. it's scary how something has shifted between emery and i, it's evident that it has. i just am not sure if it a good thing or not, i don't want to get my hopes high and then have them crushed when she figures out she's not ready.

i was just hoping that if i took her out in a non official date, that i could talk to her and know where her head is at. if she doesn't want to talk, then that's that. we won't talk, we'll just feed the giraffes and elephants.

"hi." she said stopping right in front of me, out of breath.

"hello." i smiled and greeted her with a hug. it was only intended to be a quick greeting, but she held onto me longer than i expected her to, at first it caught me off guard but then i held onto her even tighter and kissed the top of her head. "how are doing? is everything okay?" i asked her.

"i'm good, all okay." she assured me with a smile. "you know how my parents are like."

"yeah." i put my hand around her shoulders, "let's make you smile for real, what animal are you most excited to see?"

"sloths." she answered.

"really? sloths?" i was actually surprised to hear that.

"yeah, they're really cute and i've never seen one before." she defended.

"you've never seen a sloth before?" i'm even more surprised at that point. "let's go see sloths then."

"do you think that they'd let a sloth hang onto my arm?" she asked.

"i think i'd have to bribe them to do that, they'd look at how you can't hold your bag without your arm hurting and they'd be like 'no she's going to kill the poor thing.'" i teased.

"billie." she hit my arm lightly. "i'm serious."

"yes i'm sure they're going to let you do that emy." i smiled at how she reacted.

"i wonder if they'd be fluffy and soft or weird and tangly. also you have to take a picture or a video if i don't chicken out, okay?" she started getting even more excited. i was about to tell her that i won't let her chicken out when—

"oh my god! look at the monkeys!" she ran over to their huge habitat and started interacting with one of them. it's like her inner child is living her best life right now and i'm glad to be witnessing it.

"are you going to keep running away from me like that all day?" i caught up to her.

"only today i promise." she smirked.

emery seems to amaze me every single day with the least interactions i'd expect from her. i immediately started laughing and shook my head slightly as i did.

"look that one looks like you billie!" she pointed at a little monkey sitting on top of a tree.

"did you just say i look like a monkey?" my mouth fell open.

"no no!" she shook her head smiling as she realized what she had just said. "it just climbed up the tree after stealing the other monkeys' bananas, that's why." she reached out to grab my hand.

"that makes me feel a lot better." i let out a breathy laugh.

"why can't we feed them? they're constantly eating anyways." she frowned as she looked at the sign indicating that feeding the monkeys was forbidden.