Well, it's Complicated...

Chapter 8 - Phil

Chapter 8 – Phil

When Dan uttered those last 3 words, I felt a pain in my heart for Emily. Without thinking, I slipped my hand into hers. She looked up at me and smiled weakly.

When Dan walked out of the room, Emily sat down on the floor in the middle of the lounge and put her head in her hands, silently sobbing. I sat down next to her and put an arm around her shoulders. “Emily, are you—are you okay?”

She looked up at me, tears shining in her eyes. “To be perfectly honest, not really.”

“What’s wrong?” I asked, even though I was fairly sure I knew exactly what was wrong.

She poured her heart out to me, from being angry at Dan for kissing Amber to being sad that Dan broke up with her. “I—I just don’t know what to do, Phil.” she finished, a tear tracing her cheek.

I wiped away the tear and handed her a tissue. “Don’t worry, Emily.” I said softly, stroking her hair. “It’ll be okay.”

She sniffled and wiped her eyes. “Thanks, Phil.”

I stood up and walked her to the sofa. I sat down and put my arms around her, holding her against my chest until she stopped crying. “Are you okay now? Can you handle going outside and talking to Amber and Dan?”

“Yeah, I think so.” She wiped her eyes and stood up, taking my hand as we walked out the door.

As soon as we left the lounge, Amber walked up to us and put her arms around Emily’s shoulders. “Dan told me about your breakup. Are you OK?”

“Yeah,” Emily replied. “I’m fine. Thanks.”

“Glad to hear it!”

“Umm, Emily, can you give us a moment, please?” I tried to convey my urgency with my eyes, and she seemed to understand.

“Alright. Yeah, sure. I’ll just…be in the kitchen, I guess.” She walked down the hall towards the kitchen, and broke into a run about halfway down the hall.

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. How was I supposed to explain all this to her? “Amber, I think we—” I stopped. Phil, relax. Soften her up a bit, then break it to her. Soak the bandage; you saw what ripping it off did to Emily.

“You think we should what, Phil?” Amber asked, a slightly cheeky smile tugging on the corners of her mouth.

I couldn’t think of anything to say, so I did what came natural. I kissed her. She kissed back with an insane amount of passion, putting one hand around my neck and running her other hand through my hair. I pulled her closer to me, momentarily forgetting what had just happened in the lounge with Emily.

We pulled apart, and we just stood there staring into each other’s eyes for what seemed like hours but was probably only seconds.

“Amber…” I took another deep breath. “I—Ithinkweshouldbreakup.”

“What? I couldn’t understand you.”

“I said, I think we should break up.”

“Why?”

“Well…you see, Emily and I…did a bit more than just look for what she left in the lounge.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well…I may have kinda sorta kissed her.”

“WHAT!?”

“I’m sorry Amber, but…” She turned away and started running down the hall. I stood there for a few seconds, too shocked to move, until I finally regained my senses and walked after her.

“Amber! Amber?” I heard muffled sounds coming from Dan’s bedroom, and I guessed she was in there. I opened the door and the sight that met my eyes shocked me slightly. Amber and Dan were standing just past the bed with barely any space between them, lips locked. Amber had one hand in Dan’s hair and one around his neck, and Dan had both hands on Amber’s waist.

I closed the door gently and leaned against the wall. Well, she rebounded quickly, I thought. I wonder how Emily’s doing.

I shook the image of Amber and Dan kissing out of my brain and walked down the hall to the kitchen. I opened the glass door and sat down at the table next to Emily. “Hey Emily, how are you doing?” I asked, taking one of my hands in hers.

She looked into my eyes and smiled. “A bit better, now that you’re here.” She blushed slightly and continued. “Thanks for cheering me up earlier, Phil.”

“You’re welcome, Emily.”

“So, what all happened while I was in here?” she asked.

I told her everything, from breaking up with Amber to seeing Amber kissing Dan. “I’m sorry about that; you must hate them now.”

“What are you apologizing for? You didn’t do anything; you just relayed the information, and I thank you for that.”

“You’re welcome, I think.”

She giggled and squeezed my hand. “Thank you again, for everything.”

“You’re welcome.”

After a few seconds of awkward silence, I spoke up. “Umm, Emily…since, you know, Amber and I are broken up, and you and Dan are broken up, I was wondering if you might like to go out with me sometime?”

“Oh Phil…Of course!” she responded.

I breathed a sigh of relief. Before I could say anything else, I felt Emily’s lips on mine for the second time that day. I kissed back, wrapping my arms around her waist. I felt her arms go around my neck, continuing to kiss me passionately. I didn’t need to worry about being found out; I was kissing my girlfriend now.

So, what do you think? Finally got through my case of writer's block. :D

(Not really related to the story, but I had the BEST birthday on Wednesday. Dan tweeted me, and I got a Danosaur bracelet and a Phil t-shirt. :D)