Baby, It's Cold Outside

|12:37am| Saturday, February 6th

Emerson's POV

"I'm supposed to pick up my car at like ten this morning, so you can stay till then if you want and then I can drive you to your place." Ryder says walking into the living room.

I'm standing my his tall windows, pulling back the crimson red curtains a bit to see out.

"Okay." I say simply, giving him a nod and smile.

The snow has really picked up and the winds are making the white flurries spin faster and faster. The visibility had to have dropped, it's hard to see the street lights and street signs that were once out there.

"Do you need anything?" Ryder asks, and I jump when I see him standing right next to me.

I laugh at my jitteriness. "No, I'm fine. Thank you." I say and Ryder gives me a simple nod.

"Can I ask you something?" I say, my voice feeling small in the open atmosphere.

"Sure." Ryder says with a small smile.

"How long did it take you to get over her?"

I can see that my question brings up pain and the past that he doesn't want to relive. And I don't expect him to answer me but he does.

Ryder sighs, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand. With a light chuckle, he says "Quite a while."

I look at him, his eyes holding pain but the truth. "It's hard to get over the person you thought you'd spend forever with. No matter how much they hurt you." He adds, staring out the window. His voice fading into the open air between us.

"What was she like?" I ask, my voice feeling confident yet soft.

He cracks a smile, but still stares out the window- not moving his head.

"She had the brightest blue eyes I'd ever seen, and her hair was always wavy and this bleach blonde color." He says, and the way he speaks of her-- even in the simplest ways-- you can tell how much he loved this girl.

"Margo was always barefoot." Ryder says with a laugh.

"Even in the winter, the girl would not put on socks." He says, his smile growing.

"We'd sit together on the couch after one of us had a long day, or a stressful one. And the one who had been beat by the day, would lay their head on the other's lap." He says, looking down and staring at his hands. The smile disappearing from his face.

"When I met her, she was crying. But she was still so beautiful, you know?" Ryders says and I nod.

"She had been fired and was crying on a curb waiting for a taxi. I walked up to her and the moment I looked into her captivating eyes... that was it." Ryder says shaking his head.

"You loved her. And from the little you've told me... I can tell she loved you too." I say looking from the window to Ryder. And oddly, Ryder does the same exact thing.

"Does it get better?" I ask.

He looks over at me, pausing a second before nodding.

"Eventually. With time."

"What about you?" Ryder asks suddenly, breaking my gaze and train of thought.

"What about me? You want to know about Nick??" I ask and watch Ryder nod.

I laugh. "Alright." I say and walk over to the couch, taking a seat and Ryder sitting next to me. I cross my legs and lean back into the sofa.

"Well, he's two years older than I am. I thought at first that it might make me feel uncomfortable, but it didn't. I didn't feel like our ages were different, or that they were separating us in some way." I tell Ryder, who's listening intently to me.

"He had this smile, well more a smirk really. When ever he flashed it, I had this warm feeling inside me. I don't even know." I laugh shaking my head.

"He lost his sister, after we were together for seven months. It was tough on him, I mean it would be hard for anyone. But Nick and his sister were close, really close. She was about a year younger than him." I say looking down at my lap.

"I met her a couple times, not many though. Nick was a mess and I like to think that if I hadn't stepped in he'd still be a drunken mess." I say.

"I went to the funeral with him, and that was one of the few times I'd ever seen him cry. It was a moment of vulnerability for him, and it made me see him in a new light." I tell Ryder, remembering the somber Sunday service.

"He was wrong." Ryder says, and look over at him.

"What do you mean?" I ask, tilting my head slightly.

"He was wrong to leave you. Even though I haven't known you long, I know that any man would be lucky to have a girl like you." Ryder says, making me smile.