Darkened Hearts

19 || Here to help



I groggily wake up and the first thing I notice is Niko's arms wrapped around me.

When I open my eyes, I can see the light seeping through the curtains.

I look over to Niko and see that he's wide awake.

"What time is it?"  I ask him.

"Like 1pm or something." He states.

"Why didn't you wake me up?"

"You looked so peaceful and I figured you could use the rest, especially after your nightmare last night."

Right, I forgot about that. If it was with anyone else I would have probably felt so embarrassed but he made me feel so safe and comforted.

Niko swivels his head to check the clock. "Oh shit. It's half one." He says, getting up from the bed and starting to throw on some clothes. "I have some errands I need to run."

"Errands?" I question.

"Yeah, I'll be back in a bit." He says, leaving me with a quick kiss on my head.

What just happened?

I get ready for the day and then go downstairs to get some food.

I'm searching through the contents of the kitchen when I hear footsteps walk into the room. I lift my head to see who it is and a familiar blonde girl comes into view.

"Emma." I say, shocked that she's standing in front of me.

"Hi." She says with a small, nervous smile. "I just wanted to ask you how you were." She states.

"I'm ok." I say but I'm not sure why she's asking. "Are you?" I return.

"I am now." She states. "I also wanted to say thank you." She continues. "You helped me out big time and you screwed yourself over in the process, I know that wasn't your intention but I still appreciate what you did for me and I'm sorry for what you went through as a result."

"It's ok." I assure her. "I'm ok."

"If you ever need anything, I'm here. I owe you big time."

I shake my head slightly. "You don't owe me-"

"Yes I do. If it wasn't for you I'd still be trapped in there."

"When the Rebels were trying to get you out, why didn't they use Liam?" I ask as it's strange that they didn't.

"They didn't know he was with the government until they were researching you when Nik saw your face."

"Niko went through a lot of trouble to get me back, didn't he?" I ask.

"He did." She confirms. "You just called him Niko." She says, it's more of a statement or an observation than a question.

I hadn't even realised that I had, by now it's just a force of habit.

"You don't owe me, so don't feel obliged, but I want to break out the rest of the aliens and I could use your help." I state.

"So you really are an alien?" She says, clearly shocked by the revelation.

"Techically yes but I'm not a huge fan of that term."

I'm a friendly-non-green alien.

"So- hold on a minute." Emma says after I explain to her. I give her chance to speak. "The government has a secret test lab where they experiment on aliens and you want me to help you break them out?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

She shrugs. "Sure, why not? I might as well give back. When do we leave?"" She asks nonchalantly.