Delicate - Emily Blunt x Reader

12 - Jump Then Fall

"Every time you smile, I smile. And every time you shine, I shine for you."
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You spend the night on the living room couch. It's probably the worst sleep you've ever had. You're not sure if it's the spring digging into your back or the heavy feeling at the bottom of your stomach that keeps you awake, but you know for sure that you aren't getting more than twenty minutes of sleep tonight.

You can't stop thinking about Emily and can't help but blame yourself that, in the end, she found out.

But how heavy of a secret would it have been if she didn't find out, and you had to spend every day together with a piece of knowledge that would shatter her world if only she knew?

You're selfishly grateful that Emily found out on her own and you weren't the one that had to tell her.

You know you need to talk to someone, but who? Louis, while a good listener, is terrible about keeping his mouth shut about anything. Even when your fish died, he told half the staff.

The realization hits you that you don't have anyone else in your life. You ran from your life back home and haven't spoken to your old friends or family in years. You've been so focused on your work here that you haven't taken the time to meet new people.

Tonight was your first night out excluding mandatory cast parties and premieres since high school, but you'd never admit that to anyone.

What has your life come to? Is this how you want to keep living for the rest of it?

Knowing that sleep will probably never come tonight, you roll off of the couch and unfold the small treadmill in the corner of the room.

And you run. You run for hours, until the sun creeps up through the windows, signifying that you've made it another day.

You run until you can't feel your legs anymore. And you keep running until your lungs feel as though they've collapsed. And you keep running.

And running.

And running.

"Good morning," Louis enters the kitchen and throws open the refrigerator to grab the apple juice.

"Hey," you say between breaths, slowing down the treadmill to a quick walk.

"How long have you been doing that?" Louis says as if you couldn't pay him to run a few meters let alone the miles you've ran tonight.

You look down at the numbers on the screen of the treadmill, flashing red and only growing higher. "Four and a half hours."

"Okay, girl," Louis strides over to you and pulls the string to trigger the emergency stop. The conveyor belt comes to a halt. "Time to tell me what happened last night."

"Can't," you huff, holding your hands over your head.

"Yes, you can," Louis leans onto the side handle of the treadmill, resting his chin in his hands.

"No, Louis, I can't," you push past him, making sure your shoulder brush just enough to let him know that this is serious, and it's land he shouldn't dare to tread on.

"Well, will it be good or bad news if I told you that the director called everyone off today?" Louis smirks, throwing himself over the arm of a chair next to the couch and drinking right out of the container of apple juice.

"What?" You spin around.

"Some family emergency? We'll be back on tomorrow, but today is off," Louis explains.

A smile takes over your face before you can stop it. You feel guilty for smiling, like you shouldn't be allowed to for the next decade after the night you had yesterday.